Hi all,

I have an 07 FEH 4WD with 65,000 miles. Bought it new and have followed all of the maintenance that is prescribed. Along with additional oil changes.

Up to now I haven't had any major problems, but since the car hit 60,000 miles within the past few months, I have had a vibration issue, which turned out to be a bad drive shaft ujoint. Ford says the fix is to replace the drive shaft.

Next the Service soon light came on. There was a TSB for this. It was the door actuator for the hybrid system. I contacted my local Ford dealer, they said this was not covered under the hybrid warranty to my surprise.

Finally, today I am getting my car back after having the "stop safely now" message and replacing the coolling pump. Another issue described in a TSB and another chunck of change gone to the mechanic.

I use to have a Mitsubishi Eclipse that I drove the same way. Same job. It lasted over 200,000 miles with no major repairs, and I followed all prescribed maintenance on it also. It was still running great when I sold it.

My question is I kept hearing that the US automakers were up to par, quality wise with the foreign car makers.

Is this true, and what new expenses should I be looking forward to? Should I just dump the car now? I really like it but I can't keep pouring money into it, especially if Ford will not honor their warranties on the hybrid parts.

Thanks,

Steve

 

Dumb question from my end, but is the dealer tying all of these issues directly to the Hybrid? The cooling pump and driveshaft/u-joint issue, at least to me, should be vehicle issues, not Hybrid.

Perhaps one of our more mechanically expert folks with similar year models could weigh in. I know I'd certainly like to be aware for the sake of my 06 FEH.

Bob

 

I believe the cooling pump referred to is the hybrid cooling pump known as the MECP.

 

Actually, I have stopped going to the dealer. According to my mechanic, the only one that was directly tied to the hybrid system was the actuator, but when I did the research it seems that people with hybrids are having all three of these issues.

I have not checked the non-hybrid forums, so the cooling and driveshaft issues could be true for other Escapes.

I am just wondering about Ford quality in general. In all of the cars I have owned I have never had to repace a driveshaft. The other issue that I am concerned about is that Ford knows about all of these issues and is not doing anything to help people that are having them. I will give them credit they have redesigned the cooling pump, but that doesn't help me since I had to pay $600 to have it replaced.

 

Could you provide a little more information as to what specifically happened to your car in these cases? Since I've got an 06 FEH, I'd like to be a little more aware of what is going on in case I encounter a similar situation and thus, am more prepared, should I get stonewalled at the dealer.

Thanks much,
Bob

 

Issue 1:
I noticed a vibration when driving. The vibration seemed to be right below me. It seemed to happen when I let off the gas. It happened when using either the Engine or Motor. I was hoping it was the tires, but it wasn't. This was the first time I had my car to someone other than the dealer. I know and trust this mechanic. He looked into the issue and found that the ujoints were bad. They contacted Ford. Ford said the ujoints were not a repaceble part. The drive shaft needed to be replaced. There is a local drive train shop or something. They sent the drive shaft to them to have the ujoints replaced.

Issue 2:
Shortly after the drive shaft issue, I started receiving the wrench and a service soon message. Took it back to the same mechanic. He tried to read the code with his generic code reader. Nothing showed. He then hooked up his laptop with the Ford specific code reader. It showed a code of B1239. There was a TSB for this. 07-25-12 The TSB says to test and replace the Mode Door Actuator. Since this was part of they hybrid system, I called the local dealer gave them the TSB and the code. I asked if this would be covered by the hybrid 100,000 mile warranty. He looked up the TSB and said NO. I asked why not. He said the TSB said it was not covered. I had my mechanic replace the part.

Issue 3:
I was driving down the expressway. Next thing I know, the dash beeps, and displays the "stop safely now message. Also, the engine shuts off. I pull over and restart the engine. I also received a message about overheating. So I take it to the mechanic. He runs the codes again. There is another TSB. I don't have that particular TSB. He says that my codes match up exactly with the TSB. The TSB says to replace the Motor Electronics cooling pump. He also says that the new pump is a totally different design.

Sorry for the length.

Steve

 

Steve:

Appreciate the insight. I'll add this info to my "Just in Case" binder I'm maintaining, should something weird happen.

Bob

 

The cooling pump and the door actuator are both very very common issues with the FEH. It is a real shame that Ford does not replace these under warranty since they are Hybrid specific.

My 07 FEH 4wd has 42k miles and I have not had either of these issues yet. Unfortunately, I DID have the vibration issue (I posted in other threads). The dealer did replace the drive shaft (I have an extended warranty) under warranty and the issue is much improved, but still not completely gone.

Please post the result of shipping the driveshaft to a local drive shaft shop. I am considering doing the same and having the the u joints replaced on this new drive shaft to see if it completely fixes the issue.

Last comment - I'm not sure comparing your old Mitsu to a first generation hybrid of any variety is an apples to apples comparison. Ford knows about the 2 common FEH issues - they should have covered them since they happen like clockwork.

 

John:

Speaking of extended warranties, is yours through Ford or a third party? My 06 FEH is a little over 90,000 miles. I've heard so much bad about aftermarket warranty ripoffs, I'm more inclined to follow the Dave Ramsey theory and just set aside X dollars per month as contingency money, should something go out. However, with all the electronics in the cars these days, it may not be enough.

 

My extended warranty is through Ford (Premium Care). It was around $1100 for 4 years/48k miles from the date of purchased (my 07 had 35k on it or so when I bought it). I would never even consider a non-OEM warranty because of all the scams. You can search for the best price of a Ford Extended Warranty online - then take that to your local dealer and they will usually match it. That is what I did. The drive shaft replacement and some front end suspension work already paid for most of the $1100 that I spent on the warranty.