where do i get this ScanGauge? the one i mentioned borrowing is the latest napa professional shop scanner..its probably got the software i need, so i guess i'll go get it monday

 

I got my SG-II from this eBay store: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ScanG...motiveQ5fTools
and I seemed to get the latest version ever mentioned here of v1.16.

You "may" need a high end scanner to read a "wrench" DTC.

 

You do not need anything 'high end'.
In fact, the NAPA one probably won't do what we need it to do.
The generic "ScanGauge" www.scangauge.com works great because it can be "user programable".

You need the very specific Ford Escape Hybrid PID or Parameter I.D.
Basically, you need to know what to "ask" the car, and you need to know how to decipher the response, usually, a hexidecimal number, into useful data.
Fortunately, many of the FEH codes have be posted for you to program.

If you can read the HV battery temperature, with any means, and report back, that will reveal a lot. If the temperature is normal ( under 95 degrees ) then you have other issues, and we can go from there.

Hey, try this, I forgot... you can get the green panel on your car to show you battery temperature! You need to buy nothing!

With the key off, press down and hold the trip odometer reset button.
Then turn the key to on, or even start the car with the button still down.
You will hear a beep. Then release the button and you will see the word "test" on the display. Press the button once at a time and the green panel will cycle through numerous diagnostics. Go slowly so you don't miss what you need.

et xxx = engine temperature in degrees C ( just in case you are curious )
bt xxx = high voltage battery temperature in degrees C

Your battery should be less than 60'C at all times, and really, less than 40'C if the cooling is working. The A/C starts to cool the pack at 30'C so really, after the car has been running a while, the bt = number should always be less than 30 degrees C.

It just occured to me, you may have an ok A/C system, but a bad thermister ( temperature probe ) and the bad temperature probe may be giving the car a false reading, or no reading at all.

Do the bt code and report back what it says... you can leave it on the display while driving, that is what it is there for. Notice how the car behaves and try to correlate.

Man... which I thought of that sooner for ya!

HTH,
-John

 

Unfortunately, Ford stopped listing hexadecimal numbers for PIDs in their manuals. For '09, Ford went to a different PCM using more pins. This may be the reason a SCT X3 engine tuner I purchased for my '09 FE didn't work and I had to return it.

Some PIDs still use the same memory locations but as time moves along there going to be PIDs added if not already that we won't be able to access because we don't know the hexadecimal numbers.

 

In the symptomology the behavior of the engine when in low and regen:

"also when its not working right, the regen braking doesn't work either...i can put it in low and when i let off the accelerator for the max regen, the engine just races up on its own..like the electric motor/genen brake is not connected"

is how it will behave if you were on a long descending grade and the battery reaches full charge. The computer then turns the engine back on, revs it up, and uses it to absorb the energy of downhill braking.

The entries above are a good set of possibilities. It strikes me that your set up is behaving as if the battery is fully charged and there is a temp issue causing the computer to minimize drain (ie ICE only ops) so as to minimize charging & therefore battery temps.

 

I just tried this on my 08 FEH and battery temp is not one of the items listed when you toggle through.

I'll try to remember to take a notepad out and copy down all the items that are available as you toggle through the list. Some of them were gibberish to me while other items were clear in their meaning.

One item that caught my eye was "Electric Power Available". I ran the battery through a full EV cycle (I have the NAVI) from top of the + until the bottom of the battery (where the ICE kicks back on) and it never reported anything but 100%. I wonder what this value is actually reporting?

 

Hmm... I specifically tried this in a 2008 when they first came out in late 2007 and it worked.

I also remember seeing the 100% electric power available, and it didn't change either. I only had the car for 1 afternoon, and could not really "play" with it. I wonder if this number goes down if the battery is too hot or cold?

Or, maybe as the pack ages, this number goes down?
We discussed elsewhere that the car only uses about 235 watt hours per charge. This is 13% of the battery capacity. SO... maybe it means you are able to use 100% of that 13%? All speculation here.

The 2005 does not have that "feature".
You should have battery temperature.
Look for some value of about 30 ( degrees ) plus or minus.

 

Maybe it is the same as the "Drive Light" on the lower right hand of the dash? It indicates that the vehicle is capable of moving; it is there because otherwise one doesn't realize that the vehicle can move even when the ICE is off. It looks like a car with a left/right arrow below it.

 

ok guys i gotta little more info here.....i drove it first thing in the morning(80 degrees outside) seemed to be fine but the diagnostic test showed bt 34....drove maybe 3miles and it didn't really make any difference as far as it cooling down...i got under the back and felt of the cooling line and it was ice cold like it should be....ok i had to go out of town for most of the day but when i got back alittle while ago i got back in it...started it and it showed bt 35...a/c kicked on and i went to the back and felt of the line again...hot....let it idle for awhile and the bt climbed alittle-36....went to drive it and had pretty good power/assist...its 96 degrees outside so i just kept driving it to see what happens...the more i drove it, the hotter it got...finally topped out at 45 when i pulled into the driveway...it has very low power/assist now...i checked the a/c line in the back again and its still not cold like an a/c line should be...it seemed to just keep getting lower and lower on power after the bt got to 40...i assume i found my problem(a/c isn't cooling the battery enough) but i'm not sure how to fix it...i put my a/c gauge on the low pressure line under the hood and it showed to be at 55psi(pretty normal for 96 degree weather but seems it could be alittle high) remember i had the a/c condensor cleaned/washed(bugs,feather,etc) out but do you think its still stopped up? or do you think its low and needs more freon? i was gonna take it to the dealer but they will probably just tell me the same thing i already know and charge me for it...i did call and he said the problem was probably a/c related...

 

Before you leap into a major A/C repair... Check and see how the A/C to the people part of the FEH works.

If it is working fine then the issue is either in the freon line to the traction battery cooling coil, the traction battery cooling coil itself, or the fan that takes the cooled air from the cooling coil to the battery.

I've never seen a freon line blocked without some major failure elsewhere in the system. The cooling coil could be full of dirt or the duct to battery could have sucked up something.

Check the people A/C first.