I'm happy to say that my battery cooling problem has been fixed! I tried a dealer I'd never been to before, and was amazed when the service writer seemed to understand the symptoms (hot battery pack and no EV mode) and actually seemed to understand how the thing was supposed to work. They replaced a "traction battery temperature sensor" part #3W7Z-19C734-AA and the car now runs like new! Total cost was $294 ($14.38 for the sensor, the rest for labor).

 

In several posts over the past few years there has been a decided bias toward the readouts of a scangauge being taken as gospel. Among those posts I have remarked that the sensor (or its associated wiring) might also be the problem.

This post shows conclusively that the sensor itself should be looked at as well as the readouts identified problem.

In saying this I make no presentation as to whether the sonsor is either more or less likely to be the problem. Only that one must take into account the issue of how the FEH computer senses a failure and that the sensor is a reasonable failure item also.

 

is the sensor in the battery?? if so then it should be a warranty item also! Mine had the no power problem but it was my A/C compressor that went bad, just replaced it a couple of days ago and is now working like a champ.

 

Gary thanks for the info. Ford is wanting to charge us also on replacing the fans and we are in CA 2005 ford escape hybrid error code P0A81 P0A96. We are going to fight them but I am going to take it a bit further. If the fans are not working properly then doesn't the heat degrade the batteries themselves. I need to look at what kind of Batteries they used. Could this become a class action because of the danger?

 

Hold the phone Mary Ann! We have the answer to the battery fan issue and your dealer is stupid. Tell the dealer to inter the battery assembly number for the internal parts to be covered. The battery is covered as an assembly so Ford would rather replace the fans than a $7,000 battery.

The computer in the FEH has a Fail Safe System and should protect things like the battery by shutting them down before they get to hot for damage. Let me know if you have any other problems with your dealer.

GaryG

 

Does anyone know what the battery assembly number is? I'm having the same problem with my Ford dealer, where their system says that the cooling fan #5m6z10c659a is not covered by any warranty. I suggested to him that he run the battery assembly number (because the cooling fans are part of that assembly) and he said that he would talk to his Warranty specialist on Monday and let me know if it would be covered. I have a feeling they are going to say no and i'll have to go through this same process at another dealer.....

My hybrid has 78,000 miles by the way.

 

The HVTB part number is the same in both the '05 and '09 FEH Workshop Manuals section 414-03-43 ('09) 414-03-44 ('05) which is 10B759. Your '08 FEH should have the same part number as this.

Make sure you get everyone's full name involved in telling you the fans are not covered under the HV battery warranty. Ford had better get the word out to these stupid dealers before their name is trashed about their Hybrid warranty. You are the second person in less than a week that has posted this problem.

GaryG

 

I am 100% sure of three things:

1) Legally, the battery fans ARE part of the warranty coverage. You need to push harder.

2) Dealers are stupid ( or undereducated in these matters ). They have seen very few hybrids, and even fewer hybrid repairs. So they don't know what the heck they are talking about.

3) If you don't complain or resist, they will be happy to take your money guilt-free. They feel the recession too and will take every dollar.

 

Thanks for the part number and comments. This is Bryan's wife Sarah commenting now.

WOW, is this frustrating. FIRST, being told by the dealer not to drive my car because it could be extremely dangerous because of the hybrid not being cooled off properly, THEN not being offered a loaner car in the meantime, THEN being told that the part is on "extra emergency back order" and "who knows when it will come in," THEN not being called when the part actually did come in a month later... THEN being told that it's not under warranty!!

Everything you guys have said makes a lot of sense. We were excited when we found these posts b/c it seemed unreal to us that this part wasn't covered. I can think of similar instances in the HVAC industry (I am an engineer at an OEM HVAC company) where a part may not show up in warranty but the assembly it is a part of IS covered, meaning that the singular part is in fact covered as well. And figuring this out is NOT brain surgery like these Ford dealers are making it out to be...

And I am just baffled by the amazingness of being told that I can't drive the car because the part that IS under warranty, the BATTERY, which includes the fan, might fail if I do!! But they're not going to fix the part that's IN the battery that IS failed! So, should I just drive around the car until the battery DOES go crazy and have them replace the whole thing?!? (Kidding!)

So, The dealer called back this morning and said that their "warranty specialist" said that it won't be covered under warranty, but they say they also found out that the Fusion and Milan hybrids have the fan covered under warranty which they found was odd. They also couldn't figure out what the battery pack assembly number is, which is why Bryan asked for it (That just seems impossible to me. It's hard to believe they are being so difficult to work with).

Bryan told them as suggested by this site that the fans are part of the battery which is covered under warranty and the fans on the fusion/milan are separate to the battery so thats why they are covered separately. They still didn't believe him and said that we have to call Ford customer care (because apparently they are not allowed to call Ford on issues like this??? what a load of BS! My company has an entire department devoted to that!!).

I just called Customer Care and the girl pulled up the warranty, read the sentence blurb to me that we all know by heart by now, and said that "I know, it's weird, but the fan would only be covered if the battery failed first." I told her that we'd seen all these other reports of the same issue that people were able to get resolved under warranty, and she said "Their batteries must have failed first." I was just stupified at that point. I should have asked to speak to the next level up but was just startled by the response.

Bryan is going to try calling now and see if he can get someone else.



This is all such BS! Does anyone have a contact at Ford that I could talk to about this issue? Bryan knows one person in engineering development and has contacted him to see if he knows anyone in the warranty dept.

Secondly, does anyone have a contact at a dealer that fixed the part under warranty that we could talk to/and or have them talk to our dealer?

 

Tell them the battery has failed so replace it. Ford's Workshop manual states if the fans quit running, replace the HVTB period! There is no instructions in Ford's Workshop manuals to replace the battery fans internal to the sealed HVTB. If Ford wants to take this position and not replace the HVTB according to the warranty, they can see it all on the News if that's their final answer. Toyota will love to take Fords Hybrid business because the Government requires Ford to provide this warranty. Don't forget, Obama also has an '07 FEH. I can see the headlines now " Ford Breaks The Law Saying Obama's Hybrid battery loss its warranty. This is why I'm saying get the names of the people telling you this is not covered under the "Special Hybrid Warranty".

GaryG