VonoreTn Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 My Wife just called, 300 miles from home, cruising toward home in our FFH and the wrench engine light just came on. The manual just says to contact a dealer as soon as possible, some kind of powertrain warning. Does anyone have any experience with the wrench light? These things always seem to happen on Sunday. She pulled over and restarted the engine, and it did not come back on as of now. We have about 60 thousand miles on the vehicle and have had no issues. If it comes back on I'm going to have her stop at an Advanced Auto or Autozone and see if they pull any codes with their free OBD2 diagnostic test. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 It's usually safe to drive unless the light is flashing (consult the manual to be safe). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonoreTn Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) The service manual just says this for the wrench light: Throttle Control/Powertrain malfunction (RTT): Illuminates when a powertrain fault has been detected. If the indicator stays on or continues to come on, contact your authorized dealer as soon as possible. Elsewhere on this forum someone said it could be an early indicator of low tire pressure as one tire rotation per minute gets higher than the other 3. http://www.fordfusionforum.com/index.php?/topic/5126-awd-was-acting-weird/ Edited June 25, 2012 by VonoreTn 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FusionDiffusion Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Was the engine running rough? If so it's probably the throttle body. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonoreTn Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 My Wife made it home with no problems, other than she had to stop twice to get the wrench light to go off. It stayed off for the last 200 miles. No rough running engine. I have seen the TB mentioned on other threads here as the culprit for a rough running engine and the wrench light, and I am hoping that someone with more specific information can tell me what about the TB causes the rough running engine. I have cleaned my own and other peoples TB's in the past and I consider them to be very simple devices, compared to carburetors that I used to rebuild years ago. Of course they are in a complex system with the MAF sensor, the throttle position sensor, and a bunch of other stuff, but the TB itself is a simple thing that I would not want to spend $652 at a dealer for any service related to it, as occurred elsewhere on this forum. The only shortfall for TB's I have seen are carbon build up and a sticky throttle plate, but that is fairly easy to fix at no cost, just my own labor. "Since it's not covered by the powertrain warranty, the repair cost me $652.67" thread comment 44, at http://www.fordfusionforum.com/index.php?showtopic=6624&st=40&k=bb2fe024f8a71424996db6d9af08c1fc&settingNewSkin=3 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolder Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Most of these posts have been from non-hybrids. I don't think they translate especially since there's no roughness. Enter the Engineering Test Mode to check the DTC's before you take it to the dealer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FusionDiffusion Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 The cause of the rough running when the throttle body has a failure is due to what's called failure mode effects management (FMEM). Basically when the computer detects a fault with the throttle body, it gives up trying to move the throttle anymore. The throttle springs back to it default slightly open position, which would cause the engine to race at idle. The computer deals with this by cutting ignition timing to control the RPM, hence the rough running. Turning the car off and on clears the fault, so the computer resumes normal throttle operation until another fault is detected. But I agree that most of the other problems have been with the non-hybrids. Wrench light could indicate some sort of fault with the hybrid powertrain, like the motor/generators. I think ETM will only report cluster-related DTCs, not powetrains. You'll have to use an OBD-II scanner on it if you want to retrieve codes before it goes to the dealer (auto parts stores usually do this for free). Do not clear the codes since you want the dealer techs to see them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonoreTn Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 I just had Advanced auto put a code reader on it and they got no codes. I tried to do a vehicle health report, and the car screen said it was submitted, but the syncmyride.com website hasn't received it. They did one for me a couple of years ago but now when I access sync it just says that my health report has expired. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FusionDiffusion Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 The vehicle health report does not include support for sending trouble codes. All it will do is tell you if the check engine or wrench light is on (which you can see sitting in the driver's seat, so it's pretty much worthless). You'll have to hope it does it again, you can get it to a dealer, and it has pending or stored codes for whatever the problem is. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 It was at 63k miles that the wrench light on my 2010 FFH went on, it wasn't running any differently and seemed fine but there was that light to make me worry about who-knows-what. I went to the dealer the next day, for mine it was the oxygen sensor that was reading "out of limits" according to the service advisor. They replaced it and the light hasn't come back on since, and this week I will pass 124k miles. And BTW I think the total cost of that work was about $160-200 and was covered by the extended warranty -- and was the only thing ever repaired under the extended warranty so they made money from me.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FusionDiffusion Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 It was at 63k miles that the wrench light on my 2010 FFH went on, it wasn't running any differently and seemed fine but there was that light to make me worry about who-knows-what. I went to the dealer the next day, for mine it was the oxygen sensor that was reading "out of limits" according to the service advisor. You would think a bad oxygen sensor code would turn on the check engine light since it's an emissions problem, not the wrench light? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolder Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 It's probably an oxygen sensor. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonoreTn Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 I'm going to wait for a symptom of a problem or a code, now that the car is back in the home area. O2 sensors are only about $30 apiece, they screw into the exhaust and have an electrical connector on them. A high or low reading on them could be dozens of other issues, I assume the computer is smart enough to know the difference between a high or low reading and a failed O2 sensor. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolder Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Do a careful full throttle acceleration from 0 t0 xx. It might cure it or expose it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonoreTn Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 Do a careful full throttle acceleration from 0 t0 xx. It might cure it or expose it. Nothing happened when I did that, it ran good, no wrench light. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogo88 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Well my wrench light came on this weekend too. I didn't notice any rough running or high idle. I did notice that when I hit a level stretch of road where the car is cruising at 45-48mph the motor flip-flop between EV and gas to the point that it feels like it's bucking. I either speed up or slow down a bit and it then decides which mode it wants. It was doing that this weekend when the light came on. After restarting and going on another 40-50 miles trip it hasn't come back on. If it does then it's dealer time. Dan 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonoreTn Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Mine has not come back on after another tank of gas. While the light was on the road mileage was below normal, about 36 mpg. Now the mileage is back up over 40 and the wrench light has not come back on. Since I didn't pull any codes, I'm not going to worry about it. My FFH switches back and forth from electric to gas if the battery charge is high, and I am vacillating above and below 45 mph. But it is seamless, I would never notice it without the dash status. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dffr1 Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 throttle body is my guess - I would check to see if it is the same faulty type as the gas units - hopefully for your sake it is not... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMikeL Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 The wrench light can be any number of things. For me, it was a bad cooling fan for the hybrid battery pack in the trunk. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I've had the wrench indicator light go on on three different trips, all while crossing the CA desert in 100+ heat. I simply pull over, turn the car off and on, and the light resets. Never had it go on any other time. I chalk it up to several hours of highway driving in extreme heat. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelg2000 Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I also had the yellow wrench coming on while traveling 70+ MPH and in cruise control. It would reset when I would restart the car, but I took it to my dealer anyways. I ended up paying over $200 for the dealer to flash the PCM with an upgrade. The invoice indicated that there was an overheat code produced by the main electric motor. I thought the hybrid system’s warranty would have covered this, but according to the service manager it would not. So now I am out the cost of “upgrading” the FFH’s software, but at least that annoying wrench is gone. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolder Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Complain to Ford regional. Look up procedures in the Owners Guide. This is clearly a hybrid warranty item. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelg2000 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Thank you for your input. I will attempt contacting Ford’s warranty department later today. To give some additional information I have the TSB and verbiage. “46739 VERIFIED WRENCH LIGHT ON. PULLED CODE POAC7 MOTOR ELECTRONIC OVER TEMP. FOUND TSB 11-7-31. PERFORMED TSB FOR PCM / ABS REPROGRAMMING. PERFORMED VISUAL, FOUND ALL OK. PERFORMED ROAD TEST AFTER CLEARING CODES. FOUND WRENCH LIGHT NO LONGER ON. NO OTHER REPAIR NEEDED AT THIS TIME.” 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelg2000 Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Called in to Ford and received a case number for my warranty claim. The rep. said that I should receive a judgment within four business days. This should be interesting… 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelg2000 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Just received a phone call from the service manager at the dealership, he stated Ford has decided that I would not be receiving financial compensation for the repair they performed. He wasn’t able to name specifics as to whether or not the software update actually pertained specifically to the hybrid system. I assume that this claim falls in a grey area between the two propulsion systems and Ford uses that to deny responsibility. Any suggestions on further perusing this, or should I just leave it be? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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