Fifty150

I see that some people are reporting great mileage. Mileage which is displayed on the vehicle dashboard. I have always used the old fashion method of miles driven, divided by amount of fuel consumed. No science here. I went from full tank baseline to the next fuel refill. I just decided to use my tablet computer to read the OBD II port to see what the vehicle's computer sees. An Amazon Fire ($35) with Torque Lite (the free version). So I'm reading the same display as what most of you are reading. According to the car's computer, I'm getting great mileage. The last tank was 28.5 MPG. But in the real world, I drove 177.1 miles, which consumed 11.385 gallons of fuel. 15.555 MPG. You guys can believe what you want. Truth is, some people must be getting the great mileage estimated by the car's computer. Just not me. And apparently, I'm not alone. Others have also reported poor mileage. Anyone else looking over the fuel purchases and comparing it to the odometer?

From personal experience, multi-vehicle ATF never really works as well as when you use the OEM spec fluid. I've tried spending more money on fancy brands, and all with mixed results. Amsoil, Lucas Oil, RedLine, Amalie, Royal Purple...... With Honda, only Honda spec fluid works well. With Ford, when the spec was Mercon & Mercon V, everybody I knew who used a multi-vehicle ATF from the auto parts chain store or chain lube shop, experienced hard shifting, slipping, and poor engagement. I suspect that with the current spec for low viscosity fluid, it will be much the same. I'm not particular with brand. Some people swear that you must use Ford Motorcraft. My feeling is that any brand will work, as long as it is actually LV fluid. And there are several brands which sell fluid which is actually LV. Not something that says "meets or exceeds", then goes on to list every vehicle on the road. If 1 fluid could do it all, then all the manufacturers will just that 1 fluid. I know there are people who insist on their boutique oil brand, and how they have a great ATF. My personal choice is not to use any ATF which is not specific to your vehicle. I will stick to whichever bottle actually says "LV" When a lube shop or garage will only use their multi-vehicle ATF, then I will not allow them to service my car. Same way I do not get oil changes with a coupon, where the coupon staes "4 quarts of 10W-40". Weird how those shops will argue with you about how they will only use their fluid, instead of using the right fluid. Notice how a dealership will never use "multi-vehicle" anything?

maybe you've got a service writer who does not know what he is talking about. You have a lot of miles on the car. Have the fluid exchanged. No reason for a dealership to refuse $300 of your money.

Tell her you want to see how many pairs of Christian Louboutin can fit in the back.

As I was under my truck, I was thinking that the Transit Connect is just as easy...... https://d1y6jrbzotnyjg.cloudfront.net/UGCPR/a0a63e5db83643ee9cf52ddfd29378a4/V1/d38e360bce0d431ba0e0bc96b43f0e6f/ShortForm-Generic-480p-16-9-1409173089793-rpcbe5.mp4?Expires=1545377873&Signature=Qs11uh0YEotvI3J4c2Jb5fB2XWMXqN9CpA8ZkC4rHS1kvMGYAC2K6JB5cuPcRrfUN8BoFNpFFgn~e5INXj8Wf-e-pyFPw4u0~sMu48iFSTXEbmgUze1BPu-e0q4Bcc-R3yqf-qkfpltJMJyXJBmhque13t9Yldhumj89lSEkujU_&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJ62XWKZ35EOVO4XA

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Rest assured, there are other girls who will ride in the 5150 mobile. The current girl remarked that the Transit Connect was kind of a creepy van. Like I was driving around with puppy dogs & ice cream, trying to lure victims. She won't be around much longer. I'm just holding out for Christmas, to see how much she spends on me.

Reminds me of my ex telling me, "this is not a date car!" She hated riding in my pickup truck. She was scared that the Explorer would kill us like the Crown Prince of Tonga......and we are not Tongan. My Harley has a solo saddle, so she had to follow me everywhere in her Honda. Imagine me riding into the Honda dealership on a bike, and pulling into the service lane. Then telling the service adviser, whom I happened to be acquainted with in another walk of life, to take care of The Old Lady in the car behind me. Then she has to get in the Honda customer courtesy shuttle which took her to the nearest transit hub. I pulled up next to her, and waited with her at the bus stop, until the bus came. She had a choice. She had more than one choice. Ride with me in the Ford Explorer SUV, and know that we are not royalty from The South Pacific. Manute Bol, Tito Ortiz, and Quentin "Rampage" Jackson all drove Ford Explorers. Actually, Jackson bought his Explorer used, from Ortiz. Or ride with me in the F-150, Lift kit, 35" tires, off-road lights, and rumbling glasspack mufflers - which embarrassed her because one of her co-workers kept asking her about what it was like to ride in a "monster truck".

I have used aftermarket parts like that with mixed results. You are taking a gamble on fitment with anything, any part, which isn't OEM. Sometimes, aftermarket lights leak and you get condensation inside of the lens. The tail lights, front bumper, and front grille on the pickup are all aftermarket, and I don't have any problems. You could try used auto parts from a junkyard, or even online. If you buy aftermarket, just be sure that the seller has a good return policy. If it doesn't fit, return it. If you install it & it fits, go through a car wash. If it leaks, return it.

That's true with just about any and every car. In a major metro, you can pick & choose whatever you want like a buffet. Get away from a big city, your choices for everything become limited. Some things you can live without......traffic, noise, crime, street protest, vice activity. Most people don't even want the things that big city dwellers consume.......24 hour gyms, restaurants, grocery stores, fuel, entertainment, vice activity. Most people don't crave a Salvadorean pupusa in the wee small hours of the morning, a high stakes card game at midnight, nor need a lobster & caviar at 4 AM. How many of you actually seek out a strip club with a lunch buffet, for the day shift dancers? Some things you can't live without......like access to modern life saving medical care. At the hospital, I see patients travel for hundreds of miles to see specialist. Whatever your medical needs are, I would hate to be hundreds of miles and hours away from a doctor who knows how to help you. And you would be surprised at how many people who come from hundreds of miles away, decide to book a room overnight, and take advantage of what I take for granted every day. I'm off to the club now. It's shift change. The midnight to 6 DJ, bartenders, & club kids are going to dance until dawn.

Ever notice how on some antifreeze/coolant bottles, it says to use distilled water? There goes the old fashion flush the coolant with the garden hose technique.

Where I live, it's nothing but hills and mountains.......also translates to high transmission fluid temperatures.

Every car forum needs to have a lengthy topic, which goes on forever, and often strays off topic. Can we trust the onboard oil change light? Is the algorithm sophisticated enough to truly know if I'm a regular driver, or if I am a severe duty driver? Who does their own oil change? What do you use? Who is allowing the dealer to do it? Anyone going to a "lube shop" like Oil Can Henry's, Jiffy Lube, Pep Boys, Oil Changers? Who is using only Motorcraft? Anyone like "boutique oil", K&N filters, and fancy magnets? Let's hear it all.

I've been doing it for years. Once upon a time, I had a girlfriend who was trained in a culinary school. I don't use vinegar, just the squeeze of fresh lemon. I use olive oil. At the end, I add crushed garlic. Only fresh ingredients of course. No garlic powder or garlic from a jar. Only fresh lemons from my brother in law's Meyer Lemon tree. Only fresh eggs from the farmers market. Locally, I can get fresh, cold pressed, olive oil. Garlic grows in my back yard. Lemon skin can be zested. Egg whites are used for omelettes, frosting, or steaming. Even the egg shells are used in a stock recipe, then into a compost bin in the garden. Nothing is wasted. Living in California, we can buy fresh & local, and our climate allows us to grow quite a bit. Even downtown, at the little apartment, I have food growing on the balcony. 5 gallon buckets from Home Depot are growing potatoes and tomatoes. A fish tank becomes a makeshift aquaponic system with all the green onion I want, all year round.

Almost makes you want to buy the van with windows. So that you get what you want. Instead of buying what you don't want, then having to modify it. I would like to see a Gen1 chopped, topless like a Jeep, and sporting a custom roll cage. It would be like a big Suzuki Samurai.

You're absolutely correct in regards to different oil brands using different additives. For some of those high price brands, you are paying for the additives which differentiate it from other brads....allegedly. If you are driving a performance car, racing, towing.....maybe you benefit. But with Transit Connect's 2.5L engine, your gains are questionable. Just about any over-the-counter oil in 5W-20 or 0W-20, synthetic blend or full synthetic, not conventional, with the API starburst will be fine. Your engine will be lubricated. At this point, I am trusting the engineers at Ford who calibrated Transit Connect's algorithm for oil change. I believe that since the algorithm is based upon the use of synthetic blend oil, by using full synthetic, the condition of the engine oil should be better than the car's computer thinks it is. I am still skeptical of those extended oil change intervals, being an old man who remembers 3000 mile oil changes. My pickup truck, which is a 2007 model year, was sold with the 5000 mile normal condition & 3000 mile severe condition maintenance schedule. Low speed, extended idle, stop & go traffic, towing, livery, sudden acceleration & braking pursuit conditions......all fell within Ford's description of severe condition back in 2007. Over the course of the last decade, used oil analysis posted by other Ford owners have shown that different oil brands have held up fine for 7500 miles - 10000 miles. People worry so much about oil, and sometimes forget about the filter. A better made filter can make all the difference. With Transit Connect being a front wheel drive, transmission fluid is a concern. A lot of people don't stay with the factory spec of Mercon LV. Or they don't know. I think that multigrade ATF which says that you can use it in any car, should not be used in any car. Just like multigrade coolant. Today's cars are very particular when it comes to automotive fluids. Cooling systems go bad when you don't use the specified coolant. And we all know what happens to automatic transmissions when you use multi-vehicle ATF.

Nothing matters. People will always use their own reasoning for the oil of their choice. That is why you constantly see on forums, and in real life, someone using an oil weight which is different than the one specified in the owners manual. People who are brand loyal will spend no matter how much on their brand of choice. I drank the Kool Aid. I used to pay more for boutique oil brands. I don't think any of the high price oil made any difference. Filters do make a difference. Cut them open and you can see how some filters are made better. Amazon.com oil will be just fine for the price. It comes from the same factory as other no name brand products.

Transit Connect is surely the most bang for the buck. While you are getting a little less luxury, you are saving a whole lot of money. When a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey cost almost twice as much, you do not get twice as much. My pickup has no air conditioning, roll up windows, manual door locks, and AM radio. Not to mention the rubber, plastic, & vinyl interior. But I just think of all the money that I saved between the XL model, and the King Ranch, Lariat, Harley Davidson trim levels, and what I would have paid for a Chevy, Dodge, or Toyota truck. Those Toyota pickup trucks are really nice. But not nice enough for me spend double the money.

Only one way to find out. Log your mileage and fuel purchases. Do the math yourself. Or use fuel economy.gov

I was @ Sears getting tires installed on The 5150 Mobile. A tow truck brought in a car with a blowout. Nothing special......except that the tire was so new, you could still see the Tire Tread Markings. It looked like the car just had the tire installed, drove out of the shop, then blew out.

Thanks for your insight. An informed opinion, such as yours, is relevant. I am not a tire tech, have no training or experience. My opinion has no value. Just a guy who thinks it's wrong. Now I won't be as hesitant to drive on it if needed. And again, the math says that all of the weight is within acceptable limits.

The cameras are available if you think that the actual camera and license plate light unit is the actual problem. Check the connections. Try trouble shooting the wiring first. Speaking of wiring. Where is the wiring for the antenna. If you simply stick the antenna back onto the body with adhesive or epoxy, that won't help you. Antenna kits with wiring are available as well. I am guessing that a lot of people over the years have driven their Transit Connects into spaces which were too low. These are available on amazon.com Auto Wayfeng WF New 170 CCD Car Reversing Rear View License Plate Backup Camera Parking Assist for Ford Transit Connect by Auto Wayfeng WF 5.0 out of 5 stars 1 customer review Note: This item is only available from third-party sellers (see all offers). Available from these sellers. Waterproof IP68 Working Power: DC 12V › See more product details Compare with similar items New (1) from $12.99 & FREE shipping. Fits Ford Transit Connect 2010-2013 Factory Replacement Radio Stereo Custom Antenna by Harmony Audio Be the first to review this item Price: $54.99 & FREE Shipping

For some people, 4 cylinder cars in general lack power. Big difference when you're used to a large V8 under the hood. I notice the difference. The 2nd generation with the 2.5L is an improvement compared to the 1st generation. Especially if you are using the van for commercial purposes. You will notice it when the van is loaded with tools, cargo, people, fat people. I'm fat. I notice it.