This is at least the second hard failure in an '07 that I remember reading about in the last couple weeks - both in brand new cars. I wonder if there is something different with the newer models or if there are just more people aware of this site.

It seems odd that the vehicle would start if the big battery was shot. I'm sure they have an elaborate test procedure for the big battery but I hope they don't waste a week waiting for the battery to come in only to find it was something else.

Everest - for what it is worth, I have an '05 and an '06 with well over 30,000 combined trouble free miles between them. I have full confidence in them and once you get yours back and working right, I'm sure you will come to feel the same way.

 

Hey, Thanks alot for all the replies,, The ICE started every time we tried, would run for a few seconds then die.. At one point I had my window open, and when I tried to close the window it would not.... The strangest thing though, is when I would put it into reverse, the drivers side brake lights and reverse lights would be very bright, and the left side was barely noticeable...?? The technician spend most part of the day with the Ford hot-line technicians.. At the end they said that the HV battery was defective, and would replace it... I guess it took the tech's all day to trouble shoot, as ford is not to eager to replace these batteries, I was told it is a $7,000 battery...! My one concern has been that from the beginning my heated electric seats never worked correctly... They would get very warm in 30 seconds then cool off to almost not working. Even if you kept the switch on. They tell me that the HV battery could be the reason for that also.. I do find that hard to swallow, as my guess would be that the seats are still 12v and running off the 12v battery.. But I do not claim to understand the total workings of this vehicle.


For what it is worth. Up to the point that the vehicle stalled.. I was running perfectly. Even when I parked it... I am guessing that I had a short in the battery pack somewhere...

 

Also, after the ICE was started, and before putting into reverse I did not have any trouble codes reporting. I could drive forward for about a 100 feet or so.. and then it would die. But reverse was a no go.. Which was a problem at first as I was parked and needed to back out of the spot.. Help from a couple guys to push me back, and then I was able to drive forward for about 10 seconds before it would die..

 

I don't have a FEH but, does the FEH have a rear hatch door with a wiring harness for tail lights or tag lights?? I had a similar problem with a jeep and there were a couple of wires that shorted in the harness for the rear hatch that caused similar effects with the lights and defogger.??

 

Thar is how the heated seats are supposed to work for some reason. When you turn them on they come on strong and after a few minutes you can hardly feel them. Im not sure why they work this way but I think it is the design - both of mine work this way and there is nothing wrong with my vehicle.

 

Thanks for the reply,,, I was kinda thinking that was how they were designed,,as both seats did the same thing..

 

Now for a little update ... Just got a call from the sales manager at the dealership, I guess Ford is sending a couple technicians from Detroit in to look at it... He called them high end technicians. I guess the battery has not been shipped yet. They want to verify everything first.

Makes me appreciate how Ford is taking action to fix this. Only problem is that I have been without the vehicle for almost a week....

 

I've heard it claimed that they have yet to see a HV battery fail in the field even in their accelerated testing.

You might be the first (or one of the few) and they maybe sending someone over to verify that it is indeed the battery and to try and figure out how the heck one got through the system.

As for the comment earlier about the seats. Its a pretty good guess that the seats work that way for legal reasons. Even fairly low temperatures can cause burns if you are exposed to them long enough (thats one of the reasons you aren't suppose to sit or sleep on a heating pad). The seat is hot at first to warm you up but then either turns off or down alot so burns (and resulting lawsuits) aren't possible.

 

No, all those random, FALSE, diagnostic indications are much more likely to be the direct result of the 12 volt battery charge being too low. My 2001 Porsche C4 will do exactly the same thing, random and false diagnostic indicators, engine running, when the battery is beginning to fail. The only actual indication of the battery condition was a slow cranking rate.

If the ICE starts each time then the hybrid battery MUST have a significant level of charge in order to do that. THe ICE dying when in reverse might be normal since it is NOT required to move the car in reverse.

My guess is that the extra load of the backup lights is/was so heavily loading the 12 volt battery that the entire microprocessor based control system shut down.

 

Ford and Sanyo do have a great track record on their battery like Tim stated.

Looking at the PCM/Emissions Diagnosis manual, the Transaxle Control Module (TCM) has inputs called "Immediate Shut Down (ISDN) 1 & 2. If the HV battery signals the TCM on both of these circuits for low voltage battery voltage, the CVT stops delivering torque. This action disables the vehicle until the key is cycled OFF and ON. A voltage drop only in one of the ISDN, it may be an open ISDN circuit. The low voltage in th HV battery may be what their thinking. At any rate, there should have been a DTC code stored in both the PCM and TBCM. The techs should have also conducted Pin Point Tests to verify the low voltage problem in the HV battery.

The high end techs most likely will assist in further diagnosis before they remove the HV battery and perhapes take the battery with them for study. A recall of what caused the problem may be something there afraid of and they also may want to check other hybrid components on his '07 MMH.

This all could have a bigger impact than a $7,000 battery.

GaryG