Hi, Gary. Sorry to bother you, but you seem like one of the more knowledgeable guys on here. I put a new (used) 2.3 liter engine in our 2006 mariner hybrid which went seemingly well. It started and ran for a few minutes, then cut out. We were able to start it a couple of times after that (hazy timeline since battery was dead in between startings). But now we have the Stop Safely Now message and the car won't turn over and there are no codes from our basic reader. Any advice you could give on where to start would be greatly appreciated. Maybe there are codes that I can't reset? We may have had the hoses to the Elec motor cooling pump backwards at startup, if the pump blew, would it disable starting?

Thanks for any and all help

Mike

Hi Gary,

We got the DTC PO128 code so we thought our thermostat was stuck open we took it to a local mechanic and had him replace the thermostat with an aftermarket thermostat from Autozone. Now two days later we are getting the "Stop Safely Now" warning. We read your posts about the relays being the issue and not the MEC coolant pump, of course it's Sunday night at 5 pm. Should I take it to the dealership in the morning or just have my mechanic swap out the relays, then if the warning persists take it to the dealer? Do you recommend getting the relays from the dealer or is aftermarket fine. Also how should I drive my 2006 FEH below 50 or not at all until this issue is taken care of. It seems to run fine so long as I keep 50 and below.

Hi Gary,

I want to thank you for such informative posts and for being such an active member of the Green Hybrid community. Your posts recently helped me understand what was happening when my Marinier Hybrid stopped while running on the highway (very scary). Turns out it was the MECS pump which has now been replaced.

My Mariner has approximately 68,000 miles on it. When I first got the car it was not uncommon for me to get about 28 MPG in the city and 30+ on the highway. Absolutely loved driving it.

Over the last couple of years my MPG has slumped to the point where I'm now getting 20 MPG in the city and 22 on the highway. I perform regular maintenance on the vehicle and am baffled as to what the problem could be.

Recently the MECS pump failed and I had it replaced at the local Lincoln dealer here in Savannah. When I dropped it off I explained my MPG problem and asked that they provide some insight after looking at the car. They fixed the pump and said that all systems are running correctly. Basically, they had nothing new to offer and frankly didn't seem concerned about my problems at all.

I should point out that I have been told that my battery is weak and will need to be replaced sometime in the coming months. That said, I do not see the connection between MPG and the battery, so I have not considered this a contributing factor.

She's back in the shop today getting another new fuel filter which may help a bit, though I don't think it will account for 8 or so MPG.

Any information on what I can do to try to improve my MPG would be appreciated.

Thanks so much.

John

Hi Gary-
have a 2006 FEH that I bought 3 years ago with 42,000 miles. l now have a 109 thousand miles and have had the AC compressor, MECS Pump, battery Fans, transmission, and power inverter replaced. I had the premium Ford Extended Service Plan so it really did not bother me that much except for my time. Two weeks ago, I brought the car in for service and the mechanic said I needed a new 12 volt battery(original) desperately and front brakes. I proceeded to let the Ford dealer do the brakes but not replace the battery and this is where my problems with my brakes began. After picking up my car, I noticed that the pedal was mushy and the car did not stop as agressively as before. I attributed this to new brake pads having to wear into the rotors. After 200 miles, and the car not stopping as well as before, I decided to try and do some hard stops to try and bed the pads to the rotors. I drove the car home and later took it out to get dinner. On my way to get dinner, the ABS and brake light came on and the brake pedal went almost to the floor. I called the dealer and asked him to check out all his work because I never had a break issue before the break change. After checking the DTCS, he said my ABS lost calibration and I had a low battery code. He said the battery may not have supplied enough voltage to the ABS module, and it lost its calibration. I declined the calibration and told him to proceed with changing the rear brakes . I did not want to do the calibration in fear that, if my bad battery was the cause, it might happen again. The car seems ok now and I have no DTC codes on the dash LCD and I replaced the 12v battery. My ? Is do I really need the calibrate the system again. I still don't know if the car does not stop as well because the brakes only have 400 miles or the ABS needs a calibration. It is around 300 dollars to reprogram the ABS. What do you think? Could the low battery have caused the ABS to lose calibration? Also can the ABS module reprogram itself? I don't see how the information could get lost. Your opinion would be much appreciated. Marc K

Hi Gary -

Been a Looooooog time since I have been on either CleanMPG or GreenHybrid. Have thought of you and your vast wisdom of Hybrid driving to the fullest many times.
What brings me back is that I Finally got a ScanGauge II !
Still have the original '05 FEH with about 110K on it and just seems to be getting better with age - not like me I think all the friction is getting less and less and she rolls on and on - Me, I keep getting tighter and the joints don't want to work.

Leaves me with a question since you were one of the first to get and use a ScanGauge. I went to Linear Logic's site and got the FEH Specific XGauges that I wanted and input them - bummer - none of the ones that had to do with the HV side of the vehicle worked. No SOC, AmT (Traction motor current), MTQ (Traction motor torque) - - - - , all the ones I would like to see what is going on in EV so I can Squeeze out the EV without starting up the ICE. I know getting it totally drained is really a deterrent since you will have all that load to build the HV battery back up - a trade off that I hope to see which way it goes - that is if I can get to the gauges. I have gotten a lot to work from a response to a post I made on GreenHybrid from a BillyK in the 'ScanGauge Data Depository'. Think he scanned something he had and uploaded it to Photobucket and Hyper-linked it to the post but some of the numbers are hard to read and sometime I can't tell a 'B' from an '8' or '0' from a 'D'.
I know you were first using the original 'ScanGauge' but I know you must have switched over to the 'II' with the XGauge feature at some point.
Man if you had your original data down, spreadsheet, word -- if you would send me a copy - I am chomping at the bit to get to all the stuff.

I sent Linear Logic a suggestion on something that I think would really enhance the ScanGauge II. That is to move the 'Scan' function under 'More' and have a second set of gauges in that slot, you could have one screen set up for ICE and the other for EV and re-program the 'Home' button to be a toggle between the two when you are on one of the pages and if you really wanted to go 'Home' hold it for two seconds or so. To me the 'Scan' function is not a highly used feature and if you did need it - well it would be under 'More'. I know the company has grown since the early times when I would see a message from you or one of the others saying when you called Ron would answer the phone and personally help you - and you had a good rapport with him.

Hope Everything is going great with you and God Bless,
Phillip - Vietvet'67

Hi Gary. You're clearly a great resource on this site, so I hope you can help me. I've only had my 06 Escape HEV (85k miles) for about 6 weeks, and I love it! But this week the wrench light started coming on intermittently, then after I've been driving for a while it won't go into EV mode (the engine doesn't shut off, tach stays at 1). So, dealer pulls codes P0A81 and B1239 and says I need a new cooling fan and a new blend door actuator. Seems odd to me that both would go out at once, but whatever. Searching about this stuff brought me to this site, which has been very informative.

However, the dealer says the battery cooling fan isn't covered under the warranty. As I've read, this happens often...but some people manage to get it covered. I completely agree that it's part of the battery pack which is covered, and it's a unique component to my hybrid. Now that it's external in new models, the cooling fans are listed in the warranty, so that same component should be covered in mine. I called Ford and they say it's up to the dealer to diagnose what repair is needed and if it's a warranty item. I'm ready to scream. I just bought the car and they're asking for $1300 to fix both items.

I'm wondering if you know of any dealers in Arizona or surrounding states that have covered these repairs, or if you have any guidance on what to say to the dealer to get it covered. I've mentioned the wording in the service manual, and the new warranty listing the fan, etc. but they say they put the part number in the computer and it's not covered. Someone mentioned putting in the battery part number and getting it covered, but I'm not sure how they do that without actually ordering a battery.

Ford cited some TSB from 08 that says to replace the fans with the specified kit and that it's only covered under the bumper to bumper warranty. I'm trying to go up the ladder, and considering calling another dealer, but it's not looking good.

Of course, the car seems to be working fine again...I can see the blend door is opening, it's going into EV mode, etc. Yet the wrench came on again. So I don't really know which part is actually bad. It's very frustrating, especially since I'm not really able to work on anything myself.

Can you help me? I'd even be willing to pay for the actuator if they covered the fans. I saw something online about how to do it yourself, so if they don't cover it I'm considering having someone do it for me. In which case...do you know a good source for the parts?

Sorry this is so long. I really appreciate your time, and I hope you can help.

Thanks!
Tanya

Hi there Gary. My name is Ray and I have a 05 FEH. I bought it used and have had it for about two years. It has 138.000 miles on it currently and the majorthing I had to have replaced was the MECS pump. I see that you may bee the more knowlegable guy around on the FEH so what I'm trying to figure out is what can I do to increase my MPG. I have a combination of higway driving to get to work and then do city driving while at work. Right now I am getting just over 200 miles on a tank of gas and just bought a scangage II. How can I set it up to get me the most acurate info. My EV mode does not always work it just seems to have a mind of its own. Thanks for any help you can assist me with.

Gary, thanks for the feedback on hypermiling the FFH. I will go to your link and look for tips. Good to know that you were already on it.

PS: jump start button seem to works (lit for 10 minutes). Removing cable from 12V battery stops the engine, so power goes only one direction (step up) through the DC/DC module.

Hi Gary,

I red your relay story so you migth have any idea what is wrong with my car. Here in Hungary there are very few specialist knows about hybrids, a mere 2 dozens of FEHs drives in the country.

I recently imported a 08 FEH with a major crash, now it's repaired. The car starts however the 12V battery drains during driving, then the steering loosing its power and the car stops. "Regen braking disabled" displays. The engine can be started for seconds for 3-4 times. The 12V battery needs to be taken out for a nigth to charge then reinstall to drive the car. The mechanic could drive it to his shop for 10 miles, at the last mile the engine stopped. He managed to drive it EV mode at 20mph, at the last hundred yards he had to push the car in his shop.

Now a recharged 12V battery can start the the engine for 10-15 seconds while "stop safely now" displays. After the ICE shuts down the car is drivable in EV mode for another 10-15 seconds, then it stops. Switching off and on again and the process repeats. 12V systems seem to work so I do not think my power sustain relay migth be burned. I rather suspect the DC/DC module does not connect HV bus to LV bus properly, but this would explain only the first probelm.

On Monday I will have DTCs red. Untill then would you please give me some hints?

Best regards,

Greg