murphy

I picked up my car in April and I still have 3/4 of a tank of the original gas.

In spite of what it says in the directions all of the bolts are metric. Once I had my tools assembled it was less than a half hour. I'll save you some time. Don't bolt both struts in place with the prop rod holding the hood because if you do it's impossible to remove the prop rod. I wish I could say I realized that ahead of time but I didn't so the bottom connection on the right strut got installed twice and uninstalled once.

It's too cold to take photos at the moment. Maybe there will be some warmer days next week.

Here is where I found them: http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/7691-2013-hood-struts-now-available/?do=findComment&comment=67411 There are photos in the thread. They were not hard to install although I had to read the directions a few times. They are a vast improvement over holding the hood with one hand while placing the prop rod with the other.

It's also looking at the tail lights of the car in front of you.

If you don't have them already I recommend a set of low profile ramps. They made it much easier for me to install the rear mud flaps. The front ones aren't too bad since the wheel can be turned out of the way.

1. They are very nice. They are identical to the original sill plates except instead of having raised polished letters then have sunken plastic letters. I think the originals would be more easily scratched. 2. I removed the battery tray from the car and cut the rear end off of it so it's now open ended. The hold down block was at that end so it's no longer installed. Between the web strap that wraps around the battery and the can of tire inflater/sealer that is wrapped in cloth and placed directly behind the battery it's not going anywhere. The left fiber panel has to be almost completely removed to get at the battery because there is no way the battery could be removed through the access door. 3. This is the jack that I bought. http://www.ebay.com/itm/181242055243?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 It works fine although seeing the positioning triangles on the underside of the skirt can be difficult. So far it's just laying in the trunk although it will fit nicely on the top shelf in the trunk, over the HVB, when the trunk is packed for a trip. It may fit between the battery and the left fender but I will have to remove the fiber panel to try it. Trying to pass it through the opening poses too much risk of shorting the battery terminals while seeing if it will fit. The reason that I bought it is that it is much easier to remove a nail and plug the hole with the tire removed from the car. I've done it before and I need to be able to exert my full weight to insert the plug.

Yes you can use a portable jumper. There are connections under the hood to "jump" the car. Once the car is on the jump battery can be disconnected even if the ICE hasn't started. Look for a red plastic cover on the driver's side in the engine compartment. That is the + terminal. Directly behind that toward the rear of the car there is a stud sticking up out of the shock mount housing. That is the - terminal. You can easily hook a trickle charger to the terminals under the hood. I've done it many times. A smart charger, like a battery tender, is preferred.

Charging at 240 volts is way quicker (usually 2 hours for me) and is more efficient. I am retired and sometimes make multiple trips during the day so my 240 volt charger gets a lot of use. Preconditioning (heat or cooling) works much better with the 240 volt charger. There is also a 30% tax credit on the installation of a 240 volt charger.

The problem is that most long extension cords are 16 gauge wire to minimize the copper. That is good for about 7.5 amps. With the 120 volt charger going as high as 15 amps you need at least a 12 gauge extension cord and 10 gauge would be better. I have tested a 14 gauge 50 foot extension cord laying on the ground and stretched to its full length. The cable gets warm which means all of the wasted power isn't going into the battery. That means it will take longer and cost more to charge the battery.

All hybrid components are warranted for 8 years or 100,000 miles although I don't think that includes reduced battery capacity. Even if the battery dropped to 50% capacity the car would still be functional with a 10 mile electric range and the full range using the ICE. I kept my first hybrid for 4 years and then upgraded to the Energi when it came out because that is what I wanted when I bought the hybrid. It will be interesting to see where the technology is in another 4 years.

I have completed (I hope) the manufacturing process for my car by adding the following items: 1. Shark fin radio antenna 2. Mud flaps 3. Hood struts 4. Illuminated door sills 5. Seven color illumination in the cup holders 6. Full size 12 volt battery 9. Aluminum "bright" pedal covers 10. Jack 11. Flat repair product that does not destroy the TPMS sensor 12. Puncture repair kit :happy feet:

An additional point that you may not be aware of: The accelerator pedal is not connected to the engine. It consists of two variable resistors that are fed to the computer and basically tell the computer what position the pedal is in. The computer controls the engine. There is very little correlation between engine RPM and highway speed. It's possible, under the right conditions, to increase your speed and have the engine reduce RPM. The result of this is the engine noise is not linked to highway speed like it is in a traditional car.

What browser are you using? It works fine with Firefox. Do you have Java and Flash installed? They could be using either one or both of those on the web site. Update: Neither Java nor Flash is needed to display the vehicle colors.

There is a plastic handle above and to the right of the 12 volt battery access door in the trunk that will open the fuel door. First you have to get the trunk open however.

Go to your myfordmobile.com account. Click on My Account. Click on Vehicle and Driver Management. Click the Edit button to the right of the vehicle name. Click the radio button next to the color that you want. Click the Save button at the bottom of the color list. The car's name can also be changed on that screen.

Most likely it's the cold weather reducing the capacity of the battery. In the summer I was consistently getting 27. Now it's only getting to 21. Level 2 charger in both cases.

Yes you have to create a MyKey using one of your keys. The other key remains an admin key and is the only way to undo or modify a MyKey.

That is correct. Somewhere on the forum is a description of someone coming down from the top of Pike's Peak (14110 feet) and putting something like 8 miles back into the battery.

The buttons are used to set the speed that you want in the display. The car will then adjust to the set speed. All of my cars have worked that way, even the ones that didn't have an actual speed setting. One press of + would raise the speed 1 mph. Five presses would raise the speed 5 mph.

The steering wheel was trying to move on its own. If you get too close to a lane line it will nudge you back into the lane. It won't interfere with passing if you use your turn signals before you start across the line. There is a thread like that either on here or on the Hybrid forum.

Almost. The remote start climate can be set in the left screen for either Auto or the last setting. Remote start will heat/cool the cabin based on that setting. It will reduce your mileage since it's using battery power to heat/cool the car. I think the ICE only comes on if the HVB is empty.

It's just reminding you that if you need more power than the battery can deliver to push the OK button. The lines have nothing to do with EV now.. They come on when you enable lane tracking by pushing the button on the end of the turn signal stick. White/gray means you are below 40 mph and lane tracking is not active. Green means that you are in your lane. Yellow means that you are too close to the line on that side of the road and may result in automatic steering correction. Red means a lane keeping alert is being or has been provided.

If you have Intelligent Access keys that is the way it is supposed to work. If the IA key is within 3 feet of the car putting your hand on any door handle will unlock the car. It's also what makes the pushbutton beside the license plate light open the trunk. Read the chapter on Locks in your Owner's Manual.

It's called netmetering. Whatever I "bank" is available for use later. There is no cost for the energy I bank and get back later. In October I banked 1 kWh more than I used. My bill was $7.08 which is the fixed monthly charge. Sun levels have been lower in November due to shorter days and cloudy conditions. I am about 20 kWh behind at the moment. Once a year on May 31 they pay me 10.25 cents per kWh for whatever is in the bank. Why do they do this? Because it is mandated. Also on a hot July afternoon I will be generating more power than I can use so it tends to level out the load in the neighborhood when everyone has their Air Conditioner running. PECO doesn't have to invest in more capacity to handle short term peak loads. My peak generation happens at the same time as their peak load. They also probably get to include my generation capacity in their renewable power calculations.