Looking for advice to see if I am crazy or not...

I have a '06 FWD Escape with about 5k miles on it which I bought in March. My lifetime average has been about 32-33mpg. Recently I took about a 500 mile roundtrip and noticed that the vehicle seemed to be sluggish. The RPM's were higher, the vehicle was sounding like it was on a strain and in order to accelerate I had to bring it up to 5000RPM. On the way back home, I realized that it felt like I had been driving in L gear. So, I put the car in L and continued my drive. The performance was the same which made me think that there was something wrong with the transmission since it felt that the car is in L all the time. I also noticed that it seems the gas engine is quicker to kick on just as it would be in L. Brought it to the dealer and they say there is no problem. My average on my last tank was 27 mpg and this was without a/c or heat. On the same drive this summer, I hit 35 mpg for the same drive. Any suggestions or insight?

 

Without being there, I have no advice, other than do some reading about the L setting. THERE IS NO LOW GEAR! This is only a software switch, and L does not change anything inside the car. L only effects how the car behaves when coasting ( slowing ). It has no effect on going or accelerating.

 

I knew that the L was just a software setting which is why I thought that the computer was screwed up and employing the L setting all the time even in D. There is something wrong bringing my mileage down. The display showed under 30MPG for the first time ever. When I filled up and calculated by hand, it was 27mpg. I would think if you went around driving in L all the time, your mileage would suffer would it not? L causes the vehicle to run at a higher RPM in general right?

Thanks

 

A few things to look at/think about:

Where did you get gas prior to this trip?

Is the temperature colder this time than last time you made the trip?

Is the pressure in your tires lower than it was?

What was the differences in weather/traffic/speed etc on this trip than last?

I don't think L vs D is an issue. I drive all the time in L and get great mileage.

Hope this helps.

Ray

 

Hi ck8

It sounds like your A/C coolant is low and the battery is getting to hot to supply power to the elec. motors for boost to the ICE. The TBCM will not let the battery reach higher temps by discharging or charging when this happens. The service techs don't know enough about the FEH/MMH to check A/C performance. The compressor kicks on to cool the battery even though you don't have it on in the cabin.

Turn you cabin A/C on and make sure it's as cold as it should be first. It could be something associated only with the battery A/C that is not related to the A/C coolant also, like a pressure switch for that system. Let us know.

GaryG

 

5000 rpm seems excessively high when accelerating...were you going up an incline when you're accelerating? I've found that if I'm starting from a dead stop trying to go up an incline (>6-7%), the engine does rev very high, but only to ~4500rpm and acceleation up that incline was normal. I've also gone up 6-7% incline just last month around 65-70mph and my rpm never went beyond 4200rpm.

Your symtoms brings back an article I've read about someone reviewing the 06 MMH. Seems like he also had no power and had excessive rev just going up a hill. He gave the car a bad review (I cant seem to find this article anymore).

Is your emergency brake stuck? Do you smell brakes?

Is our HV battery SOC at normal on the screen (do you have the Hybrid display?)

Your FE dive also sounds excessive...something's is not normal I gather.

 

#1 one trip or one tank is not enough data to base anything on....

#2 in MOST cases, L will help your MPG,... just not at sustained highway speeds. If it were "stuck in L" you would get fantastic results under 40 MPH.

#3 do what GaryG said and see if your A/C is as cold as it should be. I really don't think this is the culpret, but go ahead and rule that out.

#4 your car is SOOOOOO new... it may still need to "break in". edit: ok sorry, I read you had 500 miles vs. 5000 as you actually stated... still new, but not that new... sorry,

#5 all temperatures are dropping in the Northern Hemisphere... Even I started to notice a drop in MPG so added my winter radiator block to combat this and get my 5 mpg back. ( only consider this if your daytime highs are in the 50's and below... )

#6 It could be a bad tank of gas, or the switch at the pump from 100% gasoline to 6-10% ethanol that many states do about October through March.

#7 It's for SURE way to early to start loosing sleep over this.... yet....

-John

 

That ethanol thing rears its ugly head...I dont mind it for air quality reasons, but the least they can do is tell you at the pump esp. if FE hit is that bad. Sure sounds like a posibility.

 

10% ethanol SHOULD be only a 1MPG hit. A 3 MPG hit seems to be widely reported though. A 6-8 MPG hit is possible for the first tank or two untill the car re-adjusts everything. A move to higher octane "premium" gas will also make your MPG dive at first, because different timing and air/fuel mix is required. This car has a special low compression engine, and high octane is for high compression engines. 85 octane found in rocky mountain states actually works best. One of many reasons that help me beat EPA FE ratings all the time.

-John

 

From the way I understand it, "L" vs "D" only affects de-acceleration, and therefore never acceleration.

When in "D", the hybrid will coast when you let go of the "gas" pedal. When in "L", the hybrid will engage the generator when you let go of the "gas" pedal. The back-torque of the generator approximates the back-torque of a regular gas engine in low gear.