I have read through this whole thread, multiple times over the last few month. I have a 07 FEH. From the time I purchased it in 9/06 until 3/13 we had the "Stop Safely Now" problem two separate times. Those two incidents were about 3 or so years apart, so we assumed they were flukes. In 4/13 I attempted to drive from my home, about 100 miles north or so on the interstate. I made it about 30 miles when the stop safely now happened the first time. I was able to restart the car, and continued to drive. I made it a total of about 45 miles from my house, and the car lost power 5 times. I then read this thread for the first time, and let the car cool down for about 45 minutes, and then was able to drive home without incident. The following we replaced 3 out of 5 relays in the car. We started then experiencing the shut off about once a week or so. We replaced the MECS pump on 5/18. We did not have the problem again for two weeks. Then it happened twice. But, now on monday the car shut off while my husband was driving to work. Tuesday it shut off three times on his 6 mile drive home. Yesterday, he didn't make it to work because it shut off twice in four blocks. We were able to slowly get the car home, so at least we know it is home now. But I'm looking for help.

The next thing we planned to try was having the HV battery harness installed. (TSB 09-18-6) But I feel like I am getting the run around from the dealership on this. The service bulletin states that the repair should take 2.4 hours. The service manager I spoke to said that if I were under warranty - it would indeed only take 2.4 hours, but since I am out of warranty it now takes 3.6 hours to fix. He also states that in the last month or so they have raised their labor rates to $110/hr which is quite a bit more than the $76/hr I was told about the last time I was in. (approx. 5 weeks ago)

I'm sorry for the novel of a back story - but any advice that any of you can share would be so greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

 

Nichole, if you have not had the dealer determine what codes are showing, do it. Your battery fans may be the problem and the code scan would be covered under the 8yr/100,000 mile hybrid component warranty if that's the issue.

Today, I was talking to my hybrid tech regarding my '09 FEHL and he tried to state the fans are not covered, but quickly admitted they were after I started to jump down his throat. The harness should still be covered also, because it's part of the internal battery pack. Ford just will not pay the dealers the real hours it takes to change the fans or replace the harness. The dealers want more money than Ford will allow, so they simply say those components are not covered and squeeze the money out of you. My hybrid tech was just taking a chance in thinking I might fall for their BS. My fans are still good and he didn't want a war with me over that issue. I know the dealers play this game all the time because they have few people ever challenge them over this and many other covered parts and labor.

Gary

 

Nicole: At this point you are just throwing parts at your car hoping to get lucky. As Gary said, it is absolutely imperative you go to a Ford dealer and have them scan your vehicle for trouble codes. Take it to Ford, not Autozone, etc. as there are many proprietary codes average consumer code scanners are incapable of reading. Come back and post the trouble code(s) and people here can offer real assistance

 

Apparently, I am a new member to the "Stop Safely Now" club as well. Bought my 2008 FEH in January 2013 with $58k miles. Up until now, the only issue I had was a cracked tone ring (which I was able to diagnose on my own thanks to this forum).

Driving on my first 200+ mile trip from Rockland, MA to Stowe, VT for vacation this week. Sunny weather, about 85 degrees, running with cruise control at 65mph. About halfway there in NH along Rte 89 (after stopping for lunch at a rest stop) I got the red triangle, engine shut off, and got the "stop safely now" message. Not much traffic thankfully, and was able to pull over without incident. I had not read this thread previously, so I had no clue as to what was going on. After about 5 min, I tried to restart successfully. Drove another half mile and the engine shut down again. Waited 10-15min this time, got another mile down the road with the same result. Called AAA for a tow, but knew since it was Sunday, I'd be waiting for a while (not that I had any idea where to tell them to tow me to!) After waiting about 20 min, my son in the back seat complained he was hot, so I started the engine and cranked the air conditioning. After the cabin cooled down, I noticed a sign that the next exit was a mile away, so I decided to at least get off the highway and update AAA with my location.

On a whim, I kept driving...no cruise control, never faster than 65mph. Made it the rest of the way up the mountains of VT to our destination. Feel pretty lucky. Now I am just leery about the eventual ride home.

So after reading and re-reading all 27 pages of this thread, I have gleaned the following possibilities:

MECS needs to be replaced (most likely)
Hybrid battery cables/harness may be corroded and need to be replaced
Relay(s) are bad and need to be replaced
TB (?) and actuator door may need to be replaced
My regular battery may need to be checked (?)
Am I forgetting anything?

So armed at the very least with TSB 09-19-12, and TSB 09-18-6, I know I need to go to a Ford dealer (I bought my FEH, used from a Chevy dealership) and get it scanned for trouble codes. I know from experience and from stories related here that going to the dealership can be frustrating and expensive. If anyone has any positive experiences with mechanics experienced in Hybrids in fixing related issues in Eastern MA, I am more than happy to listen.

 

Such a good post I'll quote for posterity!
I am curious though if anyone has ever verified that just the traction battery actuator actually causes the SSN (short of there being any other exacerbating problems), or if it merely affects mileage (which is what I experienced).

 

What would you accept as verification? I have had both, and the blend door did not cause the engine to shut down.

 

Not sure I understand your post Steve. Just to clarify, you had both "what"? Are you saying the TBBDA caused an SSN but did not shut down the engine?

 

I had the Blend door problem that affected MPG and caused an intermittant warning light. It was a maintenance light and different from the triangle of death.

I also had MECS failure that shut the vehicle down on the freeway.

 

I had the blend door light on and off for 40,000 miles in my '05 FEH. It never effected MPG or caused a SSN. I sold the '05 FEH with the problem and the light stayed off at that time for a few months just before I sold it.

Never read a post confirming the blend door caused a SSN.

Gary

 

My blend door actuator (TBBDA?) failed and caused a wrench light and a code I could read with the ScanGauge. It had no other effect on vehicle operation that I could observe.