Top Cat

It happened to me in March of 2011. I posted a warning.

Pozdrowienia Maciej! Witamy na forum Ford Transit Connect.

A six, or more, speed transmission. Disk brakes all around. A parts dept. aftermarket kit to add the new 2011 rear quarter panel power windows and the new rear wheel carpeting to a 2010 year model XLT Wagon. A LOUDER horn!

Hi ncranchero. That insurance is not offered under comp in New Jersey. When I lived in New York City about 10+ years ago, I did have it. It must vary from state to state. Still, in the end, the insurance company does not pay for the glass, you do via higher premiums. Additionally, The Ford TC Forum does not work with Microsoft IE9. I could not get my message to post under IE9.

ncranchero, in these inflationary times, just think of USD.23.00 as the new five spot! :-)

It snowed here in NJ yesterday. I got in the car started driving in the snow and I turned on the windshield defroster. As the owners manual says, I turned it on full speed and full hot. After only 2 mies or so, I noticed that the windshield had cracked all the way across just above the defroster vents. It is almost a straight line! I took the car to my Ford dealer today. He said that there must have been a chip in the windshield first and the cold and heat just stretched it enough to make it crack. Tough nougies, it is a customer pay and not a warranty claim. I have been driving for some 38 years now and I have never seen, or heard of such a thing. Well, USD.450.00 later, I wanted to warn the other TC owners to not run their defrosters full speed, full hot. Either that, or make a deflector to keep the defroster air from hitting the windshield directly.

Wolo and others, market a small, LOUD, add on motorcycle air horn. I bought one and I hope that I can install it in place of the stock turkey tooter.

That NV thing must take the prize as the ugliest Nissan EVER!

Thanks guys! It works like a charm!

Yes, that is a lot of room to do away with just for a flat top! Thanks for sharing!

I have done some research and you Westerners do put chains on the front wheels of front wheel drive vehicles. Maybe it is just a persistent Eastern rumor that they are not allowed. At the same time I have never seen them here on front wheel drive cars at all. These are the best stock tire, TC chains that I have found. They are self adjusting, criss cross pattern, easy on - easy off Thule chains. They are hand made by Italian craftsmen. Heck, that means that they were manufactured a lot closer to Turkey than China is! The best price of $177.99 was at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UNRJ2Y/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER All that I can say is that it is a good thing that it does not snow that much here in New Jersey! If I have to take the TC in the snow, I am staying home! :D

Thanks Zepper! The Powertrain Control Module (PCM) minifuse is under the hood in position 28 (15A) and position 35 (10A). If I get stuck again, I may just pull them out and see if that helps. Meanwhile, can I install chains on the front wheels of a TC? I have only seen them on the rear wheels of rear wheel drive vehicles.

The thin jam side strip on my right side door fell off too. Yes, it was also in the rain! Freehold Ford in Freehold, NJ replaced the entire strip. It took two weeks to get the part, but it all turned out OK. I am glad that I was not alone in that leak!

I just had the same situation here in New Jersey this weekend during our blizzard. My TC went real fast from being an automobile, to becoming a nice warm place, with a big picture window to watch the snow fall. This lack of a traction control override switch completely ruins the Transit Connect as a vehicle in the snow. I tried asking Ford about it from their website. The website refused to take my question. I reverted to writing to Ford. I will post their reply here when I receive it.

I have been having thoughts about whitewall tires again! I figure that if Continental and Goodyear won't make them, maybe I could make them myself! Here is a guy with a rat rod VW bug who acted on his dream with Krylon Fusion Plastic paint, painters tape, de-greasing juices and a lost afternoon. The results are pretty good too! Enjoy the read! http://www.volksrods.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25560

I change my oil every 5,000 miles. I use 5W-20 Mobil One, with a Mobil One - 102 filter. I know that I am fussy, but I like doing the oil change myself. This way I can control the drain time. I am under no pressure to make more money by taking care of the next car. I can let my car drain for an hour, or more. That way I am getting out the very last drop of the old oil. I also get some time to poke around under the hood, look at the hoses, examine the belt and check all of the other fluid levels.

It is for the center mounted brake light. You can see them clearly on the older TC's offered for sale on eBay United Kingdom. Now the newer brit TC's have the same plastic rectangle which we have filling that hole on the top left rear door. I would guess that some nations still require that third brake light instead of our roof mounted versions, so Ford just filled the hole on some and stuck in a brake light on others. The English also have a flat top TC. It is a lot cooler looking than the pop top US version. On the down side, you would have to live in England to get one! :-(

Good luck JJ! Please keep up advised on your progress.

Here is a TC spares vendor in the UK who is selling 2010 Ford TC fog lamps on eBay. He purportedly has more than 10 available. They are 55W Halogen lamps. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310218365056&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT From the looks of things, I guess that one would have to take a hole saw to the back of the "decorative" plug which Ford put in our bumpers to accommodate the actual real fog lights. Plastic cement and a few well placed black screws may complete the camouflage.

I removed my particle board panels by using as standard auto parts store auto panel removal tool. It is a flat steel tool with a slot down the middle and a rudimentary handle on the end. The edge of the business end is tapered to allow the tool to slide under the round plastic fasteners. The tool has a slight bend in it to allow you to rock the tool and pop the plastic fasteners out. I used the particle boards as a template to make new panels out of 1" five layer plywood. I used the plywood to reduce vibration and to support the weight of the speakers. The 1" also give me an extra inch for the depth of the speakers. I covered that in blue vinyl to match the rest of the Transit Connect and installed Kenwood 6x9" 5 way speakers in the new panels. I used well nuts to install my new rear speaker panels.