jestevens

'13 April/May build, just turned 70K mi ..my averages are around 40MPG (I will have to watch Paul's videos after work.) I only inflate tires to 42PSI. Still, much better than any gas only powered crossover. No issue with transmission to date but then again I don't do daily highway commutes with this car. It only just occurred to me that the tech in our vehicles is getting "older" compared to the new electric based vehicles they have coming out. I still like it, the pano roof, the nicer interior, the "stereo" with the most inputs I've ever seen on a car, backup camera, the annoying way you have to change the parking lights (fun outside in 20F weather), "Sync by Microsoft". I guess all that stuff will probably be standard on newer vehicles soon (except I think they are getting smarter about the "by Microsoft" part.) Yeah, there are a lot of recalls, but then again, glad there are lots of recalls and they fix for free.

Not specifically using the inverter but I did clean the interior of the car for Spring with everything in "Ready" mode yesterday, I just turned off the climate control when I had all the doors open. I figured that would be an easy way to listen to the radio and leave the interior lights on without having to risk running down the 12V battery. The HVB discharged once and ran the engine a little to bring up the SoC. I did the same thing when I replaced the Cabin Air Filter and it was 100F outside, what a fun adventure.. I would do this at the drive in too but I'm sure the engine would kick on during an inopportune moment within the scope of a 2 hour movie. I just bring a portable radio along to listen to the movie instead. (As others have said) as long as you don't put too much of a load on the inverter I can't imagine it would hurt anything, I'm not sure it would be practical for powering large appliances. Just don't block up the exhaust or run out of gas. Not sure how to get the cord out of the car, you'd have to leave a window partially rolled down.

I had Ecopia 422 on my Prius, they were a very nice tire but I thought they wore out fairly quickly. It may have just been the way I was driving on them so best to hear from others too. We have I guess what you could call light snow (16-20" max for an entire winter season) here in Central PA and they were fine on that car. On the C-MAX I am still using the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max the dealer recommended as a replacement and they seem fine, although I don't rotate them like I should because I don't see the service bay as often with long oil change intervals.

The first time I changed tires they were 2/10 in the front and 7/10 in the rear (never rotated?) so I asked the shop that was doing the work to save one of the 7/10 tires for me, with the intention to get it mounted on a wheel. As it turns out the shops I've asked don't really want to be bothered with doing that, I should have just had them recycle the tire. I bought a nice plug and patch kit instead.

I have a iPhone SE paired with bluetooth to my 2013 and the latest Sync 2 upgrade, there is no USB required unless you want to charge. I have to hold in the voice button on the steering wheel for a few (more) seconds then instead of the normal SYNC chime you get a short double chime from Siri. It's a long enough delay that it's annoying but at least the functionality is there. As a matter of fact it's the only way to check for texts on the phone since iPhone doesn't seem to integrate with Sync 2 text messaging. It does have an accelerometer lock out, if it thinks you are driving it won't do certain things and it can't access certain content unless you unlock your phone. So hands free text is about all it is good for in my opinion, half the time it gets the speech wrong so I'd rather concentrate on driving but it's nice if I'm running late I can at least tell someone. Sometimes you can use it to get directions but other times it has really strange idea of where the GPS is, like it's finding locations that are 200 mi away.

I've done this waiting in line for a car wash on the first warm day of Spring, The C-MAX at least runs the engine for a little while to get a decent SOC. When it used to happen in my '07 Prius it was annoying because that car -would not- run the engine long enough to get a decent SOC - it would just leave the HVB in a low SOC and keep cycling the engine off and on when you pressed the accelerator until you finally got going in traffic. I never had a problem where it would not start because of it but really unnerving when the car was doing that repeatedly in bumper to bumper gridlock traffic for 20 minutes.

I got mine on amazon too after I tried several local parts stores - you would think a "Ford Focus" cabin air filter would be a common item to stock..

The only noise I hear from the back when I start the car is the mechanical noise of the relays closing to connect the HVB to the rest of the car. The hybrid system is designed so that when the car is "off" the hybrid battery pack is disconnected as a safety measure. When you start the car the computer uses low voltage battery current to close some relays that connect the high voltage battery pack to the rest of the car. (Even though it's supposed to be disconnected I would still always treat the orange wires as though they are energized anyway.) That's more of a click or clack noise though. A "thud" sounds more like feedback from the stereo? If you have the motorized back hatch there's also a little speaker built in back there to put out a "meep" sound whenever the door is opening or closing.

From the diagrams I've seen and previous discussion on the forum I think the Energi has electric heat, the Hybrid must rely on engine heat only. This might be one area where the Prius has an advantage since at least the sedan has PTC heat. I guess Ford figured it was only worth doing in the Energi since it has the bigger battery pack? Since the engine has to run to lubricate the transmission in the hybrid that they might as well use it for heat too..?

I've had an issue where the car flakes out with a check engine light about 2 times a year when I go to start it, I always seem to be in a hurry when it does this, like I am moving the brake too fast, if I turn it back off and try again it always starts. Seems like one of those annoying software glitches. This must be different than your problem though since I don't think mine ever gets to "Ready" when it does that. It used to happen more frequently, I think one of the software updates may have influenced the behavior. We won't talk about the MFT still staying on and playing a song after I put it in park, switch off the car, open the driver door, close the door and lock the car..those are the type of glitches that drive programmers crazy because you might never replicate the actual problem. It's easier to just turn it back on and off again to get the "radio" to stop.

If you explain situation maybe the dealer will give you a loaner car to borrow.

I received the original letter from Ford but no follow-up letter (when parts are available) and no contact by dealer. I guess I'll ask them to make it a part of the next periodic service.

I'm driving stock hybrid SEL with the tech package, Goodyear assurance with 42PSI. In the winter mornings before dawn here in Central PA I get 30s MPG, sometimes 20s MPG when it's 4F.. 40F seems to be the sweet spot where the car can start to manage better. The Energi is the one with the all electric heater.. I'm not crying much over it considering most of my friends are lucky to see 25MPG on a good day in the best of conditions. I enjoy driving the car so typically average 40MPG but have seen as high as 57MPG where there is a nice flat 40MPH road to the grocery store.

Hmm, if it's a separate sensor under the bumper I bet it could be disconnected, but for now I'll just be more aware of it. Maybe I'll stand away from the car if other folks are loading and unloading cargo..

Car companies are used to putting out a new redesign every few years and software upgrades happen a lot quicker than that. "Radios" were something that once used to never really change unless you bought third party. They have to have something to make you want to upgrade to the new model right? My friend has a Mercedes and the software in it is horrible, he's an XM subscriber and periodically the radio locks up when they do a channel update, searched a few forums and it seems to happen across their whole product line. He added the 360 panoramic camera as an option, which is really neat - but it's also supposed to have rear sonar sensor overlay on the screen and alarm like the C-MAX does - you have to literally be ready to hit the back bumper before it will alarm. I hate the slow responsiveness of MFT (errgh, typical Microsoft) but I actually like the interface compared to some of the other alternatives, I haven't had a chance to see the latest generation software though - it might be even better. The ads in MFT are a little annoying too, I really don't give a crap about "Marriott, Starbucks or Walmart"

So a bad sensor then? That sort of makes sense I suppose. Glad it is fixed, enjoy.

I have the technology package with the kick to open/close door and twice now it has almost "crushed" bystanders who were loading and unloading cargo into the back. Seems I was back there so my fob was close enough to the antenna that when they were moving around loading and unloading cargo the car thought I was triggering the sensor. They look dumbfounded but I was able to recognize what was going on and hold the door open, wonderful grinding noise and now one seal on piston sounds squeaky when it closes but at least my friends weren't hurt.

Oh no, under warranty of some kind I hope..

I thought I saw a news article that said Ford was planning on producing several all-electric vehicles in the US.. http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2017/01/03/here-details-fords-electric-vehicle-plan/96109758/

I usually keep the right hand screen of the instrument cluster showing Nav data (like the supped up version of the regular Ford Compass) and had "Navigation Fault - see touchscreen" show up after starting the engine a few days ago. I think it's happened maybe twice in the lifetime of the car. After about 15-20 seconds I guess the GPS was able to supply good data again because everything started working fine. I've had it go off course 2-3 times in 30,000 mi but typically it's the slowness of the interface rather than the accuracy that I complain about.

Sorry for the delay, I lost track of this thread until someone else posted. Yes they installed Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max, they seem to be good all around tires. I think I get the same gas mileage as on the P7s. I will be able to evaluate snow performance in a month or two.

I am betting the car was already warmed up, you had a good SoC and no cabin heat? If the engine/catalytic converter is already warmed up from a previous trip mine doesn't always automatically start the ICE at first..

I've noticed that in certain cases with a good charge built up (like a long hill decent over a few miles), engine warmed up and/or when the weather is very favorable my EV range is extended. I can't say I know all of the variables that make the car inclined to operate this way because I don't have a scangauge or anything but occasionally happens. Unfortunately for me it is all too quick to deplete as usually on moderate volume state route where other traffic expects 45-50MPH.

I don't think the C-MAX is alone in this regard with modern vehicles. The Prius bulbs are a nightmare, to change the headlight on my HHR you had to turn the wheel out, undo the wheel well cover and reach up under the wheel well from the outside to get to the bulbs inside the assembly, I let the dealer do that one lest I snap off one of the plastic rivets that hold the cover in place. I can see some engineer figuring that a lot of bulbs are "long life" these days, 7 years and they usually just get dim, don't go out completely right away. Plus it helps out the revenue stream at the shops I'm sure. Kind of like replacing the 12V battery in the Prius Gen II - they figure it's going to last 10 years in the trunk so they bury it, you have to take most of the stuff in the trunk out, disconnect the brake controller and the exhaust tubing for the HV battery fan vent before you can lift it out. It also goes faster if the store gives you the right part with the correct size and battery terminals that actually fit the car.. I was amazed at the amount of screeching and flexing it took to get that headlight assembly out but it worked. I'll probably replace the other side when it comes time but hopefully that won't be for a while yet. On my '94 Cavalier you could change a bulb in 30 seconds just by lifting the hood.

I had the P7 tires, they weren't bad tires at all, nice in light snow and relatively quiet. They seemed "stickier" than the OEMs and my MPG was stuck at 40MPG. My only issue with those really was that I only got about 30,000mi out of them. When I replaced, the dealer didn't have OEM tires so they put Goodyears on, they don't seem to be bad. My MPGs have been stuck at 40 forever it seems but I enjoy the torque of the power split suspension a lot.