[thechosenwon]

I just installed a spoiler but I didn't do the connection for the light yet.

On my '01 SportTrac, there was this thing about disconnecting the battery for more than 10 or 15 minutes would be the equivalent of a computer reset where you basically would have to redo the break-in after.

Is this true for the Fusion as well ? It's an '06 SEL V6. I did a very quick search on the forum and my service manual but didn't find anything saying this.

Just wondering if I'll have to drive in a "crazy way" for the next 1000 miles after I reconnect the battery (unless I get it done in 7 minutes...).

 

[Jaysen]

No, you can pull the battery and leave it off for 15 or so mins, and be fine. It worked for me when installing an amp.

 

[ciscoford23]

Well Ford recommends uplugging the battery for 5 minutes minimum after performing any engine control repairs to clear Keep Alive Memory. I doubt you would really notice much of a difference but it all depends on how you drive your vechicle. I have had customers complain that their cars don't "feel" the same after clearing Keep Alive Memory

 

[thechosenwon]

Thanks for the info. That's pretty much what I was afraid of. When I disconnected the battery on my SportTrac to add a K&N filter, it had more kick, but gas/mileage when down by 2 miles/gallon. And when I did a computer reset (after breaking a ceased spark plug), performance decrease were very noticeable.

I am not sure what you mean by "keep alive memory"; is it that after 5 minutes of undisturbed disconnection it won't throw an error (like a bad connection to a bulb when I cut the wire); or it will lose the memory after 5 minutes.

Regardless, I still have to do it, but I'm just wondering about what "could" happen based on timing. Should I disconnect and wait before doing anything or disconnect and hurry up ?

 

[ciscoford23]

Sorry for being vague..Keep Alive Memory refers to the learned strategies stored in the computer (how you drive). I wouldn't worry too much about clearing it cause it is a pretty new car it will relearn everything again. Now if it was 10 years old with 100,000 miles then you would really notice a difference. The computer on most Ford vehicles is designed to compensate for engine wear. Hope I didn't confuse you more.

 

[urnews]

[quote author=ciscoford23 link=topic=76803.msg1392880#msg1392880 date=1178596986]
Sorry for being vague..Keep Alive Memory refers to the learned strategies stored in the computer (how you drive). I wouldn't worry too much about clearing it cause it is a pretty new car it will relearn everything again. Now if it was 10 years old with 100,000 miles then you would really notice a difference. The computer on most Ford vehicles is designed to compensate for engine wear. Hope I didn't confuse you more.
[/quote]
Oh Cisco! (What his sidekick Pancho used to say) This topic intrigues me.

When does the Keep Alive Memory quit working? By that I mean when does it stop "learning" the driver's habits, how many miles, etc.? Would disconnecting the battery for 20 minutes clear the memory and could this process in any way be used to improve gas mileage?

My wife and I almost drive like grannies but can still only manage 14.8 mpg in all-city, stop-and-go (but not bumper-to-bumper) driving. We have a 2007 SEL AWD Fusion with 3,000 miles on it, purchased Dec. 4, 2006. Has the memory quit learning at this stage of the game?

You appear to be very knowledgeable about these matters. How come?

Boz

 

[ciscoford23]

The computer never stops learning. It will make adjustments until it has reached what it thinks is the optimum strategy for your driving style. It would suspect that disconnecting the battery would make your fuel mileage go down at this point.

You sure don't drive a lot..lol I would suspect that with 3,000 miles, it is still learning.

I am a Ford dealership technician.

 

[urnews]

Thx for your input CiscoFord23.

The last thing that we need is lower gas mileage. LOL.

We have three vehicles for two people and all three get driven some each week. Our 2000 Ford Focus station wagon has 92,463 miles on it (used to do a 60-mile round-trip commute at least five days a week for four years) gets 22 mpg. Our 3.8-liter V6 1997 Ford Thunderbird has 86,157 miles on it and gets 13.2 mpg; and the new Fusion has 3,000 miles on it and gets 14.8 mpg. All are driven 95 percent in city, stop-and-go, short hop conditions over the same route.

I was thinking that disconnecting the battery for 30 minutes might help the Fusion to re-learn some new parameters, that maybe we should start driving it like we stole it instead of babying it. For the first 2,000 or so miles it was "stuck" at 13 mpg in city driving.

I am having trouble believing that a 3.0-liter V6 connected to a six-speed automatic in the year 2007 cannot at least deliver the revised EPA estimate of 17 mpg for this power train. I guess this is the penalty for having AWD, which we really don't need given our mild climate.

We really do like almost everything else about the Fusion, EXCEPT for the horrific gas mileage. The service manager at our dealership road tested the car with a portable computer on board at 1,500 miles and said everything was according to specifications. The highway mileage at three different speeds averaged 24 mpg. We have only taken one long trip (360 miles round trip) with it. It yielded 26 mpg going and 24 mpg returning. Decent enough.

It's a cold, hard fact of life that identically equipped cars driven by the same driver can get "good" or "bad" mileage under the same conditions, hence the standard disclaimer "your mileage may vary." I'm just going to have to accept the fact that this particular Fusion is going to be a low mileage car unless there is a dramatic change for the better in the next 2,000 miles.

It is a very frustrating situation.

(Rant ends for today.)

 

[mechanicboy18]

I'm sure you've heard this before, but your car only has 3k miles on it. It's still has plenty of miles to go before it gets to it's optimum wear to get better fuel economy. I have 9300 miles on my car and it's only better better with time. I personally believe that some high speed driving is good for the car to help loosen up the drivetrain. Like you said you drive 95% city and with AWD you have even more components to wear in with the additional seals, drive shafts(U joints), differential, etc.

 

[ciscoford23]

urnews,
I would do this
"I was thinking that disconnecting the battery for 30 minutes might help the Fusion to re-learn some new parameters, that maybe we should start driving it like we stole it instead of babying it."

What is the worst that can happen? It might be worth a try. Plus it's fun..lol

 

[pkoko]

Boz,

Seriously the Duratec 30 doesn't like lots of babying around; It like to rev. You don't believe me. Porshe engineers designed most of it. That is why it has low lowend tourque. It loves to rev. Drive it harder. Not hard to the redline all the time; but hard so the shifts are at 3000-4000 rpm mark. Do this after resetting the live memory and watch better fuel economy.

In low rpm under high load like slow accelerating city driving; the engine runs most rich. The car also shifts the most times further reducing fuel economy. You have to feed it more air to let burn the most enegy of its fuel. To feed it air; you have to let it rev more. This is not a V8 which doesn't like to rev; this is a DOHC V6 with short stroke.

 

[thechosenwon]

Darn; you just answered my second question; "Should I install an air intake in there".

So, there you have it; reset is a go and air intake is most likely a go (based on budget...). I drive hard, but I bought the car with 24k (in kilometers) on it. Must have been driven by a senior cause city mileage could hardly be worst; it really doesn't kick like that other Ford's I've had. For me; a reset is in order! This car needs to be learn the proper way (my way) for a while...

I'll let you know how it went in the next 2 or 3 thousand kilometers.

 

[Guest]

Like he said, the computer has a never ending learning process.

Like just today, I drove around the city, and could putt around great. Then I got on the highway for about 20 minutes, then back to the city. And I could notice a difference in the way the car responded to my throttle position.

 

[thechosenwon]

Follow-up:

I unplugged the battery for probably 20 minutes and lost pretty much all the settings. Best thing that happened to me! I'm helping the car in her learning process right now (I'm second owner and the other guy was probably driving like a grand-ma. Plus, I already have better gas-mileage than he had I'm close to 17mpg now and hoping for 21-22 (knock on wood).

Now the car really has a kick when I push on it a little. The learning process was really noticeable the first 2 days. The shifting was all wrong when I was taking off of a stop of red light. It's getting better, but it's not there yet.

 

[ciscoford23]

Thanks for the update. I would recommend having the computer reprogrammed if you haven't already.

 

[thechosenwon]

I didn't know I could do that. How would I go about and have it done; the dealer ?

Without getting too technical; what would be re-programmed ?

 

[ciscoford23]

The dealer is the only one that can do it. You can show them TSB 06-21-11 or just tell them that you are having some of the symptoms described in the TSB. They might give you the run around but be polite and presistant. They will reprogram the engine computer and transmission computer. You can get a copy of the TSB here...http://www.fordfusionclub.com/index.php?topic=62418.0

 

[thechosenwon]

Nice! Thanks.

Just looked at it. I do experience 3 or 4 of the symptoms described. High idle on start only happened twice, but really did took me off-guard. Old me, I though for a second it was like my carburated car with a semi-automatic choke on it, so I gave it a little gas (which you would do after 1 or 2 minutes of higher idle) and to my surprise and it went back to normal. I didn't think much of it at the time, because it only happened twice.

On the other end, I do find the shifting (I should say downshifting) consistently very slow. The dealership gave me 2 free oil change, so I'll mention it on my first one when I get there and "politely" push to get it looked at. It will be a hard sell, because they will have to recreate the problem before executing the fix but it won't cost me anything to try.