New to me 2013 FFE

[fixitsteve]

Hello Group,
Was kind of looking for an EV and came across a 2013 FFE with 27,000 miles. I was able to have it for a couple days to see if it worked
for what I needed. On a full charge I was able to get 62 miles out of it with 6 miles left on the guess-o-meter. This was on a winter day
with a little heat use, combination expressway and normal traffic. If battery has degraded it does not look like much and will do what I need it
to do. Looked OK, good carfax, wife liked it, did what we needed. So I bought it.
A month later, so far so good. A few minor problems and a few questions.

1. After having the car for about a week, one morning the 12V battery was dead. I had read about the TCU (telematics control unit)
problems so I pulled the 5amp fuse. So far no more problems there. I never planned on using that system anyway.

2. The car will only be used a couple times a week for less than 50 mile errands. Also it stays in an under the house garage.
Warm in winter, cool in summer. Any good reason to get a level 2 charger? I will not need to preheat or cool the car.

3. The car does have the splash shield over the connector near the left rear wheel.
But since the connectors seem to be a weak point, should I open, clean and fill with dielectric grease all
the connectors I can get to? Of course with 12V and large battery disconnected!

4. Why 2 OBD ports? I seem to be able to talk to everything with either port.

With my scanner in PCM (powertrain control module) special functions, I found a coolant degas. Looks like it will run all the pumps
and will make it easier to change the coolant. Any used car I have bought, I always changed all the fluids.

Lots of data available in all modules. Also pulled some interesting data below in BECM (Battery Energy Control Module)

Year: 2013 MY
Make: USAFORD
Model: Focus
Odometer: 44607 km
Test Time: 2021-03-18 13:16:56
Diagnostic path: Automatically Search > System Selection > BECM (Battery Energy Control Module)
Read Datastream:

Hybrid Battery - Variation in
Voltage Measurement
Between Battery Modules(V)
0.009

Hybrid Battery Pack
Voltage(V) 349.8

Hybrid Battery State of
Charge(%) 88.54

Hybrid/EV Battery Energy to
Empty - Estimated(W) 19280

Looks like 19.2kw storage capacity of battery. This also compares to what I got when I ran the full to empty kw test.

My only concerns are the limited number of these cars produced makes parts rare and expensive.
Repair info seems limited, and dealers don't seem to know how to fix or want to fix.
I am retired, so I have extra time if something breaks I should be able to fix it.
thanks, Steve

 

[Heima]

Hey there Steve, Welcome to the club.
I see you are jumping in with both feet to do diagnostics. If you haven't downloaded it yet, get the service manual from the link I posted a while back. Here: http://www.myfocuselectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=4921&p=32331

Good move to pull fuse #3, (if I am remembering that right), however if that is the orginal 12V battery, it probably would not hurt to put in a new one. See my post about replacing the very expense group 67 with a much cheaper 26R. Here: http://www.myfocuselectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4938#p32447

Probably no need for a level 2 charger, unless you want the convenience of a faster charge at home. Level 2 doesn't have to be hard wired. I use an adapter with my dryer outlet and a Tesla charger. I think it was recently discovered that the charger supplied by Ford can handle 220-240VAC. I can also use my BMW level 1 or Fiat level 1 charger, as they too can charge at 220-240 VAC.

Good thing your car got the splash cover retrofit. Mine was not part of the recall, but I did it myself anyway. What could it hurt. Important tip, do not put dielectric grease on any HV contacts, you will be asking for trouble. Just keep them clean, and tightly secured. Then put the grease, (if you must)at the gaps where the connector halves meet. Not really necessary, as the connectors are waterproof.

I believe one of the OBD ports has logic behind it, for interfacing with a VCM. or something more.

I understand your want to change fluids, but coolant and gearbox fluid probably aren't necessary. no rust to deal with, and no shifting parts. Yes, the gearbox is supposed to make that whine. Its how the gears are cut. There is a coolant filter, but it is pricey.

 

[Anti_Climax]

The focus will want to cool the battery when it's over 97F and run heaters when it hits (I think) 50F

The cooling will not run while the car is off unless it's on an L2 charger. I believe the heaters will run regardless. So unless it's likely to get over 97F, you won't really need L2 for that.

The 12A convenience chargers they included can actually run on 240V, so you can get a fairly decent charging rate out of them.

 

[Anti_Climax]

With my scanner in PCM (powertrain control module) special functions, I found a coolant degas. Looks like it will run all the pumps
and will make it easier to change the coolant.

Any chance you can see the details of the CAN message that gets sent to run the pumps? I'm about to crack my coolant loop open to figure out what Ford can't seem to, and I'm sure I'll need to degas it.

 

[Heima]

Using one of those vacuum coolant bleeders works pretty good to pull all of the air out of the cooling loops. Just gotta make sure the coolant does not get drawn up into the bleeder.

If you use Forscan to control the coolant pump speeds and valve positions, keep in mind that arbitrarily setting the the pumps speeds high or valves to fully one way or the other, might cause a low pressure situation in the degas lines, and pull air into the coolant loops.

Probably best to let the thermal management do its thing, and do a simultaneous vacuum bleed for about half an hour.

 

[Anti_Climax]

Probably best to let the thermal management do its thing, and do a simultaneous vacuum bleed for about half an hour.

I might feel differently if thermal management wasn't the problem.

 

[fixitsteve]

Thanks Heima for the service manual.
The 12V battery is new. It was replaced just before I bought it.
Yes, I read about the 110V chargers being used with 220-240VAC.
For the limited use this car will get I'll stick with the 110V charger.
Also thanks for the connector info.
Since the the brake fluid is hydroscopic and open to the atmosphere,
I'll do that one 1st.
Car is 8 years old and coolant should be done at 10 years. I'll do that one soon.
I have a Vacuum bleeder that I have used on other cars. That and the degas
function in my scanner should work for changing the coolant.


Anti_Climax
I can watch the can data with a scope but do not have the hardware or software
to hack the can signals for the degas function on my scanner.

thanks, Steve

 

[Anti_Climax]

I'm now able to live capture and decode CAN frames.

What scanner showed you the degas option in PCM?

Might be able to find one and try for myself.

 

[fixitsteve]

What scanner showed you the degas option in PCM?

Launch X431 PadII

 

[Anti_Climax]

Thanks