ICE Starting Immediately?

[youngval9]

So, I've combed through this forum and can't find anyone who has commented exactly on my scenario.  I live in Chicagoland area and got up this morning to 17 degree weather (F).  My 2016 FFE is garage-kept.  I didn't own it last winter, so I don't know if this is normal.  But, my car was pre-conditioned to 72 (plugged in), which seemed to work fine, as my garage was cold but car wasn't.  The  battery was totally charged when I sat down and turned on car.  Immediately, ICE kicked on.  I drive 11 miles to work, and ICE stayed on the whole time.  I tried after car to switch to EV Now when car was a few miles in and nice and warm.  Wondering why I couldn't even switch back to EV Now?  EV Later wasn't an option either, for the record.  Is this normal?  Please help a new FFE driver!

[murphy]

Gasoline older than 18 months will force the engine to run.

Oil maintenance will force the engine to run.

The fact that you were locked in AUTO sounds like one of these two.

 

Did you precondition at 120 volts or 240 volts?

120 volts yields a maximum of 1440 watts  240 volts yields a maximum of 3840 watts.

I never found preconditioning at 120 volts to be of much use when it is below freezing.

 

Did you look at the graphic of the car on the center screen.  The reason the engine is running is usually displayed there in my 2013.

 

Did you get a screen in the dash asking you to push OK to allow the engine to run?  I never OK that.

[youngval9]

Murphy,

I appreciate the response very much!  So, I just bought it from the dealer, and the sticker in the corner denotes that they changed the oil about a month ago.  I haven't gotten a message about the oil needing maintenance.  The gas is from two weeks ago, so I assume that is not it.  You are right that I am locked into AUTO.  I do precondition at 120 volts, and my car seems better to me than when I don't.  My center screen reports "due to normal operation" as the reason for the ICE being on.  And, yes, I have pushed "ok" (many times over the past month or so) to allow the engine to start, mainly b/c I thought I needed to.  Rookie move, maybe...

 

I read on other threads that people reset the oil maintenance (without actually changing it), and this helped some.  Maybe I could try that, but I don't have any pop up or any warning saying that I need to service the oil.  So, I'm just a little stuck.  But, with my commute to work 11 miles, I usually can get there and (almost) back without the ICE, which I obviously bought the car to do.  Just want to be able to get back to that.  

 

I also talked with a friend who owns a FFE (same year and color, coincidentally), and he thought it was just because of the cold.  He's owned his car longer, but also reported that he's never been locked into AUTO like I am.  So, I am open to other dialogue, suggestions, etc.

 

Thank you!

[youngval9]

One other note: when I said I pushed the "ok" button to allow the ICE engine to start, this wasn't the case this AM. When I pushed my start button to turn on my car (which usually results in the beautifully quiet EV start), my ICE kicked on without asking if I'd like it to.  Just clarifying...

[murphy]

Go through the screens and see what the remaining oil life is.  If they changed the oil but didn't reset it back to 100% the car doesn't know the oil was changed.

Cold weather does make it more difficult.  The battery efficiency drops with the temperature drop.

Try a warm coat, steering wheel heat if it has it, otherwise warm gloves and the seat heater.on but the heat off.

In electric mode the heat comes from a 5 kW resistance heater which will put a big dent in available mileage.

 

Don't let them con you with the 3000 mile oil change.

Oil changes are 20,000 miles or two years, whichever comes first.

Until it turned cold here my engine hadn't run since April.

[youngval9]

So, I reset the oil life, as the dealership sticker said that I had to 8000k more miles to go (looks like they think 10k mile intervals are sufficient.)  And, that worked!  I pushed the "off" button, and when I pushed it to turn back on, it was EV only and ready to go.  I don't know if that hurts anything to reset it, but I suspect no.  Thank you for your help!

[murphy]

The Owner's manual covers the Energi and the Hybrid.

 

The Hybrid is 10,000 miles or 1 year.

The Energi is 20,000 miles or 2 years.

 

Most dealers have no clue what the specs are for these cars.

[jeff_h]

If the EV setting is on auto, the ICE will come on if the gas pedal is pressed more than slightly, and within a few trips you'll learn just how much it takes to get the ICE to come on.

 

However, when it's below freezing it tends to be more touchy and the ICE will come on with far less pressure - and once the ICE is on, it's probably going to run long enough to get the emissions system warmed up.

 

Try setting it to EV-Now before shutting it down the night before (if possible) and see if the behavior is any different, i.e., if the ICE doesn't come on as easily in the morning.

[Fgolman]

Yep, it's been very cold here in Chicago the last couple of days. My 2015 (bought from Carmax this summer) was in great condition except we found that the 5k heating coil wasn't working. Needless to say, that wasn't something we checked in July! So Carmax had been very good to get that fixed at no charge. But, the problem was having a dealer understand the unique configuration of the Energi. The first dealer Carmax sent it to didn't have the foggiest. The second, it's been two weeks but they claim its fixed (flashed new software and then replaced the coil and control circuit). Carmax even provided us with a service loaner since it's taken so long.

 

I'll update further tomorrow when we get it back.

 

The key to knowing what's going on is that the dealership doesn't know you're watching what they are doing through the app. They're not used to have the customer looking over their shoulder!

 

Cheers!

 

Fritz Golman

[murphy]

When looking for a Ford dealer to work on an Energi you need to find one that is electric certified. 

They are the only ones that are required to have people trained on how the Energi works.

[Fgolman]

FYI the second dealer nailed it.

 

Lots of nice heat coming out in EV mode.

 

Luckily I didn't have to pay for it as the retail repair cost was over $2000! They replaced heating core, control boards, software, fuses. Kind of threw everything against it until it worked I guess.

 

Fritz

[Pg3ibew]

I keep my car in EV MODE Only. I live in NYC. I pre condition my car. When the temps are very cold outside...below 20F, the ICE will automatically kick in sometimes. I forget the exact wording. But the dash says something to the effect of.... For proper efficiency, EV mode is off. Something like that.