Russael

I'll pop in on occasion, maybe once a month to see if anything's going on and see who still has an Energi. If I do run into difficulties, I'll post those too to make others aware. I just changed the oil in the Fusion on Saturday, so that's all set. Aside from the transmission replacement a year or two ago, it's behaved. Just shy of 55k miles on it now... getting ready to rotate the tires on it, maybe tomorrow. You're fortunate to not have many power outages. I suffer from 2 - 4 a year, from a couple hours to a solid week. I have a 3000 watt inverter generator (120v only) to run about half the house, but the battery solution I have will happily run everything here, including the central air, indefinitely so long as it's sunny after the storm. The system is sized (according to the installer's tools) to produce 101% of my annual consumption. I'm trying to be patient with the installer to get the inspections done and getting the power company to send me the POA, but every time I see a bright, sunny day, I grumble to myself as I look at my disabled panels... hahahaha.

I just had 7.56kw of solar installed on my own roof about 3 weeks ago. Just waiting on inspections, POA (Parallel Operating Agreement), and having the first responders button installed in the back, and then I'll be able to turn the system on (expecting 4 to 8 weeks for that). I also had a 26kw battery backup solution coupled with it. I know you have a generator, but my house is likely a lot smaller than yours and I can get away with batteries over a genny. I've asked the wife multiple times if she wants to trade in the Fusion for either a Model 3 or some other pure EV, but she would rather drive a vehicle until destruction... which might be a while. My Expedition is 22 years old and the Fusion 8, and since I've been working remote for like 4 or 5 years, I don't drive much. Wife has to commute to work 3x a week (she's a nurse in Covid Central), and whenever we go somewhere, I generally drive the Fusion.

Alrighty, After a week and two days in the shop, it's done. They replaced the passenger side CV shaft mid-bearing. That apparently failed. About 550 to replace that plus a 60 dollar wheel alignment.... which pisses me off because I literally had one done a month ago when I got the new tires installed. Seems like I'm always trapped in to spending more money than I should've needed to. And they replaced the transmission. Bearing in it failed, ate into the case. They swapped in a remanufactured one. It was covered under the unique hybrid component warranty. Had it not been, labor would've been at least 1600, and according to Fordparts, the eCVT Remanufactured item is 5,100 + a 1k core charge. Thinking maybe I should get rid of the car before it hits 100k in case this happens again. The hybrid component warranty is done for me in May 2021, as it'll be 8 years old. So the list of warranty issues with this jalopy grows a little more. The other stuff was HVAC controls a couple times.

7 years is a long time, but not so long if it's connected to a smart charger the whole time. My Expedition truck battery is now >7 years old now but it doesn't get driven much, so it stays connected to a batteryMINDer a lot, and it still turns over like new when it does get driven. The battery charger in the Fusion is likely also a smart charger, and there were firmware updates for the module that controls it. Its never gone dead or given me any kind of low battery warning since that was taken care of. And yes - if the 12v gets low while the car is plugged in, it will re-engage the EVSE and top it off. It has sat for a week a few times (before the wife inherited it), and a few days later I've been in the garage and saw the EVSE engaged without having driven it. Most of the driving in the Fusion is in EV mode (we just leave it on auto nowadays) and the wife is an HVAC junkie... never drives with a window cracked, down, moonroof open... nothing. Always AC, always heat. It isn't able to make 20 miles anymore. It'll get her to work (about 10 miles from here), and will get her part of the way home before the ICE kicks in. We isolate too... we just go out for groceries mostly.

Greetings everyone, long time no post. So I still have my 2013 Fusion Energi. It now only has 50,500 miles on it, so not much. I noticed some new, under hood symptoms that came on within the last month. I purchased new tires early last month and had them installed with a wheel alignment. Not the OEM tires, but I did get the Michelins that are designed for Mercedes, so they're super quiet and ride a lot nicer. This is actually the second time I've had an issue with the eCVT. The first one was a couple years ago - the RTV sealant failed and I noticed a drip on the bottom of the transmission during an oil change, and then saw a larger stain on the underside cover (I really don't like that cover since it catches drips and leaks that now won't hit the floor and will instead be absorbed by the cover). Anyway, the first symptom: The wife now uses it as her daily driver since her car got t-boned a couple years ago and written off. She is absolutely terrible at backing out of the garage and driveway, so sometimes I'll go out with her and keep an eye on where she's going... and that's when I heard a new chattering noise coming from the front of the car, but only when the friction brakes are applied; regenerative doesn't make any noise. It is barely audible from inside the car, but outside was very noticeable. I walked down the driver's side and heard it, passenger side and heard it, but walking up front was the loudest. I jacked it up, removed the front tires, and checked the wheel bearings, steering linkages, ball joints, and the half shafts. All checked out (to me). Twisting the half shaft would make some noise on the transmission side of the spline, but it sounded more internal to the transmission than the shaft itself. Second symptom: At speeds over 35MPH, the amount of noise coming from the transmission was higher than usual (and no, not because I could hear it better from the new tires; it came around a couple weeks after). Wasn't electric motor whine as I'm very used to that, but a slightly different whirring sound that was louder than normal. I checked for transmission leaks and didn't see any, but all of the fluid could've drained out; thank you Ford for not putting a dipstick in to check it. Now you have to pull the fill plug and stick a boroscope camera in there to see if there is fluid. Brilliant design. I do not have one of those nor know anybody who does, and I wasn't about to buy one for a single use. Besides - the transmission is still under the "unique hybrid components" warranty for 8 years, 100k miles. So the ride is in the shop; they replaced the right half shaft, saying it was noisy to the tune of 550 bucks... I don't know anybody who's had a half shaft fail that early in its life; the boots were fine. They say they still hear noise from the transmission at higher speeds, so now they have parts on order for that. Generally, the car has been reliable; it always turns on, it always drives, and the HVAC controls have behaved. Oh, and just to tease Murphy a bit ?, I'm still rocking the original 12v battery. 7 years old and still going. Aside from that, I'll let ya'll know what the final result is once I get it back.

For what my 2013 manual says, change the transmission fluid at 150k. If you're at 149, may as well. Coolant service is supposed to be done at 6 years or 100k FOR THE FIRST SERVICE. Each one after that is 3 years or 50k, so that's due again, and make sure the inverter coolant gets changed too. Spark plugs every 100k. Oil changes every 20k, so if the previous owner did what they were supposed to do, you should be good. Or be safe and have it changed with good oil. The car has an oil life monitor built in it and I've found it to be reliable; however, other owners reset it to get their cars out of Oil Maintenance Mode (something you'll run in to with very cold weather, it's in the manual). Engine air filter. Cabin air filter. I highly suggest downloading your manual from the Ford Website and search for the "Scheduled Maintenance" header, and it'll list everything your car will need and its interval. Keep in mind the manual typically covers both hybrid and energi - and those maintenance items are different, so watch out for that. Other inspection items: Fusion Energi Plug-in Hybrid At every oil change interval as indicated by the information display. Change engine oil and filter.3 Inspect automatic transmission fluid level. Consult dealer for requirements. Inspect brake pads, shoes, rotors, drums, brake linings, hoses and parking brake. Inspect cabin air filter. Inspect engine cooling system and motor/electronics cooling system strength and hoses. Inspect exhaust system and heat shields. Inspect half-shaft boots. Inspect steering linkage, ball joints, suspension and tie-rod ends. Inspect wheels and related components for abnormal noise, wear, looseness or drag.

I've never used any sort of fix-a-flat remedy... I've always had plug kits for both of my vehicles. If you're interested in fix-a-flat remedies like that, Project Farm on Youtube tested a variety of products and the results were interesting... with Fix-A-Flat being garbage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5DWhIF1c0M I had GoodYear tires on my truck and those were, by far, the absolute worst for punctures. I picked up more trash with those tires than any other I've ever seen or heard of. When I finally had them replaced, I had more than a dozen plugs in one tire and about a dozen in the other (both on the passenger side). Even though plugs are touted as being a temp fix, I've always used them as permanent and never had a problem. Tire shop was certainly baffled at seeing all of them when they unmounted the old tires. Did have to take a tire in off of the Fusion... wife rode over the biggest bolt I've ever seen get pushed in to a tire... no plug was going to seal that. Unmounted the tire, brought it in and they patched it, also putting in a piece of rubber where the hole was since it was so substantial. Fixed a second nail that was sticking through the tire too that I didn't notice.

Do the brake lights come on when you step on the brake to start? Possible defective brake switch. Another thing that comes to mind - is the safety disconnect to the high voltage battery connected and secure? Not sure what symptoms the car would have if that were tripped, but something to check on. Just tossing some quick check things out there.

I have a 50 dollar deductible with my premiumcare, but yes, it was covered.

Mine is a 2013, and I had all of the modules upgraded in 2015, and there haven't been any updates since. 10 modules, 10 updates when I did it. Software is always changing and being updated, bugfixes, etc. However, no car aside from Tesla GETS these upgrades unless you take the car to the stealership and pay them to update your car, and they won't upgrade any of them for free UNLESS you can prove you have some sort of issue with that specific module that is covered under warranty, and then they'll only upgrade that specific module. Even used cars very likely don't get any software updates because it's so time consuming. If it starts, runs, and drives, ship it! If your car is sucking down a 12v battery in 7 hours, you have some sort of parasitic drain in the car such as a short circuit, frayed wiring, fans stuck on, modules stuck on, etc. That could be resolved with a software update, or it may require additional troubleshooting... yay for the complexity of modern vehicles. I saw one video where a Ford Escape would suck down the 12v in no time at all, and it was the instrument cluster. About every 10 - 15 minutes, they'd see the gauges flutter for a few seconds, even though it appeared to be off. One of the weirdest things I've seen.

There is a firmware update that WILL re-engage the EVSE to charge the 12v battery if it gets too low, even after charging is long completed. I've seen it several times with my own car. Get all of the computer modules in your car updated and you won't have a dead 12v. I know you replaced yours with some AGM battery, but I still have my original battery that came with the car, and it was tested a couple months ago when I had the antifreeze service done, and it tested just fine.

You can't. You need dealer OBD2 software in order to do so, and it's extremely expensive for the hardware and software. I'm not aware of any consumer OBD2 scanners that can view software versions... but some might. I doubt they'll tell you what the latest software is, so you may not know if it needs upgrading or not. Some mom & pop auto repair places have dealership diagnostic software... I personally used it once to upgrade all of the firmware in the wife's Ford Focus (have a good working relationship with that garage - they were busy, and they just handed me the laptop with the programmer and let me do it in the parking lot). It is very time consuming - to upgrade all of the computers in the Fusion took about 4 hours, and to do the ones in the Focus took about 2 (not all modules had updates).

Preconditioning is as Murphy says. Remote start will use the maximum power of the particular accessory that is running until your set temp is reached. A/C draws about 3000 - 3500 watts, the heater 5000 or more. A 240v EVSE can keep up with the air conditioner, but cannot with the heater... it'll use both wall and battery. If it's super cold, like around 10 F, there is a significant chance the ICE will come on even if it is plugged in. I've also seen my EVSE automatically kick on at various times to top off the 12v battery.

I originally installed a 240v GFCI circuit breaker that goes to my air compressor and EVSE. No problems.

So... rattle returned a day later. Removed that piece of cardboard and unmounted the fan (just 2 bolts holding it in place), wiggled it around, and remounted it. Rattle gone and has been for a few months. Go figure. *shrug* Coolant service was about 140 bucks. Should be good for 3 more years. Changed the oil myself and that's set for 2 more years. I have slightly less than a year remaining on the Ford PremiumCare warranty plan. Still debating on trading it in while it is still worth a little something. Would love a Tesla model 3 (mainly for the AWD since I live in Michigan), but since Michigan is unwilling to allow Tesla to "sell" here, getting repairs done would be an adventure... and incredibly time consuming according to many customers who own them. One Youtube channel, The Fast Lane Car, bought a Model 3 and wound up reverse crunching it in to a wall a few weeks after taking delivery. 2 months later... still waiting to get it back. Makes me wonder, how a vehicle with all the backup sensors it has, managed to do that. Unless the owners kid ignored it. Other repairs take stupid amounts of time too. Ordering missing parts (such as a lug nut) take a month. I absolutely love Tesla's mission, but I absolutely loathe how much pressure they put on the employees and how they keep toying with their livelihood. So many hirings and layoffs. You can't keep screwing with your workforce. I hope they get better. Oh, the other thing stopping me from a Model 3 - the INSURANCE. I have AAA with multi product discount, and all the good stuff... and of course, knocked for the accident last year since yay, no fault state. For broad collision with a 1k deductible, is a psychotic 1392 for SIX months, or 2784 per year, more than double what the Fusion is... that's actually more than a Model S was too (1350/6 months). So, I think we'll be keeping this for a while longer. Maybe Michigan will change with the new governator... we'll see how things go.