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Anyone noticed a problem starting in Reverse?


CNCGeek
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This happened to me for the first time today. Going to lunch with temp in the mid 70's. Hit the start button, release the brake, and shift to R...nothing. I double checked to make certain the brake was released the display said ready to go and the transmission was in R, still nothing. I did not do anything other than wait to see what would happend and after about 10-15 seconds I heard a click and the C-Max starting moving backwards in EV mode. Battery levels were around 50%.

 

 

I wonder if this is a software protocol not booting up on time or is temporarily out of sync with the CVT? This issue seems to be becoming a sporadic trend. The common thread here seems to be it only occurs after the car has been off awhile rather then gear changes during a drive. No one seems to report hesitation when shifting to drive to reverse or shift to drive. Appears only when first started and shift to reverse.

 

Does everyone's experience to date agree with this observation? If we can nail down a specific time this occurs maybe we can get some help from Ford.

 

 

 

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Most of the time I had this occur it was after the car had been sitting overnight or for several hours. Once it happened after sitting maybe 20 minutes, but I think that may have been triggered by the e-brake being set and attempting to place it in reverse (the incident I described above). One thing which seems consistent is that the engine will be running when it occurs, and it has always occurred when starting in reverse.

Edited by CNCGeek
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This happened to me for the first time today. Going to lunch with temp in the mid 70's. Hit the start button, release the brake, and shift to R...nothing. I double checked to make certain the brake was released the display said ready to go and the transmission was in R, still nothing. I did not do anything other than wait to see what would happend and after about 10-15 seconds I heard a click and the C-Max starting moving backwards in EV mode. Battery levels were around 50%.

 

The click is interesting, it could have been a relay. Was the engine running when this occured? Do you recall if the engine turned off when it did begin to work?

 

If this happens again I will try waiting instead of shifting back to park or power cycling the car, and will report back if I hear the click - would be good to know where the click is from, back or front of the car.

Edited by CNCGeek
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The click is interesting, it could have been a relay. Was the engine running when this occured? Do you recall if the engine turned off when it did begin to work?

 

If this happens again I will try waiting instead of shifting back to park or power cycling the car, and will report back if I hear the click - would be good to know where the click is from, back or front of the car.

 

The engine never started when I heard a click and reverse motion started in EV.

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I too noticed at the dealership when picking up the CMax that one needs to put their foot on the brake to "start" the car, but not put their foot on the brake when shutting off the car otherwise it goes into a battery save mode, or something. I found that I have to be conscious of this change in behavior, since it was different from my 2008 Toyota Prius.

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Most of the time I had this occur it was after the car had been sitting overnight or for several hours. Once it happened after sitting maybe 20 minutes, but I think that may have been triggered by the e-brake being set and attempting to place it in reverse (the incident I described above). One thing which seems consistent is that the engine will be running when it occurs, and it has always occurred when starting in reverse.

I've experienced this twice. Both times after starting new C Max and trying to reverse. Once was after an overnight sitting-the second today after an hour. The car finally lurched strongly in reverse which required sudden braking. Wondering if I need to wait longer in Ready Mode. My Prius occasionally lurched forward but never had reverse issues. Strange feeling to press the gas and have no reverse movement whatsoever. Has there been any response from dealers?

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I've experienced this twice. Both times after starting new C Max and trying to reverse. Once was after an overnight sitting-the second today after an hour. The car finally lurched strongly in reverse which required sudden braking. Wondering if I need to wait longer in Ready Mode. My Prius occasionally lurched forward but never had reverse issues. Strange feeling to press the gas and have no reverse movement whatsoever. Has there been any response from dealers?

 

I've only seen the lurching a couple times when it seemed to be acting normally, but required a bit of pedal to get off it's butt - but was ready on the brake so it was not a big deal. The other times it made enough noise from the engine (without any movement) that it was clear something was not right so I just backed off and it did not move, then reset. I have not discussed the problem with my dealer since it is intermittent and I have not been able to document it. I did check for codes, but there were none. I think I'd have to get this on video to have a case with them.

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I am due for a 1000 mile oil change within a few weeks. I will bring this issue up--maybe sooner if it persists.

 

I don't remember anything in the break in section about a 1000 miles break in oil change. I thought it indicated scheduled service at 12 months or 10,000 miles which ever occurred first. Did I miss something?

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The manual says 12 months or 10K miles. One sales guy at the dealership recommended the first oil change at 3K. The sales guy that I did the deal with gave me a card for a free oil change at 3K miles. I'm planning to go full synthetic, so I will likely have to pay extra.

 

 

Thanks for reminding me. My dealer gave me a free oil change certificate too. I already forgot about it. I know I buried it with all the other paperwork that I will never look at again. I will make a point to dig it out.

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My dealer wants customers to come in at 1000 miles for a free oil change. Not sure if it's for just C Max but think to initiate positive customer relations. Seems a perfect opportunity to bring up this matter and some Periodic Sync issues.

 

 

Who is your dealer? Sounds like they are service oriented.

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So is there any definitive solution to this problem?

 

We bought a '13 C-Max SEL last Friday and experienced this car-shuts-off-when-backing-up problem repeatedly through the weekend. I don't think it can be the normal functioning of the hill brake assist feature because it cuts off the power steering too, and you need to be able to turn the wheels when starting up on a hill. Also, while we do have a slanty driveway, it didn't happen right at the rest spot, but 10 or so feet away down at the bottom as we were turning the wheel, as well as in flat parking lots.

 

I've taken the C-Max back to the dealer's service center and they gave me a rental, but if the cause/solution is known I'd like to pass it on to them because they seemed befuddled - not a car they have much experience with yet.

 

Glad to find this thread though. My wife - who is doing most of the driving in this car, and to whom it was happening - worried until we found it that she was just doing something stupid, even though she never had that problem with our old car.

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Well, what was she doing? It may help others.

Rachel: He meant that they were worried she was doing something stupid until they found this thread where others were having the same problem. It took a second reading for me before I got what he meant.

 

Csavage: When it happened to me on a test drive, I felt a little silly, too, sitting there not able to get the car moving when everything seemed fine.

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Experienced this reverse issue again after going into N without intending to. I decided to wait a few seconds and all was well. A Ford Hybrid Escape owner commented that this happened to her a couple of years ago. She waited 5 seconds and was able to reverse. Just hope it's a function of hybrid engine together with gas that causes some glitch and that it doesn't worsen.

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Experienced this reverse issue again after going into N without intending to. I decided to wait a few seconds and all was well. A Ford Hybrid Escape owner commented that this happened to her a couple of years ago. She waited 5 seconds and was able to reverse. Just hope it's a function of hybrid engine together with gas that causes some glitch and that it doesn't worsen.

I wonder if you have discovered the answer to this issue? Just waiting a few seconds to allow the car to "think" so to speak. A bit like when using a computer where you have to wait for a command to register before you start repeating the command too quickly and wind up buggering things up.

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Experienced this reverse issue again after going into N without intending to. I decided to wait a few seconds and all was well. A Ford Hybrid Escape owner commented that this happened to her a couple of years ago. She waited 5 seconds and was able to reverse. Just hope it's a function of hybrid engine together with gas that causes some glitch and that it doesn't worsen.

 

I wonder if you have discovered the answer to this issue? Just waiting a few seconds to allow the car to "think" so to speak. A bit like when using a computer where you have to wait for a command to register before you start repeating the command too quickly and wind up buggering things up.

 

Maybe it takes a few seconds to go into and out of neutral. Have others who experienced this problem also overshot and went to Neutral first by mistake? I know its sounds funny, but I'm just throwing this out there.

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I don't think it could be as simple as that bc she reports that the cmax was moving in R briefly -- she had already backed out of the parking spot or driveway etc and the power steering and accelerator would go dead as she was starting to turn, still in reverse, to complete the maneuver. Dashboard remained lit up each time, but car had to be rebooted to resume movemet.

 

Dealer today said was not immediately able to reproduce this event. I wrote to Ford separately, pointing them to this discussion thread, and asked whether they had any thoughts on this bc the individual dealerships are still inexperienced with cmaxes and their issues. Ford replied that I should take it in to the dealer.

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