Hi Everyone,

I'm sorry that I haven't been participating in the forum very often recently. I've had a lot of other troubles that took precedence relating to my health, but tonight I wanted to share a "health update" on my 2010 FEH Limited 2WD. The screenshot is the average MPG over the past 450 miles in mixed city/highway. In the northeast, the temps. have been "seasonable" except for a couple of hotter-than-average and colder-than-average days. I've had zero problems with the HV battery (I hope I'm not jinxing myself.)

I had a front passenger side bearing go sour on me at the end of the winter and had it replaced with a complete MOOG assembly I bought from RockAuto and it's working perfectly. A month later I had the car aligned (the shop that installed the bearing doesn't do alignments) - and the mileage *improved* by about 1MPG overall. The steering wheel is now also perfectly straight. Don't skimp on alignment, it's important.

I am now on my sixth oil change with almost 89,000 miles on the clock. I've driven the car more than 30,000 miles in the (approx.) two years I've owned it and it is running perfectly. I use Mobil 1 0W-20 Extended Performance oil with an M1-102A filter. The only other "major" things I've done are the front rotors and pads. I'm going to change the air filter again this week. I will probably replace the rear drums and shoes in July and at that time I will probably flush the coolant in both the ICE engine and MECS system, and also do the spark plugs (even though the engine is running perfectly well.) I may replace some radiator hoses in anticipation of the winter, but that is TBD.

So they can run very well even at this age and I'm very happy and hope to contribute more to the forum here in the coming weeks. It's driving perfectly, and you can see my recent mileage on mixed highway/city below, this was taken today.

I have seen the little yellow wrench light in the lower left of the instrument cluster one additional time recently (not the Triangle). It came on while I was pushing the car up a semi-mountain (elevation >2800 feet) in Maryland while carrying a combined total of about 1300 pounds of people and cargo (greater than GVWR) in warm weather. At 80 MPH. I slowed down a little, stopped for gas and cycled the key, the light went out. I was probably pushing it a little too hard, and it warned me.

Otherwise the car has been totally reliable (I changed the 12V battery a year ago with one from NAPA) and I haven't even had a lightbulb quit.


~88,500 miles 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid Limited 2WD, average fuel economy over approx. 450 miles mixed city/highway.

 

Thanks for the update! I'm glad your 2010 is still running well. My 2010 also has that wrench light come on at high speed or when driving long distance. Like yours, it always shuts off when engine is cycled. Still runs like a dream. Let me know if the problem replicates or if you have any other problems.

 

Thank you. I enjoy driving this car - and there are a lot of reasons other than the ones I talk about on this forum. I have been surprised by its reliability, and it's just a cool car when it does what it does. Maybe that's a "nerd thing" but I really get a kick out of the way it apportions and delivers power to the wheels. It makes the car "more than the sum of its parts." Also I can see just by opening my eyes that there are a LOT of Escapes from these years still on the road. Some are hybrids, some are flex-fuel, a lot are standard ICE but the basic platform seems to be very reliable and relatively easy for mechanics to work on. Otherwise people wouldn't be driving them, and that bodes well for parts availability.

Best of luck with yours. Now that the sun is intense where I live, I'm using my Heatshield again, which really does work and it's USA Made. I've had mine since last year and it absolutely lowers the in-car temperatures by 20 degrees or so.

https://www.heatshieldstore.com/car-...ord-escape-suv

Their line art picture shows the wrong car, but you'll notice the Mercury Mariner at the lower right, which shows the fit. The the finished product is PERFECT and you don't even need to use the sun visors to hold it, because it is perfectly cut to the windshield dimensions and holds itself in. Great product. Because the 2010-12 models don't have the rear AC evaporator, this little thing helps to moderate the interior temperatures which helps the main AC help the battery live longer.

 

"Borrowing", with thanks, Alex's photo. Does anyone know what the section of the display I circled in red is for? It is not mentioned in the manual. Sometimes it is lit, other times it is not and it appears to display independently of the rough SOC graph to its right.

 

I have no idea and I've wondered about that myself. I have noticed that the little "marching ants" connecting the various parts seem to grow, shrink and change direction according to what inputs they're receiving at any given time. But I have no idea what the "greyed out" area you're referring to signifies.

Given the layout of the battery, it would be the place where the fans induct air to blow through the battery. Maybe I haven't watched it closely enough.

The question becomes: "If the battery cooling fans are ON, does that thing change?"

Over the next few days I'll watch it and see if I can tell any difference.

 

@GatorJ : I had a couple of errands to run, drove the car about 40 miles with the Info screen on and didn't see that area change colors, invert or signify anything. I think it might just be a "grey area" that was drawn that way on the graphic but doesn't light up or change to signify anything.

Next week I'll be taking the car for a >300 mile ride and I'll keep an eye on it.

 

Thanks. Mine will be light as in your photo or just as dark as the SOC graph. I can't discern the pattern. Pay particular attention as you are slowing to a stop and while stopped.

 

I can hear the fans when they're running and I can also feel the air flowing through the rear vent, so I'll try my best to see whether that corresponds to the display.

 

@GatorJ I took some pictures today and the little area you circle does not seem to have anything to do with the fans. At least on my '10, it gets "darker" whenever the battery is either receiving or sending current to charge or propel the car. It has nothing to do with the fans as far as I can tell. If there is energy coming from or going to the battery, it lights up. Maybe that's supposed to represent the Battery Control Module? But I can't tell any correlation with the fans. Sorry for the blurry photo in EV mode, I was merging onto a two-lane road at about 20 MPH and going slowly because I didn't want to kick the ICE on.

It looks to me like it becomes more visible whenever the HV battery is either receiving or sending current. BTW my average econ. dropped a few tenths because of a relatively fast drive I took starting from cold engine. It is working its way back up and is still firmly within in the 34-31 EPA guesstimate. Electric A/C was ON in all these photos.



This is Electric Drive in EV Mode, with the shifter in DRIVE, around 20 miles per hour.

This is the display going downhill with NO throttle, the ICE off, charging the battery.

This is the car sitting at 0 MPH in DRIVE on the side of the road. There is negligible current flowing into/out of the HV battery and all you see are the "lozenges."

 

Alex: That makes sense, I never thought it was fan related. The "HV Battery" lights up any time that small bar graph darkens.