Eletronic throttle bodies are complicated beasts. I replaced one on our 2000 Volvo, costs about $1K with labor.

The problem is the throttle position sensor, which now must also help the servomotor figure out what the throttle angle is. Without that feedback the computer can't decide whether to open or close the throttle. In older designs, with a mechanical throttle linkage, the sensor was only responsible for providing input to the F/I system to help determine ignition and fuel timing. If it failed, the system would go into open loop but you'd still have full throttle control. No more...now if it fails the throttle goes to a default "limp home" position which provides very limited ability.

 

Ok, picked up the FEH on Saturday and have put about 75 miles on it so far.

The initial won't-go-over-20-mph seems to have been fixed. So that's good.

While we've only done 75 miles, we're now getting about 28 mpg (better than the 26 we usually get). I'm attributing this to the 2-3 mpg jump everyone else seems to get once they do their initial oil change. (This was our first change.) We'll have to see how it plays out over the whole tank of gas, but it doesn't look like changing the throttle body has markedly improved our mpg.

I'll have to double-check the paperwork and report back as to exactly what the dealership replaced.

The car hasn't been in wet conditions, so I don't know if the braking problems have been fixed.

And one last thing we noticed - the car seems to perform quite differently in low gear now. I had tried the low gear suggestion several months ago and I didn't notice anything different - not in how the car performs or the mpg it was getting. We tried it again the other day and really noticed a difference in how it performs, uses the brakes, etc. We're going to try a full tank without being in low first, to see how our mpg responds to the new throttle body. Next tank we'll try the low gear thing and see how that works.

 

Copyboy, how much mph can you get now in EV? I got 30mph the first day I picked mine up. At 13,000 miles I can get to 38mph and sometimes set the cruise. Had to put 44psi in the tires to get this.

I don't use "L" all the time, mainly to shut down the ICE or charge the battery. Now that you can use the EV mode better, mpg will improve.

I've been using a trick that really has helped my mpg. No one on the hybrid boards that I know have said it helps them. I call it the "four fake shifts" (like shifting a four speed tranny). As you know, the FEH revs high when you take off till it settles which is sometimes way to long. My mileage drops off if I let this happen.

The fake shift helps me in two ways:

1 It gives an added boost to the battery. Someone said here that they thought using the brakes gave a better charge than using low. I agreed that the charge needle seems to go further over when you hit the brakes. The fact is, it not just hitting the brakes that gives this higher charge. It's letting off the gas pedal and stopping the charge already in progress from the ICE and leaves it for the wheels to take over. This jump in charge happens even if you don't hit the brakes.

2 You step up the speed and step down the RPM's. While making the fake shifts slow, it give you a chance to start a new climb in RPM's at a faster speed till you reach the speed you want at a much lower RPM. Its a matter of letting off the gas as if you were driving a four speed to shift.

Many here do not use EV mode as much as I and say they don't need every chance to charge the battery like I do. I think they must consider charging the battery any time they can without the ICE burning more fuel in order to get better MPG.

Gary

 

Gary, I think I understand how the fake shifts are helping you. I've been playing with that a bit too. By letting off the gas for a second, the RPMs start dropping and then by reapplying the gas, the computer will add a little torque from the motor to help build speed. As long as you don't let speed start dropping off when you do the fake shift, you should use more battery and get better milage. Personally, I think the computer is too biased to the ICE and this is one way to offset that bias. I don't see why the computer can't continue adding torque from the motor as long as you are accelerating (even lightly). I know there would have to be limits such as "as long as HV battery is above XX%", but I don't see why it can't assist more often than it does.

Sorry for running a bit off topic, just wanted to comment on the technique

 

One thing to remember is that the electric motor develops maximum torque at zero RPM and drops from there. The faster you're going the less it can help.

 

I'm getting about 28 mpg overall since the repairs were made.

The first month or so we had it, we were getting 18 mpg. Then once we learned how to drive a hybrid properly, we got it up to about 23 mpg. Everyone said you get a bump around 5000 miles, and we did, from 23 mpg to about 26 - and that's where it's stayed for the past 5000 miles.

Now that we had these repairs done and the oil changed, we bumped up again to 28 mpg (actually about 27.8). But those results are only from about a quarter tank so far. I'll have to use a few tanks to see if the improvement is permenant.

But it's just discouraging to read about all of you who get 30 mpg off the lot and then get more afterwards.

Off the line, I usually only get to maybe 20 mph before the ICE kicks in. There's one stretch not far from our house that's a really slight downhill, and sometimes on that I can get to 30 mph.

 

Copyboy, from a dead stop to 30mph is not bad in EV. I think increasing from 30 and higher in EV by gas pedal is very hard but can be done to about 33mph in my FWD. Speeds higher than that require a tap of the brakes or shift to "L" at 40mph and holding the pedal to maintain a higher speed in EV. I set the cruise because I can't hold my leg steady long enough to stay in EV for much distance. I also found that sometimes I'll be driving at a set speed under 36mph and the ICE will shut down by itself. At around 6,000 miles I started being abe to set the cruise at 35mph in EV with 40psi in the tires. I increased the presure to 44psi at 12,000 miles and found I sometimes can set the cruise at 38mph in EV. The AWD may have a problem doing this but I can't say. Hope you can use this info to compare your FEH.

Scott and Steve thanks for your imput with the fake shift. I started using it on my first tank because I didn't like the high RPM's. It seems my mileage drops if I don't use it. If someone thinks it is a good or bad trick, please start a new thread to help others.

Gary

 

CopyBoy,

When you get a chance to look at your service work-order, see if they performed a software upgrade. It has been noted by many knowledgeable with FEH system that the PCM "learns" your driving style and adjusts appropriately. So if your throttle sensor was not performing properly, the PCM will need time to adjust for optimal fuel economy ... unless you get it flashed / rebooted. Another owner with a problem reported Ford service upgraded his software version, so I would request it if it is not listed as task they performed (would also demand a gas card to make-up for their faulty sensor that drove your FE down).

Just a thought,
-Dan

 

We're averaging 30mpg overall, but I was getting 38mpg for a few days straight. I was driving under 60mph in L, with no AC. Then I picked my wife up at the airport and the AC got cranked back to max, and the mpg dropped to about 27mpg.

I noticed that with it in L, I can cruise along in EV mode (with no AC) at about 38mph for a fairly long time. If you turn on the AC or the headlights - then the ICE comes on a lot more frequently. Not that the high daily temps are in the 70's - driving without AC will be easy... I guess the headlights (and the stereo) will affect your mpg somewhat.

 

Ok, back with an update. Too bad it's yet another not-so-good one.

After all the fixes (see previous posts in this thread) and the oil change, we're now getting WORSE mileage than before.

Pre-fixes/oil change, we had been averaging 26.4 over a dozen tanks of gas. In the first tank afterwards, we got 25.8. And now we're down to 24.4.

Even though we've brought it up to the dealer several times, he just NOW told us to keep a mileage log. For how long we're supposed to do this, I don't know. We have more than 10k miles and aren't even getting 25mpg since we bought it. But they still won't do anything until we keep another gas log.

I know you've all had great experiences with your FEHs, but I would never buy another one again - especially not from Ford.

It's been ridiculous to get anyone to fix the problems we've had (and still have). We've been getting poor gas mileage from Day 1 (a full year ago) and no one can tell us why. We've had other mechanical problems. We've had poor quality control problems (albeit small ones).

I've owned probably a half dozen cars in my lifetime and have never had a car like this. We can't even use the Lemon Law yet because Ford keeps saying they don't think there's a problem.