Stupid Question
 

I'm just been driving my 06 FEH a few days now so still feeling my way around. Just got back from a trip to the grocery store and realized it was my first trip after dark. I was not able to see much of anything on the instrument panel other than the fuel ecomomy reading. I could barely read the speedometer. I tried hitting the top of the little dimmer switch to the left of the steering column, but it didn't change a thing. Is there something I'm missing here??

Re: Stupid Question
 

Maybe this is a silly question, but did you have the lights on? Unlike many modern cars, the FEH does not have automatic lights so if your previous car did, you might have forgotten. Otherwise, if you pushed the + button many times (or held it down for a few seconds), you should have seen the dashboard lights brighten. If not, you might have a problem.

Regards,

Roch

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Actually, my lights do go on when I start the vehicle. I think it's standard for cars sold in Canada. Well, I guess I'll have to get it checked out. Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post. I have been reading a lot of information here and am working to adopt some of the driving habits suggested for improved mileage.

Linda

Re: Stupid Question
 

Theres a possibility..... When your lights come on when you start the vehicle. They are probably just "daytime running lights". I think this is a lower intensity (still using headlights) or fog lights for Canada... but your headlights still aren't officially "ON". Try actually manually turning your headlamps on and adjusting your dash brightness... your dash may then light up normally.

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My 2007 US Escape does have automatic headlights - you just set the light switch to the Auto position. Not sure if the 06 is the same. It could be a fuse or perhaps the dash lights dont work

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My '07 does NOT have automatic headlights. Is this a Canada thing? Or maybe an option? Mine is a *very* basic FEH.

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Canadian vehicles should have the DRL (daytime running lights). They are not the same as auto-on headlights. I believe they are only like 70% brightness. As mentioned, try turning on your headlights on the stalk and you should see your cluster light up.

Auto-on lights are an option on the 2007 Escape Hybrid that come with the Premium Package. I don't believe they were available on the 05 or 06 FEH's though. My 06 Mariner doesn't have them either.

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Mines a California vehicle - I just bought it 2 weeks ago and it has a june manufacture date. Perhaps they added it mid year? Or perhaps it is an option thing - mine is pretty much loaded.

Its such a cool vehicle - I just filled it up after 2 weeks of commuting and it cost less that $40 to fill it - averageing 36.6 mpg so far! After a 3/4 ton suburban that got 10-11mpg its quite a change!

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Mine is an 07 Mariner Hybrid, maxed out on all the options (acutally, it's because we didnt have the option to chose options - there was only one available for sale in all of Orange County CA that week) - it does have the auto-light.

timcob, how the heck did you get 36mpg on such a new vehicle? I drive like a grandpa and I'm getting only 27mpg max. Is the MMH less efficient? Hopefully I get better after 1k or 3k miles.

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Its a canada thing. Its required in canada. Somewhere else on this forum someone mentioned that its programmed in the computer somewhere as to whether daytime running lamps are enabled or not and it can be set by a dealer if you really want it...

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Isn't it a dial? Next to the Fog lights. And have you tried this with the headlights in the on position? (Regardless of daytime running or automatic)

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Wow, lots of replies! Thanks! To all who suggested turning headlamps on manually, I 'll give that a try. Not keen on the fact that I'll have to start remembering to turn them off after many years of not doing so. According to the manual they will shut down after 10 minutes, but that's a rather long time, three or four would be more reasonable.

And Rich, the dimmer switch on my 06 is not a dial. It is a switch with a plus sign at the top and a minus sign at the bottom. The fog lights and mirror control switch are located above it. Beside it is an empty slot for something else.

On the Daytime Running Lights, I just checked the Transport Canada site and since 1989 all new vehicles sold in Canada have been equipped with DRL. Since that time there has been an 11% reduction in daytime vehicle collisions.

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In the grand scheme of how much power it usually requires from a 12V battery to start an engine.... 10min of headlamps is nothing to worry about, and is recharged after then engine starts again very quickly. As an addition, on the hybrid the engine is started by the 330V battery in the back, so the load on this 12V battery is TINY compared to a normal escape.

In short... don't worry about the 10min.... it won't pose any problems for you. I hope turning on the lights manually works for you.

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the slot next to the dimmer control is for quarters.

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I wonder if that statistic will hold up over time?

The human brain likes to focus upon the unusual, and ignore the usual. As more and more cars have DRL, they will become "usual" and more and more people will start to subconsciously ignore them.

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Does anyone know if the 12v battery is the same "normal" one used in the regular FE/MM ??? Or is it of larger capacity, or one of those "deep cycle" marine ones?

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A quarter slot!!! That's a hoot! Thanks. *LOL*

Linda

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Walt, the FEH 12 volt battery is a standard automotive battery. Not sure if it has the same specs as any other escapes because there are 4 and V6 engines in those. The FEH uses a motorcraft BXT-96R 12 volt battery, you just need to find one with those specs and size to fit. Try the web for a match with other brands when you need to replace it. No big deal I would think.

GaryG

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Linda - the slot on Canadian Models is for Loonies!:D

Also I think the reason My Escape is doing a little better mpg than the Mariner is because is is 2wd. My dealer did have a Mariner which I test drove - lovely vehicle, but I went with the escape because I wanted 2wd.

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Thanks Gary.

I was just thinking that a large capacity battery, or one designed for "deep" discharging, might allow the system to not run the ICE as often, for purposing of just recharging the 12v battery.

In other words, allow one to run just in stealth mode, with the headlights 'on' and the radio blasting. :D

Re: Stupid Question
 

I did some checking, with the info from Gary being a good start.

The regular FE/MM, with either the 4 or 6, get a BXT-40R, 590CCA, 60Ah, battery. The FEH/MMH, get a smaller BXT-96R, 500CCA, 52Ah, battery. My reference was the Motorcraft battery catalog.

I guess that weight is more important than how often the ICE has to run to just charge the 12v battery????

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Energy in = Energy out. Just because the battery is bigger or smaller shouldn't make much of a difference as to how much the ICE has to run to recharge it. Its just like a gas tank.... Doesn't matter if its 10 gallons or 100 gallons... If I use 5 gallons, I have to put 5 gallons back in capacity is rather irrelevant in this case. The only difference would be internal resistance and frankly the FEH probably pulls so little current from the battery at all, even that doesn't matter. While going down the road the 12V battery isn't supposed to be doing anything anyway. Everything should be being provided by the 330V (to drive) and I imagine even the 12V comes from the 330V-12V charging system at that point. I believe the FEH doesn't have a separate alternator. I thought I read that somewhere... but I can't remember for sure.

Re: Stupid Question
 

Hi,

Just top get back to the topic for a moment ;), there is a difference between daytime running lights, which are always on in Canada, and the lights you want to use at night. At night, you need to turn on the "manual" lights (unless you have th enew fangled auto lights) because the daytime running lights only turn on the front headlamps. At night, you also want your tail-lamps on so people see you from behind. I'm not sure (it was mentioned in other threads) but the headlight intensity might be different as well. So when we are driving at night, and can't see the instruments, it is a reminder turn on the lights.

So, you were either driving a car with automatic lights in the past, or this may answer why so many people behind you were flashing their headlights at you over the years :).

I remember when daytime lights came in. Whenever we visited the US, we'd get people flashing their headlights all the time or yelling "your lights are on!". "I know! We're from Canada!".

Cheers,

rcomeau

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The 12 v battery is just there for the conventional electrical system. The starter is powered off of the high voltage battery (the one behind the backseat) and the 12 volt battey's charge state is maintained by the High voltage system also. The 300+ volts are stepped down by the DC/DC converter to keep the 12 v battery charged. There is no need for a deep cycle battery.

;)

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See, that is part of my confusion.

If the 12v battery is used for the conventional electrical system, would it not be better if it had a larger capacity, and had a deeper cycle, battery? At least to me, that would mean that the 12v battery could run the 12v electrical system (radio, lights, etc) for a longer time before needing the ICE to run just to re-charge it.

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True.... however that just delays things. It doesn't change them. The engine would just have to run longer to charge the larger battery loss, making up for the less frequent charging times.

And, in the end, I'm pretty sure automotive systems don't work that way. They don't discharge the battery to a point and then turn on the charger.... they pretty much just keep the battery topped off all the time. With lead-acid cells this is fine. After all in a conventional engine that battery has to start the ICE... Something that is much harder with a half discharged battery.

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The short of it is (in my opinion).... I guess on this system they could delay charging until necessary and let the battery drain more.... but I doubt it makes enough difference for the designers to worry about it. I doubt it ever gets to the point where the engine fires for just charging the 12V system.... it probably will have to come on for added drive power or to heat up the catalytic converter long before that.

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The high voltage battery's state of charge is the sole determinant of when the engine runs or does not run other than high load modes of operation. In other words, if you floor the accelerator the engine is going to come on regardless of the state of charge. Conversely, if you drive real easy so that the engine never comes on when accelerating it will eventually come on when the HV battery SOC drops below a certain level, probably in the neighborhood of 40% from what I have read. That would happen even if you were coasting down a hill at say 20 mph or so. The state of charge of the 12v battery has no bearing on the engine operation whatsoever.


The energy stored in the HV battery is substantial compared to the 12v. It has to be since it may be called upon to propel the vehicle down the road. Hope this helps.

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This is a common fallacy. Yes, your hybrid battery has a lot of voltage ( so does the static in your sweater ) but it's really pretty small in capacity, 1900 watt-hours.

The HV battery and 12v underhood battery have nearly the same amount of stored energy. The 330v battery will provide a higher number of watts for a shorter period of time than the 12v battery, and vice-versa.

Since the HV battery is "protected" from over discharge, and the 12v isn't....
You could actually pull more energy out of your 12v battery than your 330v one in an hour if you wanted to.

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Right! Which is why it's possible to "jump start" the HV battery with teh 12V... it just takes a while.

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I guess that is my point, right or wrong. I was assuming that the ICE would run just to recharge the 12v battery, and it would be more efficient if that could be delayed until the ICE had to run for other reasons too. Possibly, in the real world, that just doesn't happen.