Have you read about the double tap method that I've written about a few times here? Using it, I'm able to below or even at 40 MPH to get the engine to shut off with a second or so worth of braking, or is this something else?

As I said, location (altitude), road, temperature, and the actual 'finesse' of the foot of the driver may play immense roles in how fast you can EV.

 

The ICE stays running for any of a number of reasons. We don't get to see all the factors being considered by the PCM. My Prius sometimes does the same thing.

 

Pravas and Steve, I think I have EV down as much as anyone here. Rich, the double tap is history but I still use it when the battery is full. Steve, there may many reasons why the ICE does not shut down and the PCM (powertrain control module) may be the problem, I don't know. The more I use EV, the more I see the problem which is everyday. If it was the PCM, what would cause it to act normal after the reset or forced brake shut down? I think the program in the computer is flawed myself.

Gary

 

Gary - I, also of late, have had the same thing happen to my '05 FEH. There for quite a while I had no problem of getting the ICE to shut down below 40, even without any double tap or any other method to try and force the ICE to shut down.

Just yesterday (Temp abt 50) Battery full, everything warmed up (15 miles on expressway) - pull onto exit ramp - pulled into L dropped below 40 - nothing - double tap - nothing - kicked it back to D to coast while it stayed on ICE until I HAD to stop at a light and then it took 10-15 sec for it to shut down. Plus lately a lot of times, if does shut down in L below 40, it will almost immediately come back on (that over charging scenario thing?) - so I have learned to shift back to D then L - shut down - quickly shift to D and coast. Man my right arm is getting tired just thinking about what we do to get that FE reading up

 

Phillip, the computer freezing has been a problem for many people and I noticed it from the day I got my FEH. When you are driving EV to the max like I do, I found you need to pull over and choke the ICE off with the brake pedal as ASAP or lose FE.

As far as shifting, thank Ford for moving the column shifter to the console in '05. The arm rest is perfect for resting your arm and keeping your hand on the shifter at all times around Town. I choose to work a little and it pays off with at lease 10 extra mpg.

The noise like a drum beat I just posted about was not a FEH problem. Went to run my arrands this morning and notice the tire about flat on the right rear. I picked up a piece of metal in my sidewall. Glad I bought the road hazard protection from Goodyear. They tried to give a goodyear tire but I told them to replace it with the same tire (Eco-Plus). Their tring to locate one while I'm driving around on the donut and it looks like hell. BTW, the donut is a goodyear tire, not Continental. Also it cost me $12.00 a tire (10% of the replacement tire) for the road hazard protection. Around here, GoodYear was the only place that would offer it on new cars tires they didn't install. The total cost for life time rotation and balance and protection was $112.00 for all four tires and if you get a flat on the road, there is a 800 number to call for free repair to help get you back on the road. Not a bad deal I think. Of course the tire is prorated so I will pay extra for the new tire.

Gary

 

Well, I seemed to have picked the worst time possible to try the D to drive, L to brake method, as temps dropped 20 degrees one night and stayed there. Add in winds that vary from 25-45 MPH constantly, and a touch of snow, and my FE has taken a blow, making it impossible to tell if I actually came out ahead or not with the new method.

 

I have been using the L gear setting for the past few weeks. Over the weekend, something about using it did not seem to work correctly. I was in cruise control at about 55 and came over the top of a moderatly steep hill on a country road. Instead of slowing down, the engine began to run at a much higher RPM than I would have expected. It actually increased in speed rather than maintaining a constant or reduced RPM. The car speed did not seem to change, but the RPM went quite high, as if the car were in the wrong gear. Both my wife and I noticed it immediately. I cut the cruise control and the RPM dropped back to what I would have expected. I did not make note of the numbers though, so can't provide precision on that item. Perhaps something about the cruise control did not interact correctly with the L gear setting. It had been working fine for the past hour though. I use it every day on my commute and have never had a problem with it, although on the commute I don't have hills as steep. I will run the same stretch of road again in a few weeks, so will try out the same settings and see what I get.

 

dknapp, what you discribed is a over charge being released and this causes an rpm boost that does not effect your speed. It is energy that is not intended to be stored in the battery. The cause is from driving in low and will also happen with the regen. brakes. I prefer to just use low only when I need to charge the battery. Shifting back to drive promotes coasting to save fuel when you don't need to charge the battery.

Regarding my post about needing to replace one of my contitrac Eco Plus P235/70R16 tires, I being told by Goodyear it could only be sold from Ford. Goodyear has place the order but have got no word yet on how long it will take. Has anyone found this to be a fact? The FEH feels unstable driving on the donut tire.

Gary

 

Gary[/QUOTE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryG

dknapp, what you described is an over charge being released and this causes an rpm boost that does not effect your speed. It is energy that is not intended to be stored in the battery. The cause is from driving in low and will also happen with the regen. brakes. I prefer to just use low only when I need to charge the battery. Shifting back to drive promotes coasting to save fuel when you don't need to charge the battery.
Gary

dknapp - I am with Gary on the part on using a combination of both L and D. Takes a lot of shifting to get the best of both worlds - but hey that can be part of the fun of driving. Around town I generally start off in L and leave it there ‘unless’ there is an opportunity to coast – it might just be a short level area. If you had left it in L, and not shifted to D to coast, you would probably have had to press on the accelerator to maintain your speed because of the deceleration caused by regen being in L . If you were in L and on EV you would have been using up stored battery power and if the ICE were on you would be using more gas just to keep the speed.

If at that point you had shifted into D you could coast, and loss little or no speed, and can always put it back into L if you need the braking plus regen if need be. Takes some looking ahead and planning but seems to get the best of both worlds. Plus I have resorted to turning the ignition off, if on ICE, if I have had to come to what I know will be a long stop – then back on to go. Doesn’t work if you are already on EV because the ICE will automatically kick in when you restart. – Just a thought.

 

Plus I have resorted to turning the ignition off, if on ICE, if I have had to come to what I know will be a long stop – then back on to go. Doesn’t work if you are already on EV because the ICE will automatically kick in when you restart. – Just a thought.
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I'm assuming you're doing this because you're not ICE off for the whole stop normally? As an alternative, when the ICE is off and you're stopped, you can shift into Neutral. When the ICE is off, in N, it will not come on, no matter what. (Just as if the ICE is on, in N, it will not shut off, no matter what.)

Just a thought.