Well, it's been 3 weeks since they did the work on my FEH and I've been monitoring the FE and can defiantly say that I'm getting 1.3 - 2.1 MPG (1.8 avg) better FE than before the update. In city traffic I'm getting 2.1 and during a trip to KY and back I got 1.3 MPG better since the recall work!

 

I'm glad you got to talk to someone that knows what exactly was done! I was trying to get the service procedure from a friend that works at Ford but I won't bug him anymore since you found the info.

 

I concur. I'm not thru with this tank (1st tank since the work being done), but avg is up about 1.5mpg with no change to my driving habits.

Nate

 

I received a telephone call from my local Ford Dealership today. I was asked to bring the vehicle in on Tuesday for this work instead of Saturday the 22nd. The Hybrid Tech and Service Manager have not performed this procedure before and wanted a full day for this. The Service Manager confirmed that the newest hybrid software would be flashed into the PCM.

 

Just got mine back from the dealer after having the recall, seems just as hard to keep it in ev as before. I aasked if they could reflash the pcm with newer version and they said only if it was necessary, so no they wouldnt is what i was thinking, did those of you who are getting better milage have the pcm reflashed also?? thanks

 

I specifically asked the dealer to reflash mine. I am not sure if a reflash is necessary for the repair or whether the dealer did it out of courtesy(because I asked).

I am 100% sure they did a reflash..the difference is astonishing. Most noticeable is a much smoother transition from EV--->ICE. No more shudder of any kind. I also get much more "omph" out of EV..can even climb small hills up to 25-30mph.

Not sure if the reflash is ROE for the recall...

Nate

 

well i am having my boyfriend do mine later today. he has done a bunch of these and says that he does open that battery pack. that you have too in order to do it. the reason he is doing mine on sat is that i am going to watch him and he is letting me take pics cuz i dont get to see the hybrid battery out of the car everyday.

 

Does anybody know if the reflash is for the PCM, TCM, or TBCM? Maybe all of them?

 

I was told that the battery does not get opened up, that the wiring is changed on the side, and the actual pack isn't opened; in fact, he mentioned that the dealers aren't allowed to open up the battery under any circumstances.

Again, I was told the Battery Control Module, but not the PCM.

 

Looks like I'm going to have my FEH towed to the dealership tomorrow. My wife called me Sat. afternoon and said my FEH was running strange and she seen a warning light. She made it back to the driveway and shut it off.

When I got home and checked it out, it only would idle at 785rpm's for a minute and the message center said "Service Emissions System" and then switch to "Stop Safely Now" then die. The SG11 reported two codes: CO900 which is "Device Voltage High EBCM (electronic brake control module) and the other was U2500 (CAN) "Lack of Acknowledgment".

Was going to bring it in for the battery work anyway, but I now wonder if it's part of the problem. Kermitcar said the battery needed to be opened up to change the resistor in the power unit, located in the battery module. Everything I've read in the manuals state the battery can only be reflashed and not repaired. Ford must have changed their minds because of cost of replacement. Makes me wonder how this will effect seals and contamination problems.

For those of you that think your vehicle PCM was reflashed and it runs better, this would require much more than using later versions of programming. Ford would have needed to redesign a special program to work with the as built hardware on your vehicle. The dealerships can locate the correct as built programming and download into a new PCM, but most of the time they retrieve the programming from your existing PCM and reflash the working side of your PCM or a new PCM if needed. This is what the manual states and when I had my PCM reflashed a year ago, this is what the tech did to my FEH. I was with him when he did the work.

Making a change and reflashing the Traction Battery Control Module however is much different. New programming could improve battery operation and not effect other hardware or software in the FEH/MMH. This may be what is happening with the improvements you're seeing.

At any rate, my FEH is out of the 3 years 36,000 mile warranty, so I'll soon find out if this is part of the problem or what.

GaryG