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Fifty150

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Everything posted by Fifty150

  1. I guess I won't pass the smog inspection.
  2. I reset the battery monitoring system. I don't know what, if anything, that does. They say that you are supposed to do that with newer cars. I wonder how many shops actually do that for the customer. Imagine all of those people with new batteries, that never did it.
  3. To me, this filter is clean. Next is oil. The biggest fear is over-oiling. I added oil very lightly. Then slowly waited for it to soak in. The worst thing is when you add too much oil. I added the oil from the side facing the air. Then monitored the side facing the sensor.
  4. Winter. First month of the year. Makes it easier to remember maintenance, if I forget. I can always say that I must have done it in January. Although I do keep a record online with the Ford Owners website. I swapped the air filter in the truck. Took out the oiled filter for cleaning. I'll get around to cleaning it and reoiling sometime this week...... Maybe. I have a dry filter for this purpose. And I am so lazy, the oiled filter may not go back into the truck for years. Why do it if the dry filter isn't dirty? Any opinions on the dry filters like AEM? I don't remember how long the oiled filter has been in the truck. Maybe 8 or 10 years. It really was not that dirty. But there was dirt.
  5. Fumoto is not the only seller. EZ-107(12mm-1.75) EZ Oil Drain Valve with EZ Oil Drain Valve Adapter A-107 works just as well. My truck, which also has the 12mm-1.75 thread pitch as the Transit Connect, has this combination installed. Works exactly the same. A simple ball valve. It makes oil changes so much easier. Drain directly into the disposal container. Zero mess. No oil gushing out and splashing everywhere when you first pull the drain plug. No pouring oil from the drain pan back into those little bottles. If anything is big enough to be 20+ inches off the ground, and can fit between the crossmember and the sway bar...... it gets knocked off and I lose my oil.
  6. For you and I, we are fortunate to be in a location where we have options. Because I live in The Big City, I have battery distributors, auto parts stores, and every brand of car dealership within a reasonable distance. And still, I'm trying to save a few dollars by buying batteries online. I'm spoiled. Anything and everything is available in The City. I feel bad for people who have to drive hours, or wait a week for shipping.
  7. It's now 2024, and they are still working.
  8. It takes me a few days to get around to shaking off the loose dirt and debris, spraying the cleaning fluid, and rinsing it out. Then I wait a few days for it to thoroughly dry. Then I oil it, and wait at least a day for the oil to fully soak into the filter media. I decided to buy an extra paper filter for when the oiled filter gets serviced. Wow. Air filters have really gone up in price. It was only a few years ago. 2020. On a 2016, I had already cycled through 3 paper filters, which at the time, was about $10 for a Motorcraft from the dealer. Lube shops would charge about $20 for a paper filter (installation included), when you got your $20 oil change. The paper filter was almost $6 with tax. It was slightly lower in cost compared to Motorcraft. The filter and cleaner was about $50. I figured that it would take me about 8 years to break even and 10 years to come out ahead. Paper filters have gotten so expensive, that I'm already ahead. Like most auto parts, there are only a few manufacturers. Every brand comes from the same factory, with a different label. Ecogard, Premium Guard, and Purolator part numbers even end in the same 4 digits. The actual product looks the same. Every brand gets away with selling it for whatever price you are willing to pay. Every brand has skyrocketed. Based on the idea that you change a paper filter every year; the oiled filter seems like a bargain. At today's prices, 3 annual filter changes have already paid for my oiled filter. This is year 4. I'm in the money.
  9. Batteries typically ship to distributors on pallets. Distributors then load the batteries onto battery trucks. They never toss the batteries or tumble them on conveyor belts. Which is sort of what happens when batteries are shipped via UPS, USPS, FEDEX, Amazon logistics, etc. I had an Amazon battery show up in a broken box and the box was wet. I took pictures and Amazon refunded the entire purchase amount. That's the only advantage to buying from Amazon. They will offer a full refund. I have doubts about buying from Amazon in the future. If it doesn't show up in good condition, I can get all of my money back. But if the battery doesn't last ...... Trying to file a warranty claim with Amazon, 30 days after the purchase is almost impossible.
  10. I oiled the filter from the side that faces incoming air and waited for the oil to saturate. I don't really know what I am doing. But I think it worked.
  11. What battery are you using now? Prices have gone up. The OEM battery was a group 96. The dealership lists the battery as a group 40. Both are $169.95 at the dealership level. Almost $100 more if you buy a similar battery from a retailer.
  12. The Optima Red Top in my pickup lasted 20 months. March of 2022 to November of 2023. It needed a jump start every time. Including short stops for fuel, where the engine was only off for ten minutes. I have a NOCO 10 amp charger which claims that it can destratify and desulfate depleted batteries. I tried to repair the battery. The charger got it up to 14.7 volts. As soon as the charger was disconnected, the battery only read 12.1 volts. Then it dropped down to 7 volts. Keep in mind that battery warranties are serviced by the reseller. You have to have the receipt, and return to the store that you bought it from. If you didn't buy it there, they will not help you. You cannot bring a battery from O'Reilly's, to Advanced Auto Parts or Wal*Mart. Even InterState, which is an Optima distributor, will not help you with warranty service. There is a barcode sticker on the side of the battery which indicates which retailer sold the battery. You can't try to fool them with an old battery which you bought somewhere else. And you must have the original receipt which will serve as the warranty start date. If you buy the battery online....... no store will help you. If you buy a car battery online, what do you do about the core charge? You can buy a battery from Ford Parts, Rock Auto, Amazon...... and it's great to get a lower price and free shipping...... but what will it cost for you to send a 50 pound battery back to get your core deposit?
  13. Optima recommends that you can use their Group 78. Just remember that Optima batteries are sealed. You can turn the battery on it's side and slide the battery in with the terminals facing up. It looks like a tight fit, but it could work.
  14. Let's see how dirty your filter is.
  15. The dealership sold me a BXT-40R. It dropped right into my van. No hassle. In today's world, there are many options for group 40 and group 96. There are AGM options. Optima doesn't have a battery. Odyssey does.
  16. Just an anecdote. No science what-so-ever. I installed a K&N oiled filter in my ex's car. We drove to Vegas & back. I kept every receipt and calculated the miles per gallon. With each fillup, and for the entire trip, we got about 10% better fuel mileage. No real science. Just a car that got about 26 miles per gallon, getting 29 miles per gallon. Many factors contribute. When your car usually drives short trips in stop & go traffic, suddenly gets a long highway trip..... cruise control set to highway speed..... CA gas versus NV gas ethanol levels..... long flat stretch of highway for hundreds of miles.......
  17. For what it's worth, the K&N filter has paid for itself and saved money for me. If I were to have changed disposable filters every year, the expense would be over $100 by now. It's a little bit of work to clean and reoil the K&N. According to K&N, you can use those filters for a really long time between service intervals. But I don't think I will wait 50,000 miles, 75,000 miles, or 100,000 miles to clean the filter. I just do it by eye. If the filter looks dirty, I clean and oil it. From my experience, you can never get those things 100% clean. Or at least I've never been able to get everything that is stuck to the wire cage holding the filter media. When I took the air intake off to change the battery, I took a look at the filter. A lot of debris. The throttle body was pretty clean, which may mean that the filter is working. I've heard of how filter oil gets sucked into the tube, saturates the MAF sensor, and pollutes the throttle body. But I suspect that is usually from somebody not oiling the filter correctly from the outside, putting too much oil on the filter, and not waiting for the oil to saturate and fully absorb into the filter media.
  18. Ikea futon pads work great. You must be excited.
  19. My 2016 came from the factory with BXT-96R. The dealership replaced it with BXT-40R. I bought it based on pricing and availability. It was the least expensive battery, and it was available. No ordering and waiting for delivery. The price was significantly lower than every available option. Auto parts stores sell the same MotorCraft battery for 50% more. When I looked up the van, the BXT-96R which it came with shows that it doesn't fit.
  20. Slide out the battery, with the ground wire attached. No point in trying to reach into that space with a wrench. The OEM battery was BXT-96R. My VIN recommended replacement is BXT-40R. The local auto parts store shows different options. Although the battery which came in the van was not an option. Then put it all back together.
  21. The entire air intake has to be removed. Not hard. Just more work. Disconnect everything attached to the intake hose. Remove the cover. Remove the filter. Have a new filter handy. Remove the base of the air box. Disconnect the ground wire at the ground post. It's a 13mm. Disconnect the positive terminal. Remove the battery hold down securement device. 10mm wrench. No easy short cut to lifting up and disengaging the panel in front of the battery.
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