Recumpence

I have had numerous codes come up with my car. I have a Scangauge, so I can read and reset the codes. I have had the fuel filler code, and evaporative emission code. These two codes went away and have never come back. Both codes came up in extremely cold weather (15 below zero or colder). Once the codes were cleared and the weather warmed above zero, the codes never came back). The most recent codes for me were P0203 and P0303. The first code is "Misfire". The second code is "#3 fuel injector". I either have a bad #3 injector, wiring problem, or computer. The car has 48,000 miles on it. Hopefully this issue will be covered under the 60,000 mile powertrain warrantee. I won't know until I get the car out of the body shop (I was rear-ended Friday). I love this car. However, it sure does seem buggy, to me. I know it is one of the most advanced cars on the road today. However, it sure seems to me there are alot of niggling issues with it. That being said, Ford hybrids (FFH and CMax) are listed high on the reliability chart for hybrids. Matt

All we have is on loan to us on this Earth. The only thing that is permanent is our soul. I am so blessed. Matt

Yup, I'm fine. Turns out I do, indeed, get to keep my facia. It only has a 4 inch crack on one side. So, now I have one facia for experimentation and one perfect brand new stock facia. :) The car is taken apart and parts are ordered. It should not take to terribly long to get done. The frame is not bent. It has a bad tail gate, left side sub structure behind the rear wheel, and a bunch of broken plastic. Oh, I also have a P0303 code. That is supposedly a bad #3 fuel injector. So, once out of the body shop, it will go to the dealer for (hopefully) a warrantee replacement of that injector. Matt

The car drives perfectly straight. Heck, even the alighnment is good. So, odds are the frame is fine. It will be checked, though. I believe every car this shop touches goes on the rack for testing. If the good Lord wants his car he has loaned to me to have a dent and need repair, that is His business. :) Matt

I average 43mpg when the temp is below zero. I am above 50mpg when the temp is 30 degrees. Of course if the temp is 70, I see 60mpg. Last winter I needed at least 50 degrees to hit 50mpg. So, I know the aero mods are working this winter. Matt

We are all fine. I am not sore at all. My rear diffuser is fine. I removed it before it went to the body shop. The bumper of the car that hit me contacted me above my diffuser. Now the question is; If I keep the front Facia (assuming they buy me a new one due to the crack in front from the snow bank), should I fiberglass the old facia into a smooth rounded nose for aero gain? What are your thoughts? I would fiberglass it to completely eliminate the grille areas leaving just palm size holes for cooling as I have had with my grile blocks. Matt

Hello All, I was driving yesterday when we were hit with high side winds and blowing snow. 4 cars total were affected and this is what I ended up with........ Bummer for sure. On the up side, the shop that is fixing my car is 1/2 mile from my house. They are a streetrod shop and a general body shop (Custom Classics). They do PHENOMINAL work! And they give free loaners. Oh, also, my front facia is cracked from hitting snow drifts as I went off the road (4 inch crack). So, it looks like they will be replacing it. I plan on asking to keep my old facia and possibly fiberglassing the entire thing with just a couple modest cooling openings to match the opengings I have in my current grille blocks. :) We shall see. The adjuster is scheduled to look at it Monday. I assume I will not have to pay my deductable because I was rear-ended. Matt

A note about mileage and tiny things like mud flaps; Ecomodder mentions removing them for a few reasons; #1 Their mindset is to remove everything that is not 100% needed. Mud flaps are normally not really needed in most situations. #2 Save weight. They may be light, but if you remove 20 things that are 1 pounds each, it adds up. #3 A tiny aero improvement. If you save .05mpg by removing flaps, it is not much. But, just as weight loss adds up, so does aero. If you can save .05mpg here, .1mpg there, it adds up when you do it numerous times over. It is the same in racing; this part saves 1 pound, that part gives 1hp more, that part improves high speed aero by 1%, this change improves cornering 1%. After a bunch of changes, you really begin to see a marked change. It all depends on how determined you are. Matt

My typical day is 140 miles of service calls (typically 9 service calls per day totalling 140 miles). My first stop saw 24mpg because the engine ran the entire time. By my second stop the average was over 30mpg. It took the entire 9 stops to be at 40mpg average. That is 40mpg for the entire day. Basically, my first stop or two sees 30mpg or less, then the reast of my trips see well over 40mpg (maybe 43mpg or so). So, by the end of the day my average was at 40mpg. Again, this was at ten below zero the entire time. Matt

Hey All, The last two days here in northern Illinois have averaged -10 (that is 10 below zero!). I am at exactly 40mpg average for these two days. That is 5mpg better than I saw last winter at these temps. Matt

I figured I would chime in and let you guys know I have been doing much "Snow-rodynamic" testing since we have had so much powder snow lately and my snow paterns on my car definately agree with the tuft testing. The air flow is clean off the roof, yet it is very turbulent off the sides of the car and sides of the rear window. The air detaches right at the side edges of the rear window continuing down the side of the car to the rear portion of the rear wheelwell. I plan on making my Kammback design based on these findings. Matt

I have noticed in very cold weather that my engine runs until coolant reaches 108f. At that point the engine shuts off. However, if I am not careful and the engine starts again, it will not shut off until 128f. It is really weird. Matt

I have a couple changes to make to accomplish two things; #1 Reduce the angle. My final mounted angle is 11.75 degrees. It is best to stay at or below 10 degrees. It was 14.5 degrees. So, I have been able to reduce it somewhat already. But, it needs to be further reduced. #2 The exhaust tip does not exit all the way through the diffuser because I raised the system up 2 inches for clearance. That is melting the Coroplast around the exhaust opening. What I will probably do about the exhaust is TIG weld a short piece of aluminum tube to the diffuser frame to help guide the exhaust through the diffuser opening. This will kick the exhaust all the way out rather than letting it just build up behind the Coroplast aiming toward the hole I cut. I will also probably resheet that area with black G10 as a backing to help heat shield it. It is a lot of work, but fun. :) Oh, also, a diffuser is maximized when used with a full smooth pan. That is next. What I plan to do is make a light weight frame using the same 6061 3/4 inch box aluminum tube welded and rivited together and sheeted with Coroplast rivetted to the surface of the frame. This entire assembly will mount up to the bottom of the car. It will actually not be very difficult to make. I have plans on how to vent the heat from the exhaust pipe from inside the pan. Also, the pan frame will provide edge mounting ability for side skirts. Basically I want to achieve a smooth tunnel for the air to go under the car as smoothly as possible and exit as smoothly as possible while filling as much of the trailing wake as I can achieve. Honestly, I bet the entire pan, diffuser and side skirts will onlly net around 2mpg gain at best. These cars are so well designed, it is very difficult to see any appreciable gains. :) Matt

Here is the finished diffuser. No I will begin working on the belly pan. The underside of the car has some covers to somewhat smooth airflow. But, it is still far to "Dirty" from an aero perspective. So, I will be fabricating a smooth belly pan to truely smooth out the under car flow. Matt

My last trip was over Thanksgiving. We went 420 miles each way with some in town driving once we arrived (900 miles total driving). We averaged 44mpg for that trip doing 70mph 90% of the distance (car fully loaded with luggage and 5 people). Matt

I call tell you I have all three grille openings covered with my own covers. The center and upper grilles are completely air tight sealed and the lower grille is open with a 1.5inch by 3 inch opening. I have no issues what-so-ever in winter. In summer I open up the center grille with an opening about the size of half my palm. Matt

Hey Everybody! Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. :) Matt

Hey Guys, I have begun the somewhat daunting task of building the diffuser for my C-Max. This is a difficult task for a number of reasons; #1 There are precious few areas to mount anything to under the rear of this car. #2 The exhaust system needed to be lifted 2 inches to provide a proper curve and angle of the diffuser. #3 I needed to make a subframe for the diffuser because (as I mentioned before) there are almost zero places to attach panels to under the car. So, you can see that I moved the exhaust up 2 inches. Then I TIG welded together a 3/4 inch 14 gauge 6061 aluminum frame to which I pop riveted 4mm thick G10 panels to form the rear 14 inches of the flat section as well as the vertical fins. Then I used 4mm thick black Coroplast for the forward section of the diffuser. What you see here is 37 inches long and 22 inches wide. The remaining areas to each side of this center section are roughly 16 inches per side. These side portions will be shaped a little different from the center and will be built as separate parts, bolted to each side of this center section. I have 7 hours of time into this project total so far. The aluminum frame is very light as is the Coroplast. The G10 is a bit heavy, though. That (and cost reasons) is why I only used G10 for portions of the diffuser, but not the entire thing. Oh, lastly, I will probably reduce the height of the vertical fins of the diffuser to make it look a bit better. Being that this thing is only partially done, the results will be minimal until I have it finished. That being said, I have noticed the rear window is vastly cleaner than before. This car has had the worst rear window airflow I have ever owned. I go through a huge amount of washer fluid trying to keep the window clean and, so far, the rear window is drastically cleaner than before I installed the diffuser. With Christmas here, odds are the remaining portion of the diffuser will take a couple weeks to finish. Matt

I actually had a coversation with my dentist today (who owns a Model S). I can drive it anytime, he told me. So, I will take him up on it. AFAIK, they have had 3 fires. One was driving 95mph and went off the road into a tree. One hit a trailer hitch on the expressway that punctured the 1/4 inch plate steel under the pack and I do not remember about the other one. At any rate, I will definately take him up on his offer to drive it ----- And SOON! :) Matt

Hmm, get her a Model S. That is fast! :) Matt

I have gone through a similar situation, but in a friendly way. When I test drive both my C-Max and a Volt, I knew more than both salesmen about each car. They were cool about it, though. They knew both cars were very technologically advanced, but they both appologized and said something to the affect of "I am sorry I do not know more about this car. It is new on the market and our training on them is on-going." To that I said, "No worries, I know you have many models to understand. I know what I am looking for and how this system works. I am good. :~) " One funny thing about your story is this; Our cars will FAR outlast a normal car because they are advanced hybrids. As for my car, the engine only runs less than 40% of the time. So, with my current 44,000 miles, the engine has only run 20,000 of those miles. So, the engine and all supporting equipment (exhaust, cooling, fuel system, etc) should last longer than the body of the car. Oh, and my brakes have only been used 4%! Gee, I wonder how long they will last. Ask guys with Prius and other hybrids. They last a LONG time. The reason you do not see a huge number of hybrids for sale is because people KEEP them! And there is a reason they keep them......... My wife and I are beginning the hunt for a car for her. We will be buying something for her in about two years. There are some cool options on the horizon. Ford (obviously), maybe an updated Volt?, even the new Mitsubishi plug-in Outlander looks interesting. All I know is, we will definately buy her a hybrid. It may be a plug-in, it may not. It all depends on what is available at the time. I know i will not listen to much the salesman has to say, though, because odds are I will have read everyting there is to read about the car we buy before we even test drive it. Matt

Yup, I noticed the same thing/s. I am building a diffuser soon as well as a Kammback. I am hopeful a cleaner tail end of the car will be a welcome side benefit. Matt

I am working on it, Frank (among other things). :) Matt

I am right in there with you guys. I have a touch over 44,000 miles on my car right now. Adair, You have found what I found (when my car was stock) and that is this principal "You need 50 degrees to see 50mpg." With my mods, I averaged 49.6mpg today with a temperature going from 19 degrees in the morning to 28 degrees in the afternoon. Matt

Hey Frank, Sorry, I miswrote what I meant. I was eluding to engine heat affecting FE in winter especially. :) You are correct. Matt