Beta Don

Until the guy who *thinks he can* drifts into my lane and hits me head on My daughter *thinks she can* . . . . but she has literally bent 6 or 7 wheels on her last 2 cars when she drifts off the road to the right while messing with her phone - There are several hundred drivers out there who have no idea just how lucky they are Don

Nothing wrong with being safe, or even ultra safe if you're a bit paranoid - It's important to know what you're dealing with and not do anything which would endanger anyone But you did tell Dave to be careful because 'Lead/acid batteries "out gas" ... venting some hydrogen and oxygen while charging or discharging' and while that's true or conventional flooded batteries, it's not true of his AGM battery, so I felt compelled to speak up to let him know he has nothing to worry about - No gassing of any kind unless there's a catastrophic failure of the charging system, which he really doesn't need to worry about either Don

Yes, you do need to vent them, or . . . . ensure there is no possibility of a gross overcharge, because only under a sustained gross overcharge condition will it be likely to pop it's seal and vent, They do not vent ANY gas under normal conditions. It's very unlikely that a modern alternator will fail in a 'max charge' condition, but it is theoretically possible. Since Dave isn't charging his AGM with an alternator, but with a CTEK DC to DC charger, that eliminates the possibility of a gross overcharge and the need for venting his AGM battery. He has nothing to worry about Every Chevy Volt made has an AGM in the passenger compartment (it's under the rear deck panel which is not sealed from the passenger compartment) and to my knowledge, there's never been an AGM failure reported. Again, that battery isn't charged by an alternator but by a DC to DC converter Don

Not to worry - AGM batteries like the one he installed are sealed and don't vent gases of any sort while being charged and they are 'legal' for installation within the living spaces of vehicles and boats Don

I have a set of OE 16" steelies in perfect shape removed when the TC had about 15K on it. Would be prefect for anyone who needs a second set for snow tires, but since it never snows here, I'll never use them and I hate to see them laying around I won't ship them, but if your travels ever take you anywhere near Biloxi Mississippi, I'll take $75 for the set Don

Not to my knowledge - No factory rear seats in any cargo model that I'm aware of, though how to install rear seats seems to be pretty popular question here 2014 and later SWB wagon models came with a 3 passenger rear bench seat. It's a 60/40 arrangement and it's in 2 pieces, both of which were designed to be easily removed and reinstalled in just a couple minutes with no tools. You can take out either the 40 piece, the 60 piece or both but if you just temporarily need more space and don't care to remove the seats completely, the seat backs fold flat and then the seats fold vertically so they 'stand' just behind the front bucket seats - You don't even have to remove the head rests. You end up with an almost empty van, missing only about a foot of space where the vertical seats are stored. That gives you a flat floor for cargo all the way to the back door. When we travel, we frequently remove the 40 side, stand the 60 side vertical behind the passenger bucket seat and fill the van up with cargo. That way, when we get where we're going, if we need to haul 4 people, we can just by setting the 60 side back down and opening it up The seats are a really neat design. The seat belts are built into them, even the shoulder belt for the center person and yet you can pop them out of the van in just a minute or two - They ARE pretty heavy though Don

Gee, that would put about 95% of Americans out of work, wouldn't it? Don

If it's a 2010, it probably has enough miles on it that you're looking to spend big money on some other things over the next few years, so any major expense (and replacing the rockers will be a major expense unless you can source some junkyard parts and do the work yourself) probably means that 'the end' is on the horizon for that vehicle I know I wouldn't invest even $2K replacing the rockers when the near future will probably mean more money for suspension or transmission work - You'll be 'throwing good money after bad' I would start making plans on what the replacement is ultimately going to be Don

There's lots more going on inside a filter than just how much filtration they offer. Some filters have anti-drainback valves, some don't. Some have pressure regulating valves, some don't. Most have a pressure relief valve where it bypasses a clogged filter, but the pressure required to open that valve can vary from filter to filter, even ones from the same manufacturer. There are very few filters which are exactly the same inside, except one has a bit more filter paper so when you change from the one spec'ed for your engine to one spec'ed for another, you very well might be changing something inside which was also spec'ed for your engine that you don't have anymore . . . . and what have you really gained? If the engineers wanted a larger filter, they would have specified that. I'm sure the filter size is probably twice as big as it really needs to be, assuming you're doing oil changes at the recommended interval Don

I'm always very hesitant to use any other filter than the one the manufacturer recommends - There's lots more going on inside the filter other than how many square inches of filtration it has and I see nothing to be gained by second guessing the engineer who spec'ed the filter he thinks is best for HIS engine But, there will always be those who think 'larger must be better' and/or who think they know more about this particular engine than the guys who designed it - I've seen these 'lets use a larger filter' threads in every automotive forum I've frequented over the past 25 years or so . . . . and now we have one here too! Don

That's true of course, but for an oil change (which I do far more often than brake work or rotating tires) they are much simpler, quicker and safer than a jack and jack stands. They also came in very handy when installing the trailer hitch Use the best tool for the job at hand Don

I would suggest you take a siphon hose, better yet, half a dozen different sized siphon hoses, and spend an hour or so trying to get ANY gas out of the filler pipe on your TC. You will most assuredly rest easy about anyone stealing your gas after you see just how impossible it is to do . . . . without drilling a hole in the bottom of the tank . . . . and, it will give you second thoughts about the times you've forgotten to trip the inside release on your Scion and had to walk back around the car to do it - What a waste of time! I know it would really tick me off. The door latches on other cars aren't to prevent theft - They're to make someone think twice about putting anything into the tank . . . . not to prevent them taking anything out Don

I'm sorry, but huge wide tires on the back of any FWD vehicle makes about as much sense to me as the HUGE wings you see bolted to the trunk on some of the little FWD Japanese imports - Do they really need all that extra traction out back?? Now, if you can just add a little 'fart can' muffler to your TC (and maybe a wing too?) you'll be all set I know, I know - You already admitted it makes no sense and that it's just 'your thing' but that doesn't stop me from shaking my head whenever I see such a vehicle pass me by on the road. But, by all means, do your own thing even if it doesn't make a lick of sense (to me) . . . . it sure relieves the boredom and keeps the world interesting!! . . . . . plus it's great for the economy - Look at all the tires and wheels you've bought over the past year or so to achieve this 'look' Don

I *think* if you pull out the 'radio' unit that came with the van and replace it with an identical unit that you buy on eBay, it will work OK without having to reprogram anything. If you try upgrading to a different unit than the one that came in the van, I would say all bets are off - You don't know what will happen Don

There are lots of improper places on the running gear a wrecker driver can hook onto, and they often do . . . . and they frequently do more damage to the vehicle getting it out of the ditch than the driver did getting it in. Something to hook onto designed just for the purpose sounds like a no-brainer to me . . . . and at only $30, it's dirt cheap Don

I think it will probably have all that and more I read an article last week about a "New van for seniors" with adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring and the rear cross traffic alert to warn you when you're backing out of a parking space (My Chevy Volt has all these) and what got me to reading the article in the first place was . . . . the photo of the Transit Connect at the top of the page. Supposedly, the 2019's will have all this available. The 'Infotainment Center' in my Volt also has Android Auto, 4G wireless hotspot and Onstar of course - I suspect the 2019 TC's will have something similar Don

I've driven manual transmission cars all my life - Never owned an automatic until the TC and thought (like you) that I would much rather have a manual there too. But, the Gen 2 six speed auto matched to the 2.5 is just a joy to drive. You can shift it manually if you need to - I do that a lot when I need engine braking, but for normal driving, I'm sure the auto gets better mileage than I could do with a manual - The trans is very well matched to the engine's torque band and with half a dozen computer inputs factoring into the decision of when to shift, it's just as good, if not better than I could do with a manual Since you can't buy one over here with a manual, I would suggest driving whatever you buy for a month or two (would probably take that long to put swap parts together anyway) and see if it doesn't grow on you. After more than 50 years with only manual transmissions, I'm not pretty certain that I've bought my last one. Our electric cars (Mitsubishi iMiEV's and 2017 Chevy Volt) don't need to shift at all and to me, that's the ideal scenario - A power plant that gives you excellent performance from a standing stop and can still run freeway speeds with the same ratio. Best of both worlds! Don

That was true for the Gen 1's up through 2013, but the US Federal Government caught up with them and ended their charade https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/heres-how-ford-cleverly-got-transit-connect-past-i-268141 Don

That's unusual - Somebody loves Michelins . . . . and for better handling too. Never thought I'd hear THAT! Michelins are famous for outlasting most other tire brands because they use harder rubber compounds than most others, which usually causes them to rate lower in the handing department than many brands. My 2017 Chevy Volt came with Michelins as the OE tire and on the Volt forum, virtually everybody is looking for another tire to improve the handling - Can't wait for them to wear down far enough to get rid of them To each his/her own. Glad you're happy with them - Whatever you took off must have been terrible tires if the Michelins gave you better handling though Don

Congrats! Great looking van!! I love the SWB models too When (if) you find a decent deal on the upper rear reflectors, let me know - I want a set too, but Ford is just CRAZY with their pricing on them . . . . and most vendors want either a core, or they charge you an additional $50 'core charge' . . . . for EACH side!!! Don

I have 3 electric cars - Two 2012 Mitsubishi iMiEV's and a 2017 Chevy Volt Bought the first Mitsu new 6 years ago in May of 2012 for $30K less the government $7.5K tax credit. Bought the second one two years later when it came off lease for $8700 . . . . and it had just 3,900 miles on it - The second one had all the bells and whistles and a sticker of $34K when it was new. This shows the alarming depreciation many EV's face as soon as you drive them off the lot. Both these cars were still supported by the factory, with a 10 year, 100K battery warranty as well as extended warranties on the EV drive system The Ford Transit Connect EV was never really a 'Ford' as they never warrantied any part of it - It was Azure Dynamics baby right from the start. The $57.5K sticker meant there weren't going to be many private owners - It was aimed at business fleets. With a 28 Kw battery giving you 50 to 75 miles of range, you would have to put 200K or more on it to recoup the difference in price from the ICE version - You almost could have bought 3 trucks from Ford for the price of one electric one Should you buy this one? That depends on what you can do with it and what they want for it. Replacing the battery would be cost prohibitive, but Lithium EV batteries can last a very long time, depending on the software and how easy or hard on the battery it allows the vehicle to be. I suspect the Transit is pretty conservative, as it gets about the same range from 28Kw of battery as our Mitsu's get from just 16Kw. I personally wouldn't be too worried about the battery, but there could be other parts of it that might cause problems later on - Azure Dynamics built the entire drive train If I had a small business which could make good use of a vehicle able to do 50 or 60 miles each day *and* I could buy the vehicle for $10K or less, I would probably take a chance on it . . . . but you are very correct that it's a gamble and that any major fault could leave you with some very expensive scrap metal - Oh, you could sell the battery bank to someone wanting to build their own EV and get maybe half your money back - You could probably sell the whole van in not running condition and get most of your money back . . . . assuming you found the 'right' buyer and you didn't pay more than $10K for it when you bought it If they're asking more than $10K, I don't think they're going to find many buyers. If Azure was still in business and if it had a warranty still in effect for a few more years, it *might* be worth $15K, but as it is now, it's a real gamble - If the price is 'right' it might be a gamble worth taking, but it all depends on your needs and the asking price, IMO Our Mitsubishi's have been completely problem free (other than 3 factory recalls) for 6 years now and we're really glad we bought them both. Hopefully we'll still be driving them 6 or 8 years from now - There won't be ANY warranty by then, but we'll have got our value from then by then too Don

I added DRL's in the Fog lights - I didn't really want them in the headlights anyway There are several cars which use nearly identical fog light housings as the Gen 2 TC's, but have DRL bulbs in them. I had a spare one from one of my 2012 Mitsubishi iMiEV's and I found that some Subaru models used the same housing (as well as a few Fords) so I ordered an extra housing on eBay and installed them - Factory fit using the same mounting screws as the OEM housings. I used an LED in the DRL position and wired them to an under hood fuse which is hot anytime the engine is on. They're down low, very bright, I still have my fog lights and am quite happy with the result Don

Wouldn't be very useful as a wagon if you couldn't roll the back windows down . . . . would it? Don

What transmission(s) are offered with the diesel in Europe? Any rumors about which one(s) will be offered in the '19 USA version? Don

Not to worry! - The owner of an EV can't do any harm to the battery. The car's computer won't let you, which is why they do last so long You cannot discharge it to 5% nor can you recharge it to 100%. EV's employ a very conservative charge.discharge protocol. If you want a Lithium battery to last 3X as long as it otherwise would, you just limit the charge voltage to 95% of absolute maximum . . . . and if you want it to last 10X as long, limit it to 90%. The discharge voltage is limited even more than that, so no matter what the owner does, the technology is there to ensure a long life Our 6 year old Mitsubishi EV's are used exactly as you mentioned. Since we're retired and have no regular commute, we do mostly run errands with them and recharge a couple times per week - No battery degradation that we can measure in the first 50,000 miles. The total maintenance over the first 6 years has been one new interior air filter replacement and one set of wipers. Now that the tires are 6 years old, they'll need to be changed sometime this year Don