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Replacing Transmission or Replacing Hybrid Battery?

3K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  tecz0r 
#1 ·
Hi everyone, about two years ago, I changed the engine on my 05 FEH with an engine from an 06. I thought this was going to be the last of my worries but unfortunately not.

First and foremost: No check engine lights.

I'm having some very strange noises coming from my vehicle and I'm unsure if its my transmission or the hybrid battery that might be dying.

Right off the bat, here is a video of the problem I'm talking about: https://photos.app.goo.gl/prjixzYx16LQnRw56

In the video, my car is in Park and I'm revving the engine. Right at about 2700RPM, the car will start to make a loud humming noise. This noise happens when I'm driving around town or on the highway. I drove to Angeles National Forest this weekend and its a lot of uphill driving. The car was struggling. Yes the incline can be steep at times but the car was basically at 4000RPM just to keep up at 45mph.

This issue has also made it so that my car needs to be at 3000RPM when I'm driving 70mph on a flat surface. I know there was a time when this wasn't the case. My MPG has also decreased by about 20% or so. I used to be able to pull 32MPG around town but now can't seem to keep it above 25 or so.

Can this problem be related to the hybrid battery in the back? Are the cells going bad? Is there a way to check?

My SoC range has always been between 39 to 53 according to my ScanGauge.
Long Term Fuel trim seems to be between 0 and 3.
Used FORScan to do a Hybrid battery test and everything came back clear. Fans turned on and everything.

  • Did all of this to find the problem to no avail:
    Changed Sparkplugs to Iridium
    Changed transmission fluid and used Mercon V
    Cleaned MAP sensor
    Changed Exhaust Manifold because I thought it might've been clogged

I'm located in Southern California (Los Angeles) and I have some time to fix this issue but I'm not sure what step to take next. Ford has always been unreliable in these kinds of instances. They don't seem to know how to diagnose the issue and usually tell me to "wait until it throws a code."

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.
 
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#4 ·
You're kind of in a jam because most mechanics don't know old Ford hybrids. But a lot were sold in Southern CA and some are still used in high mile fleets/taxi use-I know we still have a few at my work. I'd be surprised if the larger local Ford dealers didn't have at least one knowledgeable hybrid tech that could help you out. It might be a pain to call around, but ultimately you probably wouldn't want to throw expensive parts at a problem without knowing what you have.
 
#5 ·
Right off the bat, here is a video of the problem I'm talking about: https://photos.app.goo.gl/prjixzYx16LQnRw56
Are you talking about the "brumph" @ 8seconds?

If you are concerned about the transmission, change the fluid and check for sparkles. As it happens in park, its something to do with the engine or transmission. Either internal or external mounts.

However Its the internet and its real hard to discern what's wrong based on descriptions and a video, if you could do a video from the underside of the vehicle so we can get better audio of the issue
 
#6 ·
Tembrant said:
Right off the bat, here is a video of the problem I'm talking about: https://photos.app.goo.gl/prjixzYx16LQnRw56
Are you talking about the "brumph" @ 8seconds?

If you are concerned about the transmission, change the fluid and check for sparkles. As it happens in park, its something to do with the engine or transmission. Either internal or external mounts.

However Its the internet and its real hard to discern what's wrong based on descriptions and a video, if you could do a video from the underside of the vehicle so we can get better audio of the issue
I'll try to do that if possible.

At this point I'm just frustrated as Ford took the vehicle and gave it back to me saying "sorry; nothings wrong!"
 
#7 ·
barrythedude said:
I would start with the basics: Wheel bearing checks, motor/transmission mount checks. Then fluid level in trans. Very uncommon to have a trans failure. Buzzing at a certain RPM would certainly hint at a mount failing or having a sympathetic vibration.
If a mount was failing, would you need to drop the engine or transmission to change the mount? I imagine it wouldn't be easy otherwise...
 
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