TonyPSchaefer

@allen84 Thanks so much for the explanation and instructions. My wife had been putting off the airbag recall and went in today. I printed the instructions and she showed them to the Service Rep. It was the first they'd heard of the issue. She called me as she drove home sounding as though she had been jumping for joy. She had her hybrid back! If anyone in the Chicagoland area encounters this problem, head over to Wickstrom Ford in Barrington. Ask for Mark Karm. He will know exactly what you're talking about and what to do. They charged one full hour of labor at $156. Steep, IMHO, but worth it to see the smile on my wife's face. [Edit: addition] After I made the original post, she told me the technician said the process worked exactly as the instructions said they would. Everything was exactly as imaged and explained. He gave her kudos for having done the research; she gave the kudos to me; I'm passing them on to Allen.

Asked my wife how her drive home was. She echoed exactly what I would have expected after having read everyone's reply. Basically, "about fifteen minutes the car went right back to exactly how it was before only better." She said that her car wouldn't go into EV at speeds higher than 30 mph but on her way home she was zipping through the suburb in EV between 35 and 40 mph. So now she's thrilled that it's back to normal - or that the previous behavior was "normal." Thanks for the info, guys!

Thanks, Mort. That sounds exactly like what she has described. I'm familiar with the Honda IMA systems performing the charge balancing but not the Toyota HSD systems. The Gen1 Prii used to have issues with unbalanced cells but that was attributed to the round packs they used at the time. But there is much I don't know except that if you ever hear me say I know everything you'll know I'm lying. I'll provide a follow-up.

Last night my wife told me that she could not get her car to switch into EV mode. She said that the SoC on the hybrid battery was completely full. This morning I called her as she was driving to work and she said that it was still showing a full SoC and was again reluctant to go into EV. (EV, in this case, is what Prius drivers call "stealth" and refers to the condition in which the ICE shuts off and the car is propelled by battery only. I am not insinuating that the FFH is an EV.) Since I rarely get to drive her car, I have a very limited knowledge of the FFH. All I have is Prius experience. There are many threads over at priuschat.com talking about full SOC but this usually takes care of itself after a relatively short time. In her case, the drive to work is almost a half hour which should be more than ample time. As much as I want to tell her that there's nothing to worry about, my lack of FFH knowledge is keeping me a little apprehensive. So I have to ask, who's seen this before? More info: We live North of Chicago and it's pretty flat; no long descents and regen. She drives pretty normally. It was around 40ºF here yesterday.

My wife's FFH driver's window is non-responsive to the button. All other windows go up and down. The driver's window is up. Of course, I'm taking it in. But in the meantime, can anyone think of what could cause this: motor, spring, button, etc?

I'm really surprised that the Universal Garage Door Opener is not an option on the Hybrid. The Rapid Spec 502A throws in everything including the kitchen sink except the UGDO. It seems really odd that here's this highly advanced, extremely technical vehicle and I have to fumble for the crappy garage door opener.

I have run high pressure in my vehicles for years. I no longer give out specifics due to the backlash and panicked replies I get. I have never had uneven wear nor have I ever experienced a "loss in traction." The ride is stiffer, yes. There is a very noticeable increase in mileage. The exact same results have been anecdotally experienced by many others. http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/f12/tire-pressure-does-effect-mpg-how-much-too-much-1297/ Some have worked to prove these things through experiments. http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/rulings/tirepressure/LTPW3.html In the end, I've always held to this one thing: we're responsible adults who have spent good money for something. Whether or not we choose to adhere strictly to manufacturer suggestions or vary is entirely up to us. Whether we choose to listen to advice from others regarding our things is entirely up to us. However, if you choose to vary from the manufacturer's suggestions and the advice from others, be prepared to hear "I told you so."

Hi Carl. You are better off in Drive. As lolder said, it's all already been figured out for you. If you have the Energy Screen on your MFD, flip it on and see what arrows go where when you are in Neutral. I'm guessing that when the car is in Neutral there is no regeneration performed. If this truly is the case, long downhill stretches in Neutral is just passing up an opportunity to garnish some free power. It's not truly free, of course, since you had to burn gas to get up the other side. Let us know what you find.

Yes. Warm-up cycle. Everyone's correct on that one. The Prius does the same thing. If you want to reduce the battery draw, drive your car the long way around a parking lot before hopping on the road. This will give the ICE time to warm up without the hefty draw on the battery (will will need to be regened). Your dealer shouldn't be selling Prii if that's the approach he takes. I agree with Lee in that the Prius battery - barring manufacturing impurities or unnatural destruction - will last the life of the vehicle or longer. I have read multiple posts at Priuschat.com of batteries in Gen1 Prii still running strong. There's are multiple Prius taxis that have clocked well over 200,000 miles with nary a drop in charge capacity. Feel free to start a thread asking this question at Priuschat.com and see if you get any different reply by the masses.

I suppose this leads to a more technical and detailed discussion. Namely, does the Fusion Hybrid fuel tank have any kind of liner? The manual indicates that if you perform manual calculations, your numbers may vary from those shown by the display. It references filling variances and computational rounding and the perpetrators. I've been recording the per-tank mileage on my car for so long, it's just habit to continue doing it. But if the consensus of you guys here is that it's not necessary, then I'll tell her to stop writing it down. Has anyone compared the hand-calculations to the car's calculations for accuracy? She will still reset the mileage at each refill so the short-term mpg reading is for just that tank.

I know, I know. RTFM. I'm working through it. I usually read manuals a few times. But things are coming up faster than I've been able to find them. And since it's my wife's car, she usually has the car (and the manuals) when she's asking me how to do something. I've downloaded the PDF of the manuals but I learn more when I'm reading and doing. She's no too keen on my doing anything to her car.

Thanks guys. I'll look for that and show her.<br><br>Follow-up question: Does the Fusion Hybrid keep a Lifetime Mileage?<br>

I haven't been able to figure out how to reset the short-term mileage so that I can start every new tank with a "fresh" mileage calculation. I can't find it in the manual. Please forgive me for referencing my Prius (it's the only comparison I have). There's a button on the Prius screen called [RESET] that I hit every time I get gas. If I forget, it is automatically reset when the tank registers a significant increase in fuel level and tire movement (meaning you just got gas and you're driving away). My wife wants to track her tank-by-tank averages in a spreadsheet like mine (in signature). This would require resetting the mileage at each refill. How's it done?

Oh man, I didn't study.

Awesome! Thanks!!

MEA CULPA <=That's a big "mea culpa" There were two FFHs on the lot when we bought our car. They both had the 502A rapid spec. The first one has the EBH listed in the "Optional Equipment" section of the window sticker. The second one did not. I accidentally thought that they both had the EBH listed. It was not until just tonight that I pulled out the window sticker and noticed that the car we bought does not have the EBH installed. So I was concerned about nothing and I was wrong. On the up side, anyone who needs to needs to know where the EBH is has a picture up above.

I'm assuming that you're supposed to have it, right? Why would the window sticker say the car has an EBH but there's not one to be found? Or should that be: why wouldn't they install it if it's supposed to be there? Shouldn't this have been caught during manufacturing quality inspection? Clearly, my dealer didn't know anything about it but shouldn't someone be verifying these things?

I just had the opportunity to look at a similarly-equipped FFH. I've attached a picture: the EBH is clearly right there in front. It's surprisingly obvious. And on my FFH, it's surprising missing. From the driver's side. . .

Thanks Chris. My Priuschat Super-Moderator powers are powerless here. Which, I'm sure, is for the better.

She just brought it back from the shop. Here's what's handwritten on the work order: Replace SJB 12651D5 .4 12651D .2 12651Dx1 .1 12651D45 .3 17957A 1.0 13465A .2 13300D .5 A quick Google search reveals that the SJB is the Smart Junction Box. I'm assuming the other items are tasks codes and estimated time in fractions of an hour. Does the SJB affect the Blind Spot Detection system? She told me that the Blind Spot indicator wasn't indicating like it was before.

Thanks guys. I found basically the same location described online but neither my wife nor I could find it. The description was for an older model and I was wondering if thye had moved it. We will certainly look again. As rpreuss said, the reason I am making a deal of this is because I installed an EBH on my Prius for the cold Chicago mornings. Granted, Zacher, they don't compare to Canadian mornings, but it does get down to minus zero Fahrenheit at least a handful of times every winter and is below freezing for months. I have seen my Prius mileage improve with the EBH. It's a tiny bit of a hassle to plug it in every evening and unplug every morning but it's a decision I made based on the desired outcome. For my wife's FFH, She will probably plug it in only a handful of times. She gets the garage; I don't.

The window sticker says that there's an Engine Block Heater. When I asked about it, the salesman said, "yeah, Ford's putting them in all their cars now." When I asked where it was he said, "I don't really know but you'll never use it." Three people came out and looked but no one could find it. He asked that when I do find it I should tell him so he'd know. First: Is it true that Ford's putting EBHs in all their cars? Second: Where exactly is the EBH? Pictures would be appreciated. Third: Does anyone else think that was a really poor reply on his part?

Hey everyone. My wife drove home her 2010 Fusion Hybrid this past Saturday. I've driven my Prius since August of '04. So we are officially a two hybrid household. Don't have any pictures yet but it's Silver. We decided to go all in and got all the goodies (502A spec). Back in '04, people referred to my car as a computer on wheels. Hers makes mine look like a Mac IIe. I'm amazed and almost overwhelmed with the dash, SYNC, everything. I originally test drove the FFH last year. There were several of us trying to see what mileage we could achieve in the FFH over a set course. Below is a picture of my dash after the 13 mile drive. Yes, it really does say 72.9. The sheep is to make sure someone doesn't download the picture and claim it as their own. So "hi" everyone.

OK, let me try again. I'm looking at the manual in the "Lights" section. It describes four headlight 'states' (that's my term): - OFF - Parking Lights - ON - AUTO The turn indicator stalk (multifunction lever) has three 'states' for signals: - Middle position which is the standard position and causes no signal to flash. - Up which causes the right turn signal to flash - Down which causes the left turn signal to flash Now that I've defined those terms, here's what happens: - With lights in [AUTO], the indicator stalk performs as expected. - - UP activates the right turn signal. - - MIDDLE cancels turn signal. - - DOWN activates the left turn signal. - With lights in [ON], the stalk takes the following characteristics: - - UP activates the right turn signal. - - MIDDLE activates the right turn signal. - - DOWN cancels the right signal.

We bought my wife's FFH on Saturday. She drove it drove in home in the evening, me behind her, and it started getting dark so she turned on the lights. When we got home she mentioned that with the lights on, when she signaled, he dash dimmed. When the signal canceled, the dash returned. With the car in the garage, I checked it out but could not reproduce it. This morning she said that it didn't do that again. Tonight when she got home - again after dark - she reported a funky headlight/indicator relationship: - With the lights in [ON], the neutral position activates the right indicator, the right position activates the right indicator, and the left position turns the indicator off. There is no way to signal left. - With the lights in [AUTO], all is normal. In fact, as you turn the dial from [OFF], past the parking lights, past [ON] and to [AUTO] the right indicator blinks as you pass [ON]. I hope I explained it well enough. Has anyone seen anything similar to this?