hihy in accident & now i think i have a drag
 

a few months ago my vehicle was hit in the front passenger side w/significant damage. the collision pushed in the front wheel so as to make the vehicle undriveable. the repair included new tie rod, wheel bearing, hub etc and when i got it back from the body shop i almost instantly notice a drop in mileage from my first few tanks. i used to get ~400 but now it's more like ~325. i also notice the tachometer needle (or whatever it's called in our vehicles), seems to dip into 'negative' territory easier than before the accident, as if there is a natural drag pulling it down. my question is, when you are going say 50 or 60 mph on a flat road & you let off the gas - where is the needle? my needle now drops down a couple clicks below the center where it starts off. it doesn't quite dip into blue territory but if i'm going 80 mph with a full load & let off the gas, the needle will dip pretty close to blue. i also notice that when i'm going say 70 mph & put on cruise control, the needle needs to stay higher to keep the car moving at 70, where as in the past if would be able to keep the car at 70 with the needle just a pinch into power making territory. is my needle behaving correctly?

Re: hihy in accident & now i think i have a drag
 

Open OAT sensor...??

Many FWD or F/awd hybrid systems will not use FULL regen if the outside temperature is close to, or below, freezing.

Re: hihy in accident & now i think i have a drag
 

forgive my ignorance but what's OAT stand for?
that still doesn't answer my question. i'd like to know how the tachometer/power needle typically behaves at 60 mph with your foot off the gas. does it remain in the middle position where it is when you start your car? or does it dip towards regeneration territory? if so, how many 'clicks' down.

are you suggesting that the cold weather will keep the hybrid system from regeneration as easy as it does in warmer weather? once the car is up to operating temp shouldn't all things stay the same? what i'm experiencing is actually the opposite - the needle is dipping into blue territory easier than it did previously. it's as if i'm, driving in partial engine brake all the time...

Re: hihy in accident & now i think i have a drag
 

80 views & no one can state whether their power needle drops below the median position or not @ 60 mph with your foot off the gas? WTF - am i in the the twilight zone?? cuz this is a pretty simple objective question. thanks to anyone who can help!

Re: hihy in accident & now i think i have a drag
 

Re: hihy in accident & now i think i have a drag
 

Ah some humour in the forum:omg:
The wife has the HH out so I can't do the needle test right now. But... if your gas mileage has definitely dropped - tank on tank, and can be verified by a change in the average MPG then get it to the dealership. Of course - be aware that MPG varies between cold and warm weather, for me in southern Canada I lose about 2 mpg in the winter months (even with a dastardly block heater and the rad partially blocked to help keep the engine temp up).

In the 06 the B drive mode (as opposed to D) tends to create the needle behaviour you describe, foot off the gas and the needle dips. Could be something on the transmission got bumped in the crash - dealer?

And lastly - I find gas mileage definitely goes down with cruise on.

Re: hihy in accident & now i think i have a drag
 

"In near freezing or sub-freezing OAT, Outside Air Temperatures, there is a greater potential for encountering an icy roadbed surface wherein a substantive level of regen braking on the front wheels might result in loss of directional control."

?? Hey WW - Are you saying that the air temp is monitored and directly affects the level of regen braking in the HH??

Re: hihy in accident & now i think i have a drag
 

Only by implication, Ford has a US patent that involves that exact technique, patent includes a formula for which the level of regen braking is reduced a the OAT declines.

Makes sense, does it not....??

Re: hihy in accident & now i think i have a drag
 

Ah - a patent - so this is well er not quite true or at best misleading in terms of the original query.

Re: hihy in accident & now i think i have a drag
 

yeah, that's what you might call a stretch, & not really related to my problem. this is the 2nd winter of ownership for me & i did not notice any significant drop in mileage & needle variance last winter. something happened after the accident, but part of not driving the vehicle for a month made my own amnesia regarding the exact readings in relation to throttle position or lack thereof. the body shop last week replaced the bearing & hub (again). i'm monitoring mileage now, but the needle is still behaving the same way so if there are any hihy owners reading this i'd still be interested in noting the behavior of your tach needle as per my previous postings. thanks for posting in the thread if only to add a little life to this forum.