You could be right about that Bill, but not much changed as far as the design in the '05 - '07 FEH. The '08 had a body change and the Battery heater cable was deleted. Also, I think the programming did change in the '08 to read eCVT temperature or something.

GaryG

 

The was and still may be a issue with flat towing a FE starting with '09 or the new 6F35 transaxle, so people were looking for a way to monitor temperature. All the listed memory location(s) have been tried, even with help from DesertDog(CarlD) and none worked on the SG.

There was a PCM change in '09 for the FE but I'm not sure if that was for the FEH also. I tried a SCT engine tuner in early '09, wouldn't even connect. I asked the dealer late in '09 and nothing had changed. It'll work on a '10 Mustang but not the FE. The same goes for a DashDAQ. Just like high end consumer OBD-II scanners, they'll read only generic DTCs.

 

Appreciate the info re accessing trouble codes. Just an opinion, but if Linear Logic advertises a function, one would think it would be a top level available piece of information?

Anyhow, here is what the local Ford Service Mgr had to report when I picked up my good-as-new Mariner:

The car electrical system goes into sleep mode 45 minutes after shutdown. In sleep mode, the tolerance on battery voltage ( low voltage battery ) is tighter. Hence, with a failing cell, the system wouldn't allow the battery online when the key was entered ( or I nudged the brake pedal ) when entering the car after a protracted sleep period. But that "protection" ( Svc Mgr's words ) isn't there in non-sleep mode, hence the car would start after I cycled the battery cable connection off-on.

The logic of this analysis hangs together but leaves some open design intent questions which he couldn't address. And of course, there is no clue in the Operators Manual that, in this situation, with a partial battery failure and a car that won't start, there is an easy short term solution at hand that will allow getting the car safely going. Since the software apparently knew enough to not let the battery online, wouldn't it be possible to at least light only the battery warning symbol?

Anyone know the email address of the Escape Hybrid customer service tech people?

Thanks,
John Dixson

 

In Post #16, you stated that they tested the battery which "should" have detected a weak cell.

You can call Customer Service but there isn't a number for "us" to reach "any" service tech people. Any technical questions and you'll be refered to your dealer, I know as I've tried in the past.

 

Glad you picked up on the battery test, because there is a point to be made here:

On Friday past when I stopped in and they did a battery test, it was done with a hand-held tester which then, after a 1 minute test, printed out directly to another hand-held small printer. This was done immediately as I drove in, probably within 5 minutes after shutdown.

The battery test accomplished on Monday took them 40 minutes and utilized a larger test apparatus ( was not there to witness ). Service Mgr said that the full blown test picked up the one weak cell. This test was done after letting the car sit for 3 1/2 hours after shutdown.

Thanks,
John Dixson

 

The latest handheld battery testers "should" be able to detect a bad/weak cell, if not, what's the point of using it first??

 

I went through a similar issue recently with a battery on my '95 Cobra. The battery was less than 1 year old but would not charge properly. The charge gauge in the cluster was always lower than it had been and if the car sat for more than a week it wouldn't start the car.

I took it to three different auto parts stores (two with the same name) and all but one of them tested the battery and their tester showed it passed. I finally went to a auto parts store that didn't sell that particular battery. Sure enough, their tester showed a problem with the battery, I took a picture of their test results and had to get a regional manager involved before the original sales store would replace the battery.

Since it's been replaced, I've let the car sit for over a month and it starts on the first attempt and the guages are right back where they should be.

 

Do you know what the brand name of the testers used? I have a Midtronics conductance type(non-destructive) tester. It does that standard battery test but prompts you for added alternator testing where you hold higher idle speed, add loads, etc.

 

Decided to send a report directly to Ford via regular mail.

In addition to the problem description, I offered two ideas for their future consideration:

1. If the Service Mgr's assessment is correct, and the system, in sleep mode, was smart enough to sense lower than optimal battery voltage, why not illuminate the battery warning symbol?
2. Since quite obviously the battery voltage was sufficient to start the car, should the sleep mode software be modified so that a safely drivable vehicle is not incapacitated?

Thanks,
John Dixson

 

The meter that reported the battery as bad was and Auto Meter used at an O'Reilly Auto Parts. I only know that because I still have the picture I took on my cell phone.

The meter used at both Advance Auto Parts did not catch the bad battery.

In all three test I remember having to raise the RPM and add headlights/AC to increase the load while the test was running. We also did test on the battery with it out of the car but I don't remember which store/tester that was.