I came to know about this tool when I was browsing the web for finding the details how to look for Hybrid Battery temperature on my recently acquired used 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid. The forum suggested to their members that ScanGauge II would be the ideal choice to monitor the Motor Electronics Coolant Temp (MeC) and HV Battery temperature (Traction Battery Temp).
I am pleased to inform that this tool can be configured with Ford Specific XGauges (See comments) to achieve that feat pretty easily. Ford Escape Hybrid (With Navigation) does have host of other real-time display like HV battery SOC real-time MPG on the dash but FORD hides most of the stuff from user which are needed to troubleshoot common check engine light errors and in my case why my FORD escape Hybrid sometimes decides not to turn off the Internal combustion engine (ICE) and keeps running the Radiator FANs when it should not. It baffled me for couple of weeks and led me to investigate the issue further.
After setting this tool up and monitoring it for several days I could see a pattern that there are two main reason why the ICE would not shut down at idle or at a stop light. They were primarily due to 'over-temp' condition of the Motor Electronics Coolant temperature caused by a weak MCE coolant pump in conjunction with the HV battery Traction battery temperature.
Replacing the nearly failed original 2006 Motor electronics Coolant Pump at 98,XXX miles (FORD OEM PART number 5M6Z-8C419-A) It did help in cooling the Motor electronics coolant temperature a little bit however the traction battery FANS are still an issue which I am continuing to investigate using this Automotive computer Gauge.
FYI, There is a disturbing trend in these line of 2005-2007 FORD Escape hybrid vehicles that calls for Air-Conditioning compressor to turn ON as soon as the HV battery temp reaches 95 to 96.8 F to cool the battery using the rear air-conditioning contraption by opening the blend door and what not but as your car ages the Internal two fans housed inside the HV battery tends to fail slowly (without actually flagging any DTC codes) and thereby no matter how much AC compressor works hard (Only with ICE running) it cannot cool the HV battery enough to go under 94F for the ICE to stop at idle or at a STOP sign.
It is winter here in California and thanks for mother nature my HV battery rarely calls for cooling for most of the stop and go traffic and I still have not ventured to replace the two Internal HV battery FANs (FORD OEM PART 5M6Z-10C659-A) on my Ford Escape Hybrid but I do closely monitor the temperatures using this valuable tool.
Bottom line: An excellent tool to have for any gasoline or diesel engines for real-time MPG and RPM readings as well as read understand and clear (Check Engine Light) DTC codes. Well worth the price as it pay for itself in less than a year if you come across a check engine light and could decode yourself and clear it. Or just by using this tool to carefully change your driving habits and improving the gas mileage.
I am amazed how crazy some drivers are who accelerate hard cut in front of you, overtake you just to stop in front of you at a STOP Light. Did you know how much Gas you could save just by decelerating slowly and watch for the traffic pattern ahead of you? - You can save nearly 30% of your gas tank not to mention less wear and tear of you brakes and other stuff when you learn to drive less aggressively.
Here you will find FORD manufacturer specific XGauges that you can customize for monitoring various data points of your Hybrid vehicle.
FORD: Ford-specific-xgauges
TOYOTA: Toyota-specific x-gauges
I am pleased to inform that this tool can be configured with Ford Specific XGauges (See comments) to achieve that feat pretty easily. Ford Escape Hybrid (With Navigation) does have host of other real-time display like HV battery SOC real-time MPG on the dash but FORD hides most of the stuff from user which are needed to troubleshoot common check engine light errors and in my case why my FORD escape Hybrid sometimes decides not to turn off the Internal combustion engine (ICE) and keeps running the Radiator FANs when it should not. It baffled me for couple of weeks and led me to investigate the issue further.
After setting this tool up and monitoring it for several days I could see a pattern that there are two main reason why the ICE would not shut down at idle or at a stop light. They were primarily due to 'over-temp' condition of the Motor Electronics Coolant temperature caused by a weak MCE coolant pump in conjunction with the HV battery Traction battery temperature.
Replacing the nearly failed original 2006 Motor electronics Coolant Pump at 98,XXX miles (FORD OEM PART number 5M6Z-8C419-A) It did help in cooling the Motor electronics coolant temperature a little bit however the traction battery FANS are still an issue which I am continuing to investigate using this Automotive computer Gauge.
FYI, There is a disturbing trend in these line of 2005-2007 FORD Escape hybrid vehicles that calls for Air-Conditioning compressor to turn ON as soon as the HV battery temp reaches 95 to 96.8 F to cool the battery using the rear air-conditioning contraption by opening the blend door and what not but as your car ages the Internal two fans housed inside the HV battery tends to fail slowly (without actually flagging any DTC codes) and thereby no matter how much AC compressor works hard (Only with ICE running) it cannot cool the HV battery enough to go under 94F for the ICE to stop at idle or at a STOP sign.
It is winter here in California and thanks for mother nature my HV battery rarely calls for cooling for most of the stop and go traffic and I still have not ventured to replace the two Internal HV battery FANs (FORD OEM PART 5M6Z-10C659-A) on my Ford Escape Hybrid but I do closely monitor the temperatures using this valuable tool.
Bottom line: An excellent tool to have for any gasoline or diesel engines for real-time MPG and RPM readings as well as read understand and clear (Check Engine Light) DTC codes. Well worth the price as it pay for itself in less than a year if you come across a check engine light and could decode yourself and clear it. Or just by using this tool to carefully change your driving habits and improving the gas mileage.
I am amazed how crazy some drivers are who accelerate hard cut in front of you, overtake you just to stop in front of you at a STOP Light. Did you know how much Gas you could save just by decelerating slowly and watch for the traffic pattern ahead of you? - You can save nearly 30% of your gas tank not to mention less wear and tear of you brakes and other stuff when you learn to drive less aggressively.
Here you will find FORD manufacturer specific XGauges that you can customize for monitoring various data points of your Hybrid vehicle.
FORD: Ford-specific-xgauges
TOYOTA: Toyota-specific x-gauges
You can buy this from Amazon by using the link below:
Drive safe!, Drive intelligently and save on gas!
Cheers!
Thank you for this write up. I too have a 2007 FEH with 213k highway miles. Jut today on the way to work sitting in traffic I began to experience the same issues described here. Everyone on the forum seems to be using this tool to help diagnose the issue. Debating whether or not to even bother with this truck anymore. Ugh
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