Could you please tell me what dealership you used to get this fixed? My local dealer is also trying to make me pay to fix the defective fan inside the battery. If I could give him the name/number of the mechanic who knows how to file the proper paperwork, that would help me a great deal.

 

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences on this matter. The more we can document how to get it properly addressed, the better we will be. My dealership in Chattanooga is also saying they will not replace the fan. I went online to search for the issue and found this site, great!!

I will update my progress as well. If anyone has suggestions on how I should proceed, let me know. I cannot tell exactly from prior posts if the solution is by pressing the dealership harder or by going through Ford directly.

Thanks again.

 

I wanted to let everyone know that we got our battery fans covered under the 8 year 100000 mile warranty finally. We weren't able to get anywhere with our dealer or Ford Customer Care, so I decided to contact a friend that that works with Ford and he was able to get ahold of a FCSD (Ford Customer Service Division) engineer who told him that it should be covered. The FCSD engineer called my dealer, told him it was covered and I just got it fixed yesterday. The FCSD engineer recognized that the problem is that the part number for the fans is not labeled properly to be covered under their warranty system. He told me that they were going to look into it so that it will be changed. Hopefully it will be changed soon so that everyone else won't have to go through the same problems a lot of us have had to deal with.

 

Thank you to everyone. Had it not been for the posts here, and the off site email communication by people here, I would still be fighting this losing battle.

Armed with the information here, the emails sent to me, less than 24 hours after the dealership said there was absolutely no way the fan is covered, I was told the fan has been ordered, and it will be covered under the 100,000 mile warranty.

I truly feel sorry for those people who do not know how to research these type of issues and assume what they are told by "authority" is gospel.

Some of the things I was told:

"We have one of the top Hybrid Mechanics in all of Ford, he knows this is not covered."

"I have seen person after person try to get this covered, 100% of the time, it is not covered, I am sorry, but you do not have a choice in this."

"If you don't pay to fix this fan, the rest of the battery warranty will be voided since you are not doing proper maintenance on it."

"I have called the top person at Ford Warranty, this part has never been, nor ever will be, covered, it is a separate part."


Though I am happy they are going to fix it, I did get even more frustrated when I went to the dealership to pick up the Escape (it was there for airbag repair), he told me "Good news Mr. Jones, I got Ford to cover this for you." He went on and on about he pulled this string, how he told me "from the beginning" to just be patient, he could work it out. Until I get my Escape back, I am biting my tongue, but when I do, I will remind him, it was I who spent 5 hours researching the issue, it was I who sent out emails looking for dealerships who have had it covered, it was I who provided him with the names of the people at Ford, corporate and dealerships, to call and learn how to properly code the repair. It was the giving people of THIS board who have done the work for him, he simply got painted into a corner and did the only thing he could do!

Self serving maniac!!

 

This might make a good sticky if there are specific part numbers, telephone numbers, or people to contact to resolve this issue. Glad it worked out for you.

 

I had my 2005 Escape Hybrid diagnosed at a cost of $130 to tell me that the fans were not working to cool the battery Oct 5, 2010. After reading these entries, it took me a month to call the dealer back and talk to the gentleman adviser that told me that it would cost $625 to have the fans changed out. OUCH-
Today I called back-Nov 11, 2010. I told him that if he put in the part number for the battery where the fans live, that it is under warranty and I want it fixed at no cost and my $130 back. I was going to go on and on until he said that “you’re convincing me” and said he would check it out and call me back. He called within an hour and said they are ordering the fans but that it will take up to 10 days or less and he will call me to bring in the car. Then he asked how I would like the $130 returned, same credit card etc….so, now I will have to worry about the degrading of the NiMh batteries from the HEAT before my warranty is up. Anyone have any info on that? probably another thread-I will take a look!!

 

Great to hear you folks are being treated right by Ford now.

The FEH has a battery Fail Safe System to protect itself from overheating. It will not allow charging which causes it to heat up if it reaches a preset temperature. This happens to me all the time because I constantly force charge my '05 FEH with "L" gear to drive EV the longest I can. I've been doing this almost since new and no battery problems after 70,000 miles.

GaryG

 

Im having the exact same problem with the fan. I am getting pushback from Ford saying the fan is not covered under warranty. They even tried telling me the fan is outside of the battery pack assembly but the info on this forum proves otherwise. I talked to the warranty manager and he told me the same thing. I even asked them to use the battery assembly part #. Lol they even tried to make me feel stupid because its not the actual batteries that failed, just the fan. They did give me the customer service number to Ford but if everyone else experience is any indication then its of no use.

I know its been awhile since this post was updated but could someone help me in any way eg. contact info at Ford for the right people who can help? I dont think theres much else i can do since the dealer has washed their hands of it and the customer service department at Ford is unlikely to help.

 

The fact is, your battery is broke and it's covered for at least 8 years or 100,000 miles depending on the State. Ford has a choice to fix it or replace it. Call customer service and state what your warranty covers and tell them if it's not covered, your going to copy this thread and take it to the media. If the media wants to contact me, post it and I will PM you with my phone number. My name is posted here as Gary Gattis and tell them the Government requires this warranty. If your mileage is over 100,000 but less than 150,000 miles, you may need to provide information your '05 FEH was bought and needs repair in a green State like CA or NY.

Ford has already covered these fans under the Hybrid Warranty as others here have posted. The problem is the dealers and people at Ford's customer service don't understand a thing about Hybrids. If it takes the media and the government to get the message to Ford that the fans are part of the battery assembly, so be it. I own two FEH and have copies of the '05 and '09 Workshop Manuals. They both say if the cooling fans stop working, with DTC's POA81 or POA96, check the 6-pin and 40pin connection to the HV battery, then replace the battery if they still don't work (Section 414-03-18 and 19).

Gary Gattis

 

2005 Ford Escape Hybrid 79,800 mi

Thanks for the fast response Gary. Here is what happened between when I posted and when you responded:

I first spoke with Chad McDonald, the warranty manager at Camelback Ford in Phoenix, AZ. He stated the fan was separate from the battery and not covered by the warranty, no way no how. As previously mentioned he insulted my intelligence by repeating that the fan failed not the battery (to set the record straight, I know the difference between a fan and a battery).

I spoke to Kurt at Ford customer service. He simply confirmed what the dealership already told me, that the fan pn 5m6z10c659a is not a warrantied part after the 35k btob and therefore did not qualify for warranty replacement. I mentioned how other people had encountered this problem and got it resolved with warranty treatment but he told me you can't believe everything you read on the internet!

I then called Ford customer service back and spoke with Jesse. I told him that I understood the fan was not covered under warranty, but the assembly 10B759 is covered under warranty and since the fan is in that assembly then the assembly was bad and therefore needed to be repaired or replaced. He passed the ball back to the dealership saying that the dealership indicated it was the fan that was bad and not the assembly. He said in instances like this the dealership has the last word and there was nothing he could do! I then asked him this question: "So you are telling me that even though the assembly is covered under warranty and the assembly is presently bad due to a faulty component inside the assembly, Ford will not fix the assembly??". He defaulted to his answer about the dealership having the last word. I then said, "Forget about the dealership, doesn't Ford have a legal responsibility to repair or replace the assembly since the assembly has a bad component making the assembly bad, and the assembly is covered under an expressed warranty?" I then went on to tell him how warranties are legally binding obligations between a seller and a purchaser. I also said that an assembly is merely a collection of discrete components so if you warranty an assembly you are implying the parts of the assembly are included, otherwise the individual parts are warrantied or not, not the entire assembly. He would not concede although he admitted my argument was logically sound.

I did all of this before receiving Gary's response so I didn't threaten media involvement although I don't think Jesse or Chad would care. I don't know what else to do other than *try* to get media involved although I've never done that before and have no idea if that will work. I could also start a small claims suite but the leg work involved would probably outweigh the cost of paying for the repair. I will continue down the media route. If someone has more suggestions, I am open!