CMAX Grill Cover Testing, 2-5 MPG Gain

[raadsel]

It appears to be the same made in Taiwan, new one weighs about a pound less, because of all the road dirt, grease and oil stuff from 215k miles. Prices very a lot.

 

Paul  

 

What is the best way to find them on eBay?

[ptjones]

Here is a used one that if it isn't over 5 yrs old should be fine.https://www.ebay.com/itm/ScanGauge-II-2-OBDII-Code-Reader-MPG-Fuel-Gauge-Performance-Monitor-/323532873872#viTabs_0

I can't believe how much ScanGaugeII has gone up, I paid $100 6 yrs ago. I think it is because you can buy them at Auto Parts stores and they need more markup. :sad:

The other option is the other cheap EBDII units  https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2053587.m570.l1311.R5.TR12.TRC2.A0.H2.XobdII.TRS0&_nkw=obd+ii+bluetooth&_sacat=0

 

Paul

[RonS]

Bad news, I have similar covers with middle and lower. Tonight the overheat warning came on with the outside temps at 33F!!! This was during a 3 bar burn climbing Sherwin grade at 66 mph set on eco cruise. Maxine was fully, fully loaded and it came on after 5 minutes of this moderately hard burn. I was shocked it came on at that speed and especially at that temp.

 

Took me 30 secs to process this "wtf" moment and  I backed down to a 2 bar burn and the temp dropped back to middle. That was scarier than running out of gas.

 

I checked Maxine when I got to town and nothing appeared out of ordinary and the engine functioned fine.

 

So yeah, it is possible to push it over...even in freezing ambient temp!

 

ps I have climbed at those speed, load and temp, no issues back then. Scary.

 

Hi, I just bought a used cmax about 1 month ago. I was reading through this forum and I made my own grille covers. 

I was driving up a long hill. Around the middle of the run, a chime was going off and the temperature gauge went all the way up. The same as what you experienced. My  car actually slowed down, I was blocking traffic and I could not pull over. 

 

I made it to the top and temperature dropped as the road flattened out and everything was ok, or I thought it was.

 

1 week later, one of the coolant hoses, the connector cracked and I lost all my coolant.  The dealer told me they have not seen this hose leak before and attributed it to the overheating condition causing it to go brittle.  I still had my grille covers on and they told me to take them off, so I did. I have not put them on since. This was very expensive to fix as it was difficult to access. 

 

Maybe its just a coincidence?  I'm scared now that I may have damaged more hoses. Did you suffer any hose damage later?

[ptjones]

Hi, I just bought a used cmax about 1 month ago. I was reading through this forum and I made my own grille covers. 

I was driving up a long hill. Around the middle of the run, a chime was going off and the temperature gauge went all the way up. The same as what you experienced. My  car actually slowed down, I was blocking traffic and I could not pull over. 

 

I made it to the top and temperature dropped as the road flattened out and everything was ok, or I thought it was.

 

1 week later, one of the coolant hoses, the connector cracked and I lost all my coolant.  The dealer told me they have not seen this hose leak before and attributed it to the overheating condition causing it to go brittle.  I still had my grille covers on and they told me to take them off, so I did. I have not put them on since. This was very expensive to fix as it was difficult to access. 

 

Maybe its just a coincidence?  I'm scared now that I may have damaged more hoses. Did you suffer any hose damage later?

First how many miles do you have on your CMAX and can you post/send a picture with your Grill Covers on. If you like you can PM(private Message) me your phone#, would be curious to talk you to get more info. I'm guessing that you have more than 100k miles so warranty didn't cover it. I did have a heater hose coupling leak and replaced at over 200k miles.

 

Paul

[RonS]

First how many miles do you have on your CMAX and can you post/send a picture with your Grill Covers on. If you like you can PM(private Message) me your phone#, would be curious to talk you to get more info. I'm guessing that you have more than 100k miles so warranty didn't cover it. I did have a heater hose coupling leak and replaced at over 200k miles.

 

Paul

 

It has 55,000 miles. I bought it used from a family member who has had it since new. 

It had absolutely no problems since new, just regular maintenance. And the 12volt battery has been replaced.

It only had problems after I owned it, that seems to have been caused by me. 

Its still covered under Ford ESP warranty but it was denied because of the foam I had in the grille. The dealer said it was an unauthorized modification that affected the operation of the vehicle. They also said the car has automatic shutter systems and blocking the grille is not needed or recommended. So I removed the foam blocks and have not used them since. 

 

 I'm just thankful that the car did not stop on me when driving up that hill with my wife and kids in the car.  

 

I was hoping to get some input from jus-a-cmax to see if there was any other damage that occurred later when theirs did the same, hope they are reading this.

[ptjones]

Most of the members  on this thread are gone now. I think you could fought them on this, Grill Covers/ Foam didn't cause the problem, a defective hose connector did.

 

It was probably the same connector I had leak on hot side of heater input hose.  I had around 220k miles on mine, I have 234k miles now and my car is 2 yrs older.  I'm thinking you are fine now.  Having a ScanGaugeII or other OBDII scanner you would have been able to monitor your WT.  You should have had a wet spot under the car, I did when I had the problem.

 

Paul

[RonS]

Most of the members  on this thread are gone now. I think you could fought them on this, Grill Covers/ Foam didn't cause the problem, a defective hose connector did.

 

It was probably the same connector I had leak on hot side of heater input hose.  I had around 220k miles on mine, I have 234k miles now and my car is 2 yrs older.  I'm thinking you are fine now.  Having a ScanGaugeII or other OBDII scanner you would have been able to monitor your WT.  You should have had a wet spot under the car, I did when I had the problem.

 

Paul

I think its debatable what caused the hose failure, since it happened very shortly after the overheat condition. But it still could have been a defective hose.

 

But I still believe the overheat condition was cause by me when I installed the foam grille block inserts.

[plus 3 golfer]

For engine overheat conditions, the PCM fuel injectors are disabled so that the cylinders with injectors disabled act as an air pump to cool the engine.  If a critical temperature, which can cause engine damage, is reached, all injectors will be disabled after the driver is informed of this to allow driver to safely stop the vehicle.   When I ran my covers, I always  monitored Engine CT, Cylinder Head T, Transmission FT along with electric motor coil temperatures with ForScan - IMO, the best $30 or so one can spend on the car.  

 

Also, if one monitors temperatures, one can take preemptive actions to mitigate temperature rise like turning your cabin heat up to MAX, stopping to remove a block insert, slowing down going uphill, and so forth.

 

 

[RonS]

For engine overheat conditions, the PCM fuel injectors are disabled so that the cylinders with injectors disabled act as an air pump to cool the engine.  If a critical temperature, which can cause engine damage, is reached, all injectors will be disabled after the driver is informed of this to allow driver to safely stop the vehicle.   When I ran my covers, I always  monitored Engine CT, Cylinder Head T, Transmission FT along with electric motor coil temperatures with ForScan - IMO, the best $30 or so one can spend on the car.  

 

Also, if one monitors temperatures, one can take preemptive actions to mitigate temperature rise like turning your cabin heat up to MAX, stopping to remove a block insert, slowing down going uphill, and so forth.

 

Thank you for this information. I have printed it out for future reference.

 

There is more than 1 person driving this car and I don't expect them to know the  temperatures, remove and install covers.

 

If I were the only operator, maybe in the future, I will try it again.

 

But for now, the foam inserts will not be reinstalled due to my negative experience. The Cmax is operating as it came out of the factory right now.

[ptjones]

Did you check your coolant level after your first problem going uphill?  I would like to see a picture of your foam installed to get an idea of what's going on. It is possible that you were leaking coolant for sometime before your uphill problem and the foam made it worse. You didn't say if you had any coolant dripping below the car.  With my Grill Covers it is very hard to over heat going uphill, it took me around a year and a half of trying too. :headscratch:

 

Paul

[RonS]

I check all tires, lights,engine oil, both coolant levels, washer fluid before trips and at fillups.
Everything was full except the the washer fluid, which I added. So, yes, coolant was full.

The last oil change, they checked the coolant concentration, which was good.

I don't have pictures, as I discarded the foam, sorry.

 

Edit: The dealer took pictures of the foam when the hose was being replaced. Hope they do not use that against me in the future.

Edited September 19, 2019 by RonS

[ptjones]

They would have to prove that caused the problem, not a very customer friendly Dealer I my opinion, my Dealer wouldn't have done that and they have seen my Grill Covers many times. :sad:  

 

Paul

[RonS]

They would have to prove that caused the problem, not a very customer friendly Dealer I my opinion, my Dealer wouldn't have done that and they have seen my Grill Covers many times. :sad:  

 

Paul

Well, I guess every dealer is different.

The car was originally bought there and they have done all the servicing.

 

Anyway, the car climbed that hill again 2 more times since the foam inserts have been removed, no problems, and everything is back to normal, no other problems have come up so far.

[ptjones]

You shouldn't have any problems with that low mileage.

 

Paul