freddial Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Bought my C Max in early November. Have over 7,000 miles on it so far. Until about 6,500 - no problems. MPG constantly getting better. Have had as high as 54; more commonly high 40's. Now the problems: About six weeks ago left home for a five week visit to the beach. On the way, cruise control would not work. Up until that time it worked flawlessly, Took it to the dealer at the beach; they could find nothing wrong and cruise control was working fine when they returned it. A few days later, tried cruise control; would not work. After that, every time I drove the car I tried the cruise control. It worked a little less than half the time. If it worked when I started the car, it would work until I turned the car off, even if I turned the cruise control off and on. If it wouldn't work when I started the car, it would not work again until the next time I started the car. Got home a couple of days before Memorial Day weekend. Washed the car on Monday, Memorial Day. Car started fine. I backed it out to wash, drove it back in afterwards. Everything normal both times. Today, the day after Memorial Day, I go to back the car out, it is totally dead! Had to jump it to get it out of park, but it would not start. Called roadside assistance; it is being towed to dealer. I'll update when/if I know more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asb Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Yikes! Let us know what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotomoto Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Washed the car on Monday, Memorial Day. Car started fine. I backed it out to wash, drove it back in afterwards. Everything normal both times. Today, the day after Memorial Day, I go to back the car out, it is totally dead! http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/1921-dead-12-volt-water-in-electrical-connectors/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asb Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Very interesting. I hope this isn't a trend for us. In Orlando, we're approaching Crazy-Heavy-Deluge Rain season. I would hate to have car issues every time the road floods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Very interesting. I hope this isn't a trend for us. In Orlando, we're approaching Crazy-Heavy-Deluge Rain season. I would hate to have car issues every time the road floods.Shhhh. Don't bring on evil spirits. :sing_rain: Missyopu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAZ Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Drove over 20 miles through Houston during a heavy downpour months ago and experienced no issues other than a large drop in mpgs during the drive. I know that some under the hood electrical connectors look exposed, but the panel under the front of the car would seem to block much of the water. Just saying... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-N Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 The SE models seem to be taking the brunt of the dead battery issues. It may well be that a portion of these problems are related to the lack of fog lights on the SE. The SEL fog lights appear to provide a bit of protection for electrical connections in the area. Check the above mentioned "connections" link for more info. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted June 9, 2013 Report Share Posted June 9, 2013 We just got over more than a week of terrible, rainy weather. No issues. Then, yesterday, I had a chance to jump into one of those self-service car washes that use the wand-style power wash nozzles. While washing off my C-MAX. I did direct some blasts upward from under the car. When hitting the grill area, I became a little paranoid about blasting directly into the engine compartment. So, I mostly directed the blast downward at a sharp angle. When I finished the wash, I climbed in, tried to start, and got a yellow engine icon. Oh, noooooooo! I gave it another try, and everything worked. I drove off, thankful that I wasn't stuck. I hope that there is a fix for this, soon. I wonder why wind blown rain for days didn't cause an issue but the wash did. :headscratch: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotomoto Posted June 9, 2013 Report Share Posted June 9, 2013 When I finished the wash, I climbed in, tried to start, and got a yellow engine icon. Oh, noooooooo! I gave it another try, and everything worked. I drove off, thankful that I wasn't stuck. I think you just had a false start by pushing the start button too quickly before the brake pedal. I seem to manage one of those about once a week; usually in the morning when I haven't had enough coffee. :hysterical: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salsaguy Posted June 9, 2013 Report Share Posted June 9, 2013 (edited) wind rain is nowhere as powerful as those high pressure wand washes. id stay away and hand wash it yourself with your hose on a slower stream.this helps the water sheet off to help with the waterspots. Edited June 9, 2013 by salsaguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnitGTS Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 You guys are scaring the crap out of me, I read this thread right after I washed my car (including spraying right into the grill) and today it was raining real hard and I felt like I hit every puddle on the road! So far everything is fine but I've got my fingers crossed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 I think you just had a false start by pushing the start button too quickly before the brake pedal. I seem to manage one of those about once a week; usually in the morning when I haven't had enough coffee. :hysterical: I hope that this is all it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddial Posted July 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 Got the car back on 7-3-2013. (I was away for a month - it didn't take that long to repair it.) They replaced the clock spring which should fix the cruise control. They performed TSBs 13-04-13 and 13-05-01 to remedy the dead battery. 13-04-13 involved reflashing the FCDIM (whatever that is and 13-05-01 involved reflashing the DC/DC Converter. I'll be driving the C-Max from Sacramento to San Diego tomorrow (about nine hours). Should be a good test of the cruise control. I'll report back in a few days on how it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan McEachern Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 Heavy rain will not be a problem for this car. As a resident of coastal BC I can tell you ours has been tested to the limit of driving visibility severeal times since March, with no issues. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckinley Posted July 6, 2013 Report Share Posted July 6, 2013 "They replaced the clock spring which should fix the cruise control" What? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoBro2 Posted July 6, 2013 Report Share Posted July 6, 2013 I believe the clock spring is the name for the coiled wiring harness that resides inside the steering wheel. It allows the wheel to go thru its lock-to-lock range and it resembles a flat coil. I learned that from Pat Goss on Motorweek! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momcop Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 I used to love my C-Max, then........ I bought my car in October and drove it about 4500 miles with absolutely NO problems. I loved him more every day. Then, one morning I went out to go to work and the car was totally dead. My husband used a trickle charger on it and it was fine within 5 minutes (the trickle charger should not be able to totally charge it in 5 minutes). I took it to the dealer which told me that they had, that very day, received a service bulletin on it and they did their mojo on it and it was fine. Two weeks later exactly, same thing. The dealer kept it over night because it had to be totally reprogrammed. Two and a half weeks later, same thing. My husband charged it and it was working fine. I was trying to consider my next step. Then, this morning at 6AM, I discovered a dead car again. This is getting ridiculous and Ford needs to do something. Over these instances, I have seen numerous posts from other C-Max owners about this problem--some of them having Ford replace 2 or 3 batteries within a short period of time.One thing I did read was that the early Prius cars had the same problem and that someone discovered they were "on" unless locked. So, even in the garage, I have been locking my car and it has been fine--until last night when I forgot to lock it.One guy at the dealer said it is like 'driving a Dell' and that it is probably like a computer-at the ready unless totally turned off. Well, first of all, that guy should be fired for his attitude, and secondly, drivers should be warned. I have asked the service guys if the car should make noise when parked and off, and they don't seem to know, but it does sometimes do that for a while after I have shut off the car.Ford, please help me love my car again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhackwyatt Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 I used to love my C-Max, then........ I bought my car in October and drove it about 4500 miles with absolutely NO problems. I loved him more every day. Then, one morning I went out to go to work and the car was totally dead. My husband used a trickle charger on it and it was fine within 5 minutes (the trickle charger should not be able to totally charge it in 5 minutes). I took it to the dealer which told me that they had, that very day, received a service bulletin on it and they did their mojo on it and it was fine. Two weeks later exactly, same thing. The dealer kept it over night because it had to be totally reprogrammed. Two and a half weeks later, same thing. My husband charged it and it was working fine. I was trying to consider my next step. Then, this morning at 6AM, I discovered a dead car again. This is getting ridiculous and Ford needs to do something. Over these instances, I have seen numerous posts from other C-Max owners about this problem--some of them having Ford replace 2 or 3 batteries within a short period of time.One thing I did read was that the early Prius cars had the same problem and that someone discovered they were "on" unless locked. So, even in the garage, I have been locking my car and it has been fine--until last night when I forgot to lock it.One guy at the dealer said it is like 'driving a Dell' and that it is probably like a computer-at the ready unless totally turned off. Well, first of all, that guy should be fired for his attitude, and secondly, drivers should be warned. I have asked the service guys if the car should make noise when parked and off, and they don't seem to know, but it does sometimes do that for a while after I have shut off the car.Ford, please help me love my car again.Sorry to hear about your problems. Remember the 12volt battery only has to open relays to allow the hybrid battery to connect to the rest of the system. It does not have to start an engine like a normal car, so that explains why a little trickle charge was enough to get that relay open. The car does make noises when parked on and off. Periodically there is an emission test that causes this. See if anything over in this forum helps, and please vote in the poll: http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/1294-for-those-who-have-had-12v-battery-problems/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-N Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 ... that guy should be fired for his attitude ... Why? Practically everything on the car is computer controlled one way or another. One can argue the merits of computer control (they've gone a bit overboard IMHO) but "driving a Dell" is not a bad description. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddial Posted July 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 Sorry to hear of your problems, Momcop. I started this thread and then another after I had "A New Problem". Well, after the service on the new problem I lost confidence in my dealer's service department (I had already lost confidence in my C-Max). Then, last weekend, with my C-Max at 9,500+ miles, I decided to change the oil. I became so frustrated with the lack of information in the owner's manual on jacking points, oil change, etc. I decided this wasn't the car for me. I traded it on a new Toyota Double Cab pickup. My wife and I have planned a three week road trip to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming and we had decided that we couldn't take the C-Max for fear of getting stranded; from there it was a simple decision to get rid of it. Good luck to all of you with a C-Max and good luck to Ford with resolving the problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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