Here are just my thoughts. I have never owned an RV and I have only towed another vehicle once, a FWD with front wheels on a dolly. This is not proof of anything.

I spoke to 5 co-workers. When towing 4 down, 3 said to tow with steering unlocked, 2 said with it locked. Not any concensus.

When a tow truck driver ( any out there? ) tows a vehicle with the rear wheels up, and front down, I know they specifically tow with STEERING LOCKED. They will tie the steering wheel in place if the car will not lock it. What if you tow your FEH in reverse? Does it matter?

Having front wheels turn only matters for a very tight radius.
Anyone see an RV make a very tight radius?

Your back wheels NEVER turn, no matter how sharp a raduis you make.
This does not seem to harm them.

The wheels on a trailer never turn.
Isn't a car behind an RV a type of trailer?
And some trailers have 2, 3, or more axels.

What if the alignment wasn't perfect on the towed vehicle?
Wouldn't it "turn itself" in a separate direction from the direction of the RV?
I think this would be unsafe, and at least cause much more wear than having steering locked straight ahead.

If the steering on the towed vehicle was not locked, and it hit a severe bump, pothole, object, whatever, couldn't the steering wheels be turned sharply, even though the RV was traveling straight? Screeching and smoking front tires is what I visualize.

I did search online for about 30 minutes and did not find any easy answers.
I guess I only have easy questions.

P.S. If shifting to "Neutral" is a mechanical process, how come there is never, ever, ANY sound, never any clunk, never any vibration, never any shift shock, never any harshness, never ever ANYTHING detectable by the driver? And if there was a mechanical disconnect, you'd be screwed if you shifted from Neutral to Reverse when traveling forward, and you'd be screwed if you shifted from Neutral to Drive when moving fast, and you are not. FORD has said IN PRINT that Neutral in a FEH removes all electrical power from both MG1 and MG2 disallowing them from either providing torque, or generating electricity. And that's all they have said. The "patent" references are junk. Interesting fiction perhaps. There are 1000 patents filed for each 1 built in reality. Did you guys read the patent about the flying car and the moon cruiser also?

P.P.S. Try this at home if possible. Park at the top of a hill with room to coast half a mile or more. Start your FEH and place into N and release the brake and just coast. Let the car roll to a stop. Mark the spot with chalk or an object. Repeat this time with the FEH in Drive. To coast in Drive without any regen you must press the go pedal about 1 or 2mm. Get into a deadband condition with no energy flowing in or out of the engine or battery. You will coast to the same spot, plus or minus 10 feet out of half a mile. Hmmm... shouldn't drive have more frictional losses than neutral? ( you will need to use N below 6 MPH on the Drive test to avoid "creep" )

 

Tim, my Owner's Guide was printed as the First Printing in May 2004 and there were many changes because it did not contain correct information on FEH. Later printings have corrected most of the information and maybe I should buy a copy. Could I get someone like yourself to write word for word the heading and the text about this brake light interlock?

As far as the discussion on the patent, I was not the one who found it first. The information was first brought up in the article I wrote on Cleanmpg.com. GreenFEH brought the patent up during a discussion on neutral coasting which supported what I found in the '05 Workshop Manual which I also quoted in this thread twice. The Workshop Manual is what the Ford Techs use, and the section I quoted was for the FEH/MMH eCVT. The patent supports the workshop manual and that was all I was trying to give the readers here.

SPL (Stan) is being very helpful in a fact finding process to help us with understanding the FEH/MMH. It's not about taking sides, it's about learning how things work to improve our driving techniques. No one wants to break a $30,000 vehicle towing it behind them on vacation, so we all have to very careful what we imply here. If I'm wrong about something, please help set me straight because it won't be the first time I was wrong. Likewise, if I think the group is being mislead, I'll say so. If the owner's guide states that you should shift the vehicle to neutral for towing by what GPSman1 has stated, we all just learned something. However, if the ignition must be turned on in order to disengage the output shaft and return the key to off and leave the key in to unlock the steering wheel, we may have a problem with GPSman1 suggestion.

GaryG

 

Gary... so you can agree that the Owner's Guides have mis-prints, missing info, and incorrect info.

But you can't agree that the Workshop Manual is NOT free from errors?

I hate to break it to you, but the Workshop Manual contains errors also.

I have the FEH Owner's Guide, First Printing, Dated May 2004 on the back.

My page 197 actually has a second page glued over the top of the original page. My book on page 200 states that recreational towing with drive axels on the ground is not allowed. ( untrue ) My pages 208-209 describe the brake-shift interlock, but I'm not sure that is even 100% correct. I HAVE gone out and tried everything I speak of with my actual car.

Ford openly admits that they cut-and pasted much of the manual from the regular Escape. I'm positive they cut and pasted as much of the Workshop Manual as possible also.

 

I've never used the button discussed... however this is what the '06 manual says about using it. It only mentions using it when the key is in the run position... I have no idea if it works in any other way.

 

Tim, so what are you waiting for!

Go out and try it. You'll find you can use that to shift to N and move the car without a key in the ignition at all.

I find those directions strange that they want the ICE running first, but you actually need to do this trick if you park with your wheels hard against a curb, and you can't get the key to even turn. Happened to me 1 time and this trick helped a lot. -John

 

Actually I should say that I wouldn't be SUPRISED if it works in other cases. I used to have an automatic transmission Ford Probe. It had a similar cover and button. I remember its instructions saying it was used if the select lever were ever stuck in park.

 

Thanks Tim,

I found it in another section on page 208 in my owner's guide. This in no way refers to towing in neutral. This is a method to release the parking pawn to drive the vehicle. The FEH will roll without the parking pawn locked, but if the engine is not running, you can't engage forward or reverse gears. Not sure if the output shaft is disengaged either in neutral since the ignition was not turned on when it was placed there. Don't think I would tow my vehicle using GPSman1's suggestion with out the key.

John, I think we both know when there is standard Escape information used in our FEH Owner's Guide. It was the towing section in our guide that I pointed this out to you over a year ago. Your argument then was the FEH could be damaged if towed without the drive wheel off the ground. My Workshop manual has not been a problem for me, but either you or your CD has incorrect information as I have pointed out in the past regarding the jump start heating information you were posting.

GaryG