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Ford Fusion Energi Forum

Service Manager Is Pulling My Leg?


gtca
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So my 2015 Fusion Energy has 4,700 miles and I went by the dealer today to ask why my window sticker from them says maintenance and oil change every 5,000 while the manual says 7,500 to 10,000 under normal driving conditions.  I stated that of the 4,700 miles on my Fusion Energi, around 3,000 have been all-electric, and all has been pretty mild driving.

 

He stated that just the pollen level alone in our city qualified for severe use, and that if I intended to own the car a long time I needed 5,000 mile intervals anyway for maximum car life (I'm smelling baloney at this point).  Pollen level - what the air filters?

 

1.  Is he correct?

 

2.  As an aside, I assume extended idling in all-electric mode is fine and does not have the same effect as when the engine is running?

 

From the manual, Severe us is, "Moderate to heavy load or towing, mountainous or off-road conditions, extended idling, extended hot or cold operation."

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The manual for my 2013 Energi says 20,000 miles or 2 years, whichever comes first.  Every dealer I have ever done business with wants to do an oil change at least every 5000 miles and will try for 3000 miles if they think you will bite.  Ignore the service writers who know nothing about cars and are just parroting the party line.   Recheck your manual.  It is written for the Hybrid and the Energi.  The Hybrid is 10,000 miles or 1 year.  The Hybrid engine runs a lot.  My Energi engine last ran on June 11 and used 0.02 gallons of gas.

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I keep track of our Lifetime EV miles at each oil change. I'm going to try to change oil about every 5000 ICE miles. We never run the ICE in the city, only on long distance (50+ miles one way) highway trips. So the ICE gets fully hot & rarely cycles on & off. These should be easy miles for its health.

 

Times when the ICE comes on briefly, like murphy's example above, are the hardest on the ICE since it doesn't get to fully warm up.

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Like Murphy notes above, the manual says every 20k. 

 

I changed mine every 10k at 10, 20, 30, and 40k... and while the oil was dirty it really didn't look that bad (yes I know you can only tell so much by looks and that to really tell the condition you have to get it analyzed, no need for someone to chime in with that, I know)... so anyway, I delayed the 50k change and changed it at 55k, which then looked pretty dirty like a normal oil change.  But a 15k interval is still less than the recommended 20k, but that's just me.

 

So I think the dealer is just looking for some revenue with that pollen story.

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I'd love to see pics of the pollen in the air filter.  I'd never considered bio mass as a potential hazard to pass through an intake filter.  I've gone almost 15k miles and my oil monitor says 43%.  I drive a lot on electric, especially these days.  Here's my latest fuelly chart.  

 

Fuelly%208%202015_zpsqdotgitw.jpg

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Isn't it below 10% now? Mine seems to exactly parallel the percentage of 20,000 miles I have left until I hit 20,000 miles. I looked a few days ago at 9600 miles and it said 52% left on the oil. I rarely run the ICE.

According to Ford, the Fusion Energi is equipped with an IOLM (Intelligent Oil Life Monitor). This means that it looks at more than just mileage. The C-Max Energi is just equipped with an OLM (Oil Life Monitor) and thus it will only look at mileage.

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According to Ford, the Fusion Energi is equipped with an IOLM (Intelligent Oil Life Monitor). This means that it looks at more than just mileage. The C-Max Energi is just equipped with an OLM (Oil Life Monitor) and thus it will only look at mileage.

 

I think it's the Hybrid that just has the OLM. From the C-Max Energi Owner's Manual:

 

"C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid vehicles are equipped with the Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor® (IOLM) system which shows a message in the information display at the proper oil change service interval; this interval may be up to two years or 20000 miles (32000 kilometers)."

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According to Ford, the Fusion Energi is equipped with an IOLM (Intelligent Oil Life Monitor). This means that it looks at more than just mileage. The C-Max Energi is just equipped with an OLM (Oil Life Monitor) and thus it will only look at mileage.

 

It must not be that intelligent then... I've been using the ICE *very* little this summer, and the oil life has been exactly tracking the percentage remaining to 20,000 miles. 

 

It may be "intelligent" if you're using the ICE often enough that you need the oil changed at less than 20,000, but they appear to want you to change the oil at 20,000 no matter what.

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It must not be that intelligent then... I've been using the ICE *very* little this summer, and the oil life has been exactly tracking the percentage remaining to 20,000 miles.

 

It may be "intelligent" if you're using the ICE often enough that you need the oil changed at less than 20,000, but they appear to want you to change the oil at 20,000 no matter what.

I don't think it's very intelligent or the threshold is quite high. I've used the ice quite a lot this summer and am also on track for 20000 miles.

 

But yes, 20k or two years, which ever comes first, is the max. You could never use the ice and the iolm will still want the oil changed at 20k.

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But, why? Why does Ford give you 4 oil changes per year? That's my question...

 

Many leases will have a prepaid maintenance plan as part of the deal. I got one of those thrown in for free by the dealer on my other vehicle because they really wanted to get a deal done before the end of the month.

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