Beta Don

The stock radiator didn't work well enough when it was new?? Don

I think if he checked to see if the 'Miles to Empty' display is working properly, he'd have an answer to that question without buying a Scan tool. If the number of miles remaining is going down as he drives, the sender must be sending info to the CanBus, no? Don

We have the removable 60/40 bench rear seat in our 2014 SWB van. I've removed the smaller piece of it several times and it's heavy! I would guess 50 or 60 pounds for the smaller piece and the larger one has got to be 15 or 20 pounds more than that, so . . . . as a *wild guess* I would say somewhere between 110 and 135 pounds for both pieces. The big one is heavy enough I've never tried taking it out - You'd definitely need two fairly strong guys to get it out and back in again Don

My 2014 has 29,xxx - Two oil changes (I bought it with 12,000) one transmission fluid exchange and it still has the factory tires and wipers - I keep it in the garage when I'm not driving it . . . . and we only drive it when we're taking long trips. 28.7 mpg lifetime average Don

The solenoid atop the starter motor does two things. It pushes a spring loaded copper disk against the two contacts to make the starter motor run and at the same time, it slides the gear along the starter shaft so it will engage the teeth on the flywheel or flex plate to turn over the engine. If there's a problem with the way the teeth engage, that might keep the copper disc from making a good connection to turn the starter motor I would check the teeth on the flywheel or flex plate (likely a flex plate on a TC as they're all automatics and the torque converter bolts to a flex plate, not a flywheel) and see what shape the teeth are in. Some engines come to rest in the same place every time you shut them off, so the starter ends up engaging the same few teeth every time you start it. Maybe those teeth are bad and the flex plate needs changing. Some starters need to be adjusted (usually with shims) to make the teeth on the starter engage the teeth on the flex plate correctly. One time, many years ago, I had an SS 396 Chevelle with was literally destroying starter motor every few hundred miles - It was actually breaking the starter motor shaft near the end where it mated with the flywheel. This baffled everybody who saw it or worked on it. Come to find out, a 396 expert told us that the starter doesn't just get bolted to the engine block, but it gets shimmed to work properly. Once it was properly installed, no more problems! Don't know that much about Gen 1 TC's or Focuses, but there are people who do and that's who you need to talk to about this. Obviously, starters last most TC's for 100K or more, so the fact that you are going through them every few hundred miles is an anomaly, and there *is* a unique reason why this is happening . . . . and it's NOT that the starters are using cheap metal in them Don

He could register it in Mississippi, no problem. We have never had an exhaust sniffer test of any kind and a few years ago, they abandoned the $5 annual state test which only checked to see if your lights, wipers and horn worked, so now we have no vehicle inspections of any kind - Nada, nil, zero! Don

The tail and brake lights in modern vehicles are very different from those on older vehicles. Used to be you could hook trailer lights direct to the tail lights on the tow vehicle and *maybe* you'd need to increase the fuse size a bit to account for the extra load These days, you can't do that any longer. Now the lights are powered by the cars computer and they *will not* stand for any extra load to be placed on them. Trailer tail lamps must be powered from a separate DC source, with it's own fuse and the vehicle tail lights just serve as a 'trigger' to turn on the trailer lights - You gotta buy a trailer light wiring kit with the switching circuitry to power the trailer lights Just mentioning this because . . . . maybe someone didn't do things right and that could be why the OP's tail lights are out . . . . ?? Don

There are companies that make aftermarket, bolt in swivels for van seats. I have a diesel Mercedes Sprinter based motor home and I know they sell the swivels for those, both passenger and driver seats . . . . and, they sell them for other makes and models too. Pretty sure they are DOT legal too, which is important. You can find them on eBay for $150 per seat or so Don

Why not forget about hydraulic power steering with it's pumps, hoses and belts and just install electric power steering like all the Gen 2 TC's have?? Hydraulic power steering is so . . . . yester-year! I have 5 vehicles in my garage and every one of them has electric power steering - Heck, even my little Kubota diesel garden tractor has electric power steering!! ? Don

That would depend entirely on the physical dimensions of the sofa/recliner you're looking at - They vary all over the place, depending on the style and who made the one you're looking at - Kinda like asking "Will my boat on my friends trailer fit under the low clearance bridge near my house??" ? Don

Smart move replacing all the old hoses and gaskets - Big money now, but if you want long term reliability, it's the only way to go and it's pretty obvious you're wanting to drive this van for another 100k or more, so . . . . . smart thinking! Don

With lots of stop and go city driving, I'd be more concerned with the health of the transmission than the 2.5 engine - You know the engine oil has been regularly changed and you also know the transmission hasn't been serviced, because Ford says that's not necessary because . . . . it's a 'lifetime' transmission' . . . . which may be nearing the end of it's lifetime with 70K of stop and go driving. The engines in the 2nd Gen TC's are considered very reliable, but there have been many examples of early transmission failures before reaching 100K. If I was going to buy this one, I'd get an extended warranty as part of the package. But, for what they likely want for it, I'd probably just keep looking. As an example, when we bought our 2014 3 years ago, it had 13,000 miles on it and we paid $13,000 off the sticker price Don

You may very well be on to something there! My experience with rear drum brakes has always been with RWD vehicles which have long axles with heavy duty bearings which run in an oil bath - Rear bearing failures are fairly rare. In this case with a FWD vehicle which doesn't have long rear axles (I assume they're stubby little things with a bearing on either end?) virtually any play in the rear bearings could cause a very slight wobble which might exhibit the symptoms he's experiencing. It would be a very good idea to carefully examine the rear bearings and if they appear less than perfect in any way, change them. If he has a high mileage TC, it might be worth changing them just for GP. That just might solve the problem Don

Your mechanic should have squirted a little oil in the cylinder and ran the test again. If the compression went way up, then it's probably a broken ring and not a burned valve. If you've been driving on a broken ring for 3,500 miles, that cylinder is probably toast and you'd want another engine. If it's just a burned valve, I don't see any problem with a valve job - If that's possible - or a new/used head if it's not. A good head on an old engine shouldn't cause any problems But . . . . if it was my van . . . . with 267K on the motor I would either buy a good used, low mileage engine (something out of a wreck with less than 100K on it, or . . . . I would junk the van and buy me something newer. With 267K on it, it's going to soon begin nickel and dimeing you to death . . . . and after you spend $1K to $1,500 to get a newer engine put in it, you'd probably keep spending money on it for much longer than you probably should. There comes a time in every old vehicles life when it's time to stop throwing good money at it and move on to something better - If you're not there right now (I think you probably are) you're very close to it and now is not the time to spend a big chunk of change to get it running again Don

That depends on how much you hate to walk! No way I would have ever tried taking any vehicle in the condition you describe to Mexico . . . . but it sounds like you (barely) got away with it. You can get it fixed now, or . . . . do you feel lucky? By all means, keep a comfy pair of shoes in the van!! Don