ralteredstates

Oh damn. My boss at the CIA is going to be REALLY pissed.

I HOPE the service department knows what/where the fuse boxes are. They would just have to open them if they weren't sure.

I forgot to ask when I picked the car up but the tech said they were going to ask their installer when he came in. I am also curious. It's not part of the engine block heater if that's what you're thinking. I had the parts and there was no "black box" like they described and they installed it because I could not find anything on line about how to route the wire and if it went into a freeze plug or elsewhere. I'm sure it was a very easy install because they only charged me $100.00 and this dealer doesn't look at the car for less. My regular mechanic was also unable to get info about the install of the heater . Ford doesn't give out info.

Thanks; At least you will hopefully know what the problem is if my car's symptoms show up in yours. I will repost in one month if everything is OK , or sooner if the car acts up again. They still don't know what the black box is under my hood!

Picked up the car today. They put 80 miles on it after replacing the battery and hopefully checking the grounding connections (they said they did). Of course, it will take a few weeks before I will feel comfortable with the fix if in fact it is fixed. Sold the Saab today... hope it wasn't too soon. At least they didn't charge for the new battery. I expected at least a prorated charge since it's been 2 years and 23,000 miles. Nada. Thanks all for the advise. The dealer came to the same conclusion. Too bad they didn't figure this out the first time.

Anyone know if the Ford recall on 2010-2011 Fusion/Milan recall on 17" wheels (bad lug nuts) include the FFH?

Thanks. I'm going to give them one more chance with this. Ford Customer Service (whom I called for the tow) wanted to know if I wanted to go to another dealer. Strange. I haven't asked if they just charged it or replaced it. If they just charged it, I will replace it myself because they will probably put one of their crappy batteries in it and charge $$$.

That is scary. Glad you're O.K. Batteries shouldn't do that. There must have been something seriously wrong with it to make it blow up. No sparks near it?

Purchased the car in July 2009. Never sat on the lot. If the battery is the problem, why a 2 week period between issues? Why does it happen after the car has been driven at least 5+ minutes and moving (except the time in my driveway)? I would think If the battery is the problem, there must be a charging issue that is intermittent. That may allow the battery to die while moving. If that's the case, then it's not the batteries fault but the charging system. Also, if the battery is dead, then why does everything electrical (except the drive system) work, including the headlights, all in-cabin electrics etc. I'm confused and concerned that this may happen in a dangerous situation.

Please explain. I don't understand how the small front battery could cause these symptoms. Last time it happened (2 days ago at night) I was driving at 40 MPH when the display went crazy with warning lights and the sounds that starts Pink Floyd's "Money" emanated from the dash(radio off of course). The hybrid system shut down but the ICE continued until I stopped the car and tried to reset with a power-off/power-on. I believe there is a battery warning light but that would have been one of a dozen(?) lights that came on.

brand-spankin-new. 12 miles on her

Installed the OEM parts before last winter and routed the power cord through the bottom grill. I don't think it was worth it since it didn't seem to speed up the warm -up time significantly. I'll probably still use it this winter though. Plugged into timer that turns it on 3 hours before I leave the house.

Hope someone can help. First, the joke for the day. My car is at the dealer because it is dead and the service dept called today and asked me "what is the black box under the hood. It looks professionally installed but we don't know what it is" They are asking me??? It's part of the car. I have not installed anything under the hood (unlike all my other cars) because it's a hybrid and I don't mess with it. Now for the problem. About 2 months ago, the car would suddenly start flashing every error alarm (I mean every one including engine, low fuel, electrical, ABS, brakes, etc) and all the alarm sounds that go with them. The ICE would still work (it felt underpowered) but the hybrid system was shut down. I would shut off the car, open the door/shut it, wait 30 seconds and then restart. Everything would be back to normal. This happened 2X in a couple of weeks. The third time, the car completely shut down after backing up in my driveway and would not "reset". It had to be towed to the dealer. All they did at that time was reflash the cars computer system. It seemed to be fine for a couple of weeks until... 2 weeks ago, it happened again. I was able to reset it with a complete shutdown and restart. Again 1 week ago. Then, the other night, it started about 8 miles from home on a busy road. I drove on ICE for about 1/4 mile until I got to a light that I was going to take a left (it was red) and when the car was stopped, I stupidly shut it off and tried to restart. You know what happened. I had to call the police because I was blocking a very busy turn lane at the intersection and had the car towed again. Today, when the asked about the black box, he said that he thinks he knows the problem. He said the under hood battery was dead. I find it hard to believe that is the problem since I had driven 8 miles from my house before the car acted up. All my lights worked including everything electrical in the cabin. The ICE/hybrid system just would not start. The tow company said they started the car later that night. Please help. My dealer is nice but clueless. I have about 23,000 miles on it. I used to love her, but I had to kill her. HELP!

Weather turn cooler around time of oil change? Winter temps in North East make a dramatic hit on MPG.

I could be wrong but I think Craig is being sarcastic. I personally have not noticed any problem with the wiper design (and this car replaces a highly engineered Lexus LS with hidden wipers) and find it remarkable it gets this many comments) Just saying...