A couple months ago I bought a surplus 2008 FEH that had been setting for almost 3 years. A new battery with jumper cables attached to a running vehicle after 2 onboard charger cycles and it fired up. This was my second used 2008 that was sold as having a bad hybrid battery.

 

I have thought about your technique and wondered. Did you change the gas? My 08 actually was filled with diesel, and had to clean out the tank, change the fuel pump, change the plugs, and I went ahead and changed the rail, and the injectors too. How long did you allow the running car to stay hooked to the dead hybrid car and was the key turned to on for accessories? I will keep that in mind if I have an opportunity again on a dead auto. How many miles did the auto have on it when they parked it?

 

I had it towed because it had been sitting so long and didn't want to start it with a tank full of stale gas. I pulled the fuel line and turned the key to let it pump out the old gas. It didn't pump anything, the tank had been completely drained. I added 4 gallons or so of high octane gas and Seafoam. It had 151,000 miles on it. I did need to change an axle seal and ball joints. Other than oil change I don't think I changed anything under the hood. I may have used the battery charger during the HV boost process. I remember the dreaded "Stop Safely Now" message showed once, maybe before I used the jumper cables.
I didn't intentionally have any accessories on but the A/C is usually on in our vehicles.

 

I also have an 09 Escape Hybrid, I got out of AZ 2 months ago, and when it arrived, there was 1/4 inch of silt, dirt, and whatever you can imagine everywhere. It looks like the doors and windows were left open for months. The silt is even in the traction battery that must have come in the left rear window vent, under all trim, under the dash, in the circuit breaker door. I could not believe the vehicle had not been under water, but there was no sour smell, that that would have left. I have pics that are unbelievable with regard to the amount of silt everywhere. The Department of Ag would not tell me how this vehicle got this filthy. My main problem on this vehicle, is that when the key is turned on to show the symbols on the dashboard, the electric motor starts running and at a speed that you can feel a small shake in the steering wheel. Also a light immediately comes on on the dash, saying high speed motor high heat, or something like that. It comes on even though the motor has not run anytime at all. I know a sensor may be bad on the electric motor, just wondering what may have changed to cause the motor to run even before the motor is cranked. I have found that the Blue Driver has been a very big help in clearing the codes, to try and start the beast. Another big eye opener for this 09, is that this vehicle only had 29,000 miles on it before it was parked. Any suggestions for this problem would be appreciated. Thanks