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Hybrid Vehicle Maintenance, Repair and Concerns

186 messages,  Last post on Jan 09, 2013 at 7:39 PM

You are in the Maintenance & Repair Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota Prius, Honda Fit Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, Honda Hybrid, Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Hybrid Cars, Coupe, Hatchback, Truck

Messages Page 17 of 19

#161 of 186 hybridhell by hybridhell

Apr 20, 2011 (1:20 pm)

I bought my daughter a 2008 Escape Hybrid in December 2007. Fantastic vehicle for the first 3 years/50K miles...Then In January, 2011, she made a stop on the way home, got back into the escape, and when started, it revved to 2500 RPM. She turned it off, and on the re-start it revved to 3500 RPM. She went ahead and started driving & the RPM's came back down, but this has been an issue ever since. Now it will only travel about 1/2 half mile in Electric Mode before the engine kicks on. Mileage has dropped from just over 30 to 24-25. Once she tried to drive out of a parking lot & the engive revved to 2500 RPM's, but the car wouldn't move, nearly causing a crash. The car finally started to go, but she travelled about 3/4 mile at 10 mph with the engine revving at 2500 RPM. Last week, she got into the car, started it (revving to 1800RPM's) put it in reverse & the car wouldn't move. Finally after starting & stopping 2 times, on the third try it started working "normal". This has been going on ( engine revving to charge battery & not moving) for 4 months. It's been to the dealership 3 times, checked by the "Regional Rep" twice & they say it is normal, since no code comes up! The Regional Rep had the gall to tell me that ford has not had one instance of a failed battery. He also stated that "all batteries loose power over time", which is what is probably causing the engine to revv up, but they won't replace it unless it totally fails to hold a charge!! Obviously, reading some of the post at Edmonds, Ford has replaced some of the battery packs. Has anybody had similar problems with FORD??? The dealership did service the transmission, thinking this might be the problem...& they didn't charge me for the supposed 17+ hrs they have into it, so I guess I should be glad for that, but I'm thinking this will be the last hybrid I will ever own. (between my wife & kids, we own 9 fords so it's not like I have it in for ford....not yet anyway) Thanks...

#162 of 186 Re: hybridhell [hybridhell] by rmgilden

May 10, 2011 (11:38 am)

Replying to: hybridhell (Apr 20, 2011 1:20 pm)
Interestingly, just yesterday I was driving from Los Angeles to San Jose on I-5 and I had a major failure. My 2008 Escape Hybrid completely failed....I lost all electricity, power steering, brakes....everything. I safely coasted to a stop on the side of the road VERY glad that it happened around 3pm and not on the Grapevine, at night, or with my children in the car because I had no power for hazards and couldn't lock the doors. The vehicle was towed to a dealership 55 miles inland and I am awaiting the analysis. I am renting a car and will have to drive back 3 hours south to drop off the rental and pick up the Escape WHENEVER it's fixed. If this is an expensive repair (which I am expecting it to be), this will be the last Ford I purchase.

#163 of 186 Re: hybridhell [rmgilden] by whitey9

May 10, 2011 (11:50 am)

Replying to: rmgilden (May 10, 2011 11:38 am)
We have 80k+ miles on our '06 Mariner hybrid. No problems yet. Have had only 1 brake pulsation problem ( uneven brake rotors ) in more than 5yrs. Hope they get your's fixed right the first time.

#164 of 186 Honda Civic Hybrid Battery by nursetonya1877

Jun 14, 2011 (6:59 pm)

I was wondering if anyone knew if when a battery starts to die, will I have to replace the whole battery pack of just a small battery. I noticed the other day, it sat for about a day and a half. When I started it after it sitting, it hesitated a little. That is the first time it did that. I have heard the horror stories of the money I will have to put into it and unfortunately I still have 2 years left to pay on it. I have a feeling I will be stuck repairing it and am hoping to find some alternatives before "the big one" happens. Any suggestions or answers to my original question of the smaller battery?
 
Has anyone heard of private car repair shops dealing with this yet to try and make the cost cheaper or are we still stuck with the dealer?
Thanks in advance for your help!

#165 of 186 Re: Conclusion [annek1] by rjqman

Jun 15, 2011 (11:09 am)

Replying to: annek1 (Jan 26, 2011 2:27 pm)
It just depends on the dealer. I bought a Honda van a few years ago and the dealer put motor oil in the transmission. I took it to a different Honda dealer, not understanding what the problem was, and he hesitantly told me what had taken place. It just depends on the dealership.
 
I would look up the dealership on some websites and see what others are saying about it before you take your car there for service. Some are great, and some are simply awful. (But be careful of 'shills' - people from the dealership or service shop that give it a great rating when the shop is not really so great...).
 
I buy my Hondas from the dealership with lousy service, because they are convenient and competitive. But I would not take a car there for service if there was any other alternative I could use.
 
I am an old guy, and I have had a lot of cars over a lot of years. Problems with automotive dealership service are not in any way unique to Honda. I also have a Pontiac and the local dealership (who now had to switch to Buick) has always done an excellent job here in Fort Myers Florida. They may charge 30% more than the private shops, but they seem to always do the job right. It just varies with the way the shop is managed - not necessarily with the brand of car.

#166 of 186 Re: Honda Civic Hybrid Battery [nursetonya1877] by srs_49

Jun 16, 2011 (3:10 am)

Replying to: nursetonya1877 (Jun 14, 2011 6:59 pm)
You asked about replacing part of the battery pack?
 
I'm guessing that the answer is NO; that if a replacement is necessary, the entire pack has to be replaced, not one cell.
 
One reason is that the battery packs have a lot of inherent redundancy in them so that they can still function even with one or several cells dead. The battery electronics essentially takes a bad cell out of the circuit, which reduces the battery pack's capacity by a bit, but still allows it to function. This is to eliminate the need to replace a single cell.
 
Also, the voltage at places inside the battery pack is several hundred volts - deadly if you don't know what you're doing. So I suspect Honda and other hybrid makers do not want technicians used to dealing with 12V systems poking around inside a battery pack.

#167 of 186 Re: navigation system [palomar1] by dwakef

Jun 17, 2011 (1:58 pm)

Replying to: palomar1 (Aug 25, 2009 11:08 pm)
Yes, my 06 Civic nav sys stick (cursor controller) stopped working for every direction except one. A dealer said that was not repairable. To replace would cost about 2K! I decided to use my android phone when I need to browse around the map. Rip off.

#168 of 186 Re: hybridhell [rmgilden] by labrams2306

Jul 02, 2011 (2:51 pm)

Replying to: rmgilden (May 10, 2011 11:38 am)
I am having the exact same problem. Have they told you what the problem is yet?

#169 of 186 Re: hybridhell [rmgilden] by kmorrison1

Jul 23, 2011 (12:15 pm)

Replying to: rmgilden (May 10, 2011 11:38 am)
The same thing happened to my Escape Hybrid this morning. The dealership won't look at it until Monday. Sounds like they have a problem. Was it expensive?

#170 of 186 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Timing Belt Replacement by jchutch

Feb 25, 2012 (4:05 pm)

I recently took my '08 Highlander Hybrid in for oil change and routine service at my local dealership. After inspecting the car, they told me that it needed a timing belt and water pump replacement for a cost of $795. Although I'm no expert on auto repair, this replacement seemed early for my car which only has 56k miles on it. The technician assured me that 60k was the appropriate time for this repair. Taking his word for it, I agreed to it as well as a fuel injection/throttle body emission service for $179 that was also recommended.
 
After returning home and checking online while the repairs were being done, I saw that Toyota doesn't recommend the timing belt replacement until 90k miles. I talked to the dealership manager about the difference in recommendations and he said that because we live in NJ that they are following "extreme conditions" suggestions which call for the earlier replacements.
 
I didn't buy his story and declined the emission service as well, thinking that it was bunk as well.
 
Has anyone else heard of this "extreme conditions" clause in timing belt replacement???

Messages Page 17 of 19

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