Leaderboard

Check the center dash vents that blow down towards your legs. There is a vertically oriented wheel right in the middle to turn them ON/OFF. These vents and the control are easy to miss.

Comments: The HVB is air cooled by its own fan in the back (see picture of mine). Air is drawn from inside the car - those vents in the back that you're not supposed to cover up!). The "Inverter System Controller" is cooled by its own liquid coolant system that, as you now know, is separate from the engine coolant. The Inverter System Controller is mounted on top of the transmission. It takes the DC electric power from the HVB and "inverts" it to AC power to drive the electric motors inside the transmission. (Of course during regen, power flows the other way round.) Tens of kilowatts can flow through the inverter with a small potion ending up as heat - so it needs cooling. The Inverter System Controller cooling system has nothing to do with the HVB or the electric motors - just that box of electronics. (The electric motors get cooled by the transmission fluid.) I don't know if there is a drain point for either system. Right or wrong, I never changed my coolant before my transmission was replaced at 172k miles - only added a bit now and then. As I've said before, don't buy the SnowStorm maintenance contract!

I decided to stop being so stupid and see if there was a maintenance schedule Manual that came with my 2016 Ford C-Max. Page 223 in the 2016's owner manual..."Your vehicle has TWO separate cooling systems. One is for cooling the engine and one is for cooling the Inverter system controller that is specific to the hybrid Operating system". So that answers one of my questions. I wish it had read instead of Inverter...Battery system but sure they are one of the same. Manual outlines how to check and add coolant to each system but does not have any details as to Draining and renewing...the steps to follow. But here's what seems the real answer I needed....Page 353 in the Owners manual..."Scheduled maintenance"...."AT 100,000 miles/Change engine coolant and motor /electronics coolant". Further there is a footnote. Initial replacement at six years or 100,000 miles, then every three years or 50,000 miles". I just don't understand why terminology cannot be consistent, one place in the Manual it refers to the Hybrid system as the Inverter system, and in the Scheduled maintenance refers to it as...Electronics Coolant. My 2016 C-Max with less than 13,000 Miles on it and now Just 5 years old....per Ford's Owners Manual...I have an entire Year to go before it reaches 6 Yeras the recommended Coolant Service and this car under my ownership will never have 100K miles on it. So this perplexes me even more with the 3 Ford dealers...and large dealerships at that...1st not knowing there were 2 Separate Cooling systems....and I told each the age and Miles I had on the car...and all 3 did not advise both Ford Installed Coolant systems per Ford do not need service until 6yeras or 100,000 Miles. Surely any of the 3 dealers would have graciously taken my money for needed not yet required per Ford. Await comments.

While I was cleaning out the leaf debris on my 2013, I had my lift gate open and noticed that one of the bolts holding the operating units had backed out enough to be noticeable. I tighten it and checked the others finding them all needing tightening. I assume this is caused by the operation of the tailgate. Just a heads up.