Hello! I have a 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid with 170K miles. It's been a good car, but lately has had some troubles.

The car will work normally for the first 30 minutes to an hour in the morning depending on how cool it is outside. The gage will show that the hybrid battery is charging and assisting as it should. The engine will shut off at stops and will drive up to 35 mph in hybrid mode before the engine turns back on.

On a cool day the car will run normally in the morning for about an hour, on a warmer humid day the car will run normally for about 30 minutes. Obviously it's at this point that the battery is getting too warm to go into hybrid mode- but what is the problem?

Last year when my car started doing this I changed the hybrid battery fans- and the car worked perfectly for about 9 months. When the problem started happening again about a month ago, I installed another new set of hybrid battery fans from Ford (they were still under warranty), but it hasn't fixed the problem.

...this might be related, so about 3 months ago I noticed that the air conditioning in the cabin was not getting cold. I went to a local auto shop and used an A/C recharge kit and the cabin A/C has worked great ever since.

The small silver metal pipes under the hood where the freon goes is cold, but the small silver metal pipes where the freon should go to the hybrid batteries in the back are NOT cold. I just recently noticed that the pipes in the back are not cold...

So, the common 3 problems that keep the FEH from going into 'hybrid mode' (that I know of) are:
1) The MECS pump (was changed under recall about 2 years ago, and I can hear it working)
2) The hybrid battery fans (were replaced last year, and changed again a month ago -probably unnecessarily- and I can hear them working)
3) The Blend Door Actuator. I have not seen the little wrench or warnings that this part is bad, but I often check and I have also not seen the little door in the back actually open to let in fresh air under the filter.

I bought a new Blend Door Actuator and am going to install it right now. But since I have not seen any warnings, I don't think the one on there now is malfunctioning? I'm going to replace it anyway, but it may not fix the problem?

I'm assuming (and I can see from the dash and nav gages) that the battery does hold a charge and will assist. But whatever the problem is, the batteries are not cooling down after a certain amount of time. All I know is the problem is not the MECS pump, the hybrid battery fans, (and soon) not the blend door actuator.

Could the air conditioner be working in the cabin, but not be getting to the hybrid battery in the back? Is the blend door not opening because the air is recirculating to the batteries, but all it has to work with is hot air?

I don't know, and once I change the actuator, I will be out of ideas (and things that I can easily fix myself). If anyone can share ANY ideas about what the problem might be, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you very much in advance for any help you can offer!

 

The A/C system is a good place to start IMO. There are lots of A/C lines on a FEH running the length of the vehicle that can leak. Recharging without evacuating the system may have introduced water vapor or other contaminants. Overcharging with refrigerant is also a possibility.

 

WAIT. I HAVE A 2005 and you just explained everything that is wrong with my car and the exact same things I was about to post. PLEASE HELP US!!! I did change my ac compressor, ac condenser, and the hybrid radiator today (the car was in an accident and I didn't know; ac wasnt blowing cold and I finally tried to get it fixed and my mechanic pulled the bumper off, saw the massive damage). Ac blows cold now for the first time since I got the car, but now my hybrid battery temp is a steady 105 and I'm not sure why. From my experience the ev doesn't kick in after the battery temp hits 100, so I've been really sad all day. If anyone has any idea what it could be if greatly appreciate it!

 

So I changed the Blend Door Actuator, it didn't help (I didn't really think it would).

My mechanic was showing a lot of different codes from the Escape, basically it was showing on each one that the charge from the Battery was "Out of Range."

Two of the error codes are: B1318, and Po400

Something else that is going on is when the car is not going into 'Hybrid Mode,' and when the car is not moving, I hear a creaking sound when I move the steering wheel back and forth. The power steering is electric, and according to my mechanic, the problem (and all of the other little problems) is because the charge from the battery is showing as "Out of Range."

But again, it's less noticeable in the morning when the car is working like it should.

This may or may not be related as well, but the Nav Screen is often white or faintly shows the display in and out. It could be because the power from the battery is out of range as well.

The reason I'm here is because my mechanic thought the problem might be with the Escape's alternator/transmission (there is no traditional alternator in the hybrid, its all in the transmission). That was too big a job for his shop to address so he suggested I take it to the dealership.

I took it to the dealership, they had no idea what was going on. They suggested that I not drive the car because the battery was heating up so much that it was dangerous to drive (I've been driving like this all summer, is it really that dangerous?). The mechanic's only suggestion was to change the Blend Door Actuator (I did that a few days ago and it didn't help, obviously). They said that they would consult with Ford directly and get back to me, that was a week ago and I haven't heard back from them.

So my Escape still has the same problems, it won't go into 'hybrid mode' after the first 30 mins of driving in the morning. Turning the wheel when not moving makes a creaking sound, and the Nav screen goes white and fades in and out. It's probably because so many systems are getting battery power "Out of Range." Ford doesn't know what the problem is (I'm going to keep bothering them until they can give me some sort of answer though), but they cleared all the codes, so I can't even go off of that anymore somewhere else.

Thank you for the suggestion above, I'll have the AC system checked out. I would really rather not make all sorts of fixes that won't fix the actual problem though (like the post above). Could it be an (alternator) transmission problem that the battery is not supplying the right amount of power (Out of Range)?

If anyone has any more suggestions, I would absolutely love to hear them. Thank you again in advance!

 

The pre-'2010 FEH's share the same a/c layout. The cabin and traction battery a/c systems share a condenser, compressor and refrigerant. After the cooled refrigerant leaves the compressor, it arrives at a valve. This valve has an associated computer module that monitors various things such as the battery temperature, cabin a/c settings, and cabin temperature.

The decisions of that computer module determine whether the valve is set to allow refrigerant to reach the cabin hvac unit, the battery hvac unit, both, or neither.

If it's determined the hybrid battery needs cooling, the valve sets so that refrigerant flows through lines under the body, to the hvac unit in the rear driver side cargo area.

If the cabin a/c works fine, but, as in your case, it's obvious the battery hvac is not, then the problem cannot be the refrigerant lines. Because the same refrigerant is used by both systems and losing it would mean neither a/c system would work.

So the problem must be: defective valve control module, defective valve or defective rear hvac unit. Of these, the only one I've heard of before is the rear hvac unit. And the typical problem with the rear hvac unit is a defective blend door actuator motor. Of course, check the filter in the side of the cargo area to see if it's clogged. IF so, put in a new one. If the new one stays clean, it means the outside vent is clogged.

Otherwise the blend door actuator is the prime suspect. I have an '09, but I think the earlier ones also had issues with a fan somewhere back there.

 

Hi xspirit, thanks for the info. I read on another post on this forum that people with similar symptoms as me thought it could be some kind of solenoid ? Basically on my scan gauge I see the ac compressor going on off on off a few times when the battery temp gets to around 85, and then the battery temp keeps heating up. I found a workaround: turn the AC max on to force the ac compressor on, and then the battery temp starts going down as well. In the summer it's fine but I'm worried about having to do that in the winter... Haha. Could those symptoms be caused by the blend door actuator motor? I just replaced both radiators, the condenser and the ac compressor... This just started happening because I never had a problem before I fixed my ac system.

Thank you!!

 

This is getting beyond what I'm comfortable commenting on. But it sounds to me like there's a problem with either the valve I described, the valve's control unit, or the rear hvac unit. Maybe when you replaced the condenser and compressor you dislodged some gunk into the lines that can be bypassed at high refrigerant pressure? Or some component of the system will only work at high setting/pressure. (I once had an old Chev, and eventually the interior fan would only work at the highest setting.)

And of course if replacing the condenser and compressor didn't fix it, one has to wonder if those parts were ok. You should at least invest in a factory service manual if you're going to do this level of work.

 

I didn't really study that rear AC control when I changed the blend door actuator last week, but it seems to me it was an old-style non-electronic expansion valve. Opening and closing the expansion valve is purely mechanical, dependent on the temp from the capillary tube. No CPU control if so. Those are pretty reliable, but they do fail.
Of the two lines going under the car to the left rear corner, one should be ambient temp and other should be cool, IF the ambient air is warm enough to not cool the battery on it's own. IOW, if the rear air is working, one line should be cooler than the other.

 

Thank you for the replies!

So, the replacement Blend Door Actuator I installed last week was Motorcraft YH-1770.

I've seen on this forum that the actual part may be Motorcraft YH-1750.

I might have just installed the wrong part?

The 1770 looks exactly like the 1750, they have the same hookups, everything. Does anyone know if there is a difference between the two models?

What is there the actual part number for the Rear Door Actuator? (I think there are OEM, Dorman, and Motorcraft versions)

Thank you again for the help!

 

YH1770 is what I installed on my 2008 last week. Apparently it replaced YH1750