I have not heard from any of the '10 FEH owners on how it's doing on MPG. When I test drove the '10 I could not believe how fast it went EV from a cold start compared to my '09. My '09 goes EV at a much colder coolant temperature than my '05 and therefore that helps MPG on those short and long trips. I'm thinking the newer exhaust system and new Lamba H02 senors help heat the CAT converter much faster with better fuel/air mixtures. Sometimes I can go EV with a coolant temperature of 123F and less than a mile from my house. I don't think I went 2 blocks when I went EV from a cold start in the '10 FEH.

The other thing I have a question on is the electric A/C and EV. With all the electronics on the '09 and '10 FEH I'm finding the '09 headlights reduce battery SoC building at night during city driving with P&G. The '10 electric A/C must draw more juice than the headlights so can anyone give us some feedback?

GaryG

 

New Lamba 02 sensors that cause the CAT to heat up faster, how? If they allow unburned hydrocarbons to pass, that will heat a CAT faster but can also damge them.

 

The idea to heat the CAT quicker is to avoid bad emissions sooner as the CAT heats to light-off (~550F). The '05 FEH and later FEH has a patented Cold Start Strategy where the timing is retarded and the electric motors provide torque during acceleration when the engine and CAT is cold. This allows the engine idle (RPM) to remain low with the intent to heat the CAT faster and reduce overall emissions. The FEH is rated AT-PZEV and Ford developed this strategy to maintain that rating.

There is no question my '09 FEH goes EV much sooner than my '05 FEH. The only way Ford could have got the CAT hotter sooner to reduced emissions is the improvement to the exhaust system and faster adjustments to the air/fuel mixtures with the new broadband H02 sensors. I now think the coolant temperature was not related as a requirement to go EV.

GaryG

 

Pardon me, but wouldn't a high(er) ICE RPM result in faster CAT heating...?? Or an ICE under a serious level of load, say CHARGING, ouickly topping off, the hybrid battery...??

The idea is to get HEAT into the exhaust manifold and the quickest way to do that is load up the ICE.

Personally I would pull the fuse of the E-compressor until I need it for actual cooling.

 

You are disregarding fuel economy. The best way to do everything, in context of good fuel economy is how Ford is doing it.

FWIW, we are only talking about 10 seconds here... 30 seconds in the Gen1 and maybe as fast as 20 seconds in the newer ones. Not life changing in either case.

 

Retarding the timing at an idle must reduce emissions by not allowing more flow through the CAT while it's heating. A higher RPM or engine load will pass more pollutants through a CAT. Also, cold intake air has a longer time to heat before interring the combustion chamber at lower RPM's. You can still postpone the Warm-Up Strategy by accelerating harder than the electric motors and battery can provide, but the timing will be advanced and emissions and MPG will get worse. Personally, I slowly accelerate (pulse) to 40mph and glide in "D" to my speed limit of 35 as a cold engine P&G technique. Since the battery is being drained as the electric motors are providing acceleration, this glide from 40mph to 35mph in "D" allows some recharging with regen. You can really decrease your average tank MPG during a cold start sometimes many times during a day as the vehicle is shutdown while your working, shopping etc. If you don't understand how Ford uses the Warm-Up Strategy to reduce emissions, your gas mileage will suffer greatly.

GaryG

 

Still, what is the O2 sensor going to do? Increase heat by increasing emissions?

A bit OT but older FEs have a tendency to eat CATs. Many that have had multiple misfire codes for any prolonged period have damaged the CATs.

 

The Lambda H02 sensors allow the PCM to adjust air/fuel mixtures much better and reduce emissions and improve MPG. Improved air/fuel mixtures assist the CAT to reach improved temperatures faster to reduce emissions.

Misfires cause unburned fuel to contaminate the H02 sensors and CAT itself. Many H02 sensors are replaced from codes related to misfires.

GaryG

 

"Supposedly" wideband O2s have at least six wires reading a Bosch document. They've been around for years.

The '09 and '10 PC/ED manuals on O2s discribe both regular and wideband types but doesn't mention if they are used on the vehicle. Presently, I can't view electrical diagrams online or I'd look at the '10s.

My '09 FE wiring diagram shows five O2s for the V6! Two are Labeled as "Low Emmision vehicles", they are #12 and #22, yet there is another one marked as #12! The remaining are #11 and #21. Nothing special marked on the I4 or extra O2s either. All O2s have only four wires.

What makes you think that wideband O2s are used on the '10 FEH?

More than contaminated, they are falling apart on the inside! There's a longer warranty on emmisions and some have had to wait for CATs on backorder. Seems to be a very high failure rate!

 

Fuel economy and heating the catalyst to operational temperature quickly, as the EPA requires, are mutually exclusive issues.