That broken shock suggests to me that whoever replaced them last did not tighten the lower bolt while the suspension was at the static ride height on the tires, a-la FTMs video. So maybe there was a constant torque on the shock body and piston rod which eventually caused it to fail? It'll be interesting to see the shock when it's off the car, and the condition of the upper and lower bushings on both sides.

 

Bushings were fine on both ends. When I took it out it was BENT. I also stripped the top bolt on the replacement and had to go get another. I'll definitely be watching that video. Pulling the brake booster lets the car keep running. Otherwise it's on for 5 mins then off. I'm feeling adventurous so I will pull it and then take a vac reading from there to make sure the valves and stuff is in spec. When I was running the car like that I got a O2 reads lean so maybe it wasn't a good seal. Only way to know will be to register it and drive for more than around the block. With both compression and chem test passing I feel more confident about that. All my cylinders read 130 psi exactly. Unlike my previous car where readings were all over the place.

I think what happened is they hit a bump that bent the shock tripping their fuel shutoff. Then the car got repo'd and they screwed up the keys and let the battery die. Doesn't look like anyone did any maintenance after the power company sold it. My last bit is to look under the front and check for leaks. I think it will be a keeper then and worth the $500 reg fee.

So all in I'll probably be somewhere near 4500 after tires/reg and anything else comes up. 3.5 roetgen, not great, not terrible...

 

For our next installment of as the wrench turns:

1. Car is registered and I can finally drive it. Nobody wants to insure hybrids for some reason.
2. Wipers are rotted, wtf
3. Can't find the right air filter. One from the book was too short, one from the parts store's computer was too wide.
4. Black gunk on PTU, like a leak. I will have to tackle a fill of this thing and see if it still leaks. Hope not.
5. I bet the oil was never changed since the wipers are so bad
6. The PCV is under the intake? Sheesh
7. There was a nail in the LF tire that sealed up the leak... now it's a tire plug
8. A/C was filled but I don't think it's cooling properly. Another fun project
9. Why is LT fuel trim +12.5?

Maintenance is going to have to happen. I tried to sea foam but no white smoke either through the intake nor through the engine side vacuum to the brake booster. Not sure WTF is going on.

So far my avg MPG is 10... I can't see instant beyond a up/down gauge.Will have to use torque app and let it calculate.

If I was paying someone for all this work, I'd be bankrupt by now Then again, I don't see any hybrid escapes with this mileage anywhere near what I paid. Just taxis with 2-300k.

 

You're old enough to remember daytime TV soap operas, which is fitting in this case because you're in Chicagoland and "As the World Turns" was set in Oakdale, IL. Like this repair saga it was: "...Slow, conversational, and emotionally intense, the show moved at the pace of life itself – and sometimes even more slowly than that." It was on the air for 54 years; let's hope you get these problems solved in a lot less time.

They were used as taxicabs there before the political machinations of Chicago's "machine" deep-sixed the entire taxicab industry. I once lived in Chicagoland and have ridden in hundreds of 'em. I survived, but sometimes the ChiTown taxicab fleet resembled "NASCAR: ADDIS ABABA." I'll bet a lot of them got horked, too, in addition to getting smashed up. I can see why they're valuable in Chicagoland as taxis. All flat spaces, lots of places to use EV mode, and the alternatives were mostly V8 gas guzzlers that burn more gas sitting in traffic than these cars do while they're rolling at 25 MPH.

Manual says to replace *once a year.* When I got my car, the previous owner was ecstatic that she had only replaced them twice in 10 years. Yeah, but she also garaged it and only drove it 5,500 miles a year and maintained it like a Methodist.

Filter is supposed to be Motorcraft FA-1772. Hmmm. If you tried to put the "manual correct" filter in there and it was *too short* - maybe some wizard tried swapping the entire intake air assembly including Mass Airflow Sensor with one from a DIFFERENT CAR? And you are not running the correct MAF sensor anymore? And you are reporting +12.5 LT fuel trim @ 10 MPG?

Could be a seal. Clean it off and definitely refill it. By the time they're in "black gunk" territory the insides look a lot worse. The Ford PTUs from this vintage (and even later, even with liquid cooling -- even in 2020) destroy their lubricants every 30k miles or sooner, and then they destroy themselves, and your spirit. If you're questioning the oil changes, it's a foregone conclusion that the PTU was never even imagined by the previous owner. In fact, I would change it....run it for a few hundred miles...change it AGAIN, clean it off as well as you can and then watch it like a hawk.

That doesn't sound like a longshot given the rest of the car. I don't want to get into an oil war, but when I did mine I switched from Pennzoil back to my favorite oil, Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5W-20 full synthetic. I also used a Mobil 1 EP filter, the M1-102A. You need a 14-point cap or a $2.99 "spyder type" walmart wrench will work too. I have over a million miles on Mobil 1 oil and filters, including one vehicle that ran more than 370,000 miles on them, changing every 4000-5000 miles and I never had to touch the PCV system on that car. Speaking of which....

Yes, indeed. Well, technically it's bolted to the front of the engine but it's "under" the intake. http://www.nicksmustangranch.com/Ser...l/sbk38c05.htm

And you will probably be doing the full 8-bolt removal job on the "Crankcase Oil Separator" Ford part number 6A785 (but double check, that's for a 2011).

Thread link here about testing it: https://electricvehicleforums.com/fo...79/#post267542

I seem to recall reading about some intrepid soul who successfully replaced it without removing the intake manifold. Try a search. Depending on how your vacuum situation works out, this might be the cause of the oil fouling you're seeing.

ALSO: See this thread.

Just like The Flintstones.

See FTM's many quick tips. He has a good video showing the uselessness of static pressure readings and what a good charge level should look like on these cars. As you know A/C is crucial. I'm a little worried by that bent shock absorber. It looks like the car took a pretty severe impact at one time or another in that area, which is right near the rear evaporator.....

Beyond my direct diagnostic experience and I haven't checked mine recently so I don't know what the usual range is BUT: It's a symptom of a vacuum leak and also perhaps a deranged Mass Air Flow sensor. You know you have vacuum problems, you probably have PCV problems, and my guess is that your wayward LT fuel trim is in an elliptical orbit around them. The car thinks it is running lean (too much air) and it's pushing more fuel to compensate. You say you're getting 10MPG which sure sounds like it's running rich. You have to get the vacuum and PCV systems back to "known good" and then take readings and go from there. Keep in mind that the supplemental, electric vacuum pump is there to supply vacuum when the engine is OFF, in EV mode for instance. It is not supposed to be the full-time vacuum supply for the power brakes. You have to find the vacuum leaks either via the old-school "spray some starting fluid around the suspected leaks" or some other method and plug 'em up.

I admire your courage on this project. You've got a lot of moving parts going on here, keep taking them one at a time and keep letting us know how it goes. Good luck! It'll be worth it if you can get it sorted. At the outside, you can find FTM in the Chicagoland area through his BSG Automotive website. And if you decide to bail on it, at least sell it to someone who will responsibly part it out, because they're not making any more of these.

 

We still have a ton of cabs everywhere. They're not gone yet. I had 3 crown vics a few years ago. 1996, 2001, 2003. Insurance didn't blink at them.

It was the store book so I'll look for the parts you gave. Still has the sticker so I don't think they swapped it just stores have it wrong.

At the Y one way valve the electric pump meets engine vacuum. One of those input hoses is from the engine the other electric pump. I fed sea foam through it to no results and took vac readings. Ironically I got both high 25+ steady reading and low 18 for some reason. Will definitely look for leaks too.

I'll drive around for parts/errands today and see if I'm still getting the low MPG. I have only driven 20 - 25 miles total so not sure the 10 mpg is accurate. I need door trim and an antenna.

 

Heh, today new MPG is 14. I sprayed around for vac leaks but haven't found any yet. I didn't want to change the coolant but the car did when it blew the lower hose clamp. So now half of my coolant is legit. Looked like someone had been in there so maybe missing coolant was from a leak. The clamp for the overflow to the radiator was a screw clamp and the one for the lower hose is one too now.

Going to spray out the injectors in a a little while and sea foam is doing its thing in the crank case. If the PCV is stuck it might help. I looked at a few escapes at the wrecker. There is no way to get at the PCV without tiny remote hands. You could possibly reach it but no clue how it comes off or how you'd put it back reasonably. Maybe if you have a 2 year old mechanic with 2 wrists. No squeezing hoses either as its fully behind cylinder 3/4.

Finally got all the air filters. Can cross that off now. A/C is messed up. It reads low when AC is on and high when it was off. Will have to read about it. Everything is super easy to reach once you spin the covers off.

 

Hi ShadyEscape,

I was just Googling some error codes and ran across this forum, and the title of this thread REALLY resonated with me. Like yourself, I bought an Escape Hybrid at auction, and I'm going to try to bring it back to life. I started my own thread to track the trials and tribulations: https://electricvehicleforums.com/fo...87/#post272840

 

In today's installment: injectors are clean. O rings replaced. 16mpg and a new code.

P2450 - Evap Cannister switching valve leaking

So how does this tie in to what I've been seeing. My car isn't running "rich"; a positive fuel trim means lean. It's adding fuel. Tackled the fuel delivery since the injectors were filthy but now this code denotes a common failure that hasn't come up here.

The valve is right at the throttle and will leak air into the intake after the MAF. When I tested it with electric plugged in I would get intermittent fluttering of vacuum. It should be open or not. Closed with nothing plugged in which I have to check still. So this is my vacuum leak. I will try to clean the old one and see if it holds but have a spare arriving later today.

BTW the orings are PT# 9229 and are from the looks of it only for the top. Using the fuel rail screws they can be forced to fit as ford has no part number for the bottom rings and insists they are the same.

MPG is building gradually. Should it be in the 20s right away? Guess I will see after the valve swap.

 

Once it is running well and assuming the battery has a "good" SOC of around 40-50%, with all the vacuum leaks fixed and the driveline "unsticky" meaning low internal power loss, that car should be giving mileage in the mid to upper 20s. The 4WD models were rated 29 city / 27 highway from the factory, because there is extra mass and driveline loss associated with the 4WD. You're spinning up (and hauling around) more mass and there are more gears involved. I think I remember that every gear-to-gear transfer of power can cost 1%-8% depending on a variety of factors.

I am concerned about your "black gunk" PTU and the condition of the fluid in the transaxle also. Also the brakes may be a little rusty and therefore dragging. Even small parasitic power losses on these cars (or any cars, really) will knock the mileage down considerably. It only takes a few horsepower to move down the road in city driving, hence any internal power loss at low speeds has a dramatic impact on mileage.

https://www.geartechnology.com/issue...wer-losses.pdf

This is why it's important to maintain the lubrication. If you'd like to see what is inside the eCVT on your car, John Kelly breaks it down here:

You Tube

Note that there are no solenoids, clutch packs, or anything else in this transmission. It is a relatively uncomplicated design. Kind of beautiful, in fact. It is a true eCVT with a planetary gearset and two electric motors that spin in different directions with respect to each other. But that fluid helps lubricate and cool the motors, gears and bearings, including the final drive. The MECS is only part of the cooling equation, that's why the eCVT case has FINS on the bottom near the drain plug.

FTM has numerous videos on the "black gunk" Ford PTUs.

As far as the battery is concerned, once you get it reconditioned enough, the car should enter EV mode on its own, even with the engine "cold" - especially now that the weather is warming up. When I get in my car and turn the key with the outside temperature in the 60s or higher, the engine does not start right away - it drops right into EV mode first. Yours should do the same/similar when all is working well.

 

The Hybrids are particularly sensitive to parasitic driveline losses in terms of how they "feel" (e.g., via watching the tachometer). Once your car is running correctly, you will notice that the EV mode seems comparatively "weak." That's a bit of an illusion created by the control theory. The traction motor is quite powerful and can develop a lot of torque. However, the car stays in "pure" EV mode only at low power / acceleration demands and at relatively low speed. Just a little extra push on the gas pedal is enough to start the engine. You can run in EV mode up to about 44 miles per hour, and if you are coasting at that speed, it will shut the engine off and run in EV mode for quite some time - as long as you don't try to accelerate. Then it will spin up the ICE engine and split the power demand between the electric motor and the ICE according to its control logic.

Yesterday on my long trip, I sat in a couple of patches of traffic that were rubbernecking between 0 and 30 miles per hour. The car ran in EV mode almost the entire time, but we were just creeping along. After about 2-3 miles in EV (with the A/C on), the engine would start up so that the motor/generator in the transaxle could top off the HV battery and run the A/C compressor. It would run like that for a couple of minutes and then go back to EV mode. That's the normal behavior of the hybrid system. If you had SYNC/NAV you would see that the system is constantly regulating the energy flow between the ICE engine, traction motor, and the HV battery to optimize the fuel economy at *every speed the car can attain.* This means that on the highway, driving on a flat surface at say, 60 MPH, the ICE engine is running of course, but part of the energy to move down the road is actually coming from the electric motor. And when you really hammer it, the "charge/assist" gauge swings heavily into "assist" and the electric motor is supplying quite a bit of torque. A complex control theory governs the system's behavior.

Go out to Page 64-74 here:

http://john2211.nl/Hybride_links_files/Miller_W04.pdf

And of course, as SKeith has said on more than one occasion:

"Air filter, spark plugs, O2 sensor, dirty throttle body, MAF sensor, etc. can all have an influence on mpg. Are you running the correct tires with proper inflation?"

As he once admonished me when I was a whippersnapper here: "Every joule of propulsive energy ultimately comes from gasoline." The Hybrid system acts to recoup and store a portion of that energy to improve the overall efficiency of the drivetrain, but all the energy that moves you down the road ultimately comes from burning dead dinosaurs. Which is a tradeoff I'll accept, because I still don't want to be 100% dependent on a power grid if I need to go somewhere.