Anyone noticed a problem starting in Reverse?

[Jus-A-CMax]

Microsoft has nothing to do with anything other than the Entertainment/Phone (SYNC) functions of the car.   There is a physical firewall between the SYNC system (Microsoft) and the normal engine/transmission computers which do not use Microsoft

Good thing. A BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) would be very, very, very bad for the CMax computers....oh can't drive...doing a "Scheduled Maintenance...".... :hysterical: 

 

Out of curiosity, whats your source for this firewall info?

[mtb9153]

I have noticed something weird twice when starting in reverse out of my garage. I cannot recall the exact circumstances of the first time it happened (except that the battery charge was low and the engine turned on at startup). The problem re-occurred this evening, when I started the car the engine started up becuase the battery was low (about 25-30% charge). When I put it in gear for reverse and let off the brake nothing happened (which I have found is typical - sometimes it has to get a tap on the gas before it starts moving), well I tapped the gas and nothing. Checked the brake, it was not set and this is a level driveway/garage. Tapped down some more and the engine clearly reved, but no movement, I also noticed the engine seemed to struggle a bit so I let off the gas. I shifted back to Park and then back to Reverse and gave it some gas, this time it did start to move. The ambient temps were in the upper 80's, low humidity (no rain today and it did not feel humid, I think it was less than 50%), and the car had been setting for a day, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary.

 

Has anyone else noted any weirdness like this?

I have had this happen several times, thought maybe it wasn't running.  I usually just recyle the start-up process and it finally will back up.

[nsteblay]

It has happened to me several times.  If I put it in drive and then back into reverse the problem is corrected.  The Ford dealership said this is a known problem and a fix is pending.

[Hollywoodtx]

Happes here too! Thought it was me. Mine also gives that what I call pony jump sometimes going into reverse. Hummmmm

[newtoford]

Just got the the 2013 Ford C-Max SEL (push button start) Tuesday night. My wife and I were really excited to have our first new car (been only buying used cars entire life). We've both driven other cars like Prius, etc before so are familiar with hybrids.

 

Friday morning my wife drives the car for the second time since we drove it home to drop off our three year old at school. She pushes the green start button with brakes pressed down, and noticed the service engine light was on. She thought it would turn off and disappear once the car was engaged, shifts to reverse to back out of the driveway, throttles it but there isn't a response and the car rolls down our sloped driveway as though it were in neutral but no power.  

 

She hit the brakes, check engine light is still on so she puts the car back in park and turns it off. My wife tries to look up the "check engine light" issue in the service manual, but couldn't find anything helpful. She then pushes back on start button and service engine light turns on again. The car does the same thing again when trying to reverse. By this time the car was halfway out in the street but no power, so she asked a neighbor to help her push the car back to the curb while in neutral but it was too tough since it was on an incline. 

 

She put the car back in park, powers down and back up for a third time since the car was in the middle of the street. This time the green drive light came on and the check engine light went off. But car seems to stall out again. By this time she's getting a bit frantic, garbage truck is trying to get past, and some nice gardners at a neighbors house help her push back the car out of the way. By this time son is crying and scared... she then calls the Ford roadside service who tells her it'll be about an hour. She then calls the Ford dealership who says she'll have to bring it in. 

 

She tries to restart the car again while at the curb, and the service engine light is off and green drive light comes on, and the car starts to work again. She drives successfully to my son's school about a mile and a half away. She then brought it directly back to the dealership repair shop (check engine light still off).

 

Long-story short, they can't reproduce the problem, there seems to be no diagnostics code registered, so they're keeping it over the weekend to see if they can reproduce it during a cold start in the morning. But this is California and the cold morning is 50 degrees. Anyone have any thoughts or experience something similar?  Wife is now scared to drive this thing.

[CNCGeek]

Long-story short, they can't reproduce the problem, there seems to be no diagnostics code registered, so they're keeping it over the weekend to see if they can reproduce it during a cold start in the morning. But this is California and the cold morning is 50 degrees. Anyone have any thoughts or experience something similar?  Wife is now scared to drive this thing.

Well I have the SE without the Push-Button-Start, but some of the things you mentioned seem similar - though I think this is not the same issue as the reversing problem. What I have noticed (and come to expect) when backing out is a several second delay before getting any movement in reverse - though no CEL. This can be a real hazard if a person is not expecting it which is why I warn people who are going to drive my car about it (the natural reaction of some folks it to gas it if it ain't movin, then 3 seconds or so later, it pop's into motion). I recall seeing a TSB (which was mentioned above) at the dealer recently which noted the problem and recommended waiting 3 seconds.

 

Did you see this problem again and did the Ford dealer show you the current list of TSB's? It could be that there is one which may click for you based on what you observed, but they may have passed it over.

[BWP]

I have noticed something weird twice when starting in reverse out of my garage. I cannot recall the exact circumstances of the first time it happened (except that the battery charge was low and the engine turned on at startup). The problem re-occurred this evening, when I started the car the engine started up becuase the battery was low (about 25-30% charge). When I put it in gear for reverse and let off the brake nothing happened (which I have found is typical - sometimes it has to get a tap on the gas before it starts moving), well I tapped the gas and nothing. Checked the brake, it was not set and this is a level driveway/garage. Tapped down some more and the engine clearly reved, but no movement, I also noticed the engine seemed to struggle a bit so I let off the gas. I shifted back to Park and then back to Reverse and gave it some gas, this time it did start to move. The ambient temps were in the upper 80's, low humidity (no rain today and it did not feel humid, I think it was less than 50%), and the car had been setting for a day, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary.

 

Has anyone else noted any weirdness like this?

CNCGeek, I had this same thing yesterday.  It was early morning, temps around freezing.  I shut the car off, turned it back on and no problems.  Could it be a CVT anomaly?

[Generalbeluga]

Hey CNCGeek, please don't take offense but, why is your mileage so crappy?  I was getting around 39 on my first tank and now, 3,500 miles later, I routinely get over 42, heading for 43 AMPG.  Have you discussed this with Ford?  Unless you live in a very cold area or you drive with a wicked lead foot, something must be very wrong.  Just say'n.... :cry:

[RachelnLa]

This happened to me this morning. Opps. I was in neutral hahahaha

[BigRed]

Good thing. A BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) would be very, very, very bad for the CMax computers....oh can't drive...doing a "Scheduled Maintenance...".... :hysterical: 

 

Out of curiosity, whats your source for this firewall info?

 

I think he is referring to the physical engine firewall that's in cars, not a computer firewall.

[mtb9153]

I think I ended going to BestBuy to get the cable. If you need me to ship you or anyone else my Webcam and cable I can.

I have had this happen to me many times, most recently this morning. Push the start button everything does what it normally does however the car won't move. I did notice when this happened the engine light was on. I pused to off and then back on and everything was fine. Last night I was adjusting my EV+ mode to off after reading another owners comments of improved mpg after doing so. This morning I noticed the battery was very low only the lower 1/4 blue. I think I didn't turn off the car before leaving the garage so it was in accessory all night. This probably had something to do with the false start problem this time. Edited March 14, 2013 by mtb9153

[aschofer]

I've experienced the reverse issues a few times and followed someone's advice here, and it seems to be working quite well.

 

Put foot on brake

Push start

Shift transmission into reverse

Count to 10 slowly

Car starts to go in reverse

 

Seems to work like a charm, every time now.

[Ktpett]

I have this problem as well but couldn't find an answer here. My vehicle says it is ready to drive but feels like the parking brake is on. Accelerating forces movement but doesn't feel right. I know it's not a normal hybrid or EV car issue because I have driven 2 Prius and a Nissan Leaf. It's almost like the engine is providing resistance rather than being disengaged from the driveline. The EV motor can't press hard enough against whatever is providing the resistance.

 

Anyone have a resolution from their dealer or a self help resolution?

[ceemax71]

I saw this SSM last week that was issued back on 1/4/13.

SSM 32025 - 2012-2013 Focus Electric, 2013 C-MAX Hybrid/Energi,Fusion and Fusion Hybrid -Intermittent Lack Of Or Delayed Transaxle Reverse Gear Engagement

Some 2012-2013 Focus Electric, 2013 C-MAX Hybrid/Energi and 2013 Fusion and Fusion Hybrid vehicles may intermittently exhibit a perceived lack of or delayed transaxle reverse gear engagement. Engineering is aware of this concern and a revised calibration is planned to be available in first quarter of 2013. In the interim, advise your customer that when this condition is present simply wait 3 seconds and resume normal driving.

[BillJ]

 

I saw this SSM last week that was issued back on 1/4/13.

SSM 32025 - 2012-2013 Focus Electric, 2013 C-MAX Hybrid/Energi,Fusion and Fusion Hybrid -Intermittent Lack Of Or Delayed Transaxle Reverse Gear Engagement

Some 2012-2013 Focus Electric, 2013 C-MAX Hybrid/Energi and 2013 Fusion and Fusion Hybrid vehicles may intermittently exhibit a perceived lack of or delayed transaxle reverse gear engagement. Engineering is aware of this concern and a revised calibration is planned to be available in first quarter of 2013. In the interim, advise your customer that when this condition is present simply wait 3 seconds and resume normal driving.

I experienced this same problem a few weeks back. My SEL with push-button start gave me an error message about "rear parking aid failure- see manual". Of course, there is nothing in the manual about this. My C-Max had to be removed from our parking garage, in which our spot is 2 levels below ground with only 7 feet of overhead clearance. To say the least, I am glad I was not one of the Roadside Assistance folks who pushed the car up 2 flights of ramps to get it loaded on the truck to the dealer.

Dealer had this vehicle for a week, could find nothing wrong. Perhaps the communication within the organization is not very good...

[mtb9153]

Microsoft has nothing to do with anything other than the Entertainment/Phone (SYNC) functions of the car.   There is a physical firewall between the SYNC system (Microsoft) and the normal engine/transmission computers which do not use Microsoft

This is reassuring since at home I switched to Apple computers to get away from the qurky issues related to Microsoft based applications and systems.  Long live Apple and it's much steadier operation performance

[Laurel]

I had the reversing issue this afternoon.  Put the brake on, pushed the button to start, and the dash said "ready to drive".  I put the car into reverse and nothing happening.  I shifted to park and waited for a few seconds and shifted to reverse, and it still wouldn't go into reverse.  I turned the car off and restarted it and it went into reverse.  I will have to let our service manager know this issue when I take it in for its first service in May. 

[CNCGeek]

Thanks ceemax71 for posting the TSB, hopefully they have a fix for this or will soon.  I requested that the mods move this to the TSB section.

[CNCGeek]

Hey CNCGeek, please don't take offense but, why is your mileage so crappy?  I was getting around 39 on my first tank and now, 3,500 miles later, I routinely get over 42, heading for 43 AMPG.  Have you discussed this with Ford?  Unless you live in a very cold area or you drive with a wicked lead foot, something must be very wrong.  Just say'n.... :cry:

No offence taken, I hope you are not offended that it took me > a month to reply :D  The weather here is actually ideal and I am a very conservative driver, so I can see your point, but on the other hand I seem to fit into the middle of the curve at Fuelly so I am not sure what to believe.  I suspect that if I told the dealer that fuel economy was not up to my expectations I would get the old song and dance about "YMMV", etc.  I will make a point to ask them when I hit the time for the first service, though.  Thanks for the reality check.

[Mistergizmo]

Has happened to me once. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying enough attention to note precisely what I had done, so it may have been user error. I turned off the engine, then on again, and it worked fine. I think the check engine light was on when it happened.

Edited April 13, 2013 by Mistergizmo

[Laurel]

Has happened to me once. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying enough attention to note precisely what I had done, so it may have been user error. I turned off the engine, then on again, and it worked fine. I think the check engine light was on when it happened.

I have to confess that I am in your shoes too.  I believe that I had the reverse issue last week, but I could not swear on a Bible that I indeed was in ready to drive mode.  I always do the same thing when starting up ie. foot on brake pedal, push button, watch for ready to drive, and then put car in reverse.  However, it becomes such a rote activity that I possibly could have zoned out for a second and the car was not in ready to drive mode.  I wouldn't mind having a gong sound when it is ready to drive LOL.

[CNCGeek]

I think there are two types of this problem occurring at least in my case.  The first is pretty frequent where after shifting into reverse, there is a pause and then it will smoothly start rolling backward normally in electric mode.  The pause may be 2-3 seconds, not usually more, but it is noticable if you are looking for it (but it is not very memorable unless you are driving the car for the first time).  The second type is much more memorable, where after shifting into reverse, the engine starts up and runs for several seconds with no change in the motion of the vehicle, gently gassing it did nothing but make noise (unless it did decide to move, then watch out).  Just like the first type, it will start moving - when it is ready, and though I have not measured it, I would say it could be something around 5 seconds after putting it in gear.  Sometimes with the second type I have also noticed some cruching noises from the brakes when it happens.  Additionally I suspect that the second type occurrs when the battery is below 50% charged (I noticed that the last time it happened a couple days ago). 

 

The main thing is to be aware of it, since it is a potential danger when backing out of a parking spot - that is, if it does not move, don't give it more gas, give it more time.  I need to take my car in to have a clicking noise from the front wheel checked out, and will ask if they have any update on the TSD which Ceemax71 posted (thanks again for finding it).

Edited April 14, 2013 by CNCGeek

[Laurel]

I had the reverse issue again this morning.  I positively was in ready to drive mode.  What I noticed was that when I pushed the button to start with my foot on the brake, I had no nav. screen display.  It was black.  I shifted into reverse, and no reverse.  I put it back into park, waited a few seconds, the car went into ICE, the nav screen came on and then I shifted into reverse with no problem.

[stephengoldberger]

 

It was in EV mode with the engine off. It is almost always on battery when backing out of the garage. I don't think the battery was very low. I didn't notice if the green arrows were showing. It has keyless ignition, so it is not a key problem.

 

If it happens again, I will try to request a Sync Vehicle Health Report to see if it shows any messages.

A couple of times I've had a "failure to launch".  Maybe a hesitant push of the start button, but a lot of stuff lights up on the dash but not the double green arrow "ready to go" signal.  Some more pushing on the start/stop and it wakes up.

[erwhitham]

I now will not go into reverse until my MFT screen AND Ready to Drive are both on. Otherwise The reverse problem occurs.