RobMax

I haven't been on here in a while, but figured I'd give an update. I bought a 2014 ruby red C-Max SE Hybrid new off the lot for almost X-Plan pricing, and loved it. Ended up buying another one a couple years later, this one a 2013 model in grey, that was a CPO car, so I couldn't pass up the great Ford extended warranty deal. I eventually sold the 2014 since it had a ton of equity in it and kept the 2013. Unfortunately with that 2013, I broke my own rule of never buying a first model year car of any sort, and had to have the transmission replaced via recall, had to live with the strange throttle on/off jerkiness that couldn't be programmed out, and it still has the common squeaky door seals I would've had to pay out of my own pockets to replace. But, beyond an emissions valve and ECM programming to solve a CEL, it's been a pretty reliable car that still gets over 44 MPGs in the city. I've been looking at the Maverick Hybrid but decided against it for now, since again, it's still a first model year car, and I couldn't find any to test drive anyway (hen's teeth, these things). I love the idea of an open bed and added cargo capacity though, so might still get one when production gets spooled up again around August. That said, I figured I'd look at the 2022 Escape Hybrids on nearby dealer lots and came across an SE in pearl white with the Convenience, Cold Weather, and CoPilot360 Assist+ packages, which were the only things I really wanted anyway. I'll be putting a Curt trailer hitch and wiring kit on it soon, as I plan to tow a trailer soon for a move from Idaho to Arizona. I used X-Plan on this one, which made purchase extremely easy. I'd joined the Mustang Club of America digital version for $35, got the membership card, PIN#, and everything in less than the 90 days required. If anyone hasn't looked into that for new Ford purchases, please do and save yourself some money and hassle. Absolutely love the new FEH, rides much better than our C-Max, with its 122k miles that'll be given to our son.

If you read the very first post in this thread you'll see that question answered. You can also google the CSP and get any number of good hits. https://ford.oemdtc.com/2846/customer-satisfaction-program-14b07-transmission-inspection-and-repair-2013-2014-ford-c-max-fusion-hybrid

Quick FYI for everyone. CEL came on so I scanned for codes and it showed a P0456 - Check Fuel Fill Inlet. I played with the filler cap and cleared the code but it continued to show up over the next couple of weeks. Finally went to the dealership and bought part # AU5Z-9C915-D, Evaporative Emission Canister Purge Valve, for $17.xx and swapped it out. When looking into the engine bay from the front, the part is directly in the front of the engine, just under, and to the left, of the air intake duct. Easy enough to match the new part to the old then. Simply remove a couple bolts, disconnect the wiring, put new one in. Hasn't coded in over 2 weeks so that was obviously the fix.

Due to my schedule I couldn't drop the car off till last Monday, and just picked it up yesterday. Prior to the drop off I put another 500 miles on it, which I'm sure did the transmission and motors no favors. Dealership said I could drive it without dying or ruining anything else, and sounds like they were right. Had just over 56,000 miles when I dropped it off. To recap, I had some bad grinding in reverse (though that went away later), humming and chirping going forward. Here's the excerpt from the work order: "Took fluid samples. Found metal contamination. Ran oasis, found TSB 16-0105. Removed transmission assembly (part # FG9Z-7000-C), found transfer shaft bearing failure and metal contamination in trans fluid. Also found pitted and worn generator/starter bearings. Removed and replaced transmission assembly, topped off fluid, and performed transmission characterization per TSB." Dealership also upgraded all the modules and sub-modules on the car, so quite a bit of the electronics had been reset, including lifetime stats. I also had to turn off the autolock and unlock stuff again (hate the nannies). I noticed many driveability improvements immediately, along with no noises at all. SYMPTOM BEFORE: Braking was always linear, but just before car came to a stop it would get very abrupt, like the brakes grabbed harder but without any added pedal pressure. AFTER: No issues at all. Car comes to a stop normally. SYMPTOM BEFORE: When in very slow traffic (like at freeway on-ramp metering lights) with brakes slightly depressed and using light, static pressure, on the brake pedal, the car would have a pretty severe bucking problem from what felt like the brakes repeatedly grabbing and releasing. The bucking moved my head back and forth like I was a muppet or Merton Hanks from the old SF 49ers defense days. AFTER: No issues at all. No bucking at any speeds with light pedal pressure applied. SYMPTOM BEFORE: Abrupt throttle tip-in when taking off from a stop, and all the way up to ~20mph. Just the slightest movement of the gas pedal at these low speeds would cause the car to jump forward quicker than any other car I've driven. It would cause perceptible head jerking in me and passengers just touching the throttle. It was very difficult to modulate the throttle for smooth acceleration. AFTER: No issues at all. Car accelerates from a stop to any speed linearly without any abrupt acceleration. Whatever all those issues were caused by, the transmission replacement and module updates seem to have cured them completely. I was told the car had the modules and sub done during a recall before I bought it, but those problems (except for the noise) always existed when I bought it. After the transmission replacement my 2013 now drives exactly like my wife's 2014, so I'm betting the transmission was the issue causing all these symptoms. Sidenote: I had the choice of using a Mustang or Focus sedan as the loaner. Should've gone with the Stang but chose the Focus for the 4 door convenience. The dual clutch auto transmissions in those Focii are absolute crap with the bucking, and the delayed engagement, and peaky acceleration, common in so many of them. I've had many Focus rentals the last couple years with high mileage but this loaner had less than 2000 miles and was just as bad. Handled nice (just like the C-Max) but I was constantly concerned about how much throttle to apply from a stop or slow speeds because of how odd the darn thing shifted, and how nonlinear the power delivery was. So glad to be back in my C-Max, and very glad all the past problems have been resolved.

Quick update: Took the 2013 into the dealership where they promptly diagnosed the same problem many others described with the same grinding, humming, and chirping noises from the tranny. They said it's okay to drive, as it won't ruin things anymore than they already are, but scheduled me to bring it back in when their CVT tranny tech has completed work on the two other 2013s (Fusion Hybrids in this case) he's replacing the trannys on. Apparently a very common problem with 2013s, as the service advisor seemed to be well aware of the issue. He said the repair will take a few days because the entire engine, tranny, drive motor assembly has to be removed as a unit, then everything bad replaced before they can put it all back together and put it back in. Sounds like a huge pain, but hopefully that resolves it till after my CPO warranty runs out.

Well I did fill the gas tank a couple days before I started hearing the noises, so we might be able to blame it on winter gas blends in CA, depending on when they come out. Prior to that fill up I hadn't gotten gas in at least 3 weeks due to reduced commuting. Weather hasn't really been much different so I'd say it's either the gas or the tranny. I'd still think it's the tranny because of how the car feels lately.

Thanks for this post, wab! I'm having the same issue and posted an update on that thread, copied and pasted below here too: My 2013 Hybrid just started making this same whirring-almost-thumping noise behind the right front bumper whenever the A/C was turned on just a couple months ago, and it's only when the A/C is turned on. Prior to this recent noise the A/C was absolutely silent. Noise is audible from outside the car quite a few feet away, and from inside the car with windows down, and can still hear just a bit with windows up. It continues to make this noise for at least a couple to a few minutes before it goes silent. A/C operation is unaffected whether it makes the noise or not. Am having the dealership check it out while it's in getting a grinding transmission noise looked into. My wife's own 2014 C-Max Hybrid is also absolutely silent from a few feet away and from inside the car, even with window down, so having any type of noise like what kostby kindly recorded for us above is not normal at all (BTW, mine sounds exactly like that). I've never heard an A/C compressor, or whatever that noise is, be that loud on any other vehicle. And that includes my wife's identical (except for exterior color) C-Max.

Reviving this thread due to my recent issues and to add my own experience. My 2013 Hybrid just started making this same whirring-almost-thumping noise behind the right front bumper whenever the A/C was turned on just a couple months ago, and it's only when the A/C is turned on. Prior to this recent noise the A/C was absolutely silent. Noise is audible from outside the car quite a few feet away, and from inside the car with windows down, and can still hear just a bit with windows up. It continues to make this noise for at least a couple to a few minutes before it goes silent. A/C operation is unaffected whether it makes the noise or not. Am having the dealership check it out while it's in getting a grinding transmission noise looked into. My wife's own 2014 C-Max Hybrid is also absolutely silent from a few feet away and from inside the car, even with window down, so having any type of noise like what kostby kindly recorded for us above is not normal at all (BTW, mine sounds exactly like that). I've never heard an A/C compressor, or whatever that noise is, be that loud on any other vehicle. And that includes my wife's identical (except for exterior color) C-Max.

Just a quick FYI and update on my 2013 C-Max Hydrid with 55k miles: for the last couple months I've had an annoyingly loud whirring / grinding noise in the front passenger side of the engine compartment (somewhere behind the front bumper) only when I initially turn the A/C on. Doesn't matter if engine is hot or cold, of if car is running on battery power or not, this whirring-almost-grinding noise can be heard any time I hit the A/C button to turn the A/C on. If the interior fan is on there's no noise up front, but hit the A/C button and that A/C componentry up front starts making a noticeable racket from quite a few feet away for a couple to few minutes till it all sounds normal again a bit later. A/C operation is unaffected and works well. Turn the A/C off then later turn it back on and it starts the same noise again till it again quiets down a bit later. Figure it's obviously something to do with the electric A/C system on these cars, but since it's buried and sounds lower in the engine bay (above the plastic cover under the car), I'll let the Ford dealer look at it while it's in the shop having the transmission grinding problem diagnosed and treated (see my entry in that "Mileage and Build date for eCVT that have failed" thread in the eCVT forum).

Curious why your MPG is so low. My wife is a horrible hybrid "digital" driver (either she's hard on the gas, or hard on the brakes) and still gets 41 MPG. I'm much better and up till recently was getting over 47 MPG. And to update the thread in general, I bought my used 2013 (born on 24.01.2013 according to ETIS) in March of this year with 45k on it and an extended Ford CPO warranty, LUCKILY!! It now has 55k and just started having a continuous gear-like grinding noise while moving in reverse (and especially when hitting the brakes), combined with more of a loud humming and squeaking / chirping noise at all forward speeds. I popped the hood while my son drove slowly and I could see the entire drivetrain rock back to front in the cradle every time the gear-like grinding noise occurred. The noises are definitely coming from the transmission area on the driver side. Also should mention that from the time I purchased it it's had what I consider a pretty harsh throttle tip-in problem (aka when you initially just "breath on" and depress the gas pedal), where the car actually has a noticeable lurch of power from dead stop to anything up to 20mph or so (due to amount of torque being applied I'm guessing) whenever the gas pedal is depressed even slightly, while on battery or ICE. It's not exactly a head-snapping jolt, but it's noticeable enough where my wife, who has a 2014 C-Max Hybrid (that has never had these problems), noticed a big difference in how they both drive and commented on it. And she never pays attention to things like that. Almost has the same effect when letting off the gas pedal, as the car initially slows noticeably quicker than my wife's car though coasts fine. I'm betting it's all related, and I'm very glad I have the CPO warranty at this point. Mileage has also dropped over 5% in the last few days, obviously from increased internal component drag. I just dropped it at the dealer and will update when they diagnose, but I can almost guarantee it's the hybrid CVT going bad. I also have had an unrelated, but annoyingly loud whirring / grinding noise in the front passenger side of the engine compartment (near front bumper) only when I initially turn the A/C on. If the interior fan is on there's no noise up front, but hit the A/C button and that A/C componentry up front starts making a noticeable racket from quite a few feet away for a couple to few minutes till it all sounds normal again. A/C operation is unaffected and works well.

I have a lot of slow and go fwy traffic on my commute and rarely get above 65mph. That low speed, combined with 50psi in the tires, and judicious use of the brake and gas pedals (i.e. light braking for 100% regen, and light gas to stay on battery), gets me over 600 miles per tank routinely. Most of my trips net over 50mpg according to the readout when I shut the car off.

This was the first thing I thought too. I looked at a CL ad for one that had some no-name chinese knockoffs with nothing but horrible reviews. I steered clear, not knowing what else they likely did to cut corners with the car. OP, if you ever reply to this thread let us know what tires are mounted, and try to put 45-50 PSI in them to increase MPGs. And above all, ensure Ford has all the modules updated and all recalls have been completed. Another good site for recall info on Ford vehicles is here. Click the 'vehicle' tab, enter the VIN, and presto, anything needing addressed will be displayed on the left. http://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleRegSelector.do;jsessionid=3FC555ED44D7CCED0223921E2D463EDB.eccvas505 The overwhelming majority of 2013 C-Maxes I researched hadn't had any recalls done at all, years after they started selling them. Consistently the only ones not needing recall work were those being sold by actual Ford dealerships.

Nice, thanks for the part #. Google shows it goes in a few different Fords so hopefully the Rock Autos of the world will carry them cheaper than the stealerships will.

Oh yeah, good call on the funnel. I never checked for it before buying it last month. I'll inflate to 50psi when I get home tonight and see if it's livable on our bay area roads the next few days. Going from 40 to 45 PSI bumped me up a couple MPG from 45 to 47, so hoping I can get another 1 or 2 out of it with another 5 PSI.

I forgot to add my specifics. I am running 45 PSI on what look like the original tires with 45k on 'em. She's just a plain old SE Hybrid without any aero mods. I may bump the tires up to 50 PSI if the ride doesn't suffer too much (horrible pot-holed roads and freeways out here) and see what other MPG improvements I can make with lower commute speeds. I'll try for 700 miles on my next fill-up, and maybe take a small gas can when I'm close to empty so I have that extra security. These cars are so much fun to drive, it's like a video game in real life. The hour long commute just flies by.