Yup, another one of those posts.

I've been using these forums for a few weeks now, trying to fix my mothers FEH, and it seems I may have an odd case.

2006 Escape Hybrid 125000 miles

The back story~
Three weeks ago, she was on her way back from a long trip, driving down the interstate, doing 70mph passing a semi. Guess what happened next.... yup, SSN. She freaks out, jerks the car over onto the shoulder, semi locking up his brakes, blaring on his horn, the works. Long story short, she has it towed to a local Ford dealership. They pulled the codes and said that it needed either a new ignition switch (~$480) or a new PCM(~$900).

The codes,
P2535 Ignition run/start circuit High.
This code was set when she tried to restart the car. She held the ignition in the start position for to long. Miss-diagnosis by Ford.

P1A10 Hybrid Powertrain Control Module - Battery Disabled

I've been a mech all my life and for a dealer to say, well, "It might be the ignition switch, but if that doesn't fix it, it will need a new PCM." just screams we dont know what the problem is so we are going to throw parts at it. So, in the interest of saving some money, my brother and I dove 200 miles, trailer in tow and new ignition switch in hand. We replaced the switch ($45 at oreillys btw), drove it 20 miles and SSN. Time to load it on the trailer. Unhook the 12v battery for 1 min, car restarts, on the trailer it goes.

Fast forward 3 weeks, I've replaced the MECS pump for good measure, replaced a corroded neg 12v battery cable, HV battery air filter and inspected every square inch of the HV cables... basically I've checked the entire car over and found no problems. The 12v battery was replaced 2 years ago and tested good 1 week ago.

The only code stored in the FEH since the battery was unhooked is the P1A10 code. Right now, if the car sits overnight, you can go out in the morning, start it and it will run for about 4 min then SSN.

I guess my question is, has anyone run across a FEH that had a SSN with only a P1A10 code and if so, what was the problem/fix?

 

DTC POA10 is a DC/DC Converter Fault (DCF) Circuit High.

Description: This DTC indicates the DC to DC fault circuit is open, shorted to VPWR, or internal DC/DC damage. VPWR means vehicle power (a switched circuit that provides power to the EEC-Electronic Engine Control).

Possible Causes: Damaged converter or harness.

Pinpoint test is intended to diagnose the following:

- Harness circuit
- DC/DC converter
- PCM

Your PCM more than likely only needs to be reflashed, not replaced. The PCM has a active program and a stored copy which is reflashed to the active program if there is a faulty active program. I had my PCM reflashed after I got a SSN and engine shutdown. My vehicle was under warranty at the time so it was towed and reflashed for free.

One other thing, I also had a bad corroded battery cable and it ran as a harness and I could not just replace the battery cable. I cut off the terminal wire and soaked it in baking soda and water to clean it. Put a new battery connector that attached to the cleaned wire and I was good to go. You need to check the cable real good for damage.

GaryG

 

Yes, my 2006 a few years ago had the exact same thing and it was a wiring harness in the HV battery. There was a TSB for it but I doubt they will fix it for free on a high mileage FEH like yours. You should be able to find out if your FEH has already had that work done or not.

Ted