Dealer confirmed mecs failure. Wanted $800 to do the job. Almost slapped him through the phone. Said pump is $300 alone. Need to drain and refill coolant. Also said the connector was damaged and needed replacement involving rewiring it, also wanted to flash pcm???? Claimed all in it was 4 hrs work. Anyway....

I told him the pump is not $300 and its not close to a 4 hr job. We talked to the mechanic and talked about me leaving. They agreed to knock $200 off the price. Still a ripoff but I'm not in a position to order the pump, install it and or get someone else to do it. I just don't have the time nor desire to drive around for a few days like this.

So they got me... just not as bad as they wanted....

 

$600, while indeed fairly steep for this repair, is at least a fairly typical dealer charge according to prior posts. So you made the significant jump from being ripped off to merely being charged the usual dealership service premium rate.

When you factor in the saved time & cleanup, and the convenience, it's reasonable.

 

Can't fault your logic, best to get it done quickly.

If they are charging much for the connector replacement and reflash, I would discuss those items with them.

The connector is a captured automotive type, and hard to understand how it could get damaged and still work.

I haven't read about a reflash being required for this specific repair, and the instructions make no mention of that. Maybe you had a reflash required based on VIN from a previous TSB or recall. I'd ask about that.

Keep us posted.

 

The mechanic didn't say the reflash was related to this repair just that there were a number of "updates" from Ford that apparently I might benefit from.... having not had dealer service in a couple of years I sorta believe that's possible.

As for the connector, the mechanic said that the connector terminals are really small and tend to get easily damaged.... and said that with the MECS failure, the connector overheats and can be damaged. He said that he strongly recommends replacing it now, because if it is at all damaged it could easily fail while driving and cause the engine shutdown again. (if this happens to my wife again she will kill me and then push my car off a cliff - I don't want either to happen)

The costs, if I recall, were about $300 for the pump, $30 for the connector, $20 for coolant, and the rest was 3.9hrs of labor...

 

Ended up charging me $210 for the pump, $25 for the wiring assembly (which the mechanic who I chatted up in the parking lot told me wasn't plug and play but had to be soldered on), $15 for the coolant and $2 for distilled water. So, $252 for parts and $335 for labor (plus tax).

 

Well, I'm now part of the "SSN" club. I'll describe the symptoms and situation below, on the 2008 FEH I just bought a week ago with 72k. I'll also include diagnosis and resolution in later posts.

I got it for $13.5k so can't complain too much, though I now get the feeling the Toyota dealer I bought it from knew about the issue since I was surprised they accepted my lowball offer.

Mileage has been 33.5mpg since last Friday's purchase, just what I expected with my type of commute. I was on the fwy in stop and go traffic, and was using battery much more so mpg creeped up to 35 just before I got the SSN warning.

I had all windows down, it was 75 degrees outside, had radio on a comfortable volume, econ button was lit and HVAC temp setting was 72 degrees, and fan was on low -- did not have the A/C on.

Traffic cleared in front of me so I let off the brakes and hit the gas pedal gently to keep mpg up using batteries. Pretty sure the ICE engine had just started but not really sure since it all happened so far and I wanted to get off the fwy before I blocked traffic -- might have been doing 20-25mph as normal for ICE engagement.

Vehicle suddenly lost acceleration and began to slow when I noticed the ICE was NOT engaged. I saw the SSN warning and pretty sure I saw a red wrench -- may or may not have seen the red triangle. Again, highly stressed to get off the fwy before getting killed.

Vehicle would still move at under 10mph on battery so I took an offramp a few hundred feet ahead and pulled to side of road. I turned the key to off position and waited a couple minutes, then car started right up without further issue. I drove on the side streets ~10 miles to the dealership (was actually going to pick up a new rubber cargo mat, some missing console parts, and a new dome light since the original dome light had a short and burned the plastic housing!) and the problem did not recur at all -- mpg was still low 30s.

Since vehicle made it to the dealer I left it and will let them diagnose -- need to call them shortly for an update on codes, etc. Will post more to avoid long-winded novel.

QUICK EDIT: dealership called and said they pulled codes (i'll get them later) that indicated the MECS Pump was an issue, though the advisor didn't know if the tech had really diagnosed pump failure, intermittency, or just pulled the codes. I'll verify just to avoid spending cash on a pump when a cheap-**** relay may actually be the problem. LOL
Advisor also said they pulled a battery blend door actuator code.
I'll update more later.

 

Ouch. Let us know if that permanently fixes it. I was quoted ~$300 for the pump alone, and didn't even ask about labor. I still need to verify how they figured the pump is bad and get the exact codes when I get to the dealership. Would be nice to save on costs if just a relay is bad and they misdiagnosed. I'm in a position where I have other vehicles I can drive and I'm only 4 miles from the stealership, so can limp home if needed and do the repairs myself.

Will also attempt to get them down on price if it is the pump since various searches and thread posts here have the same part for under $200. As always, buyer beware -- they don't call them stealerships for nothing.

 

Okay, I just got all the codes and they are as follows. I would GREATLY appreciate any and all help to figure these out. The odd thing here to me is that none of these codes are listed on the TSB 08-24-5 linked in the blog post below, so it doesn't even sound like the MECS Pump is the problem.

In alpha-numeric order, and description found online (though maybe incorrect). I double checked all these codes from the work order and entered them here correctly:
B1137 = can't find anywhere online - wrong code?
B1239 = traction battery blend door actuator
B1312 = a/c or headlamp error code
B1318 = battery voltage low
C1324 = Brake Hydraulic Master Cylinder piston - Travel Sensor 2 Circuit Failure
C1524 = Brake Fluid Level Sensor Out of Range
C1526 = Brake System Initialization Incomplete
P0685 = ECM/PCM Power Relay Control Circuit/Open
P0A8P = can't find anywhere online - wrong code?
P1A10 = Hybrid Powertrain Control Module-Battery Disabled
P2105 = Throttle Actuator Control System - Forced Engine Shutdown
U023 = can't find anywhere online - wrong code?
U2023 = Vehicle Communication Network Fault
U2472 = shows as a Mazda code??
U2511 = shows as a Mazda code??

I drove the car home without any problems (of course) and parked it. Verified the MECS Pump is humming along making noise and there is coolant flowing into the rear-most coolant tank (no idea how much should be flowing though). I tapped the pump with a hammer in various spots and the sound didn't change so I figure it's okay. It does appear to be the old style as seen on this blog post:
http://blog.yagelski.com/2011/02/for...ic-motor.html?

So... any ideas on where I should look first? Is the Pump really a problem? Is the blend door actuator actually a problem? I don't really trust any dealership to tell me anything and the more I learn the better I'll feel. Thanks in advance!

Rob

 

All of those are probably caused by a 12V battery going south, except the air door thing. First thing I would do is have that 12V battery tested. I never had a SSN from my blend door but I had a mess of codes from when my 12V croaked.

 

Interesting that you say that. The dealership didn't even go in that direction even though the tech apparently saw that B1318 code that they listed on the work order. They just said the MECS pump and the traction blend door actuator needed replaced. But the codes the dealer listed aren't even on the MECS pump TSB, and it was working fine the 2 times I've checked it now, so I don't see how they thought the pump needed replaced. Trying to pull a fast one??

The battery is a BXT-96R that I see listed as original equipment but I see no date codes other than an etching in the plastic near the sight glass that says 07H02B478. The site glass shows an orange or red center with a green looking outer ring, but I've read that sight glass only indicates one cell's state and not the state of the battery as a whole so it could be better or worse. So it sounds to me like the battery could be a culprit here. Anyone know how to figure out the manufacture date on these? I'll get it load tested along with the alternator to see where the issue lies.

About that blend door actuator...
I noticed while detailing the car after I bought it that a screw at the top of the rear airflow duct (black plastic egg-crate looking thing to the left of the battery in the cargo area) had a very loose screw -- I'm thinking someone was already back there to replace the actuator or do something else. How long will a code like that stay in the car's brain if it was already repaired?

EDIT:
The service advisor said he wrote all the codes down that the tech gave him. Code "P0A8P" doesn't exist and I think instead of "P" at the end, the tech said "B, C, or D" and the advisor heard it wrong and wrote "P". "P0A8B, C, and D" codes are for 14 volt power module system voltage --- could this also be related to the 12V battery, or the hybrid batteries. Google isn't much help thus far.