Mine goes in tomorrow. After playing dumb about the service campaign the dealer sent me a bright yellow postcard "Your vehicle may be involved in a recall" which I thought was amusing since I already knew my vehicle was part of the service campaign...

 

OK count me officially annoyed++

They needed the car for three hours to "do the recall"

What they really meant is they needed three hours to open the AC duct, look at the resistor in question, decide I need the replacement harness (which they didn't have in stock depsite telling me they did on the phone the previous day), special order the part, and then forget to put the bolts back in holding the duct onto the HVTB

So I'm driving home already pi$$ed off because they will need the vehicle for yet another day when the harness comes in, and I hear a rattle from the rear. When I get home I discover three of the four bolts that hold the ductwork onto the HVTB on my bumper. Problem is I have four open bolt holes!

Dealer's snappy answer? "Oh bring it in tomorrow AM and we'll take care of it"

I don't think so. Told them just to have the bolts in stock when I come back for the recall work. I think I can live with one bolt missing for a few days.

I will be happy to share dealer name with anyone interested in knowing who to avoid down the road...

 

When I called to set up the appointment for my FEH, I asked if they had the harness in stock. Their reply was that they needed to look at my vehicle first to determine if I needed the harness. I brought it in, and they said yes, I needed the harness but they didn't have it in stock and would order it. That was almost 2 weeks ago, and they still don't have the harness. Last time I called they basically said don't call us, we'll call you when the harness is in. But, the screws were put back, so I guess I should be happy about that...

 

So, is there anyone here who had their vehicle inspected and were told that they didn't need the harness?

 

Thanks Tim, I think it is important to report the truth weather it makes me look like I may have done something wrong or not. As you've seen, I was quick to admit my techniques could be reasons for bad relays. What I've learned now is the HV battery still may be in question. The only thing I've done to the HV battery is use it to its full abilities to maintain EV. This may help others decide to be less aggressive or as much aggressive to save fuel with EV use.

Today, my '05 FEH took a turn for the worst and would not start. I've questioned the 12V battery problems the Tech discussed with me, but everything checked out good. I did a number of jump start procedures, even with a new jump start system I bought at SAM's Club this past Monday with no success. Talk to the SA and hybrid tech today and the Tech thought it might be the 12V battery. The SA said the stock Motorcraft battery was out of warranty (3yrs/36,000 miles) so I got the new 3yr replacement/100 month prorated battery and installed it myself today. No luck with the new battery or 12V system. The SG11 will only read connecting which says to me the PCM is not communicating.

I will report the situation of what the Tech finds tomorrow, but he said he is off Friday. BTW, both times this has happen my FEH was sitting for a few days without starting.

GaryG

 

Hmmmm... you mentioned that you didn't hear the fan in the back until after the recall... Any chance your cooling system might have been malfunctioning for a while "cooking" your battery? I don't hear any difference in the fans on my '06 pre/post recall.

 

Update: I left the key for the towing service to tow it to the dealership this morning while I drove my wife to work. My FEH started for some strange reason for the tow man and he drove it up the carrier. Got a call and the SA said it was just a low voltage problem according to the Ford hotline and everything reset except for the codes which were reset by the Hybrid Tech.

The Tech told me the TBCM went into a fault because the 12V voltage was below what was required to start the vehicle. Even though the old 12V battery was checking out good, I had over used a 12v tire pump two days before without starting the ICE for two days. A borderline 12V battery and heavy drain with the tire pump caused 12V voltage to drop enough to fault a few modules.

After replacing the 12V battery, the vehicle still didn't start for me, so I did two more jump start procedures. For some reason Ford, the Tech and myself don't know what letting the vehicle sit overnight with the new battery did to allow it to start the next morning, but it did. The Tech said the guy on the Ford hotline just said the low voltage system acts up this way with a battery that is going bad. Those relays I just replaced could have went bad because of a cell in the 12 volt battery causing a problem with voltage also. The Tech said that he had to clear all the codes, but everything works great now. Also what was strange, the SG11 started shutting off or going to sleep after a few minutes. I checked the setup and found the fuel setting had went to gas and the engine size had changed to V6. After resetting the SG11 to Hybrid and 2.3L, everything went back to normal. The SG11 did not find any codes this entire time, so no reset of codes were needed for it.

The dealership did not charge me a dime today, but I did have to pay $131 for towing. The Tech said he asked the Ford Hotline about why I was now hearing to HV battery fans and he said they told him it's because of the heat. I've driven in the heat for 3yrs now and this is the first time I've ever heard the fans. If anything, the HV battery is getting hotter faster now on the second fake shift than it did before the recall.

At any rate, let this be a lessen in replacing the 12V battery when the warranty runs out or any of the signs I've posted about. The SG11 showing "Connecting" and not connecting is a good sign you may have voltage issues.

GaryG

 

#1 why don't you use the built-in 12v battery voltage meter in the SG to check on the 12v battery once in a while instead?

#2 I think the SG may be useless for checking for codes, or perhaps it is only designed to check for EMISSSIONS codes, as that was its original intent. I have heard from many people, and also seen it myself where the SG always reports "no codes -ready" but the Ford dealer finds codes.

#3 Why don't you use the built-in feature in the FEH to display DTC on the message center without using the SG? This seems more reliable to me.

 

Update: I spoke with Ford the next day, and they called the dealer while I waited with them...dealer says yes indeed parts are in stock, I should not have had to wait for mine to be ordered. Armed with this info I again called the dealer myself and spoke with the service writer who'd scheduled my appointment. He said all the work had indeed been completed on Tuesday! The line on my invoice which referred to special ordering the part was, he claimed, for the backfill part to go in their inventory.

Given the confusion and misinformation I'm still not 100 percent certain they in fact did complete the work (and I know they did not finish putting everything back together properly), as none of my data in the radio or the info center appeared to have been reset as would have happened had they removed 12v power.

I also have not noticed any change in vehicle behavior since the service. We shall see!

 

My radio wasn't reset nor was the info button. They have to turn the 330V to service mode disconnecting it but the 12V doesn't have to be unhooked it seems. My HV battery was all dusty on top and such so I'm pretty darn sure it was done in my case. I also trust my dealer because they've been very honest with me since I bought the vehicle there.