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Pele

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2020
Messages
16
I all but own my very own FFE.

The Ford Excursion is consuming too much fuel for me to drive daily. It's being relegated to household project and road trip duty... And of course, towing my toys, my small collection of Mazda RX-7 sports cars around.

The 2003 Mazda 6i that I picked up last year will go back up on Facebook marketplace or CraigsList after I teach my 16 yr old niece how to drive a manual transmission on it. (After I just put a nice sound system in it too. :( )

Dealership in Tempe, Arizona is overnighting me paperwork for a Ford CPO 2017 FFE. I live in Washington DC.

I'm an experienced (shadetree) mechanic by night and an electrical engineer during the day.
Currently have the OEM wiring diagrams on order from eBay.
Currently researching sound system upgrades at Crutchfield.
Currently have an OpenEVSE kit on order.

Currently researching coolant leaks in the battery. :shock:

Should I have gotten a Nissan Leaf? (I didn't because Nissan has burned me on their CVT equipped cars and they seem very bare bones and not as fun to drive as the FFE... I also own a paid copy of ForScan, considering I have several other FoMoCo and Mazda products that I use it on. I don't own any Nissan scan/hack tools.)

What'd I get myself into?
Did I make the right choice?

I'm nervous.
 
The FFE is not a bad car, but with it basically being an experiment car it will definitely have it issues. By the way you describe your knowledge back round, doing the coolant repair on the FFE when the time comes shouldn't be hard, just tedious and time consuming. Also, try to reframe from doing one wheel peels (don't be like me, leave your traction control fuse in, and try to drive with traction control on. Your spider gears in the geardrive will thank you), unless you feel like replacing your entire motor/geardrive assembly. I just recently swapped a 2018 assembly into my 2012 FFE due to this :lol: .
 
Congrats on the purchase. Others have said that the coolant issue isn't a problem for the 2017+ models. I haven't delved into it myself, but am hoping they are right. You're going to enjoy the fuel savings. My other vehicle is a long wheelbase Expedition. After purchasing the Focus, we only drive the Expedition when we need the seats, or when towing. Some things about the Focus in not particular order.

(1) If you're putting substantial miles on it, you'll want an L2 charger at home. Even if you aren't putting a lot of miles on it, you'll want L2 for battery and cabin preconditioning, especially in a region that had both hot and cold weather. The 120V charging does around 3 miles per hour vs 20 miles per hour for L2.
(2) Low rolling resistance tires suck. I put Yokohoma YK740s on and barely noticed a difference in range, but wet and dry traction were much improved.
(3) The phone based start and lock/unlock functionality was recently gimped. There's a customer satisfaction update from Ford (21B09) to install a new 4G modem that will provide lock/unlock and remote start from the Fordpass app. It's around $380 to purchase the hardware and installation is free. It's limited time only, so if you want that functionality schedule the install, because the part has to be ordered.
(4) The hatch collects direct. Wax it well.
(5) If you don't have the leather seats, the light interior gathers direct. Clean and Scotchguard immediately, or you'll be cleaning it again. My purchase from Carvana clearly came from someone with kids, and Carvana made no effort to clean it. I have kids, so I know how that goes.
(6) Forscan can show you the remaining battery capacity. See my recent post on Facebook. It can also be used to turn off the dreaded Ford double-horn honk.
(7) You'll want to install the Plugshare app and figure out what charging networks are available in your area. I have five charging apps. By order of frequency, Electrify America, EVGo, Chargepoint, Volta, and the Plugshare app for charger locations.

It's a great car, especially after depreciation. Enjoy!
 
skyguy_6153 said:
The FFE is not a bad car, but with it basically being an experiment car it will definitely have it issues. By the way you describe your knowledge back round, doing the coolant repair on the FFE when the time comes shouldn't be hard, just tedious and time consuming. Also, try to reframe from doing one wheel peels (don't be like me, leave your traction control fuse in, and try to drive with traction control on. Your spider gears in the geardrive will thank you), unless you feel like replacing your entire motor/geardrive assembly. I just recently swapped a 2018 assembly into my 2012 FFE due to this :lol: .

Yeah, one wheel peels are hell on a differential. According to the documentation, the transmission has already been replaced once.

jghall00 said:
Congrats on the purchase. Others have said that the coolant issue isn't a problem for the 2017+ models. I haven't delved into it myself, but am hoping they are right. You're going to enjoy the fuel savings. My other vehicle is a long wheelbase Expedition. After purchasing the Focus, we only drive the Expedition when we need the seats, or when towing. Some things about the Focus in not particular order.

(1) If you're putting substantial miles on it, you'll want an L2 charger at home. Even if you aren't putting a lot of miles on it, you'll want L2 for battery and cabin preconditioning, especially in a region that had both hot and cold weather. The 120V charging does around 3 miles per hour vs 20 miles per hour for L2.
(2) Low rolling resistance tires suck. I put Yokohoma YK740s on and barely noticed a difference in range, but wet and dry traction were much improved.
(3) The phone based start and lock/unlock functionality was recently gimped. There's a customer satisfaction update from Ford (21B09) to install a new 4G modem that will provide lock/unlock and remote start from the Fordpass app. It's around $380 to purchase the hardware and installation is free. It's limited time only, so if you want that functionality schedule the install, because the part has to be ordered.
(4) The hatch collects direct. Wax it well.
(5) If you don't have the leather seats, the light interior gathers direct. Clean and Scotchguard immediately, or you'll be cleaning it again. My purchase from Carvana clearly came from someone with kids, and Carvana made no effort to clean it. I have kids, so I know how that goes.
(6) Forscan can show you the remaining battery capacity. See my recent post on Facebook. It can also be used to turn off the dreaded Ford double-horn honk.
(7) You'll want to install the Plugshare app and figure out what charging networks are available in your area. I have five charging apps. By order of frequency, Electrify America, EVGo, Chargepoint, Volta, and the Plugshare app for charger locations.

It's a great car, especially after depreciation. Enjoy!

1.) I'm prepping on putting a complete 100 amp subpanel on the side of the house with the driveway. Should support two L2 EVSEs. Along with the 100 amp subpanel in the detached garage that supports my welder, air compressor, and other shop equipment, it can also support another two L2 EVSEs (With the shop equipment not running.) I'm gonna be set for an electrified future.

2.) Agreed. I have a set of Kumho touring tires off my Mazda 6 that are only 5% taller (same width) as the stockers on the FFE. Once I burn through those, I'll be looking for a good set of 200 TW tires.

3.) According to the documentation, the 4G model has already been installed and the update 21B09 has already been applied.

4 and 5.) I will have it detailed and it has leather. I have kids. Leather is a MUST.

6.) I'll check it out. I'm familiar with ForScan on ICE vehicles. Haven't played with an EV though.

7.) It's mostly going to be for commuting to work and back. I know some planning is going to be involved with long road trips. Hence the ICE powered Excursion and the wife's Mazda CX-9 will be remaining in the fleet.
 
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