Hey guys, I hope someone can help out here.
I have a Ford Fusion Hybrid SE 2017 that's got me $4,000 upside down on a Carmax loan. Well, that's my fault. I had a depressive episode earlier this year, quit my job and decided to do gig work driving which helped my mental a lot. I've put about 40,000 miles on it in the last couple years. It's at just over 100,000 miles atm. Regular oil changes, fluid maintenance. Transmission fluid flushed/replaced a couple weeks ago, thinking that was the problem.
I'm having strikingly similar issues to those in OP - intermittent issues with what I believe to be transmission, at lower speeds, both when accelerating and braking, but sharp increase in frequency over the past week. The car drives fine for the most part above 40 mph, outside of the gas pedal seemingly reacting with delay/less give. Under 40 mph, and more when accelerating, I hear what sounds like struggling gears, paired with either a pause in acceleration or a loss of momentum when braking and some jerkiness with varying degree. I'm extremely worried because this forum post is the most similar shared instance I could find to what I'm experiencing.
I've read many forums. The only warning signal that's triggered at this sudden loss of power once the motor kicks in past EV acceleration is a service advancetrac light, along with the ABS signal. All posts that I've read that pertain to these signals are hit and miss with only some coming close to the problem I'm having, but none more than the one here, which I found only after searching "ecvt + transmission + ford + intermittent." I'll attach the most similar below.
My dad and I are trying to decide what to do with this car as it could be an array of issues / replacements. I should add, there are no trouble codes that come up when we scan car with quality scanner. My strongest opinion is to sell the car at a discount to a private party who's willing to work on the car, pay for fixings, and I eat the loss on the loan. It seems like the most reasonable option for me, as I am needing to find work asap and plan on biking to and from school and work from now on.
I worry that if I take the car to a dealer, I will go through a similar elongated diagnosis, replacement of whatever, and still have the problem afterwards. I have no warranty or back up vehicle and cannot afford to go through the same, unfortunately.
I also cannot afford another vehicle as I am $4,000 upside down and looking for work as I can no longer drive gigs.
Any help is greatly appreciated. This is the most know-how and relevant forum post I have been able to find. Thanks again for any insight/advice
I am almost hopeless for this car before a professional diagnosis from reading this post. OP said he concludes fault is in TCM. There's just so much going on here
My full list of symptoms (might be due to different causes, I believe there's a problem in the transmission causing advancetrac features to be disabled, adding issues)
-- spongy / delayed response breaks
-- mild to violent forward jerking when coming to stop, while using EV power
-- forward jerking while accelerating, delayed shifts, normally once engine kicks in
-- considerable loss of power in general, EV works harder up to 40 mph if it has the power, then engine kicks in, later and louder than normal, with shaking
-- sounds of possible gear shift hesitation under driver side, behind dash, happening after motor kicks in and when car jerks while braking in EV or steadily accelerating in the 30 - 40 mph range (usually simultaneous with loss of power, pause in acceleration - normally point when service advancetrac lights up)
-- loud humming/shaking seemingly produced somewhere in transmission region which is constant only after engine kicks in, sometimes while idle and EV power has been exhausted (this is during gig work, which I no longer feel safe doing)
-- service advancetrac, ABS signals paired with less stability in wheels and steering wheel, stiff steering wheel
-- jerking has become increasingly violent, leaving me to not feel safe driving. I'll drive the car around my home section (.20 mi) a couple times a day just in case salvageable
(bucks at braking, ecm/pcm lost comm codes, solution good - front speed sensors)
https://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/13526-car-bucks-when-slowing-down-to-a-stop/
(considerable loss of power, more demand from EV mode, advancetrac signal intermittent, appearing once engine kicks in, disappearing after car turned off and back on - no solution mentioned)
https://cartreatments.com/service-advancetrac/
(loss of power paired with advancetrac, ABS signals, solution good - faulty wiring)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFuyE-ndQ7s
Thanks so much for reading
