Arrrghhh.

It happened again.

2006 MMH ~33,000 miles

As you know (see other posts in this thread), my wife had our 2006 MMH refuse to start about ten days ago. The dealer diagnosed the motor electronics coolant pump. Despite my better judgement - Despite the other posts in this thread stating that isn't the issue - the dealer replaced the pump. And it ran fine for 10 days.

Today, while actually in motion, the car died (all propulsion systems stopped). The wrench and the exclamation point were on and the "stop safely now" message lit up (ironic, no?, seeing that it stopped seconds earlier).

Luckily, it happened in the school parking lot. Several moms got together and pushed it into a parking spot. 15 minutes later, it started as if nothing had happened. My wife drove it to a nearby dealer where it now sits awaiting diagnosis.

Thinking back on all the cars I have owned... even the most bedraggled beaters in college... none of them ever just quit out of the blue because of what appears to be an electronics issue. The engine runs fine. There isn't a traditional mechanical problem with the car (I'll wager).

Message to Ford: That is totally, totally, totally unacceptable. I simply cannot have a car that quits while in motion without any warning. I don't mean that in a hateful way or a vengeful way... it simply can't be. Who puts their 2 toddlers and wife in a car that does that? Nobody. That's who.

Arrrghhh. I'll post when the dealer has a diagnosis.

 

Dealer called back.

"The wrench light isn't on and it seems to work fine. It did throw some codes, but we can't make anything useful of them. I called Ford's Engineers and the say there's no problem. So your car is ready to pick up."

I don't even know what to say.

I told him I'm not accepting that answer and he needs to keep working on it. He said he would try again on Monday.

Island Mariner

 

My FEH has 42k on it and have not had that happen. As cars get more & more computer controlled the more susceptible they become to what you have happening to you. There are so many low current circuits that what would not have shown up in the past as a problem does now.

Based on my experience both with keeping a car for a long time (92 Suburban now at 371,000; I do my own work and it has to go for another year until my last kid gets out of college) and my experience with ships over a 30 year career: I think you have one, or more, electrical connections that are dirty or corroded (or loose).

If you have the shop manual for the car pull out the wiring diagram and methodically go through and find the most likely circuits and un-make, clean up, and re-make these connections. The issue is that a small amount of resistance makes little difference in a medium to high current circuit but can dominate the circuit with low currents causing a bad signal to the control circuitry.

Map out the circuits from most likely to least likely and do one connection at a time in order to know when you have fixed something. Drive your FEH for a few days or so to ensure that if the symptom disappears that it stays disappeared.

 

Looks like Ford should take a look at the state of the auto industry & try to keep the customers they have. These are problems that need to be dealt with & it all shouldn't fall on the shoulders of their customers. We bought these cars once & shouldn't have to buy 'em again through their service depts.

 

True. But then how many times do you want to take your car in and have them not figure it out?

I'm only speculating as to the issue in my above post but I have "chased grounds" on ships and they seem to move at random. I don't believe the above is a ground, rather my bet is its a dirty connector.

There is a methodical way to find it and if it can be found maybe the rest of us can learn from it.

At any rate you can wait for Ford if you want.

 

I suppose that the other side of what Ford should be doing is that, if I'm right in my assessment, these are problems that just happen despite the best efforts of a manufacturer. So long as the number of cars with this problem is small then it just happens and is not indicative of production errors.

Still it is no fun if it happens to you! Again if I'm right then there is a way out with a methodical approach to the problem. The dealer service network does not lend itself to dealing with this in the way I'm recommending.

Of course Ford could just bring in the car, unmake, cleanup, & remake a defined set of connectors, but then would you know that you really fixed it?

I bought the shop manual set (as I do for every car I buy) and offer that it is a good investment for anyone who will keep their car for longer than 3 years.

Good luck.

 

So far so good. I had my R/F & L/R sensor rings replaced & all is well so far. Sensor rings were about $40 each & labor was about $130.00. So I'm real happy if this does indeed take care of this.

 

Well, I've had my FEH back for about 2 weeks now and it is working fine.

The short version is: They replaced the entire High Voltage Wiring Harness ($315+labor) that connects the HVBattery to the eCVT. [note this fix in connection with the specific string of DTCs above - for future reference]

The long version: I finally complained through several Ford Corporate avenues and all of a sudden the word came down from Engineering to replace the whole wiring harness. (I think they were trying to pinpoint test the exact connection that was causing the trouble - that was taking forever). The repair bill submitted by the Dealer was $1200, about $600 to replace the MCES pump and $600 to replace the harness. The dealer lobbied hard for me and you can see the sob story I wrote in the attached letter. Ford offered to cover all but $100 and I quickly accepted their offer. No one really knows how much time was spent by the dealer's service technicians chasing the problem for Ford Engineering...but is was significant. (I brought them all dessert at lunch time the other day)

Since I first took the FEH in, the dealer's dedicated hybrid Technician went on a serious medical leave; the original service writer was riffed; a new President was inaugurated; and Ford has started hyping the new Fusion Hybrids. It was frustrating at times but I think if I had insisted on out-of-warranty service immediately, I probably would have had to pay the whole bill. [Note: I have the "luxury" of a spare (old but reliable) vehicle, most folks don't have that and the time factor would be more pressing than it was in my case.]


I still think the FEH is a solid vehicle. Once-in-awhile unusual problems arise, but as the months go by and more and more are on the roads - the diagnosis time should improve.(with continued corporate emphasis on customer satisfaction)

 

Well played, Glenn. Glad you got your FEH back and that you weren't charged a lot. Sometimes it pays to play the part of the squeaky wheel.

 

Very nice to hear Ford stepped up to the plate. Nice letter "To Ford" also. I'm sure that helped your cause.