Without getting into lawyering the warranty book states:

"The New Vehicle Limited Warranty covers **certain** Escape Hybrid/MarinerHybrid unique components against defects in factory supplied materials or workmanship...."

"...covers these components: high-voltage battery, electronically controlled continuously variable transmission, and the DC/DC converter."

Only "certain" hybrid unique components are covered not *all*... the ones covered are specified.

I'm going to have to disagree with you Gary. With the logic you are using you could argue the engine should be covered and nearly every other part of the vehicle. If the car won't move, the battery can't be charged, if the battery can't be charged it is malfunctioning therefore thats part of the hybrid battery system.

If the airconditioning gets fixed the battery will work properly... therefore there is nothing wrong with the battery--will be their argument.

I personally think the A/C system in the back SHOULD be covered.... but I think the warranty excludes it unfortunately.

Good luck though..... I personally would like to see it covered by Ford just for the sake of being a good manufacturer.

 

Gary,

Thanks, I'm taking it to the dealer tonight. Glad I'm doing there research for them. They are working w/Ford closely on this so hopefully other early adapters won't have to go through this fustration.

BTW luckily this problem occurred about 2 months ago 500 mi before the 36,000 mi warranty expired so they are honoring the warranty no matter what.

Brandy

 

It sounds like your HV battery is unable to assist your acceleration. Does the Charge/Assist gauge show any assist when accelerating from a stop?

One time I ran our FEH on battery several miles at low speeds and lost all battery assist. The engine rev'd quite high just starting from a stop and had no power until about 30mph. It took a mile or so before things returned to normal.

My guess is either the computer thinks the HV battery is very low, or some other problem with the battery has the computer running without any battery assist.

Edit: I'm sure after reading other postings that your problem is an "over temperature" condition in the battery pack. The computer is disabling the battery assist until the battery cools down. Once you get the A/C fixed, it will cool the HV battery so it is in the "normal temperature" range and you will have normal power again. This should be recorded by the engine computer and show up if Ford checks for any recorded codes.

The FEH A/C should be capable of making you uncomfortably cold... Yours is not working right!

 

Teester

In your opinion, if the HV cable fried, the electric coolant pump for the eCVT and converter or the Traction battery control module took a dump, would you also say they are not covered? My point is, the battery was designed for A/C cooling and will not function properly without it. Just because the A/C also supplies the cabin, it doesn't matter. The fact that the battery was not working properly and the cabin A/C is acceptable, should be a sign that it is a necessary component of the battery. If Ford had a totally separate A/C system for the battery, we would not be having this discussion. Now if the components of the cabin A/C failed, and did not effect the supply of cold air to the battery, I agree, it's not covered.

In your example, I agree those type of items are not covered.

The issue may take a battle with Ford to resolve, but even if they won that battle, they would lose the war to sales in the future. My intention is to make it clear one way or the other, that necessary unique components that are required for the battery, eCVT and the DC/DC converter are addressed. In addition, with the A/C not working properly, emissions have been compromised without electrical assist. Take a look at what is covered under the emissions warranty in addition the main components.

The bottom line is Ford may have to cover the hybrid components as I indicated above by State and Federal Laws.

GaryG

 

Like I said.... I'd hope you'd be right and as a customer you should be. But to a lawyer.... I personally think they'd be off the hook. (of course I have no law training)

 

I would have to agree with Nash... When it has gotten unbearably hot in the DC Metro area, I've had the AC cranked using the ICE-friendly AC setting in the recirculate mode. My AC was so cold that my glasses fogged up when I exited my vehicle. My FEH had a little over 32k miles. I also purchased the 100k mile warranty as well.

 

I was driving to work at 2:00 this morning and since traffic was light I was playing with the gauges some trying to calibrate the bar graph when I came across the System Check screen and I thought of this thread.

When people have been having problems that relate to this issue, has anyone ever run the system check? What are the results if they have? I would think the screen that says "Electric Power Available" would say something other than NORMAL.

I haven't seen it mentioned at all that I remember......

 

I was agreeing with TeeSter on this one, but then I was re-reading my owners manual last night.

The manual mentions "The Mariner Hybrid is equipped with a high voltage battery air conditioning system in the rear of the vehicle which cools the high voltage battery in order to ensure high voltage battery life and optimize performance."

Over and over again, the manual mentions specifically the "high voltage battery air conditioning system".

Now, is that system "Hybrid Unique"???

I mean, how many non-Hybrid Ford vehicles have a high voltage battery air conditioning system? If I read the owners manual for the regular Escape/Mariner, would I find mention of this system?

If the answer is none, then it does indeed seem to be a hybrid unique component.

And if it is hybrid unique, should it not be covered by the special warranty that covers the hybrid unique components?

Gary might be onto something here.

 

The warranty does not cover all "hybrid unique components".... it only covers "CERTAIN hybrid unique components".... whether or not that airconditioner is unique to the hybrid drive train is irrelevant as far as the warranty is concerned. Only *CERTAIN* components are covered and those are specified and thye do not list the airconditioner in the back.... unique or not--not covered.

 

I guess it depends on where you read, if the qualifier "certain" is used or not. Ford (and Mercury) seem to be, at least, inconsistent.

In the brochure it mentions "Unique Hybrid components will have an additional warranty coverage of 8 years/100,000 miles (10 years/150,000 miles in the state of California)".

BTW, all I am saying, is that it isn't all that clear. And possibly unclear enough that someone might be able to fight it.