To Noreception:

I've encountered similar problems. Basically my issues started because of a HV Battery filter that was badly clogged and causing the HV battery to overheat. I replaced the filter but the problems remained. When the Escape was cold, the assist worked fine, but as the Escape warmed up the assist dropped off to nothing and remained while hot. Warm days were worse.

I thought I needed a new HV battery.

Further troubleshooting was done using the "FORSCAN" scanner software helped FIX the issue with the HV battery.
Using FORSCAN I checked the BCM (Battery Control Module) for codes and found none.
Next I checked the remaining battery life reported by the BCM and saw the battery was at 88%. The Escape is a 2008 and has 11 years and 230,000 miles. So 88% looked great to me.

Next, using FORSCAN I did a reset on the BCM module. Just the BCM.
Then used FORSCAN to command the BCM to do a self-test. The self-test checks the HV battery cooling fans (2) for function and air flow.

Doing the BCM reset and self-test restored the Assist functionality and I've had no further problems and the Escape has returned to normal drivability and performance even on hot days.

Lesson I learned here is to change the HV battery air filter frequently.

Note: FORSCAN is downloadable from https://forscan.org and can be used with an Extended version free trial of several months. FORSCAN does require a scan tool adapter. I purchased the
OHP ELMconfig OBDII USB Scan Tool, FORScan OBD2 Adapter from Amazon for $30, I works with FORSCAN great and without any issues.

FORSCAN is easy to install and use, not difficult for the beginner.

Regards,

Roy

 

Hi Roy. Thanks for the informative post! I'm a Long time owner of a 2005 FEH that has been a fantastic vehicle. My son is still driving it with 270K mi on it.

I just bought a 2011 that is in really nice shape, runs and drives well but it seems to have an issue with the ICE kicking on immediately with very little pedal. I know this isn't right. If you feather the throttle you should be able to get it going and sustain parking lots and other slow speed driving with no trouble. My daughter has a 2010 Fusion hybrid. We recently saw the exact same behavior in her car the minute it turned 9 years old. It turned out that the battery age needed to be reset to restore normal driving. I used Forscan to do the reset on the BECM parameter for the battery age and set it back to zero age. The car immediately (I mean like flipping a switch) went back to normal behavior. TSB 20-2142 has recently been released by Ford to address their brilliant software engineers who apparently decided a battery should only last 9 years. They actually wrote a "limp mode" into the software as soon as it reaches the age. You can't make this stuff up... What an amazingly dumb idea that was. Mileage dropped, power dropped off to a dangerous level and the car would almost never go into EV mode. Reset - Back to normal just like you saw.

The 2011 FEH does not have the BECM page that i can find. I didn't see a BCM page or parameter either in Forscan. I found no current codes and no previous codes that were set that indicated any issues with battery temp, cooling or anything else that might affect the battery function. Where did you find the "BCM" you describe? Is it possible that the software on the 2011 is different than your FEH? If you can guide me through the reset on that I would appreciate it.

Corey

 

Ford has very good software engineers and this issue should also not be blamed on the bean counters. This was not likely to have been an oversight but a way to get the vehicle in for an inspection after 10 years of service. Many people don't service their vehicle at a dealer and other mechanics don't typically have the knowledge or skill set to properly maintain hybrids. Ditto for the typical owner. A check in at a good Ford dealership every ten years can bring some peace of mind that the complex vehicle is mechanically fit, has all recalls completed, and is safe to drive. Any nagging problems can often be dealt with by mentioning them to the service associate. Hybrid technology is still quite new and our vehicles are actually still guinea pigs, albeit impressive ones.

 

I might agree with you on these points... Save for the fact that the dealer's had NO clue how to fix it. My local dealer told me the car needed a new battery. If it wasn't for a savvy owner, the problem never would have been addressed. Shout out to Allen Chan who took the leap and figured this out. Ford wouldn't even acknowledge it or admit that they did this... It's kind of a PR nightmare to admit that you programmed failure into your product. Just ask Apple about that one. The forums are full of owners with the same experiences. The car was dangerously under powered during this situation and it happened overnight without any warning or indication of what the issue might be. Whomever was responsible for that idea would likely not want to admit it. I think if it was your daughter driving around in a dangerously underpowered car that was programmed to do that all of the sudden, you would agree. I'm a huge Ford fan so no need to defend the brand. I drive Fords and I have always had great luck with Ford vehicles. This one is on the software engineers or whomever decided to cripple the car due to some random (not supported by data) number of years of age on the battery. Finally Ford acknowledged it at least and put out the TSB so their technicians would stop telling owners "you need a new battery... " or something similar. It makes me wonder how many owners wasted thousands of dollars on unnecessary work because there was no guidance from Ford until recently.

PS - I DID actually go back to my dealer and tell them how I FIXED the car. They spent a day and a half attempting to figure out what was wrong with the car and were gracious (and embarrassed) enough not to charge me for the labor. They were SO surprised! "Wow... really?" It was genuine. They had no idea how to fix it. It was literally a 5 minute fix.

 

​​​​​​​Too many examples of grossly incompetent dealers for your theory to hold water. Ford's brilliant decision to eliminate the HV jump starter after only 4 models years because, "no one has every needed it" is a perfect example. Quoting replacement batteries for $10K or $1-2K for renting a jump starter that takes a tech 15 minutes to operate are not the action of an organization with the consumer's best interest in mind.

They're complete and total incompetent sh!theads. I have a '10 and an '09 queued up for jump start

 

Update - Roy I found the reset for the BCM. It didn't seem to make any difference in the behavior. I supposed it could just be a difference in the way the 05 is programmed to behave versus the 2011 but my daughter's 2010 Fusion will also accelerate moderately in EV mode. Any ideas or suggestions for things to check would be appreciated. I'm barely doing any driving with Covid/working from home so it's a little difficult to test right now without creating a place to go.

 

Your primary issues are 1) a 15 year old battery is likely deteriorated. 2) Infrequent driving only makes it worse. You need to create places to go regularly and not just short trips to the store. 10+ miles or 30+ minutes of driving. 250 cells will drift. Regular driving is REQUIRED to keep the battery balanced.

 

I noticed that Forscan has a BCM Service Procedure called "Rmode Rebalance"

"This procedure makes sure that all battery cells have approximately the same state of charge, and may take 20-45 minutes to complete"

Have you ever tried that procedure?

 

No. It's a forced over-charge of the battery. NiMH cells self-balance when charged at higher states of charge. As you approach 100% charged, charging becomes less and less efficient, thus cells at 90% store less energy from a 10A charge than cells at 70%.

I don't have the registered version of Forscan (too lazy), but I'll probably try it one day. Provided your A/C is working properly, I wouldn't hesitate to give it a try. If it's an option on 2010+, I don't think I'd try it unless the interior temps were below 50°F.

 

Thanks for the update. Adding to my confusion, on the 2008 Escape Hybrid the "BCM" is the Battery Control Module. I discovered that in later models, BCM changes definition to BODY Control Module.

My HV battery is now +12 years old and still shows in the 80% range for capacity. Works for me!