Thanks for the reply,, makes me understand a little more if there has not been a HV battery failure. Hopefully get back on the road sooner.. One tidbit, from the day I bought the vehicle it had a very distinct hot - burning electronics smell that came from under the hood.. Most of the time after driving under electric mode only. I know the smell that a new vehicle can make. But this was much stronger and different, enough so that the wife made a comment about it.

 

Greg, after reading the worshop manual, I'm am incline to go with the bad HV battery now. What caused that problem is what interest me the most. The things being said about the 12V system could be true also, because the DC/DC converter (high DC voltage to low DC voltage) may not be working properly to charge the 12V battery. Wires could also be getting hot and smelling like you say with this problem.

A scangauge would have been helpful in giving us a PCM trouble code and 12V battery condition.

GaryG

 

Hmm. Interesting. At first I thought like Gary, that you had a PCM failure. But now I'm thinking that there may be a wiring fault in the HV battery pack. Rather then the battery failing, it was defectively manufactured.

As was observed, in somewhere around 4 years of testing, there has never been an HV pack failure in the Ford extreme testing labs. However, that's not to say that one can get by, or be made poorly by accident.

It does seem like the '07 is a bit glitchy, which is strange. Complaints went down from '05 to '06, but may go back up for the '07.

Please, continue to update us on your situation; I'm most intrigued.

 

Read this thread about an '07 Mercury Mariner Hybrid. It sounds very similar to your problem.

 

If there was wiring "burning", then I hope the dealer has a new wiring harness on order too.

 

I don't know why everyone is making wild guesses. This guy is not trying to "fix" it himself in his driveway, and does not need "ideas".

Just wait a week and hopefully we'll get the real answer from the Ford Dealer!!!

 

But why would the HV battery be fully capable of starting the ICE, not what one would call a "light" load by any means, and then also be able to repeat that ICE startup in multiple following instances.

Additionally a detection of low HV battery and the resulting system shutdown would not be likely to result in the other misc. diagnostic indicators.

And why only a shutdown only at the instance of asking for reverse drive power?

The only solution, given consideration of the known factors, is a low charge, or failure(***), of the 12 volt battery when the 30 watt load of the backup lights is added.

*** loose or corroded 12 volt battery connection?

And just how many MMH mechanic/technicians will be astute enough, really, to "adequately" troubleshoot these new hybrid drive systems?


Burning electronics odor under the hood...??

Just where is the DC-DC down converter for charging the 12 volt battery located?

 

This is the first time that I know of that a battery failure possibility in the FEH/MMH has been brought up. Many people here and on the web want to find out what happens when the HV battery fails. What lead up to the problem like the vehicle could be restarted and warning lights all are concerns of mine.

This is a very healthy discussion to learn more about our Hybrids and to refer someone to this thead years from now. We all know this is a warranty issue for him now, but there may be the day that we are faced with the same problem with no warranty (trade-in time). No one is making wild guesses, but I think educated guesses are one reason we are here. Sometimes, it is in Ford's best interest not to give the real answers to their problems, so they don't.

We make guesses here all the time. When I ran out of gas, my FEH did not act like yours did. All we had was guesses as to why.

GaryG

 

EXACTLY why we should hold our theories back until we get the official word back from the Ford dealer, if the owner is willing to share.
!

 

Hello All,

Well the tech did show up today,,, I guess he was not from ford but he was a tech from the battery manufacturer. He hooked up some equipment got his readings and was on the next flight out of town.. The service manager said that they are 99.9% sure that the battery failed... He said the tech told him they think some component inside the battery pack failed.. to be more specific.

He also went on to tell me that they do not have a tracking number for the battery, and is not sure when it will be in.. I am staying optimistic and hoping that it will be in tommorrow.. My rental vehicle is a 06 escape with the V6, and believe me, it does not get the same gas mileage as the hybrid..

That is all I know for now... Tommorrow is another day