My instructions on restoring the hybrid EV function on the Ford Fusion Hybrid approaching the 8/9+ years mark.

[allen84]

10 hours ago, drolds1 said:

TSBs are only performed free of charge if the  car is still covered under warranty.  Every TSB has this disclaimer printed on the first page.

 

Throttle bodies are not a maintenance item.  They're only replaced if they fail.  At your mileage, it could probably benefit from a cleaning, however.

 

 

 

Cleaning it will be ok, if its regularly done, maybe if someone does it every year or so.   When I first encountered the problem almost 3 years ago, which means mine that started to fail at 9 years old with no maintenance!   Cleaning 9 years of caked on, stuck on dirt and carbon was not fun, but it was something I attempted to the best of my ability.  Instructions I looked up on how to maintain it mentioned to be careful of the flap, gear mechanism and chip that it is delicate can be damaged, watching your fingers don't get caught, had me a little concerned lol.  With almost the entire bottle of the throttle body cleaner gone, and settled for good enough, and stuck it back in.  It only lasted a week until the problem persisted again.

 

Decided to just finally look up the cost of the part.   It was only $70!   What the hell, I just drove up to the Ford parts department, bought the part, I changed it out right at their parking lot lol, then drove off.  I have not seen an issue since (it's been almost 3 years now trouble free. Maybe I should clean it!!)

Edited June 23, 2022 by allen84

[Mr.Nobody]

5 hours ago, allen84 said:

 

Cleaning it will be ok, if its regularly done, maybe if someone does it every year or so.   When I first encountered the problem almost 3 years ago, which means mine that started to fail at 9 years old with no maintenance!   Cleaning 9 years of caked on, stuck on dirt and carbon was not fun, but it was something I attempted to the best of my ability.  Instructions I looked up on how to maintain it mentioned to be careful of the flap, gear mechanism and chip that it is delicate can be damaged, watching your fingers don't get caught, had me a little concerned lol.  With almost the entire bottle of the throttle body cleaner gone, and settled for good enough, and stuck it back in.  It only lasted a week until the problem persisted again.

 

Decided to just finally look up the cost of the part.   It was only $70!   What the hell, I just drove up to the Ford parts department, bought the part, I changed it out right at their parking lot lol, then drove off.  I have not seen an issue since (it's been almost 3 years now trouble free. Maybe I should clean it!!)

Can you point to some instruction on how to change that?  And what might be the symptoms when it started to have problems? 

[allen84]

16 hours ago, Mr.Nobody said:

Can you point to some instruction on how to change that?  And what might be the symptoms when it started to have problems? 

 

The symptons from what I remember your cars speed will be capped to 30-40 mph and will it feel noticably sluggish.  The car is limp mode basically. This is when the yellow wrench appears.  Yellow wrench won't give a code, as turning the car off and on clears the problem temporarily. You can deal with it for a little bit, but the problem will keep happening every 10-15 minutes or less of driving, which is not ideal as its just not fun driving a slow car and dangerous to you and pissing others off driving slow lol.  I think after 5 or 6 more times of the wrench appearing,  it eventually displays double yellow wrench ( 1 small and 1 big wrench icon). If you keep restarting the car to clear it, you will eventially get a check engine light will finally show up. That is when you can stick your ODBII to find out what the code is (I think mine finally showed up after the 10th time?) My trouble code was P2112 (throttle actuator stuck closed)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr.Nobody]

Update: Interesting how it panned out.  So I wasn't able to make the veepeak usb adapter connect at all after trying it on two laptops (win10 and win11), and multiple different software, drivers, etc.  I plugged in my bafx bluetooth adapter and it connected to forscan fine, although a warning msg saying it is underpowered and not recommended.  I was able to locate the battery age and change it to 1, write it.  However, I wasn't able to "disconnect" from forscan, clicking that disconnect icon did not do anything.  I also heard about some noise when I wrote the value in, and I actually see the "stop safely now" warning sign immediately after the value writing.  I turn off and on ignition, and everything appeared normal, no warning etc.  I unplugged and plugged back in the bluetooth adapter and checked the battery age to be one as written. 

 

My battery gauge was low at that moment, so the ICE kicked in and started to charge the HVB, and stopped at about half way.  Took it out for a ride, first change I noticed is the EV gauge increased.  Before that, my EV gauge (green bar) was maybe two bars (solid green) in empower mode, and now it goes to about 4 bars, with 2bars solid green and the top 2bars empty below a green boarder.  Also, the car stays in EV mode much longer and frequently.  I can go at 20mph for EV mode easily, but above that it would be going downhill or after ICE kicked in for the acceleration.  I drove for 2.4miles, with two big uphills, although I noticed the difference in EV mode, the mpg was only 25 for this short trip.  I also noticed that when going downhill, if ICE is not on, HVB is not charging (no upward arrow), although I vaguely recall before the fix, it would.  Can you guys tell me if everything looks normal so far?

 

Bought the veepeak usb adapter, installed the driver and all.  But forscan release software would not recognize the adapter at all, I can see two green lights flashing, when it tries to connect through the right COM port, but would never connect.

 

Any ideas how to solve this?

 

Edited June 26, 2022 by Mr.Nobody

[WarDragon001]

On 6/15/2019 at 10:43 PM, allen84 said:

So you're getting pissed off at the Hybrid function, not working correctly anymore as it once used to, or very rare instances of it working, but not the way you've been used to anymore.  It basically makes hypermiling near impossible.   That is because Ford has programmed into the car's hybrid system, a high voltage battery age date which makes you believe you have to service or change out the HVB battery pack.  This is most likely a precaution from the company itself to limit the batteries usefulness at it approaches the end of its life as the battery capacity has dropped from the years gone by. I believe this is to relieve stress from the ageing HVB which in turn will use your Internal Combustion Engine a lot more often, which defeats the purpose of word Hybrid. 

 

From what I have seen in the Forscan program, it looks like the 15-years is the max date and the end mark for the battery in the hybrid system.  Reaching this point is anyone's guess.  It could have a message popping up on the dash saying something like "replace HVB battery now" or the HVB system ceases to function, and you just have a regular gasoline car.

 

So here is what I did to fix (or temporarily for now?) to restore the Hybrid EV function as you once remembered it. (This method should work from 2010-2012 Ford Fusion Hybrid and should work on most likely 2010-2012 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, & 2010-2012 Mercury Milan Hyrbid as well (According to the Ford OASIS from Oct 3, 2019 these are the years affected).  I highly doubt this fix will work on the 2013+ because the chassis has gone through a major change, the computing system of the vehicle is not the same and may behave differently with the vehicle and other additional features are added to it not found in 2012 and below. They may not even exhibit the problem (Unless Ford really did screw everyone over by limiting the HVB's on all their hybrids ever produced.  Who knows?  I guess time will tell.  You will find out around in 8 or 9 years I guess)

 

 

You will need a few things to get started (or what I have used):

 

 

Step 1 - Gather the tools for the job

 

- A Windows laptop

- ODB II  (ELM327  HS-CAN / MS-CAN) device.

-ForScan software

 

The ODB II device I had on hand, which is a few years old, but it worked for me, is the brand/model BBFLY BF32302, you can buy this on Amazon for around $23 range (I'm sure you can use any other brand you choose and possibly cheaper, they have Bluetooth & wifi models.  Or you might already have an ODB II device)

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/bbfly-BF32302-modified-Windows-ELMconfig-Forscan/dp/B01N9R9QS2   USB model  (I used)   

 

If the other link sells out,  this is also another good one https://www.amazon.com/Veepeak-Scanner-Professional-Diagnostic-Programming/dp/B07S7W14X9?ref_=ast_sto_dp

 

Wifi model $29

https://www.amazon.com/bbfly-BB77105-ELM327-Modified-FORScan-Windows/dp/B076VPXPK5

 

***NOTE*** These are not affiliate links.  I get nothing from it when the product is bought.  These are just merely the products that I know I have no issues with it when using it.

 

 

 

Step 2 - Drivers & Software

 

Once you have your OBD II device, you will need to install drivers with the device to the laptop for it to work (instructions should be included inside the box on how to do it from the manufacturer of the device), it might be plug and play and the drivers might install on its own.

 

Next, you need the FORScan software:

 

https://forscan.org/download.html   

 

I downloaded/used the FORScan version 2.3.22 beta for Windows.  Next, you need to activate the software with an "extended" license as it comes in "standard" license by default.  Why do you need to activate the software to "extended" you ask?:

 

What is Extended License, why and when do I need it?

Extended License provides access to Configuration and Programming functions of FORScan, and also few Service functions (such as PATS programming).  Base (Standard) FORScan functionality such as (connection, retrieving vehicle information, reading parameters, read and reset diagnostic trouble codes, run tests and service functions etc) does NOT require an Extended License. There is a free 2 month Extended License that can be issued for anyone who has an account on our FORScan forum. Also, there are paid long-term and lifelong licenses. 

 

the "Configuration and Programming" functions are making changes and edits to the car's computer data.  Which includes programming keys, etc., or in this case you want to change the battery age.  It falls within this category, which the Extended license is required.

 

 

 

Create a free member account on their forum to get the activation file key.  there is a 2 free month trial.  (even if it expires, you can just make another again to re-activate)  Here is a 1-minute youtube video of how to activate the software with ease:

 

 

 

STEP 3 - Programming in your vehicle.

 

Under your steering wheel, is a small square cover.  Open the cover. It will reveal the port for the ODB.  Plug in the ODB II device into it.   

 

Next, insert your car keys, turn the key to the "ON" position (Don't start).   

 

(Sample picture of key positions)

 

 

 

 

 

Open the FORScan program.  Connect the device, a button below  (two plugs joining icon).   Once you connect, you will be instructed to create a profile,  just follow the onscreen steps.  If you get a message about the MS-CAN setting on the ODB II device,  it is the toggle switch on my ODB device,  I had it switched toggled towards the wire of the ODB II device.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, on the left-hand side of the program with the icons, go to the one with the CPU processor looking icon (5th one down), click on it, and you will be brought to this screen. on the Configuration and Programming tab, highlight the "BECM  Module Configuration" and go hover your mouse pointer over to the "blue play button" icon below and press it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next is this section you will see.  Highlight the "Config battery age" (double click on it, can't remember this is just from my memory) and press the play button icon again,

 

(the screen is cut off on the right side of the picture, but for me, it said (The values might differ for some people or may say the same for you, but I'm guessing this is the info it shows after 9+ years):

Name                                                                   Value

Config battery age                                             error

Config battery end life counter                        Module configuration

Config charge since rebalance                        error

config hybrid battery state of charge             error

config hybrid battery state of charge 2          error

 

Just choose the "config battery age"    

 

(I didn't change the other settings on that list, as I don't know what to do that might screw it up, so I didn't play around with it.  You can go into it and see it, but I didn't save any of those changes.  I guess in time I will find out more info or learn when I have time to tinker some more.  I would love to get rid of all the error values) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, you will see this screen, it looks like I was about to hit the 10-year mark (yours might be lower or higher than this number, this is just a running counter in their system to keep track of the approaching total of years for the HVB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Select the  "2400 - 1"  and hit the "blue checkmark box" 

 

(although technically the 0 - 0 year would work, but the auto techs at the dealers that have been fixing it, have been choosing year 1.  So I will just choose that)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, it will take you back to the list of 5 config battery options,  hit the "write" button below, and then this window will come up.  hit the blue checkmark button to confirm

 

 

 

 

Done!  here is the last window popup you will see confirming the change. 

 

 

 

 

Click on the top icon on the left-hand side (car with the letter i in a bubble icon),  Then press on the un-connect icon below (circled in red), to un-connect the vehicle from the program

 

 

 

 

 

Close the program, and then unplug the ODBII device.  Cycle the ignition OFF and then back on as per the programming message you've just seen.   The results of the EV activating will be immediately noticed when you start to drive your car (within a minute or so. It may take a few minutes if it's too cold).  I hope this will help your problem fix your issue as it did for me,  This forum post was done from my memory, as I didn't really take any notes down, so I hope what I've posted is pretty accurate.   Please don't screw around with other settings.   if you want to change other settings for the vehicle, I suggest you search or ask questions on the Forscan forums.  there are guides on how to use the program to its full potential. There is a ton of info on there to do custom stuff (lights, upgrade sync, key programming if you lost original fob, etc), but that will be for another time for me. 

 

If you are happy and this solved your issue, and you happen to feel generous want to donate $ to me, I will happily accept lol (have PayPal).  But it's your choice, not forcing anyone to give anything to me.  I just want to spread the knowledge and help others out having this problem develop late in the car's ownership.  (I'm sure as time goes by, some dealers that do not know of this fix, will catch wind of this thread and offer this solution to their customers and make money for the dealer, hahaha.   

 

 

If anyone that owns this 2010, 2011, 2012? Ford Fusion Hybrid and lives in the Greater Toronto Area, and cannot find a dealer to do this, I can probably perform this for you if you'd like. 

 

 

 

Hello, currently having issues downloading from FORScan, it wont allow me to register, it had me fill out a small thing of info and sent me a key to my email to download, i was unable to open but dont know what steps to take now. Even when i had the key it wouldnt allow me to open/ find it in the application.

[Mr.Nobody]

9 hours ago, WarDragon001 said:

Hello, currently having issues downloading from FORScan, it wont allow me to register, it had me fill out a small thing of info and sent me a key to my email to download, i was unable to open but dont know what steps to take now. Even when i had the key it wouldnt allow me to open/ find it in the application.

Install the forscan software first, and move the key file you got from them to the folder where forscan was installed.  Then in the software setting/configuration (about software), there is a button to install key file.

[androbud]

I did this last night on my (new to me) 2010. It worked exactly like the post stated! Thank you!!

[jrloader67]

On 6/24/2022 at 12:31 AM, allen84 said:

 

The symptons from what I remember your cars speed will be capped to 30-40 mph and will it feel noticably sluggish.  The car is limp mode basically. This is when the yellow wrench appears.  Yellow wrench won't give a code, as turning the car off and on clears the problem temporarily. You can deal with it for a little bit, but the problem will keep happening every 10-15 minutes or less of driving, which is not ideal as its just not fun driving a slow car and dangerous to you and pissing others off driving slow lol.  I think after 5 or 6 more times of the wrench appearing,  it eventually displays double yellow wrench ( 1 small and 1 big wrench icon). If you keep restarting the car to clear it, you will eventially get a check engine light will finally show up. That is when you can stick your ODBII to find out what the code is (I think mine finally showed up after the 10th time?) My trouble code was P2112 (throttle actuator stuck closed)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is seriously one of the easiest repairs I have ever done, took less than 5 minutes. Plus, with the Hybrid there is no re-learn process like the Fusion Gas only models. Part cost $58.00 on Ebay from a real Ford Dealer with a 2-year warranty on the part. Wish everything was this easy, I really think the Throttle Body on my 2010 was the original, looked like the one in the video he cleans. Car had thrown a code for another part repair shop said Throttle was where it was recommended to start from Ford. They wanted $285.00 for the Throttle alone, plus labor, plus the re-learn so closer to $400 for everything!

[PaulGo]

I called my dealer and gave them the CSP #22G04.  They verified it applies to my two 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrids, and I set up an appointment for them to do the work.  The age fix I did two years ago works very well, and I hope I get at least as good hybrid performance after I visit the dealership.

FusionDiffusion has posted a comment on a topic, 2010 - 2012 Fusion Hybrid High Voltage Battery TSB at 10 Years of Age

FYI there is a new customer satisfaction program for this that came out today, the program number is 22G04. You can now have this BECM/PCM update performed free of charge through Sept 30, 2023.  Letters will be sent out in a couple weeks. You are eligible for a refund if you paid to have this performed at a dealer previously, and can provide documentation. I think every owner will want this done.   Title: Application Performance Upgrade  22G04 Certain 2010 – 2012 Model Year Fusion / MKZ / Milan Hybrid Vehicles Hybrid Battery Reduced Electric Vehicle Operation BECM and PCM Software Update   https://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/13380-2010-2012-fusion-hybrid-high-voltage-battery-tsb-at-10-years-of-age/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-117299

[PaulGo]

On Wednesday, I had my first 2010 Mercury Milan with the CSP.  To my surprise, they also did the driver's side airbag recall.  So far, the results are excellent, although it's hard to tell the difference between this CSP and the age fix from this thread.  Today I had my other Mercury Milan done but no driver's side airbag replacement (on order maybe next week).  Both cars have about 55 thousand miles, and the average mileage was slightly over 38mpg during the summer months with the age fix.   

[Glenoid]

Well I fixed this 3 years ago in my 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. Still going strong! In the mail today Ford announces “Application Performance Upgrade 22G04” a little late ?

Glenoid

 

 

[dpete15312]

130K miles and still going strong with my 2010 Fusion Hybrid. 38 to 40 mpg. Thanks again Allen84. You are a WIZARD!

[PaulGo]

After a week with the dealer installed CSP #22G04 the gas mileage is slightly better than with just the age fix.  Applying the age fix has no impact on the dealer applying the CSP. 

[mmtphoto]

i just today got the letter about the age fix for the BCM, pretty funny since i did this fix easily 3 or 4 years ago.  weird too that i got the driver side air bag recall friday, so all of a sudden ford really wants to finally fix my almost 13 year old car. 

 

my question is should i have them do the fix anyway?  it says the pcm also gets an update, anyone know what exactly is updated?  will i get a hard time from them since my BCM probably says it is only 2 or 5 years old (pretty sure i put it back to zero)?  Ford really screwed this up, to finally own up to this 12 years after they deliberately under rated the battery.  no doubt thousands of people who bought these things gave up thinking they had to replace the HV battery.  they accept no responsibllity.  Allen saved probably dozens/hundreds of these cars with the fix he discovered over 4 years agp, so Ford really screwed up IMO and are getting away with it.

[Mr.Nobody]

On 9/25/2022 at 5:36 PM, PaulGo said:

After a week with the dealer installed CSP #22G04 the gas mileage is slightly better than with just the age fix.  Applying the age fix has no impact on the dealer applying the CSP. 

Did you undo the age fix or just let dealership install the 22G04 on top of that?

[PaulGo]

1 hour ago, Mr.Nobody said:

Did you undo the age fix or just let dealership install the 22G04 on top of that?

I did not undo the age fix.  The dealer installed 22G04 on both cars on top of the age fix.

[jturner6]

Now that I have also received the official letter,   I have not yet applied the age fix mentioned in this thread.

 

Can I just have the dealer install the CSP and then I don't need the age fix?   Just curious. Thanks

[PaulGo]

2 minutes ago, jturner6 said:

Now that I have also received the official letter,   I have not yet applied the age fix mentioned in this thread.

 

Can I just have the dealer install the CSP and then I don't need the age fix?   Just curious. Thanks

You are correct.  The CSP will take care of the problem without the age fix. 

[Mr.Nobody]

Oh and for folks who paid out of pocket for the TSB before this 22G04 thing, you should be able to get refund from dealership according to the mail I got.  Says you have one year from the notice to get it no-cost, otherwise it would only be free for cars within certain mileage range (too old, too used, gotta pay).

[Kurt]

There are two different failure modes for this issue. The first one that appears at around 8 years is that the electric propulsion system no longer assists with acceleration, even though it shows on the cluster. The second issue that appeared a bit later is that the EV mode is only ever active when the vehicle is completely stopped. I did the age fix and it solved both failure modes. I undid the age fix before taking my car to the dealer for the 22G04 updates. After getting the updates, the second mode went away, so the software update appears to fix this. However, the acceleration issue did not go away, so they did not fix that. I guess I will have to go back to the age fix to get the original performance when accelerating. I hope this doesn't cause any other issues.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Kurt

[sjrqi]

Hi Kurt and everyone, I brought the car to the dealer today and I left the age fix on the car. Considering your post,  Im wondering if there is any reason to re flash the age fix, or if the old age fix is still on the car underneath the recall fix.  

[sjrqi]

On 10/26/2022 at 3:08 PM, Kurt said:

There are two different failure modes for this issue. The first one that appears at around 8 years is that the electric propulsion system no longer assists with acceleration, even though it shows on the cluster. The second issue that appeared a bit later is that the EV mode is only ever active when the vehicle is completely stopped. I did the age fix and it solved both failure modes. I undid the age fix before taking my car to the dealer for the 22G04 updates. After getting the updates, the second mode went away, so the software update appears to fix this. However, the acceleration issue did not go away, so they did not fix that. I guess I will have to go back to the age fix to get the original performance when accelerating. I hope this doesn't cause any other issues.

 

Just now, sjrqi said:

Hi Kurt and everyone, I brought the car to the dealer today and I left the age fix on the car. Considering your post,  Im wondering if there is any reason to re flash the age fix, or if the old age fix is still on the car underneath the recall fix.  

 

[Kurt]

After about a month (after getting the 22G04 update), the EV mode stopped working again. The fuel economy went down to average around 22 MPG. After a few days, I changed the battery age back to 4 years, and the EV mode returned. Also, the acceleration issue that the update did not fix went away. I doubt Ford will want to do any more for us poor owners of a 12 year old car.

[Don Macey]

On 11/18/2022 at 9:41 PM, Kurt said:

After about a month (after getting the 22G04 update), the EV mode stopped working again. The fuel economy went down to average around 22 MPG. After a few days, I changed the battery age back to 4 years, and the EV mode returned. Also, the acceleration issue that the update did not fix went away. I doubt Ford will want to do any more for us poor owners of a 12 year old car.

Kurt, did you previously do the age reset yourself before bringing in for the 22G04?  My question is, will the 22G04 affect the manual age reset many of us already performed prior to 22G04?  Before going to Ford for the 22G04 did you re-age back to your cars actual age, or had you never done the de-age prior to 22G04?  The de-age worked great for me, an earlier comment indicated adding the 22G04 will further slightly improve mileage.  But as  your comment indicated, it doesn't solve all problems so I don't wan't to have the fixes I applied changed.  Any information you or anyone else can provide would be helpful, thanks.

[drdeane711]

I am so psyched to reset the battery age. I've the right Forscan tool with the HS-CAN Toggle switch and downloaded the software and temporary lic. key. When I try to connect the computer to the car it automatically looks for Wifi, doesn't find it then quits.  Anyone know what I've done wrong?  I appreciate any knowledge you may give.