plus 3 golfer

I don't know what is included in the "complete" package. It might include The Works (see below), all fluids and any wear items (wiper blades, brakes, filters and so forth) for 3 years But after that runs out, I believe most dealers offer the Quick Lane service for most routine maintenance - The Works for $39.95 which includes synthetic oil change, tire rotation and other tests and checks. IIRC, full synthetic is around $80 (too high IMO). I just got a coupon in the mail for a $10 rebate for The Works. So, for 3 years, one should expect to pay around $120 (or less) using Ford's The Works. About the only other maintenance items besides oil changes in 3 years are likely the cabin filter (20 k miles, IIRC) and maybe the air filter (40 k, IIRC). If you can't do tire rotation yourself or don't get free tire rotation from a tire dealer, The Works is a very good price as tire rotation is likely around $5 - $10 a tire by itself at most other places.

Just to be clear, Coefficient of Drag has nothing to do with area (or height of an object). For example, a large sphere and a small sphere would have the same Cd. What makes the Drag force different between a small sphere and a large sphere is the cross sectional area of the spheres. So, a lower (height-wise) car does not mean a lower Cd nor does a lower Cd imply a lower height car. The lower Cd of the Hyundai Ioniq simply implies it has a better aerodynamic form or shape to air flow than the C-Max (assuming aerodynamic "skin" or friction affect is the same).

DTCs probably no help in diagnosing a bad FP.

12 V batteries fail. Have you had the battery tested? Autozone should testit for no charge.

Sounds like a great service dept. Were there any diagnostic trouble codes present (should be on the Service Order)? Was it covered under warranty as it appears the fuel tank must be dropped to get to the FP. I'll bet there's 2+ hours labor plus around a $250+ for the FP. For reference (in case others have a similar issue), four DTC's related to the FP and FP module are shown below. For those with ForScan (full version for laptop I believe) or VCM II, you can run a test to turn the FP on and off.

Ford warranty does not cover "vehicles that have ever been labeled or branded as dismantled, fire, flood, junk, rebuilt, reconstructed, or salvaged; this will void the New Vehicle Limited Warranty"

These fuses are hot with the Ignition Relay energized: F14, F16, F19, F23, F26, F85, F86.

Welcome (I guess). :) Did you try to force ICE to start (run) on startup by pushing the gas pedal to the floor and then pushing the start button? "The generator motor provides the engine cranking function to start or restart the internal combustion engine. When the PCM requests the engine cranking mode, the generator motor rapidly accelerates the engine speed up to about 950 RPM in about 0.3 seconds. When the engine speed reaches a calibrated speed the PCM commands the delivery of fuel and spark at the appropriate time." How do you know there are no trouble codes? Did you scan all modules via the OBDII port (for example, with the ForScan smartphone App)? The PCM may have initiated a Limited Operating Strategy (LOS) mode since you could drive the car in EV mode after you restarted it. I would think there would be diagnostic trouble codes stored as you did get the message to stop safely. Maybe it's as simple as a bad fuel pump relay / fuse which would likely be detected by the PCM. I suppose you could check all fuses related to the PCM / ICE operations as maybe there is a bad one. Keep us informed please as to the outcome.

The belly pan is easy to remove. But you do need to raise the car high enough to get to the back screws of the belly pan. Although I haven't tried it, you can probably drive the front of the car up on a couple of 2X6 boards (say an 8 footer, cut into 2 - 30" and 2 - 18 " pieces with an 18" inch piece screwed to the top of a 30" piece). Thus, with car raised about 3 inches one should be able to squeeze far enough under the car from behind the front tires to reach the back screws of the belly pan or perhaps even from the front of the car. But a set of ramps works great and provides ample lift to make the job easy. :) :)

Really, I've done five OC and have no issues that would "make" me take it to a shop for an OC. What size wrench did you use - 1/2"? Try 3/8" inch using breaker bar not ratchet (which is what I use). Also, I've never used a torque wrench on a drain plug as my hand "knows" best (never stripped threads yet). IMO, there's a greater chance that the oil change jocks at the shop will strip the threads and not tell anyone. One discovers it when they see oil drippings on the garage floor months later. It happens. :)

I believe this is the GPS Module (GPSM) that is located behind the Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC). Call the dealer parts dept. and ask for the part number of the GPSM to verify?

Congrats and enjoy your C-Max. Interesting you should mention tire noise as I also look for "low noise" tires when I buy tires. About the only sources on tire noise ratings are from consumers (tirerack.com) or consumerreports.com. I found the attached study a few years ago on tire noise. Engine noise dominates the noise we hear at low speeds while tire noise dominates at higher speeds. The study used 45 mph and above as the study speed for tire noise. I believe that since we hear very little engine noise in the C-Max due to ANC and significant EV operation, we will hear more tire noise at all speeds and believe the tires are noisier than others (I know that I do). So, I'm not sure the Michelins are noisy compared to other tires. :) It may be just what we are hearing (or not hearing). Also, as indicated in the study road surface affects tire noise and tire noise can be reduced without compromising safety by using a "low noise" surface. "...low noise road surface can be built at the same time considering safety, durability and cost using one or more of the following approaches: 1. A surface with a smooth surface texture using small top size aggregate 2. A porous surface, such as an open graded friction course (OGFC) with a high air void content 3. A pavement-wearing course that has an inherent low stiffness at the tire/pavement interface." Tire study noise.pdf

Dealer always sets mine to 38 psi. So, when I get home I reset to around 47 psi. IMO, if you feel the ride is okay (e.g., not too jarring when going over bumps, potholes in the road), I'd leave them at 42 psi. I've never experienced uneven tire wear by going significantly above the manufacturer's recommended pressure. I always get outer wear at the manufacturer's recommended pressure - based on 40+ years of driving. :) If you want to continually monitor tire pressure and have a smartphone, you might want to look at the ForScan App - around $30 for the App and ELM 327 adapter to plug into the OBDII port.

Modern cars are built to burn a minimum octane rated fuel as the cars adjust timing (retard for lower octane fuel and advance timing for higher octane fuel) and regulate the amount of fuel (short term and long term fuel trim) during closed loop operation to achieve a stoichiometric ratio (virtually all fuel is oxidized) as determined by the emissions and other monitoring systems. For example using regular grade gas, under hard acceleration up a steep hill, detonation may occur and will be detected by the knock sensor. Timing will be retarded. But using premium fuel under the same conditions, detonation may not occur or timing may not have to be retarded as much. Emissions using premium at worst should be the same as using regular. If you have a reference tor your statement please provide it. I have never seen a study that even hinted that premium fuel could harm a modern car or the environment. Because there will usually be a fuel saving using premium fuel (may not be an economic savings), the total emissions using premium fuel will be less.

Are you sure about that. :) The part is inexpensive but it sure looks like the intake manifold needs to be removed to replace it. There was another thread several weeks ago on the location of the PCV valve as a member bought a valve to replace the original (at 100 k miles IIRC) and then couldn't locate the valve. It's behind the intake manifold. I suggested the member call the dealer for a quote. I don't believe I saw a response yet. Thomas Walker, since the PCV should be covered under the 3 year / 36 k mile B2B warranty (Fed. emissions warranty is 2 /24 on the PCV) you may want to take the car to the dealer before your warranty expires for what appears to be excessive oil in the intake.

Juhuti, what do you mean by "smoother" in terms of acceleration? How are you determining "smoothness"? ICE rpm? How many miles on both cars? The only physical differences that might affect acceleration that I'm aware of is that the Energi has a numerically higher final drive ratio than the Hybrid and weighs about 360 pounds more that the Hybrid.

But around here the difference between premium and regular is virtually the same ($0.40 per gallon) regardless of the base price of regular. So, if regular is $1.60 / gallon, premium costs 25% more than regular. At $4/gallon, premium would cost 10% more. But, I'd experiment when the cost of gas is high not low as I'd lose less $$ experimenting when gas is more expensive. :) IMO, the pros of premium gas are lower emissions, using less of resource (crude oil), and likely slightly better performance. The only con of using premium is value at current and likely price levels I'll see for as long as I own my C-Max. :)

What was the "lemon" problem? What does the paperwork say was done? Did the car have the "No Start" issue due to the 12 V battery being discharged by a parasitic load on the battery. Ford did issue Field Service Action 15B04 for this issue which addressed several possible causes and updated software. However, this though does not have anything to do with FE. It does seem that the number / frequency of this issue has declined since this FSA. There was a FSA 15B03 for software updates to improve FE, IIRC in 2013. It included better operation of the shutters and ICE during cold weather. I believe some had issues with this install in that it didn't install correctly (IIRC, it was something to do with the way the software was downloaded from Ford). But it's unlikely that this is an issue with your car as there have many many software updates since which would be the latest version (and include previous updates). You can get on etis.ford.com or owner.ford.com and look at any outstanding FSAs items for your car. The items are removed when the dealer completes the action. So, if there is nothing showing, then all related items for your car have been completed. I don't block the upper grille as that is the air intake for the engine. But some do / have blocked the upper grille so that the intake air is drawn from the engine bay area which should be warmer than the ambient air temperature. Also, I doubt the latest Fit would get better FE than the C-Max in the city / suburbs. Fuelly.com shows the Fit to be around 34 /36 mpg overall. Fuelly shows the 2013 C-Max is around 39 / 40 mpg.

I don't have an SE. So, can't answer how to turn the heat off. You can leave the grille blocks in on the highway in the winter and likely most of the year in Chicago. There's a lot of data on the grille blocks in various threads. I've done 70+mph at 50 F ambient uphill on the interstate and noted coolant temperatures in the mid 230 F. I generally take mine off when I begin to use the AC. But others don't. When we lived in the Phoenix area, I would only run with grille blocks for a few months. :) It really didn't help much as our trips were longer and temps were rarely below 40 F (mornings only). But in eastern TN, the grille blocks help a lot as most of our trips are of the same range you are talking about 4-5 miles one way maybe several times a day. Currently, I have about 400 miles on the tank and am averaging about 44.5 mpg ambient temperatures generally between 20 F and 50 F with maybe 60 miles of interstate driving. The C-Max is a heavy car (due to high voltage battery weight) compared to a VIbe (probably 10%+ less than the C-Max). So, driving with ICE only in both vehicles will likely favor the Vibe with respect to FE. With such short trips, the Energi (the plug-in C-Max) might have been a better option assuming you have access to charge it.

Welcome ecogirl2206. Has it been cold (rhetorical question)? and it appears your trips are rather short :) The problem is that the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) needs to warm up in cold weather especially if you have the heat on to heat the cabin. If you want to improve FE, get some 3/4" pipe insulation from Lowes / Home Depot and cut to length and insert in the openings in the lower and center front grille to cut air flow through the radiator. Also, you should turn the HVAC off and use the seat heater for some warmth. On My View you can monitor the coolant temperature. If the coolant temperature gets above the first line, you can turn the HVAC on. You should see FE improvement but your FE in the winter is highly dependent on ambient temperature. You might be able to achieve 40 mpg if the temperature is above 25 F and the your trips are 5 miles or less by doing the grille block and HVAC off.. There is no EV on button but turning the HVAC off will optimize use of EV during cold weather. Now the good news. When it warms up you should be able to get 45-55 mpg on your short trips. :) :)

Interesting. Did your speedometer work when coasting in "ON"? because EPAS needs data from other modules like speed from the ABS module and ignition mode data from the BCM. I wonder if one can communicate with the modules in ON. I will try that later with ForScan when I return from golf. In the "ON" position, I can scan modules with ForScan. In the ON mode, the PSCM shows the ignition switch mode status as ON. When I push the start button to turn the car off, the ignition switch mode changes to POST. In the Ready to Drive mode, the status shows "running". So, it does appear that the PSCM algorithm likely only activates EPAS when in Ready to Drive mode as your test indicates. So, my guess is the "fix" will likely not be as simply as the Jeep fix but will require software updates perhaps to many modules.

What it means is that we shouldn't have to worry about the life of the HVB on the C-Max as Ford"s algorithm on how the HVB is used appears to be in line with long lithium-ion battery life. See Ford's key life test below. BTW, there is an Owner's Manual if you need help in "how to drive the darn thing." :) My 12 V battery only lasted 30 months. Resale value only matters when you sell / trade your car. IMO, sounds like you should be leasing not buying cars if you are worried about resale value after 2 years and whether a car may, in your opinion, turn into junk. ;) "Ford's confidence in lithium-ion is based on so-called Key Life Tests. The tests predict that the working capacity (y-axis) of lithium-ion batteries (green line) will be greater over a high-mileage lifetime (x-axis) than that of nickel-metal hydride (yellow line). Past field data for nickel-metal hydride (blue dots) has shown that the testing results are conservative -- that is, batteries generally do better in the field than they do on tests." (Source: Ford Motor Co.)

Here's what the Service Manual says about the EPAS: "To activate, the EPAS system needs to be connected to battery voltage at the hot at all times input and at the ignition/run input of the Power Steering Control Module. In addition, the system must communicate with other modules over the High Speed Controller Area Network (HS-CAN)." You can check Fuse F26 to see if it is hot in ACC mode as F26 supplies power to the PSCM. I can't tell from the wiring diagram what position the ignition switch has to be in for the ignition relay to energize F26. I'll look further at the HS-Can and ignition switch when I return. It appears that all CAN networks are hot at all times. Also, the rear window wiper is fed from the ignition relay contact that feeds F26. I tested the rear wiper on my push button start SEL In the "ON" mode, the rear wiper works (OFF, ON, and Ready to Drive modes with push button start). But, there really is no ACC mode with the push button start ignition as there is with a keyed ignition. The owner's manual says all circuits are operational in the "ON" mode.

Agree with cwstnsko - no regen in Neutral and no pulling during regen. The Neutral test might tell you something. I assume the dealer scanned all modules for DTC as they did find a bad purge valve. I wonder if the Electronic Power Assist Steering is causing the pull - the fact that going over a bump apparently causes a small pull. The Power Steering Control Module is self monitoring for DTCs and likely doesn't light the CEL if there is an issue that triggers a DTC in the EPAS. An input from the steering torque sensor (works by measuring the relative rotation between an input and output shaft which are connected by a torsion bar) and vehicle speed are used to determine the amount of steering assist and compensation for road pull that is applied to steering effort. A slight jolt to the output shaft could perhaps cause a larger than anticipated compensation if the sensor is somewhat faulty. IMO, if the problem persists, find another dealer and take the SA for a ride and show the SA the issue.

Paul, do you hear the noise with the climate control off? The humidity and temperature sensor has a fan that should only be powered when the blower motor relay is energized. Also, you could try pulling fuse F45 which supplies power to the fan. In-Vehicle Temperature And Humidity Sensor The in-vehicle temperature and humidity sensor contains a thermistor and a sensing element which separately measures the in-vehicle air temperature and the humidity, then sends those readings to the HVAC control module to adjust the actuator doors. The in-vehicle temperature and humidity sensor has an electric fan within the sensor that draws in-vehicle air across the two sensing elements. If the vehicle cabin becomes too humid the HVAC control module adjusts the air inlet door to allow more fresh air. When the humidity level drops, it adjusts back to recirculated air.