jestevens

Sometimes I drive with the windows down and hear this noise, probably not describing it right but to me it sounds to me like a particular exhaust note..like how they tune the exhaust sound of the Mustang. I don't think it's intentional, probably irritates the ANC in just the right way at a certain RPM with the windows down, etc. I have heard it inside the car with the windows up too when ICE comes on within certain RPM range. I just take it to be part of the way the car works. Maybe it just seem annoying because the car is otherwise so quiet, still not as annoying as wind buffeting noise, and no where as annoying as that rental car I drove with the 4 cylinder engine mated to a CVT that kept pretending to make noises like it was "shifting" - that thing had as much noise and vibration as a prop plane..spoiled from driving hybrids.

I hear you all describing this as a grinding/thumping noise, so the high pitched whine I'm starting to hear occasionally when the car is quiet is more likely something to do with the ANC than with the transmission? 85K mi on original transmission so far, mostly around town miles.

I've never experienced this issue, love the torque too much.

If you still have the original 12V battery you probably want to replace it by now - after having to use the emergency key several times to open the door I had mine finally replaced last winter even though the dealer said it was "fine" - it was about $200 including labor at the dealer and it was worth it to me, vs. trying to replace it myself in 20F weather outside. No more issues with getting locked out because the keyless entry didn't work, and I've never had an incident with the vehicle being completely dead other than that (I have SEL model). Initially I did have a timing issue where I would go to put my foot on the brake a certain way when pressing the START button too quick or something and the vehicle would fail to start but I was always able to try to start again and it worked, a software update seemed to fix that problem too. I ONLY take hybrids to the dealer, and if you're lucky you'll find a dealer shop that knows them well, this after I took my Prius to an independent garage who assured me they knew how to work on Prius but were perplexed that they couldn't find the battery under the hood to jump the car when it wouldn't start. Waay too many $3K computer modules to be shorting out the wrong one..

The entire back of the car seems to suck up dirt, I guess because of the way the body is styled to improve aerodynamic performance. I've had to clean my lens (or just take the entire car for a bath) more than once per weather season. I guess it's possible the CCD could be damaged by exposure to the sun if it was severe/long enough but I think it's a glass lens.

Have you tried holding in the voice button to access CarPlay via mic/speakers? That's about the best you can do with the last available version of Sync 2. It's not great, but it's better than nothing. Siri can basically read and respond to messages, dial phone numbers if you have a data connection on the phone.

I just got a letter in the mail announcing availability of A9 if that helps.

Is that structural support for lightweight sheet metal or has a small child been in the back of the car?

So after all these years they finally found the problem..nice. Shame they are trying to sell the EcoSport instead..

I don't have an ELM adapter or the phone app but I imagine it can report on at least some of the things, although it might not be a nice summary the way that Ford did, it can basically get raw data from the car's computer. Some other folks here who use the ELM adapters want to answer?

I'm getting tons of online ads for the EcoSport, but the CMAX is a nicer car that gets twice the MPG.. I already owned an HHR, I don't care to go back to 25MPG for a crossover when gas is $3/gal (people in Europe are probably laughing right now - gas over there $8-10 a liter) ..

I used C-MAX at the drive-in last weekend - just left it in READY mode because I didn't want the 12V battery to deplete. I held down the throttle during intermission to charge the HVB up close to 100% and it lasted almost the whole movie without needing to turn on engine. People apparently turn on engine now anyway, Car engine a lot quieter than they used to be. The only problem was the LCD gauge cluster doesn't dim while the car is in READY with the lights off.

Some of the folks here have a Bluetooth to OBD II adapter that can interface the car's onboard diagnostics with a phone app, maybe one of the phone apps can report some of those scanner codes? I don't have an adapter myself. I do wish it would give a little more notice on remaining oil life and which tire is low if there is low tire pressure.

I'm getting tons of online ads for the EcoSport, which looks suspiciously like a C-MAX, but has a moonroof rather than panoramic glass and I figure probably only gets around 25MPG.

I have not experienced that problem. It sounds like a loose connection or component failure of some kind. There is an extended warranty program 12M02 for model years 2011-2014 regarding My Ford Touch and certain APIM components. I'm sorry to say since your C-MAX is model year 2015 it may not quality for the warranty, you could ask your dealer? The APIM is basically the computer that runs the Sync software.

Yes, I think you're pretty much tied into getting the Motorcraft battery, that's why I just let the dealer do it, with special discount from dealer at the time the battery from dealer was the same price as Amazon, plus I would have needed to go buy a few extra tools and then spend 30-45 minutes of my time in 32F weather outside.

I turned off the cabin heater despite it being 50F this morning and most of the trip was EV; I went from 40MPG to 54MPG, Spring/Summer is not getting here fast enough this year, at this rate I'll be planting stuff outside at the end of May.

Is the work being done by a Ford shop? I went to a tire shop that specifically told me that they could not get the rear tires within spec during the alignment and that I should take it to the dealer.

I would use whatever fluid they officially spec, this transmission has electric motor windings in it, so some of the other brands may not be formulated for that? I had to yell at the guy in a Toyota dealership once to use the WS ATF transmission fluid - they want to treat the hybrid just like any other car - in some cases that's okay, in some cases I'd rather not spend $3,000 on a new transmission just to save $45 in ATF fluid costs.

The "EV" does stand for "Electric Vehicle" I think, and it CAN go in all electric for short distances as you say with your short drive from the supermarket but the all EV range is limited on the regular hybrid by the small battery pack, The Energi version of the hybrid has a bigger battery pack, can actually be plugged in to charge the high voltage battery off 220 or 120V AC Outlet and can go for a longer distance on pure electric only but you sacrifice a little cargo room and add cost because of the bigger battery. I think the Energi also has all electric cabin heat and an electric pump to circulate oil around the transmission since the Energi can go for a longer distance without the engine being run. The hybrid (non Energi) version of the C-MAX uses engine heat for cabin heat so in a lot of cases if you have the heater on the engine will run. I recommended the "Empower" gauge before but the ones I actually use in MyView are called "Split Power' and "Coach" - The split power gauge will show a small blue tachometer for the range and throttle input where the car is supplying electric power/assist and the white bars on the tachometer when the gas engine is supplying power. Like ptjones says, white bars under two segments seems to be the optimum RPM range for the engine efficiency. Personally I just try to accelerate as smoothly/normally as possible until I reach cruising speed and then back off the gas, otherwise it might be a safety hazard or annoyance to other drivers. I don't get the best MPG by any means because I don't have any MODs on my car, I have a winter climate here and I love the electric torque too much. It may be the hills where you live that are making the car act the way it does, it will try to use the gas engine to provide more power on incline of the hill. You will probably almost always use gas while driving on the highway but it should still be more economical than a gas (only) car. Even at it's worst the C-MAX still gets between 1.5 - 2 times better gas mileage than a lot of the other crossovers, the folks here who have mastered driving it and added custom mods can get higher than that.

You don't get why I said that a hybrid is not an EV? How long can you drive the C-MAX on -just- electric? Is it 50 miles, 100 miles, 200 miles? Because that's "all electric" range you'd get in an electric car. A hybrid car really is designed to rely on the ICE and it won't operate without it. Some people buy them thinking they are buying an electric car, that's why Toyota has lots of warnings in their owners manual about "you really do need to fill up the gas tank". Don't get me wrong, I've been driving hybrid for at least 10 years now and I think the technology is great. I didn't realize the original poster had an Energi, yes, the battery pack is bigger, you have the option of just plugging it in and you get longer range.

That's great, hybrids love traffic, but yes, a hybrid isn't an actual electric car. Some of them, like the Energi version of the C-MAX have a bigger battery pack but ultimately you are still using gas, just not all the time and the battery helps even out the load on the engine to make the engine more efficient. I still love them, relatively smooth, quiet, lots of torque, manufacturer usually loads them up with options to sell at a higher price point (at least when you buy new)..and 40MPG on a routine basis is still double what a typical gasoline powered car would do.

I received same Email, says service to end this August. I get the impression that they no longer want to maintain the funky dial-up service they have set up that transmits the data via "modem" over a cellular telephone call. I guess they figure that you've got all the information you need right there on the dash. I thought the only way to see the Oil Life remaining was via a scan tool but I'd love to be wrong about that.

As far as I know it's a custom, embedded part, not a commodity that comes off the shelf - they probably have to buy them from Ford and then I'm sure they charge a mark-up for profit as well or else why be in business?

My two cents are that maybe the gauge you are looking needs changed - if you set it to MyView as described in other comments then set the first half to Empower and the second half to the "Coach" you should be able to see from the hybrid Coach how well you are doing on the different categories of things you can control to get the most MPG out of your hybrid. The Empower gauge I know for sure shows "EV" at the bottom most of the time the car is idle or under light acceleration or coasting, unless of course the engine is cold or the heater is running as others have said. My contribution is whether or not the vehicle is using low rolling resistance tires? LRRs make a big difference in allowing the hybrid to coast vs. -always- having to be "light on the gas" just to get it to move down the road. If you accelerate to say 30 MPH and take your foot off gas, does your vehicle coast okay if you just put a light pressure on the accelerator? You should be able to maintain just a very light pressure on the accelerator and it will maintain the 30MPH on "EV", or do does it exhibit a LOT of drag while coasting, as in it immediately slows down and the gas engine is coming on all the time? If someone put the wrong kind of tires on it makes a big difference. Other than that, like someone else said a high voltage battery with a low state of charge will kick in the engine just to charge the battery. If the battery is nearing end of life the useful charge in the battery will reduce. I haven't heard of many C-MAX with this issue yet though. It was starting to happen with my 2007 Prius before I traded that in. Also bear in mind that the battery capacity in the Hybrid isn't the same as a full electric car, you are only going to be able to go a couple of miles on full electric before the engine kicks in, on the gas hybrid version it also kicks in the lubricate the transmission somehow too. The battery on the hybrid is used more to level out engine RPMs and to provide power assist to the engine - it will make a 4 cylinder car seem like it has 6 cylinder power. You should still be able to get around 40MPG as long as the outside temps are say, 45F and above without trying too hard once you get the hang of it. Driving a hybrid is all about coasting, everything is set up to make it easy to coast at city speeds. You should give it enough gas to accelerate smoothly/briskly to whatever the average speed of the road is and then back off the gas a little bit, at which point the car will start to coast on EV as long as there isn't a major incline in the road. Paul's videos seem to show two white bars in the empower gauge as the optimum amount of RPMs/throttle to use under engine power but of course you have to always pay attention to safe road conditions foremost, don't hypermile to the point that it causes a traffic hazard for other drivers on a two lane road, etc. Before too long you may learn to judge the timing of red lights vs when they turn green, because to a degree when you step on the brake the battery is getting a charge from regenerative braking, so unfortunately you may ride the brake a little or coast a bit instead of coming to an abrupt stop when approaching a red light to help augment the battery charging. When you are at highway speeds the engine will almost always be running since it is a requirement of the way the transaxle is built, in a few circumstances I've been able to go short distances all electric at highway speeds - like on level highway - as soon as it hits an incline the RPM slows down, the car anticipates that you'll need power to climb the hill based on throttle input and switches on the ICE.