I brought my 2006 Mariner Hybrid in for a 20,000-mile service. One of the items that are supposed to be replaced is the AC filter for the traction battery. When I dropped off the car, I said to make sure the traction battery filter was changed.

I bring the car home, and (of course) the filter is not changed. Needless to say, I am livid. I went back to the dealer and spoke with several people.

The service desk person told me that the mechanic punched in the computer that I have a regular Mariner and that the mechanic did service for a regular Mariner.

The sales manager told me they don’t sell many of the Mariner Hybrids and that the mechanic just forgot to change the filter.

The person at the parts department said they don’t have the filter in stock today.

WTF!

How can I trust this dealership? How do know that the work has been done properly. Did they put the right oil in my car? Did they also forget a new filter? They have lost my trust.

I guess the point of this post is “MAKE SURE SCHEDULED WORK HAS REALLY BEEN DONE”.

I bought the service contract. Is the dealership screwing me out of repair work and charging Ford for the service?

Anyone know a good Ford dealership in the Cleveland area?

Rick

 

When I lived in Boston I had a service done. Replacing that filter was on the list of things to do. Of course they forgot, and I didn't check. A couple of months later my check engine light came on. Why? The filter was plugged.

So I feel your pain.

 

You might want to find a good independent shop that is up to date. When I took mine in for warrannty I knew more than the "certified tech" and had to help him out. With an independent you get to talk to the owner and the tech and they are more open to YOUR needs. Find someone that specializes in high tech cars and they might be just the ticket. But drop buy and interveiw them tell them what you expect.

 

Which is why I have always done all of my maintenance myself--I don't trust any of them. I know you spent money on the mx plan, but for others, here is how to do this yourself....

The battery filter is about a 30 second change. For the FEH, and I assume the MMH, In the back end on the left side panel (looking forward), you snap open the access door, snap open a cover, and pull out the $30 dollar filter, and slide in a new one, noting the direction of the arrows.
It mostly gets dry dirt, so you might get away with simply blowing off the old one with a can of computer-air or a compressor, and not have to waste the $ each time.

 

To Rick,... It is too bad they did not change your battery air filter, but this is not a major issue. However this is a part very specific to this vehicle, it is not a part ANY dealer is expected to keep in stock. However, if you schedule your car for service at least 3 days in advance, any dealer should have the part within 3 days from a Ford distribution center.

Salsbr, It is hard for me to belive you got a check engine light for the battery air filter. In fact, I think this is impossible. If you got a check engine light, something else was wrong, and this was a coincidence.

This air filter is not a mission critical part. You could probably drive 100,000 miles without a filter and be fine, or drive 100,000 miles with a dirty filter and be fine, just neither case is ideal.

A friend I know who lives in the Calif desert on dirt roads gets his filter "dirty" in 5000 miles or less. He washes it with water, lets it dry, and puts it back in. It has been fine for 2.5 years this way.

So "replacing" this filter may be the option for people short on time.
Washing and replacing the same filter may be the best option for people short on money, and have 5 minutes to spare.
-John

 

It may be hard to believe, but that's exactly what happened. I took it to a dealer, they scanned for codes, looked at random stuff, swapped out the filter, and charged me $150. Since the filter was supposed to be part of the previous service I promptly called up the other dealer and demanded that they pay for everything but the filter. I got my money.

I have no trouble believing that you could simply wash the filter, or even remove it. But letting it go too long will cause the little orange light on your dash to come on. My understanding is that with a plugged filter, the batteries cannot be cooled like they should be. And that is a mission critical system. Or at least one worthy of nagging the driver about.

 

While I do not personally do my own maintenance (no garage, no jackstands, no nearby oil disposal site), cleaning the battery filter is definitely something I can do myself. It's a matter of opening a panel, removing a little cover and sliding the filter out. It can be done in about fifteen seconds.

I highly recommend familiarizing one's self with the filter's location. Habitually removing it every few months is a good idea IMO. Tap it against the curb or ground to clear it of any leaves or bugs that have been sucked into the intake. Most of the dirt will also come off.

I was surprised how much stuff was in there after just 3 month's driving.

 

It is too bad you got fed a bunch of B.S.

A plugged battery air filter cannot cause your battery to overheat.
This is impossible.
The air filter only filters fresh air from outside.
Once the battery gets above 30'C ( ~85'F ) then the air door closes, and only internal air ( internal to the battery ) circulates over the A/C evaparator, and back to the battery. A/C cooled air does NOT pass over the filter at any time. If your battery filter was 100% plugged, it would have the same effect as a closed door to the outside, and this would only make the A/C run more often. It cannot make your battery get too hot!
( and it may make it stay cooler, really )

I can understand owners not knowing this, but it is sad that dealer sevice departments don't know this, and have to tell lies to thier customers to make themselves look like they know what they are talking about.

You had some other issue that caused your dashboard light to come on.
It was not the filter!!!! So now, aren't you curious what the real reason was? -John

 

Hey gpsman1,

Where do you get your information?

What I know is that the dash light came on, and the only thing that was changed was the rear air filter. The light stopped coming on.

So unless you can be more specific with your information and conclusions then I will continue to not believe you. Or at least not believe your conclusions.

I have no trouble believing that the air door closes at some temperature. But you have not made any case to prove that the car doesn't care if the filter is plugged. Sure, when the air door is closed and the AC is on it wouldn't care, but what if the air door was open and it was trying to cool the battery? If it couldn't get any air wouldn't you expect it to complain?

-salsbr

 

Ya from the look of things it appears that the air door shuts off recirc air when it allows inside air. If that's correct, then air would be blocked if the filter was plugged, and the battery temp would probably rise.

The system knows the outside air temp, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was set up to "throw a code" under cool conditions with the filter blocked. If it's hot out, it will probably be running refrigerant and the air door would be on recirc and it wouldn't matter.

But I definitely don't know for sure. I'd be interested to hear if the code was on the repair ticket.