Dear Friends
my 06 FEH is showing the message service emission system, and the check fuel cap message, the first appeared about one month ago, and the second about one week after the other.
I can see that the big hose that is near the front radiator (close to the low voltage battery) and has a sensor in it( I do not know what sensor is) has a crack so I ordered it, but has not arrived.
I noticed that when I open a door or unlock the car, the abs pump starts pumping.
I imagine that the emission error is related to that.
I replaced the fuel cap with a new one and the message kept repeating , even after erasing it with the OBDII module.
Are these problems related?
Also I am using premiun gas, but do not know what is the octane rating appropiate to this engine, I assume that the higher the octane the less fuel I will use to accelerate because it has more power.
One last thing, I noticed a small plastic cover in the passenger floor area, near the outer wall, and under that is a small button with a green light on it, and a battery symbol, I pressed it and stayed lit, but nothing happened. What is that and what is does?
Please help?

 

The pump noise you are hearing is normal for the FEH. Due to the tie in with regenerative braking, it uses a pressurized system instead of relying on the pressure from the brake pedal/master cylinder as in a standard Escape.

I remember reading about another FEH owner who had a small hole in the filler pipe that caused a "check fuel cap" message.

I'm pretty sure the 2006 FEH owners manual calls for 87 octane gasoline. I know that the 2008 FEH does. I hesitate to call that standard gasoline as I see that you are El Salvador and I'm not sure what is standard in your area. I do find that if I use US Premium gas (93 octane rating) that I get less MPG. The same thing happens when ethanol is added (10% is mixed in with standard gas in most places in the US now). I do not feel a noticeable power difference when running these higher octane fuels.

 

The button you found on down at the bottom of the drivers side door is the HV battery recharge. If your HV battery gets too low to turn the engine over to start, you can press this button. It will attempt to charge the HV battery from the 12 volt battery.

Cheers,

Darren

 

Per the other responder: the octane requirement should be shown in your Owners Manual. It is very likely regular gas is all you need, just a few high compression engines require higher octane.

Your assumptions about the benefits of higher octane gas are more-or-less exactly what the oil companies like you to think, it makes them more profit.

There is no benefit to going to higher octane if you don't need it. All it does it resist pre-ignition better, a requirement for high compression engines only.

 

Dear Friends
I thank you for all your responses , in my country I can only count on people like you that guide me because I am alone here, I can see only a few first gen Prius, and some Civics.
I switched to regular already, and will try to get the perforated hose, I still cannot figure out what is the problem with the gas cap, because I already purchased a new one, and can no smell any gas nor inside or outside the vehicle.
If you know anything, please help. I also have problems with the TPMS sensors, but I will post it in another thread to keep this one on the way.
Thanks

 

I also have a Volvo V40 turbo, I assume that since the engine is turbocharged, it must use the higher octane gas, are these engines what you are referring?
Thanks in advance

 

Not to get too far off topic but... yes, many turbo cars recommend or require premium fuel. It seems that Volvo recommends 91 octane but should be able to run on 87 octane with reduced performance and possibly FE.

"Volvo cars call for "premium fuel [91 octane or better] for optimum performance and fuel economy," said Wayne Baldwin, product/segment manager for the S60/S80. "However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using 87 octane, as the knock sensors and engine management system 'protect' the engine from knocking.""
(ref: http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fuelec...3/article.html)