Hybrid towing

We have now towed our 2011 Fusion Hybrid 15,000 miles putting it in neutral and turning the key all the way back (toward the driver)without any problems.This is where I believed it to be the acc position! Oh well, we also have a charge line and I will continue this as it has worked well. We now have over 36K on it and still think the car is great!

DouglasC wrote:
I have towed a 2008 Mercury Mariner hybrid for almost 20,000 miles and now a 2012 Ford Fusion hybrid for over 5,000 miles. I always turn the key back as far as it will go after putting the transmission in Neutral. That key position is not ACC and will not cause the battery to drain. I have traveled for as long as 3 days (staying overnight in campgrounds with pull-thrus) with the key in the ignition and have never run the battery down - - nor have I ever had any problems with these vehicles by doing this.

No charge line is necessary when you turn the key all the way back towards off since you don't drain the battery. Also, when the key is not in the ACC or On/Start positions, the electric brake assist is not on and so when I used my Brake Buddy, there is minmal drain on the battery (only when the air resevoir needs to be refilled if the Brake Buddy actuates often - - which it almost never does the way I drive)......

Doug, the problem with this approach is, you are leaving everything turned off by putting the ignition in that 'in-between' position you refer to here. While that solves the battery charge issue and avoids the need for a charge line, it creates some potentially much bigger issues:

Ford specifically states in the owner's manual for fusion hybrids, to leave key in ACC position when flat towing it. We don't really know ALL the reasons why they say to do that. There could very well be some good reasons they want it in the ACC position, besides just to allow tranny to stay in neutral.

Just what electrical systems might Ford intend to stay powered up when towing these hybrids, that you are turning off with your approach?

These hybrid drivetrains are pretty complicated. There are several pieces to it that are powered electrically, that in a conventional drivetrain are powered mechanically, by the crankshaft. Sure hope you aren't turning one or two electrically powered components off thats going to cause some issues later on. Specifically, I really hope there's not an electrically powered transmission lube/cooling pump somewhere, that you are turning off and Ford intends to be on when towing.

I know you have a pretty long track record of using this method without any issues, which may well mean there's no harm being done. However, in the absence of any factual evidence from Ford on specifically why they say to put key in ACC position....I think I'm going to stick with (and recommend to other folks) doing it the way Ford recommends! :)

Also, don't forget that you will running lights for nighttime driving.

Just saw that post above mentioned taillights.

Colo. newbie wrote:
Does anybody know if you have to run a wire for the brakes lites, because the brake buddy or simular devices, turn the brake lites on, or is that mainly for the turn signals?

Well, you have to run wires for the turn signals, and typically you run wires for the brake light as well while you're in there wiring the tail lights. That way you're insured that brake lights will work, even if something goes awry with your supplemental braking system (they ARE known to quit working from time to time).

I'm not sure if you could get by with relying on just your supplemental braking system to engage the brake lights, although some probably do just that. Check the various DOT laws where you'll travel, too, there may be a law or two requiring you to wire brake lights to the towing vehicle (Motorhome).

Will

Colo. newbie wrote:
Does anybody know if you have to run a wire for the brakes lites, because the brake buddy or simular devices, turn the brake lites on, or is that mainly for the turn signals?

I would run wire for brake light. If your battery went dead, which can happen on a hybrid, you wouldn't have brake lights if you don't run the wire. Run the wire! Cheap & easy at the time of install.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

Does anybody know if you have to run a wire for the brakes lites, because the brake buddy or simular devices, turn the brake lites on, or is that mainly for the turn signals?

I have towed a 2008 Mercury Mariner hybrid for almost 20,000 miles and now a 2012 Ford Fusion hybrid for over 5,000 miles. I always turn the key back as far as it will go after putting the transmission in Neutral. That key position is not ACC and will not cause the battery to drain. I have traveled for as long as 3 days (staying overnight in campgrounds with pull-thrus) with the key in the ignition and have never run the battery down - - nor have I ever had any problems with these vehicles by doing this.

No charge line is necessary when you turn the key all the way back towards off since you don't drain the battery. Also, when the key is not in the ACC or On/Start positions, the electric brake assist is not on and so when I used my Brake Buddy, there is minmal drain on the battery (only when the air resevoir needs to be refilled if the Brake Buddy actuates often - - which it almost never does the way I drive).

And to re-inforce what others have said - - these Ford hybrids are the easiest to tow - - no fuses to pull - - nor battery cables to disconnect, etc.

BTW: I use a Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar and am now on my 2nd Roadmaster tow bar. Have been towing vehicles 4 wheels down now for 20 years!

Doug

Colo. newbie wrote:
Ok, with all that said I will tow my Hybrid 4 down but is any towbar better for hybrids? Also is there kits for running charge lines?

Not sure that any particular tow bar would be better than any other for a hybrid necessarily, but I do highly, highly recommend the ReadyBrute Elite tow bar, made by ReadyBrake. You get a great braking system and tow bar, for 'bout the same price as you'd pay for just a tow bar alone from anyone else. Assuming you plan to get/use a supplemental braking system, this approach saves you a TON of $$.

If you go with another braking system, make certain it is one that will work with active power brakes. With Ford's hybrids, the power brake assist is on all the time, even when towing. Readybrake handles that just fine, some other systems do not.

As to a kit for a charge line: The Toad Charge system would be one such kit that would work fine. I'm sure there are others, but thats only one that comes to mind. You can save yourself a lot of $$, and keep it much more simple, though, by just buying you some wire, connectors, fuse links, etc. and run the wire yourself. Its very easy to do, and if you search some on here, you'll find several posts talking about how to do such.

Will

Ok, with all that said I will tow my Hybrid 4 down but is any towbar better for hybrids? Also is there kits for running charge lines?

the_armadillo wrote:
We tow a 4WD FEH four down which had the same basic components as the FFH thru 2012. We do follow the instructions for leaving the key in ACC position and use a charge line from the RV..

Yes, you bring up a good point here - With Ford's hybrids, a charge line from the MH is almost a requirement.

With ours I confirmed with an ammeter that there is a constant drain on the battery of around 3 amps when you leave key in ACC position. Even more if you have a supplemental braking system pushing on the brake pedal, as Ford's electric powered brake assist stays on all the time when towing.

With these hybrids, in most cases you're going to have to run a charge line, or will deal with a lot of dead batteries and jump starts. Very, very easy and simple to do, though, and eliminates worries completely of running down the toad battery.

Will