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Today the wrench light came on for the first time. Its got 120,000 miles with no problems and lifetime mpg average of just under 46 mpg. It's been a great car. Anyone had the wrench light come on and what was the problem?
2013 Fusion Hybrid Wrench warning light
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Hi coolingtowerguy and welcome to the Ford Fusion Club. The "wrench light" can mean many things. And there is not practical way to blind Internet diagnose it. It could be anything from a false alarm, to something more serious where the vehicle should not be driven.
I would also recommend you check your Owners Manual for the wrench light explanation. If you do not have your hard copy, you can download the PDF version here: https://www.fleet.ford.com/parts-service/resources/owner-manuals/
Ultimately, your best course of action would be to take it to a big box auto store like AutoZone, O'Reilly's etc, where they will scan your vehicle for any stored DTC's (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) for free. That may help give you some idea. Then it would still be best to have the vehicle checked by a Ford Dealer or independent shop you trust that has Hybrid vehicle experience.
Let us know how you make out and good luck.
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Thank you for your reply. The wrench light indicates drive train issues. I'll dig out my code reader in the morning and see what comes up.
Hi coolingtowerguy. Yes, I was aware of what the wrench light means. I simply thought it would be a better idea for you to use the Owners Manual and check for yourself.
One word of advice: Many non-professional grade code readers are not capable of reading many codes. And although the code readers used by big box auto stores are usually capable of more thorough information than home code readers, even they still are not as capable as the computers used by Ford Dealers and even some large independent shops.
But give it a shot, see what you come up with and post back.
Keep us updated and good luck.
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Much appreciated. I'll keep you posted.
You probably won't like this... we have a 2019 Fusion Hybrid. It was in and out of the shop at least a half dozen times in the last 6 months. We kept getting the wrench code and the dealer was at a loss as to what the issue was. They kept messing with it, then giving it back to see if the fix worked. It never did... they pulled the entire hybrid battery control system. (the top half of the battery pack) and replaced it. God only knows how much that costs. They had the car for 3 days. Fix lasted two days... They spent a lot of time with their tech support in Detroit, trying to figure out what the issue was. Their last fix was to completely drain the battery and do a 24 hour long "trickle charge", then re-program it... Worked for about 2 weeks. What they were dealing with is that there are two halves of the hybrid battery and they are supposed to talk to each other and it wasn't... Now, it has lost the wrench code and is just throwing a check engine light. The code reader says battery modules N and M have their balancing circuits stuck in the ON position.
Codes: BECM PODDD and ABS PODE1.
The "balancing circuit" is what everyone in the lithium ion battery world calls a BMS, battery management system. It is supposed to keep all the hybrid battery's individual cells balanced, voltage wise... Apparently there is an issue with it. When I first brought this thing in for repair in May 2022 it was still under warranty, so no charge. Then the last time I brought it in they said the warranty had expired and they wanted ME to pay for it. Told them where they could put that! I brought it in UNDER WARRANTY and they screwed around with it until the warranty expired, then they wanted to charge me $600 just to "re-program" the POS. NOT! They ate the cost under some Ford consumer satisfaction fund... probably should have been the Ford, don't get sued in court, fund. So, I purchased the Ford extended warranty, on it. I had made it under the wire in getting the Ford warranty, by 3 days. 8 yrs. 100K miles.
And you think THAT is bad...?? Get this... My 2021 F-150 PowerBoost hybrid pickup has been in the shop for 6 weeks now. Another head scratcher for Ford. The driver's side headlight and parking lights stopped working at 24K miles.. They said they already have $6000 worth of parts into the repair and it still doesn't work. Headlight module $2200 ea. and the control modules are $1600 each! (if you are out of warranty, you are on the hook for it...) They change out the headlight control module it blows the headlight when they try to program the module. They were working with the Ford brain trust in Detroit on how to proceed... then Ford dibanded the group. (costs too much money) Then some times it blows the control module as well. They've changed them out at least twice, now with no success, with two more he'adlight assemblies and two more control modules on order. Even tried putting the passenger side light assembly in the driver's side. No, NO, NO! said the control module. Not allowed. You can't put a right side headlight in the left side. (how the hell does it know that?) Talked to them today... one of their mechanics took to the internet to see if they could find other instances of this behavior, since their "expert" group was disbanded. Apparently they found three instances. So the called the dealers that had experienced it. Based on that... they are going to try changing out BOTH headlights and their respective control modules. I'll bet a dollar it doesn't work. (I suggest they hire a good Priest experienced in exorcisms...) Still hoping to get it back sometime before my 8 yr. extended warranty expires. These vehicles have gotten WAY too complicated for the average mechanic to deal with, then Ford disbands their "expert" group. Go figure.
Now you know what I know... which isn't much comfort, with yours no longer under warranty. Drop me a line ([email protected]) and I'll let you know how it works out. This is a special e-mail address that is unmonitored. So let me know if you are interested in the finale to this saga.
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