jdbob

19 hours ago, homestead said:

Try shining a flashlight at the parts at varied angles, doing this I was able to read all the numbers but it was difficult.

Did try that, along with a couple of different magnifiers.

I could only read one of the four latch numbers, really poor quality manufacturing. Still haven't had the charging cord replaced, the closest dealer (about 1.3 hours each way) wouldn't do it and the dealer I bought the car from will do it but haven't felt like driving 3 hours each way unless there is something else I need to do in that city.

I changed mine earlier this year (Energi model, same engine) and it wasn't too bad, looked at a few videos on YouTube before proceeding. I rarely use the engine so the original filter was still pretty clean at 30K miles, but the housing did have a fair amount of seeds in it.

In section "418-00 Module Communications Network Description and Operation" of the service manual it says that the max speed of the HS-CAN bus is 500 kbps. Might be different on different car models. You are right about the 125 kbps MS-CAN.

I don't see the issue with starting the battery if the battery fills -- the engine isn't using any gasoline, it is merely being used as a "brake." Grade assist works quite well, it seems to do a good job of holding your speed without needing to use the physical brakes (causing wear and tear) -- even if for your drive you'll need to turn it on and off a couple of times. The only issue that I can think of is if the area you are driving have noise restrictions and prohibit the use of engine braking.

That's not what actually happens. If the engine is cold (which mine always is, because this is the 1st trip of the day), then it does actually run the engine until it heats up. This might be related to the engine not having run for some period of days, I don't know. On mine I usually go for a couple of months without running the engine and then force it to run to stir up the fluids.

Sounds like a job for "grade assist." Use the button on the side of the gear shift. 

Frank

Grade assist works find on grades that are at a consistent angle. The trip down has steep sections interspersed with near level sections, it doesn't work too well. Using grade assist will also trigger the engine running if you fill the battery.

The engine running situation is something I actively have to deal with every time I go down from my house into town (about 600 foot drop in 4 miles). I prefer to drive in "L" down the winding hill but keep an eye on the battery percentage and if it gets to 100% I switch back into "D" for the rest of the downhill. Just one of those annoyances that Ford will never fix. 

Yeah, the Volt is a similar setup to the C-Max. The gears never change. On the C-Max Ford calls it "L", on the Volt Chevy calls it "B".

According to ALLDATA it's called a "Harmonic Balancer - Crankshaft Pulley". The actual flywheel is on the other end of the crankshaft, the end that goes into the transmission.

Looks like it's just a spring. Probably a nightmare to get down in there to put in a stronger spring. 

The touchscreen on the MyFord Touch system lacks some features required for Apply Play and Android Auto if I recall correctly.

I saw this link for a Sync 2 to Sync 3 upgrade quite a while ago. At lot more than $1000 at this point.

https://www.infotainment.com/collections/all/products/myford-touch-sync-2-to-sync-3-upgrade

http://www.driven.co.nz/news/lifestyle/ford-teams-up-with-tequila-maker-jose-cuervo-to-make-bio-plastic/?ref=NZHNetwork

Yeah, apologies to Ford but I think Tesla is in a whole other class of truly electric car - as far as I can tell there is no "transmission" - the power is provided by one independent electric motor for each wheel with speed synchronized by computer since computers are fast enough to do that now, the battery life is finally better, etc.  This is where I expect a lot of cars to be within the next 30 years.

Tesla's use one motor per axle (rear wheels on all models, also front wheels on "D" models). So there is still a gear reduction and a differential, essentially the same as our cars when driven with only the electric motor. There are a few cars with one motor per wheel, but they are pretty exotic at this point.

4th generation Prius (went on sale late last year):

"The next Prius features improved batteries with higher energy density; smaller electric motors, with higher power density than the previous Prius motors; and the gasoline engine features a thermal efficiency greater than 40% (third-generation Prius is 38.5%)."

Thanks dicko the information. I just used that firewall opening to run a wire from the Park switch on the shifter to my DIY LED daytime running lights so they wouldn't come on when in park. Got tired of having them running for hours and hours while charging my 2013 Energi.

I suspect you may also find yourself being passed by Kelleytoons on the highway if you use EcoSelect :)

Here's what it says in the 2016 C-Max Owner Manual:

EcoSelect is a drive mode for non-plugin vehicles designed to offer the best possible fuel economy with only a slight impact to vehicle performance and comfort.

To switch EcoSelect on, press the ECO button. A graphic displays on your information display when EcoSelect is on. Your vehicle will remember the last selected mode whenever you start your vehicle. EcoSelect allows your vehicle to operate more efficiently.

You will notice:

• Less aggressive heating and cooling.

• Softer acceleration.

• More regenerative braking.

• Changes in engine behavior.

• ECO cruise control activation.

This is a good solution to a problem I didn't know I had

They wouldn't do much good in Phoenix, being so far south and sunny. Phoenix is at about the same latitude as Athens, Greece.

Just put on the second attempt today. These required quite a bit more engineering, will be interesting to see how long they last.....

Only lasted two weeks before one of the LED's failed. And here I thought I was doing good by testing them in the freezer overnight as well as in a toaster oven at 120F for many hours. No sign of water intrusion, probably just driving the LED's with too much current. Will look for a higher quality replacement that will fit.

fotomoto hasn't been on here since last September. I think he said he sold his C-Max Hybrid and just has an Energi.

As for wire nuts, I wouldn't use those for anything other than AC house wiring. 

Unfortunately overcast started to reduce by the time I started the test so not as dark as I wanted. But just for fun here are the no-lights, headlights, and LED-DRL images.

The Wikipedia entry has a bunch of info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytime_running_lamp

Whether they any good at all depends on the ambient lighting conditions. They are much more useful in high latitude countries than low latitude countries. I'm at 44.4 degrees, hard to say what the benefit would be here. Certainly not much at all in the summer, but it's often gloomy the 5 months of winter here :)

Here's a study from Australia but it includes information from around the globe: http://members.optusnet.com.au/carsafety/paine_drl_nrma_racv.pdf

Looks like rain this weekend, I plan on setting a video camera in the garage and see how visible they are (compared to the light blue car) as I come up my driveway, which is about 750 feet long.

Why did  you do this? The 2013 can have the DRL enabled with a simple software switch by the dealer.

Using dipped headlights is a poor substitute for dedicated LED DRL's. The LED's only use about 4% of the power required versus the dipped headlights like Ford uses. Using dipped headlights for DRL isn't even legal in many countries.

I just got those installed on my 2013 C-Max Energi. Same as fotomoto's except I sawed the back flush at the angled end, cut out part of the "ribbing" on grill, and ran the wires through some 1/4" I.D. wire loom.

Instead of hiding the relay behind the top grill I put it into an aluminum box and added a switch to disable them if I ever need to.

Using the same circuit that fotomoto used I notice that they are on while charging the Energi. Probably not worth trying to find another circuit since I only ever charge in my garage and they only draw about 3.5 watts.

This guy in Norway is an expert in knowing just how much to charge to get to the next supercharger with minimal range left. He does this because the charging is fastest at low state of charge then tapers off. Food and bathroom breaks during charging results in very little time actually waiting for charge completion. Here's his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/bjornnyland