cosmicray

As I mentioned in the TPMS thread, I need to replace two tires. I was looking at some (what I believed to be the factory originals) on eBay, and entered my vehicle's year/make/model/trim parameters, and it said "those tires are not appropriate". The tires I have been looking for are Continental ContiProContact in 205/65R15. These are for a 2013/Ford/TransitConnect/XL (cargo van). They are the same tires that it was delivered with. So then I went to the Continental TIre site, and put in my vehicle. It also says the ContiProContact were not the original tires, and they recommend VikingContact7 or VancoFourSeason. I am now very confused. I know which tires my van was delivered to me with (~10 miles on the odometer). Was there some change in the specified tires, or did the dealership do a tire swap ? I'm reasonably sure that the Continentals have been mentioned here before.

Ok, An update (I've been really busy since the orignal post) … 1. The silver rim is still mounted with the spare on passenger/front. That was originally done to expedite getting the vehicle moving. And (for one reason or the other) a decent tire (but not a Continental) is mounted on the original black rim, which is hanging under the rear end. 2. I came into (via Alliance Tire Recycling, about 4 miles from me) another 205/65-15 Continental Conti-Pro Contact. Minimally used (if at all), probably was the factory spare from another TC. vintage 2011, but no dry rot at all. So it's mounted on the driver/front position. I still have two original Continentals on the rear axle. About to replace them with new Continentals, which will get moved to the front positions. At that time, the TPMS sensors will all be replaced, the silver rim will return to the spare position with the non-Continental tire (which has awesome tread BTW). 3. Since all these shenanigans happened, last April I think when I had to move the spare up unexpectedly, I have had various as-sundry rattles coming from the rear, or driver's rear of the TC. Two days ago I resolved both of them, in less than 10 minutes. The first was the spare … It was not snugged up, so I pulled the spline tool, and made it so. Then, when returning the spline tool / lug wrench to the compartment, I noticed that the tool had been stowed backwards ! The head (with the angled socket) goes towards the rear, not the front. Stowing it correctly solved the second rattle, and now my TC rolls down the highway MUCH more quietly than it has since April. In both cases, the blame for the problems can be traced back to the guys who needed to drop the spare, and the tool to unbolt it. Onward ! edit: As to the black vs the silver rims … If I could track down three more silver rims, I would happily run those as standard equipment, and dispose with the hubcaps altogether. Thus far, I've lost 3 of the original 4. Don't feel like replacing them TBH.

So I'm having an issue with the TPMS indicator always being on. Various bits of research have led me to believe that the spare (which on my vehicle has a silver rim) did not come from the factory with a TPMS sensor installed (on the four black rims have a sensor). The spare is currently mounted, and one of the original rims is in the spare position. TPMS sensors have never been replaced. Vehicle is a 2013 Transit Connect (original US body style), has ~47K miles and is slightly more than 6 years on the road. obviously it is time to replace the sensors. for the first five years they behaved well, with no sensor misfires. Now to my questions … 1. Can I buy 5 sensors and put one into the spare rim, or do I have to scout around salvage yards to find another black rim ? 2. will the TPMS system have issues if it sees five sensors reporting ? 3. (or) am I being forced to only have the black rims on the road, and the silver rim in the spare position ?

Thank you. Solid advice there. I'm going to do some shopping around before proceeding. Part of the reason the tires are approaching 5 years, is that it sat on the dealers lot for 6 months before I bought it. Assembly date (in Turkey) was about Christmas 2012, while my purchase was mid September 2013. The tires were probably 10 months old when I drove it off the lot. The spare has never been used.

The day is coming when I will need new tires, not so much because I have excess tread wear, but because the original tires are aging, One tire shop told me the the Continental manufacturing date indicates they were made in 2012. That makes sense, as my TC was assembled in December 2012. So 4.5-5 year old tires, with a current 25K miles on them. That same shop was quoting about $250/tire for replacement with the same Continentals. Yesterday I asked at Wally what tire they would suggest. They came up with a Falken Ziex ZE950 A/S at about $70/tire. That is a considerable difference in price. Has anyone used the Falken Ziex on a TC and can give some opinions ?

Something I noticed about my 2013 TC … the automated computer that generates warning sounds has a hierarchy. Certain sounds are deemed more important that others, and override the less important sounds. As an example, the sound for the 4-way flashers is more important than the sound for the seal belt not fastened. For brief movements from my front door to the gate on the property, I can use the 4-way flashers to make the seat belt alert sound go away. There are other similar levels of importance.

My 2013 Transit Connect is now almost 3 years on the road. Thus far I have impacted two objects with the rear bumper. Both were tall/vertical, and both hit dead center. The first time it was a tall pine tree, and the second was the base of a light pole at the post office. In both cases, the objects were obscured by the join of the two rear doors. The bumper has a nice ding dead center, but otherwise the body/doors are unaffected. This TC does not have a back sensor. What I really want/need is something that alerts me to either of two situations: 1. Any object within a minimum distance, while the transmission is in Reverse 2. Any object approaching the rear, within a minimum time frame, based on speed & distance, while the transmission is in Reverse. Is this too much to ask ?

Your local Ford dealership changes owners (and name), and the new owners have gutted the service department ? I was down there last week for an oil change and a 15K checkup. They had no more than 2 techs on the floor, and the service advisor was in training. The service manager was actually from another dealership (out of state I think) and shipped in to cover until they find someone. In the past, they had normally 5-8 techs on the floor. It's not clear if they fired everyone that was there, or they offered such low salaries, that everyone went elsewhere. The oil change / 15k checkup (which should be a simple procedure) ended up causing a couple of engine codes, because the tech forgot to reconnect the sensor cable on the air filter housing. I'll let it go this time. Next nearest dealers are 35, 45, 52, and 60 miles respectively. The 'local' dealer is 12 miles.

Are you saying that the weather stripping is visible, from the outside, when the door is closed ? This is a symptom that I ran into with the local dealer during a failed attempt to re-secure the rear door weather strip. It is a partial arc shape piece of rubber. They were not paying attention and put it on upside down. I noticed that it looked weird, took it back, and asked the service advisor why the rear doors on my TC looked different from the parts dept TC parked next to it.

It did not come back for 7 months. Then on Saturday it pops up again. The dealership was closed, so I reset it (on my own discretion) to see if this is persistent or not. I've put about ~30 miles on it since the reset, and nothing yet. Looking at my records, both times it happened, was 11 days after putting fuel in the tank. Not sure why that would have anything to do with it.

Couple of weeks back, driving along, all of a sudden this little picture of an engine appears on the instrument cluster. Not realizing what it was, called the service advisor and asked. He told me it was a check engine light. So I went home and plugged in the ODB2 reader and saw a P0455 (Evaporative Emission Control System Leak Detected / large). Gas cap was tight. SA and I agreed to clear the code, and see if it came back. One full tank of fuel, and several hundred miles later, no code. Is this common ?

Speaking of changing the front seats. I have seen pictures, of UK/European Transit Connect models, where the passenger seat (left side) folded down flat. This was in conjunction with a wire-mesh cage that partitioned the cargo area from the front. The left most 30-40% of the partition was hinged, and would swing forward, so that it stopped just to the left of the gear shift. This allows long cargo items to extend all the way from the rear doors to the dash. I wonder if that seat (the UK version) is interchangeable with the right side passenger seat on the US model.

When the service tech/advisor was walking around training the TPMS, was he doing something that manually forces a sensor to identify ? Somewhere I got the impression that a magnet might nudge it to send data. When they change them out, I'm going to ask if they have to send the old ones back, or can I have it to tinker with.

I came up with a very non-standard solution for this. Took a hand held mirror (about 5x6 inches), and a few cable ties. I have the cable ties set to a length that will hold the mirror, but I can slide them off the visor when not using this, The mirror lives in the back pocket on the passenger seat, and cable ties are on the shelf over the steering wheel. Not pretty, but it gets the job done.

Long distance highway driving, I'm seeing somewhere north of 27 mpg. This is north Florida, where the terrain is mostly flat. Overall average for all driving is 25.5 mpg.