SnowStorm

I described my noise here and here. Use Empower screen as +3 Golfer describes. If you do buy it, just make sure you are OK with the risk involved. It could check out perfect now and still fail later. I can;t prove it but I think something "fails" abruptly (like something shifts out of place on the transfer shaft) and then noise starts as parts rub against each other. I don't believe its a normal "wear out" type of process.

Hang in there - you've got to get to a quarter million miles! As to the power steering, mine would sometimes come on after a delay (maybe 5 or 10 seconds) and sometimes the displays either side of the speedometer would come on after an abnormal delay. Now that I think about it, I don't recall either event happening since I got the new 12V battery. Maybe you should check the voltage with a meter before you start in the morning and see if yours is going really low - like below 10.5V.

Here's my description of the sound and my call to Ford. I doubt Ford will do anything unless you qualify for the 150k warranty.

+3, is it your understanding that its possible to have a "stop safely now" event after which there may be no code set? If so, that seems utterly irresponsible on Ford's part, especially if it goes into "limp home" or "fully disabled" modes. For such serious and possibly dangerous events, there should be a permanent record!

Checked the odometer yet? Overall then, it sure sounds like its a great replacement for the C-Max. I would like the greater ground clearance and cargo space.

Well, I guess I'm with Frank too. In 190k miles I've changed it twice. First time at maybe 30 or 40k. The filter was still so clean that a service guy at my dealer suggested I put it back in! (I didn't.) I ran the second filter to about 180k miles on the car. My gas mileage seems to have dropped a bit over the last year or so. I thought my bad transmission might have been the problem but it wasn't. I changed the filter since it had about 140k miles on it and that didn't seem to make any difference either (didn't really expect tit to). That second filter had some dirt at places (more than the first one) but I wouldn't call it "dirty". I don't plan to ever change it again even if I make it to 300k. I'm not trying to "recommend" anything - just giving my experience.

Correct. The transfer shaft is geared directly to the differential so if the car is not moving, then the differential and transfer shaft both are not spinning. I don't see how either video applies since the car appears stationary both times. At what speeds, and are you still in EV mode? The sound I had was primarily noticeable around 30 to 40 mph in EV mode. There was a slight whine or whir that came and went depending on direction of torque (whether I was pressing on accelerator or not) - but all the while staying in EV mode. Once ICE started I couldn't really tell if the noise continued or not. My noise was never very loud - I've had tires make more noise! I don't recall ever having a "thumping" or "grinding" sound. In my instance all the teeth corners were sheared off of one of the gears so maybe they have to still be there to get a grinding sound.

Its in this topic (because my problem started as a leak - very bad one!). Teardown photos on page 3.

Well Frank, we certainly appreciate all the insight and help you've given on this forum and hope you stick around. With the C-Max gone, it would be nice if this forum morphed into the Escape Hybrid forum as well as C-max since a lot of the information here would be applicable and the Escape Hybrid is Ford's obvious replacement for the C-Max. Although never a type-A driver, my style has changed somewhat as well and I now also have the family reputation of driving too slowly! SS

Thanks for your reports - jealous of the extra ground clearance! Is there room for a full size spare (even if the floor cover has to stay raised a bit)? I looked at an Escape Hybrid at my dealer and there was room for a larger diameter than the temporary spare. By "apologies for the weather" I suppose you mean keeping all the snow up there and not sharing any with Virginia? SnowStorm hasn't had his fill yet!

We love the panoramic roof. Closed, it blocks a lot of heat but still lets in light and, as mentioned, it adds a lot of warmth when open in cold weather. Its also nice that it rolls open from the front so you only need to close it a bit if low angle sun bothers the driver.

And if you have an extra one, you can always plug a 120vac charger in the outlet on back of center console.

If you have an SE and the base radio (not Sony), then you can get a complete kit from Crutchfield that lets you pick from many basic or fancy radios including navigation and the latest smartphone connectivity. See this post and this one too.

While waiting on my hew 12v battery I checked out an Escape Hybrid Titanium on my dealer's lot (no test drive). Here's SnowStorm's thoughts - very much FWIW: Overall reaction from driver's seat and playing around with controls and screens: Quite nice enough but I think I like the C-Max better. A lot more things are configurable, like DRLs, reverse wiper and "courtesy wipe". Nothing's going to fall out of this glove box - a deep nearly vertical compartment. Software needs updating - a lot of screens had the bottom line of text 80% off the screen! Vertical seat adjustment range is huge - from almost feeling like a sports car to nearly putting my head against the roof (I'm 6'1"). For/aft rear seat adjustment is nice. Not sure how to cover the hole in the back when slid forward though. Excellent rear seat headroom. A spare tire! Not full size but there was a lot of extra space around it so I wonder if a full size one would fit. (P.S. When talking to the salesman about upcoming all electric cars he said the Fusion Plug-In Hybrid was all electric like the Mustang Mach-1 - no gas engine. But, says I, its still called a "hybrid". Well, he'd been to "the class' and explained that it was a "hybrid" because of regenerative braking!!! Hmm... learn something new every day! At least the service guys new to reset the battery age monitor without being asked!)

So, my dealer tested my 12v battery (it failed) and installed a new BXT-67R for a grand total of $59 since over half of 100 month warranty remained. They reset the age monitor without my saying anything about it. At home Forscan showed age at 0 and SOC at 95%. Sure hope this one lasts until I get that VW ID.Buzz!

Hooked up the automatic charger this morning and set it to 2 amps. After about 4 hours it shows 100% charge and 15.9 volts. If it really got to 100% and if it put out 2 amps all that time (doubt it), that would only be 8 amp-hrs. Again, battery appears to be shot.

Continuing from previous post: car has sat overnight without starting or opening any door. Voltage at 10.37 volts. Opened driver's door for a few seconds and closed it. Reading dropped to 9.00 volts then stepped up as things turned back off (you could hear relays clicking) to 10.0 volts. The battery is discharged and the voltage very sensitive to load. This activity highlights the insidious nature of the problem. I could, no doubt, have started the car and gone on without being aware of any problem. This scenario could happen many times until one day the voltage is a bit too low (maybe below 8 volts?) and your stuck with another dead battery. The problem is, the battery was "dead" many times before, just not quite low enough to prevent starting.

Now another dead battery! Backed car out of garage in EV mode a few days ago and turned it off. Loaded stuff and after maybe 30 minutes or less went to open hatch and no response. Remote lock/unlock dead. Got in and tried to start - everything was dead, no lights or anything. Checked the voltage under the hood and got 7.36 volts. "Jumped" it and went on our way. Not good. It looks like I'll have to build a real monitor for both voltage and current when car is off. Or maybe I'll just have to leave the car on all the time it is parked! But that means an exhaust hose from car to outside the garage! What a pain! The car has sat for a day now so I just checked the voltage. It was 9.9 volts and over a few minutes has gone up to 10.2 volts (opening the door turned stuff on and pulled the initial voltage reading down, no doubt). Its gone! Totally disgusting.

So the second line shows you have driven 741.4 miles since you reset Trip 1 and 190.8 miles have been in EV (Electric Vehicle) mode which means the gasoline engine is not running. Or as we could say, 26% EV mode (190.8/741.1x100%). After reset, the EV miles should go up at about 1/4 the rate of Trip miles (possibly more). Now if in the past you never had more than 38 EV miles after many hundreds of Trip miles, that would certainly suggest a fault (possibly the high voltage battery) that prevented the car from running in EV mode. Now with it fixed, the EV miles should accumulate as described above and your EV miles looks "normal".

Its not a recall. Owner has to pay if out of warranty (100k miles but higher in some states). My 2013 failed long after warranty was up and I had my dealer install a salvaged one I found online - over $3k total (over $7k for new Ford tranny). Later years can also be a problem - not sure how many but 2014s for sure. Aside from some problems, I still love driving the car and saving money on gas.

That's the DPS6 transmission, not the HF35 in the C-Max. I wish we knew what went wrong with the HF35, and better yet, if or when they will pay us for the bad ones.

Well, well, after hearing my wife say "I'll never buy another Ford" for a month or so now, tonight she said maybe we could go test drive the Escape - "just for fun". OK, perhaps we will (but I still want full electric).

Considering the car problems and your driving needs - I'm not about to blame you. Improvisation belongs in Jazz, not transportation! Best wishes for the Prius and your son's career.

Frank, nice comparison - what do the profile numbers mean? As to total drag, the RAV4 has to win because, when they see it coming, the air molecules will literally jump out of the way because it is so ugly! (Corollary to the explanation I've heard as to how helicopters can fly - "they're so ugly the earth repels them".)

Hey, don't forget, there's a whole topic on what fits in a C-Max!