GDPirie

I had 13A01, 13B07, 13C02 and 13B06 done today. Car was in at 7:30AM and done by 1:30PM. I don't notice any earth shaking disappointments in performance. The ICE seems to run less often, but at a little higher RPM and the HV battery charge is quicker. The cars drops into EV mode quicker and uses the battery more. So far I am pleased with all of the upgrades. The main difference in 13B07 that I notice is a trade for a little higher ICE RPM and faster battery charging allows more miles on the battery. I like the 13A01 display better also. My SEL build date was 8/28/2012 and these are the first updates installed.

Interesting comments and I appreciate them. I think I'll wait a while to see what my dealer comes up with, but a half a day at Bill Pierre sounds inviting. Having dealt with software for many years I am now curious if there is any way the owner can verify the software version in the PCM and if there is a way of verifying that it is installed correctly. I have seen a couple of comments that owners have not seen any measurable improvement after the PCM upgrade. I can appreciate that my dealer may be having startup problems on software and he has said so. I hope the tech that upgrades software isn't the same one that rotates the tires. Regards; George

I just called my Ford Dealer outside of Seattle, Wa to get the 13C02 Headliner recall as well as the 13B07 Powertrain Module upgrade and the Sync and tailgate upgrades. The service scheduler said she would need the car for 3 days. I asked why when 3 of the service items were software upgrades and the other one is additional absorbtion material above the headliner do they need it so long. She said that they were having troubles with the software upgrades not working correctly and having to get additional support from the Ford factory. I didn't want them to have the car for three days if they were having problems and I certainly didn't want one of their used car rentals after reading other posts. After talking to the Service Manager he also said they were having problems with the computer upgrade not working correctly and downloading software from Ford. He suggested that if the car was working O.K., then it might be a good idea to wait a while until Ford irons out their software download gremlins. I certainly concur with that advice; I don't want a Powertrain Module upgrade causing other problems. I am now in a software hold. They will call when the bugs are worked out and then I will take my C-Max in.

Just called my Dealer in Auburn, WA to get the tailgate, ford sync and fuel mileage upgrade and a safety fix for the head liner. They said they would need the car for 3 days since they were having trouble getting the electronic upgrades installed properly and they needed support from the Ford Factory. I found that explanation a little scary when a fuel mileage upgrade can screw up the cars computer so other stuff doesn't work right. After talking to the Service Manager we agreed that if the car was working O.K. then it might be a good idea to wait until Ford cleans up their software download process. Evidently other dealers are also having troubles with software gremlins. I am now in a software hold.

I got my C-Max SEL back from the Dealer today. There was a fault logged in the system as a power train failure, but it was not traceable to any specific part failure. Evidently there are more failure codes than there are parts. They did their diagnostics and Ford does not want Dealers replacing parts if they cannot determine or repeat a failure. It did not repeat at the Dealers and has been working fine since. I am chalking it up to a computer glitch. I would advise that if you see the yellow wrench warning that you stop and restart the vehicle to see if it goes away. Trying to drive in the power reduction mode is not really possible, it seems to be able to just get you off of the road. Thanks for all the comments

This morning when I started my C-Max SEL everything appeared normal, but backing down my driveway it felt like the accelerator wasn't working and I didn't have any power. I tried to drive down the street and there was no acceleration; it was just barely creeping and a yellow wrench warning comes on and says "see manual". I tried to drive around the block and the car would barely go up an incline(I could walk faster). I got it home and called Ford roadside and they said don't drive it and are sending a tow vehicle to take it to the dealer. This yellow wrench warning and the power down mode are real killers. Has anyone else had this issue? By the way when the tow truck arrived and I backed it down the driveway it appeared to work OK. It is still going to the dealer.

Today I had my C-Max parked in my driveway while I was programming a destination into the Nav system, the ignition was on and the engine was no running. I had the destination complete and was saving it as a favorite when the screen said to start engine. I pushed the start button and the center screen displayed in large letters. "VEHICLE TRANSPORT MODE ACTIVATED CALL DEALER". I tried to go back to the home screen and couldn't, the center screen was locked on the warning. I finally turned the ignition off and back on again and it appeared to work correctly again. Since I had no idea what the vehicle transport mode was or if it impacted driving, I called the Ford info number. After two different support personnel they finally concluded it was a glitch in the "sync" system and recommended that I do a master reset if it happens again. According to Ford it does not affect the drivability of the car, but it does take over the center screen, nothing is selectable but the warning. Anyone else ever see this problem?

Today I had my C-Max parked in my driveway while I was programming a destination into the Nav system, the ignition was on and the engine was no running. I had the destination complete and was saving it as a favorite when the screen said to start engine. I pushed the start button and the center screen displayed in large letters. "VEHICLE TRANSPORT MODE ACTIVATED CALL DEALER". I tried to go back to the home screen and couldn't, the center screen was locked on the warning. I finally turned the ignition off and back on again and it appeared to work correctly again. Since I had no idea what the vehicle transport mode was or if it impacted driving, I called the Ford info number. After two different support personnel they finally concluded it was a glitch in the "sync" system and recommended that I do a master reset if it happens again. According to Ford it does not affect the drivability of the car, but it does take over the center screen, nothing is selectable but the warning. Anyone else ever see this problem?

I tried programming a destination and the street traveled on remained on the center display after the destination. Thanks for the info.

On the center screen of my c-max sel on the "home" screen in the navigation quadrant, the street that I was traveling on used to be displayed underneath the compass ball. For some reason it is no longer there. The street is still displayed on the right driver LCD under the compass ball. Any ideas why it is gone on the center display and how to recover it?

We bought our C-Max SEL on Oct 17th. It's mileage has been creeping up and at one time was bouncing around 39 mpg. We don't have a lot of miles on it yet, but when it started getting cold and dark in the Northwest we saw the mileage dropping off to about 37 mpg and it is still dropping slowly. I expect it will improve in the warmer months, but 47 mpg might not happen. I am still impressed with how solid the car feels and the way it is put together, but not so much with the Manual explanations of the dashboard. Even though Ford has some videos on-line they should provide a dvd that shows the various options. The C-Max has more bells and whistles than I expected, maybe a few too many; we'll see how that works out. Regards; George