I have a 2006 FEH. About a week ago I was driving, and the car shut down with the 'stop safely now' error being raised. I got on google to see what the problem might be, and came across the trick where you hit the button on the driver side panel to jump start the HV battery. That did the trick and I was back in business. Note that I only drove the car for about 5 minutes after that. In hindsight i should have driven longer to give the HV battery more of a charge. I started the car 3 more times over the next 2 hours, but after the third time I experienced the 'stop safely now' failure within just a few minutes. i jump started the HV again, started driving, but hit the same issue again 5 minutes later. Now the jump start needed 3 cycles this time, and I decided to just get the car home. Subsequent attempts to jump start the HV battery were met with a blinking green light on the jump start button, which indicates that the 12V battery doesn't have enough juice to adequately charge the HV battery. At this point I had a rental car, so I connected the 12V battery from that car to the 12V battery of my FEH, then clicked the jump start button on the driver panel. After one cycle my FEH wouldn't start, but after a second cyle (with my rental car still connected to the FEH) my car did manage to start. However, it only started for about 5 seconds before it died again with the stop safely now message.

this all happened about 5 days ago. I bought a 2016 ford edge as a replacement, but my FEH is still in my driveway. I don't want to take 200 dollars so someone can scrap it because I think it still has some life in it. I'd like to sell it if possible. This leads me to my question. Should i have AAA come out and charge my 12V battery, and attempt to jump start the HV battery again? do you have a better suggestion for jump starting the HV battery? Keep in mind I don't have any tools for measuring the quality of the HV battery, so I don't have a way of seeing that my actions are giving me the outcome i'm looking for. Is there an easy way for me to measure it that doesn't require hours worth of my time?

 

You need to get a 10A charger on the 12V and conduct a HV jump start every 30 minutes about 8 times. In most cases on an older 12V, a single jump start nearly depletes the battery. If your 12V is more than 2-3 years old, it should probably be replaced.

After jump starting, you should allow the car to idle and charge the HV battery until the engine shuts off.

Once you have it running, you should take it to O'Reilly and get the codes checked. It could be the battery, the cooling fans or the blend door.

 

HVB lifespan is another issue to consider. These gradually lose their capacity and ability to hold a charge while sitting unused. Happened to my 2005 FEH which is now gone and traded in for a newer hybrid with 4wd capability.

 

The primary mode of failure of the Sanyo made "D" cells is excessive self-discharge. It's what kills almost every 2006-2011 Honda Civic Hybrid and eventually catches up to the FEH battery.

 

Hoonda and Ford had two different hybrid platform systems. The Honda had a much greater SOC range than the 40-53% FEH range.

 

SoC range is a factor, but primary by a mile is the difference between an air conditioned battery that rarely sees above 100°F and a botched cooling system that creates hot spots and routinely drives battery temperatures to 100-120°F. 09 and 10 HCH had failure rates of 30% after 3-4 years.

 

Thank you for the reply. I have a friend with a 6A charger that he is going to let me use for this. Is that sufficient? And how does 6A vs 10A affect the advice of jump starting every 30 minutes for about 8 times? Should it be every 30 minutes about 14 times? Is there a way to figure out how much life the HVB has left on it?

 

6A is fine. Before you start, get it on the charger overnight to make sure the battery is fully charged. Proceed as described with the button-push interval at 45 minutes for a total of 8 jump starts. If the charger has a gauge that gives an indication of how full the battery is, it should be near full prior to every button press.

Make sure the key is out of the ignition, and you close the door after every button-press.

Again, it's critical that the car not be driven before the ICE shuts down automatically when it's done charging the HV battery.

 

Thank you S Keith. Can you just clarify this for me?

Also, after the 8th charge, then I will try to turn the car on. Assuming it starts, how long do I let the ICE run before I start driving? Should i just drive it to O'reilly's (pep boys is closest for me) immediately so they can pull the codes?

Thanks again!

 

I feel like I've preemptively answered your question twice. Let's go for three...

After a successful HV jump start, DO NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE until the gas engine has stopped after charging the HV battery. Once the gas engine has stopped, you may drive it normally.

As I think about it and my past experiences, it's likely you need to clear all codes before the car will start. In fact, it might be a good idea to disconnect the 12V overnight while you're charging the 12V to clear out all the codes. Reconnect it and conduct the 8 jump starts every 45 minutes.

Once running, if codes return, then a trip to O'Reilly is in order. I can't comment on pep boys as I don't know what hardware they use, but I have consistently experienced success in O'Reilly's Bosch code readers providing accurate diagnoses of multiple hybrids and their ability to read hybrid-scpecifc codes that most code readers can't read.