andrew

Well, I've been through 2 tankfuls of gas since getting my car back from the dealer. No "service engine light" yet, however, I did have the message pop up saying something to the affect of "check fuel filler area" a couple of times. I pressed "OK" on the left side of the steering wheel, and continued on. That was about a week ago, and there's be no recurrence. I did "check" the area (opened the door and saw nothing -- what exactly does "check" mean?). Anyway, I'm happy to report the above. Now, I'm not happy to report that my gas mileage is starting to suck... Could it be the freezing temps we're starting to experience here in upstate NY? Probably. I'm sure the engine needs to run in order to keep me warm :) . Hopefully, my last post on this subject. Good luck to all the other "service engine" sufferers...

May I just say here, now that my Cmax is back in the shop for the 2nd time since I purchased it, just 2 weeks ago, that Ford seems to have a problem with these cars. The first trip, the service dept replaced a solenoid. Half-a-mile after leaving the shop, the light was back on. Back to Ford we go. This time, they used the Ford "hot-line". Latest diagnosis has resulted in a replacement of a hose connected to some "evaporative" system. Hopefully, picking up the car later on today, and, hopefully, this will end the engine light saga. Anybody want to give odds?

I hope folks don't mind the frequent updates, but, I just can't seem to help it... So, while waiting for the part (purge valve) to arrive, I took the vehicle home in order to continue familiarizing myself with all the controls and screens, etc... The service folks said it would be OK to drive with the check engine light on, with the caveat that the gas engine may not operate as efficiently as it should. OK, I can live with that. After driving for about a week, I was still getting in excess of 45mpg... Anyway, driving in to work this morning, I noticed that the check engine light had gone out (on it's own apparently). This begs the questions: do I really need the replacement purge valve (still on-order); and, how long do I wait before deciding that it's no longer needed? i.e.: until the light does/doesn't come back on? I just love waiting for something to NOT happen.... As an IT guy (information technology / computer geek) I'm beginning to wonder if the old joke about computers with Microsoft Windows, you know the one, "if it hangs, just re-boot it", is now going to apply to cars with Microsoft Sync built in :-) Just re-start it a couple of times, and it'll go away...

Looks like I am joining the ranks of the "purge valve" replacement group. One would think there'd be a recall notice, or at least a TSB out there for this problem. It seems to happen quite a bit. Even if it is just a bad batch of valves from whatever supplier they get them from, you'd think they could narrow it down by now and take some sort of preemptive measures. In any case, hoping this resolves the issue. Am seeing around 45mpg combined thus far. Perhaps even that will improve somewhat with the replacement valve, who knows.

Thanks for your insightful comments. Don't worry, I was only "considering" futzing with it. The car is safely in the hands of my dealer's expert repair staff. I'm sure that they, unlike those reported elsewhere in this forum, know exactly what to do...

I'm considering taking the little plastic filler nozzle they supply and just poking it in and out of the filler hole a couple of times. Maybe that will "fix" it. Worth noting that when I test-drove the vehicle on Saturday, the tank was nearly empty. The dealer provided it to me on Monday with a full tank. Service light came on the very next day. Hmmm.... Coincidence?

Literally Day One with my new 2013 C-Max, less than 200 miles and the check engine light has turned on. What is up with this vehicle? It's not "blinking", so, according to the manual it's not urgent? Lists some possible causes, of which, only the fuel filler door seems likely. Manual says it may clear itself after 3 cold starts. We'll see. Should I be worried? Is this a sign of things to come with this vehicle? Not a good first hybrid experience thus far...