Hi all,

New member here. My wife and I just picked up a really clean 2006 Hybrid with 121k on it for a price that was too good to be true ($200) and to hopefully tide use until our make believe Bronco hopefully gets built at some point. It runs great so far, but has one feature that’s driving me nuts. Between the power outlets by the shifer there’s an Aux In port and I can’t figure out how to use it to save my life. I’m assuming somebody added this at some point. Would anybody have any ideas how this would be usable? It’s got the factory nav head unit with a CD changer. I’m almost to the point of wanting to take panels off and trace the wires. Thanks for any help!

 

Mystery solved. Found this buried in the dash. The real kicker is that it sounds worse than the Chinese FM transmitter I was using. Oh well!

 

That definitely didn't look like a switch out of the Ford parts bin, but at least it was a relatively clean installation, probably by the nerdish original owner (the folks who originally owned these cars had a pretty high "Mod Nerd/Regular User" ratio.

It's from the "Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" Department.

Those headlight lenses should clean right up with a 3M Headlight Restoration Kit. Also -

CHANGE THE eCVT TRANSAXLE FLUID

. Should be ~6.5 quarts of REAL MOTORCRAFT MERCON V - not LV - for your year! Among the easiest transaxle fluid jobs in automobile-dom. Do not pass GO and Collect $200. If it is a 4WD (I don't think so but I'm not sure) also change the fluid in the Power Transfer Unit (PTU) !! They destroy themselves without 60k and 30k fluid changes, respectively.

I would also invest in a good, new 12V battery. It doesn't have to be high-end expensive - midranger with warranty the right size is fine. Clean the terminals and make sure they are in very good order. Why? Because the Hybrids tend to "mask" when a 12V battery is about to go dead. Since there is no conventional starter motor or alternator, the 12V batteries never have to crank the engine over. So the batteries get closer to the brink than a usual car but when they go, they are *truly dead.* Mine went from "just fine" to "truly dead" in six hours.

Change the air filter, and look for junk in the bottom of the airbox.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

Surprisingly it's a factory accessory. Found it in the 2006 escape accessory catalogue, haha.

 

Wow that's wild! Obscure details like this make life fun!

 

Thanks for the tips! I did put a new 12V battery in it to get it going. Good idea on the trans and PTU; I'll get all that flushed this week (it is a 4wd). I'm also planning on pre-emptively changing the MECS pump. I see there's a recall on it, so I'm hoping Ford will do it for free. It seems to have the original pump on it.

 

The transaxle fluid can be a DIY job as you can see from the video. Make sure whoever does it uses real Ford Mercon V.

The PTU can be more difficult because I think yours does not have a drain plug, only a fill plug, and it's hard to get to. I believe the remaining fluid must be sucked out through the fill port and then the unit needs to be refilled with the correct fluid. It only takes a quart or so, which is why these units eat themselves up if it is not changed. You might want to watch if you are not doing it yourself so that you can see how dirty/sludgy that fluid can get. Some people do it once, drive the car 100 miles and do it *again*.

Also if you can get the car on a lift, or at least with the front wheels suspended you can check the condition of the ball joints, the CV joints and boots everywhere, the integrity or lack thereof of the many driveshafts and halfshafts, and particularly the VERTICAL STABILIZER BAR LINKS on the front end between the strut housings and the front sway bar. The ends of these wear out and can cause a very annoying "clicking" sound when they do. It's not dangerous, really. It just sounds terrible over even small bumps. Luckily they are also comparatively cheap and easy items to replace.


That car looks very clean and rust free, and relatively well-taken-care-of. I can't say how long it will last - a lot depends on the condition of the HV battery, the A/C system (ask about that later - it is VERY important to the thermal management of the HV battery - the car has a 2nd A/C evaporator in the REAR DRIVER'S SIDE CARGO SIDE PANEL with that air intake you must be aware of.)

But it looks like a clean car and you got it, frankly, for a song. Best of luck with it. If for some reason it becomes too much of an albatross, I hope you'll at least let forum owners make an offer on it or part it out responsibly because FoMoCo aren't making any more of them and a lot of the parts are valuable. Don't wreck/crush it!

Finally: if you notice ANY water ingress down the inside of the back hatch glass, that is a bad thing. It will cause ground fault problems and eventually rot out the bottom of the hatchback. Replacements are available, it is also a DIY job, and let us know if you have that problem. The weatherstripping around the rear hatch glass (not the MAIN weatherstripping) is a known problem area, as is rust of the hinges.

Best wishes! Go Terps!

 

Also, I sent you a Private Message it should be in your Inbox.

 

Thanks for all tips. It definitely is a clean car (see more pics below). Not a hint of rust on it. It lived a lot of its life in New Mexico, which I'm sure helps. I ordered some Mercon V and 75W140 from Bezos to do the trans and transfer case; hopefully will get that done on Sunday. May do the diffs while I'm at it. Regarding the end links, I do think they're on their way out as they're definitely pretty clicky. I helped my father-in-law replace them on his '09 FEH and it was a breeze (and I have replaced them on several other vehicles as well); you can actually see that car in the background of the pics below.

A/C works fine as well; time will tell about the battery. Honestly, for the price we got the car if I had to fork out for a new (or reman'd) HV battery, I wouldn't be too upset. Luckily it appears to be working just fine.

 

Very nice. Nice wheels, really nice cloth interior (the leather with the soy based cushions on my 2010 Limited is suffering from a little side-bolster cushion collapse on the driver's side, not too bad but still...and I actually prefer the cloth interior in hot AND cold weather, yours looks great!) nice mileage, very nice two-tone body treatment. Emergency brake where God intended it to be.

That's a very cool car that still looks great, the 3M kit will polish out those headlight lenses to like-new. It looks like you've got zilch for body rust. Get under there and make sure there's nothing else that needs attention. Yours has the NAV too, which even though it is smaller is still "cool" in my book. Good stuff, and man - the price was RIGHT!

Best wishes with it, this is why I wish they kept making the model a few more years. They still really look good and the basic platform is solid.