Neil

I was still LOVING this car - great mileage, still getting 12-14 EV miles per charge. Then a fuel injector malfunction filled the number 4 cylinder with gas and BOOM! - bent/broken connecting rod. The engine is totaled. No sense replacing the engine (don't even know if it is possible). Looking at a Hyundai Ionic 5 or a Mustang MachE. Anyone need a cheap 'parts' car?

I was working from home today and lost power. My laptop's battery is old and has less than an hour working time and I had several conference calls (MS Teams) that I need to attend. The Fusion was sitting in the garage fully charged so I figured I would tap into the 7kw battery. I turned on the car, left the key in it, and ran an extension cord from the 110v outlet in the back seat console to to my home office. It powered my Laptop and phone, which I used as a hot spot to stay on the internet. It worked great. The power came back on after 2 hours and I plugged the Energi back in.

I took it to the dealer and he was able to locate the noise. It's a bearing on the regenerative braking mechanism. Unfortunately the regen unit is located inside the transmission bell housing, and it can not be serviced. The only solution is a new transmission at about $9,600. I'm going to live with it and drive the car until it causes a catastrophic failure. Then take the license plates off of it and RUN! I changed the transmission fluid a bit early (125k miles) to see if that would help. It was surprisingly easy to do, and only cost a little more than an oil change (~$60 in parts and an hour of time). I was encouraged that there was no metal filings on the magnetic drain plug, and the fluid didn't look that bad. The fluid change definitely quieted down the scraping noise - maybe the fresh fluid will slow the wear on the bearing some as well. Regardless, it's pretty much a 'dead car walking' situation. I don't have much hope for this car, but I'm at 127k miles now, so if I get another year out of it it won't be as bad as it could have been. I always drive my cars for 10 years and 150k miles, but this one simply is not going to make it.

My transmission has been making grinding/scraping noises for almost 2 years now. When I took it to the dealership they said the the bearing on the hybrid generator was probably bad, and unfortunately it is located in the transmission bell housing and is not independently serviceable. The only way to fix the problem is to replace the entire transmission - $9,600. Obviously I decided to not do it and just keep driving until it fails. This weekend I had a thought maybe I could extend the life some by replacing the transmission fluid early, assuming the bad bearing was wearing out the fluid prematurely. The car has 125k miles, and the maintenance interval for the ATF is 150k, so it really isn't that early. I expected to find some metal shavings on the magnetic plug but it was clean - good sign. I bought 6 quarts of Mercon LV full synthetic ATF ($7.99/qt.) and a manual fluid transfer pump ($6.99 at Harbor Freight). The job was surprisingly easy. I had to remove the undercarriage cover and then just turn the front wheels all the way to the left. You access the Transmission drain plug and fill plug through the driver side wheel well. Draining the fluid was a breeze - you need a hex key to remove it - I can't remember the size. It's the only hex plug under the car, at the bottom of the transmission. The fill plug is a 14mm bolt directly above the drain hex plug. The fill plug is forward of the front axle, about 1/2 way up the transmission housing. It's the only bolt in the area that isn't clearly used to bolt parts together. The only problem I had was the fill plug hole is kind'a small, so I had to use a very small diameter hose on the fluid transfer pump which slowed the refill. It literally took over an hour to pump 5.5 quarts into the transmission. I drained out 4.5 quarts, so I know that it was low at least a quart. You know it is full when the fluid begins to drain out of the fill plug. It has significantly quieted the grinding noise. I don't think anyone would hear it unless they were looking for it. The problem isn't fixed, but just the sound being almost gone was worth the $60 in parts. The dealership wanted almost $300 for the same job.

The dealership called yesterday. My expectation of at least $5k repair bill was a little off. The Transmission needs to be replaced and the cost is $9,400. I'm thinking about a few options. 1) Trade it in on a new car. I love my EV, but the repair cost are just too much. I'd probably get a Honda Civic or something like that. 2) Sell it to Carmax 3) Drive it until it completely fails, take the plates off and run away. (J/K)

I called the dealership this morning to schedule an appointment to have a 'scraping' noise looked at for my 13' Fusion Energi. While driving to pick up my lunch the check engine light came on. I pulled the code and it's P0AA6. Potential problems related to this code include: The Battery Pack needs to be replaced The Transaxle needs to be replaced The Inverter needs to be replaced The AC Condensor needs to be replaced. (Weird) I'm betting on either 1 or 2. They are the most expensive. I love the car but I don't plan on sinking $5k into a car with 118k miles.

Putting the brakes in maintenance mode is relatively easy. I recommend looking on Youtube for a video, but here is a quick step-by-step. 1) Get in the car and press the [START] button WITHOUT your foot on the brake. (turning ACC on) 2) Press gas pedal to the floor with your foot and hold it there while pushing the Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) switch on the console down. Hold both the gas pedal and the EPB switch down and push the [START] button to turn the ignition off. 3) Within a few seconds, press the [START[ button again while still holding the gas pedal and EPB switch. The brakes will retract and a 'Maintenance Mode' light will light up on the dash. 4) Press the [START] button again to turn off the car and let go of the gas pedal and the EPB switch. Once you have replaced the brakes/rotors you need to reengage the EPB. To do that: 1) Get in the car and press the [START] button without pressing the brake. (turning ACC on) 2) Press the gas pedal to the floor and lift up on the EPB switch 3) While holding the gas pedal and EPB switch press the [START] button again. (turning ACC off) 4) Release the gas pedal and the EPB switch 5) Put your foot on the brake, and press the [START] button (turning the car back on). The 'maintenance' light should be off. Hope that helps!

I replaced the front brakes and rotors and inspected the axle hub assemblies. It does not appear to be a bad axle bearing. The noise is getting progressively loud and noticeable. I'm afraid I'm goign to have to take it to the dealership and have them look at it $$$$$.

Does anyone know the torque spec for the front axle nut? I'm replacing the front wheel bearing assemble this weekend and can't find the torque spec for the ale nut. The older model Fusion (up to 2012) calls for 186 lb. ft. but I can't find the sec for the next generation (2013 - ) . The 2013 and newer use a completely different assemble than the older generation, so I'm not confident that the spec is the same.

After replacing my brakes a couple of weeks ago I noticed that the lug nuts on all four wheels are in bad shape. Normally they take a 19mm socket to remove, but all of them have swollen and the 19 won't fit. I had to go buy a 20mm socket, which is an odd size. I did a little research online and found out that this is a common problem with Fords. Apparently water gets between the actual steel nut and the chrome plating and causes it to swell. Last weekend I took the car to Costco to get the tires rotated and balanced and they could not get the lug nuts off - and they didn't have a 20mm socket. I bought some new Lug Nuts online (Amazon, $25 for 20) and will be putting them on this weekend and trying again at Costco. Has Anyone else had this problem?

I' m not sure - it's where I bought it, so I assume they are able to work on it. It did take them 2 days to replace the modem (recall) so maybe not.

I know these cars are a low production volume, but I'm getting tired of knowing more about my car than the dealer does. The most recent 'incident' involved the recall for the charging cord. I called up the dealer to make an appointment for the recall. I hadn't read much about it, but was pretty sure all that was needed was to turn in the old charge cord and Styrofoam holder in the trunk and get a new one. When I called the dealer they said they needed the car for several hours and that it involved all 'internal wiring' and I did not need to bring the charger. I had to make an appointment for the work to be done. W/E. I make an appointment for 9:00am on Friday and drop off the car the night before (and went to the beach 3 hours away for the weekend) . On Friday night I get a call saying the car is ready to be picked up. I told them I was out of town and that I would pickup the car on Monday morning. On Saturday I get a call saying they needed the serial number from my charger. The charger is in my garage but my son was home so he texts me the S/N and I send it to the dealership. On Monday morning I have my son give me a ride to the dealer to pickup the car. At the last minute I decide to take the old charge just in case they needed it, despite the fact they explicitly said they didn't. Sure enough, I get to the dealership, and talk to the service rep, who I guess had just read Recall notice, and he asks for the old charger. Then they ask me to wait in the 'lounge' while they get he car. After 30 minutes of waiting in the lounge I go back to the service area and nicely say I have to go to work, so it my car isn't finished I'll take the shuttle home and come back in the evening. They scramble around and say it's on the way. The car finally pulls up front, and a tech gets out, opens the trunk and takes the old foam form for the old charger out and puts a new one it. The new charger was sitting on the front seat. What the heck were they doing all day Friday and Saturday if the only thing they had to do was replace the charger? More importantly, why didn't they know how to do it or at least look it up when I made the appointment? I literally watched them do it in front of the service bay. There have been several other issues, like getting in a argument with the service tech over the amount of oil the ICE takes. He said it took 6 quarts and charged me for six quarts. I told him it's a NOT a 2L Ecoboost - it's an 2L Atkinson. He even went so far as to tell me the Owner's Manual was a misprint when I showed him where it said 4.5 Q of oil. Then I asked him to go back and check with the tech because if he put 6 quarts of of oil in it he'll have to drain it and try again. I'm always polite and try not to tell them their jobs, but really? My patience is wearing thin.

Replaced the rear brakes/rotors today and answered my own question. Although the Caliper pistons look like they are the 'twist in' type, they are supposed to be compressed. It's actually kind of interesting. I borrowed a brake compression tool set from Autozone with the keys for spinning a piston. The key fit the holes on the piston, but it only tuns a little bit and does not retract. I used my normal caliper piston compression tool and it slid right back. Very easy. As usual, the first side I did took about 1.5 hours and the other side took about 20 minutes. It's so much easier when you have already done it once. The hardest part was getting the old rotor off. I had to bash it with a 3lb hammer to get it to budge. Even soaked the hub with penetrating oil prior to the bashing. The rotors and pads were horrible. When i was hitting the rotor with the hammer a ton of large rust flakes dropped out. Both inner pads were down to the rivets and the outer pads were close. The caliper pins all needed grease too. One was sticking a little bit. Overall it's a fairly straight forward job as long as you are not squeamish about beating on it with a hammer. Oh - also be sure to put the brakes in maintenance mode before you start.

My Fusion has 105k on it now and I'm getting some vibrations and grinding when braking heavily. I checked the front brakes and they look brand new (rotors excellent too) but the rear brakes are shot. Pads are worn and the rotors are scored. I've always done my own brakes and have been looking at several videos people have posted. There seems to be a lack of consensus on if you use a brake tool to screw the piston back into the caliper or press it in with a C clamp. I'm looking for someone who has done it themselves and can tell me which method they used. I know I have to put the brakes in 'Maintenance Mode' for the rears and I can do that fairly easily. I've done it twice now just to make sure I can. I have a piston compression tool that I have used on all of my other cars, or can get a loaner from Autozone to do the screw type method. Also, how difficult was it to get the rotor off of the hub? When I looked at the front I removed the Caliper and the gave the rotor a few shots with a hammer and it didn't budge. I'm not too concern since I didn't really try that hard - There is a threaded hole that I can put a bolt in that'll push it off the hub if I need to. Nothing a heavier hammer can't fix :) Thanks -

You are correct - that is how much energy is passed to the car via a 220v, Type II charger. I figure I have at least another year or two until I need to make a decision. I really love the car though. Rides just as good as it did when I picked it up from the dealership and looks great inside and out. I have a 'lifetime' 4 wheel alignment package from Tires Plus, so I get it aligned once or twice a year, and my tires are from Costco so I have them rotated and re-balanced every 7k miles. I replaced the rear shocks myself at 75k and other than that, I've had no problems. (...and also replaced the 12v battery).