Fifty150

Very good point about the ambient air temperature sensor. Sensor also has wiring and a connector which could get wet. In most cases, if there is damage and/or a leak, it would be consistent. Not just after going through a car wash. You probably won't find a leak with a visual inspection or tracer dye. There very well may be water wetting a bad electrical connection. No reason why water is getting under the hood. Even if you go through a car wash which sprays water upward, there is an underbody shield. I can only imagine water spraying in past the passenger side wheel well, towards the side of the engine where the belts and pulleys are.

That's something you have to ask your dealer. Any dealer should be able to add them. Order and install, right?

I always like how the Econoline was basically a van version of the F-Series trucks. The Transit vans are completely different and unrelated to the F-Series trucks. I like the Transit vans for work. But I will not buy for a personal vehicle. Otherwise, I would be driving 1 now, instead of the Transit Connect. I have no personal use for a van that big, or I would still own an Econoline E-150 or something like that. Maybe when I retire the pickup truck, I'll reconsider and buy a full size van instead of a truck. Or I may never buy a 1/2 ton truck again. Just rent or borrow a truck when I need it.

You can download Forscan, and clear the adaptive learning table yourself. It's the first option that comes up with the little wrench icon. Don't pay that guy $140 for clicking on a mouse. If you really want to spend the money, pay one of the guys here on this forum to come over and do it for you.

If 185 worries you....... Consider that the temperature sensor is usually located in the valve body to measure an average "pan temperature". Same area in other transmissions where there is a transmission pan, with a test port right above the pan bolts. This means that the torque converter temperature is a lot higher. Fluid exiting at the cooling lines is significantly higher than what you see as a temperature reading from the car's computer. That hot fluid travels through the cooling system, and is returned to the sump. Theory being returned fluid at the bottom of the pan is cool, mixing with hot fluid already in the transmission, and there you have your average temperature or pan temperature. Although transmission experts advise against it, some people simply remove the bypass valve. This forces fluid to always pump through the cooling system. It takes a little bit longer for the fluid to heat up. But it does nothing to create additional cooling. Additional cooling can only be achieved by adding a cooler, and perhaps a cooler with an electric fan. My experience is that the coolers with the fans work best.

That's to compete with the Mercedes Benz van. I think that Mercedes Benz makes a better offroad van. If the price is the same, I would choose the Sprinter. I buy Ford based on lower price.

The bypass valve should be set for 185. Fluid exiting from torque converter must reach 185 before the valve closes and fluid flows to cooler. Temp seen by sensor is lower than temperature of hot fluid in cooling line.

May have a damaged condenser. Rock strikes. Bird strikes. Animal damage. But probably not a line leak or bad fitting.

The thermostatic bypass valve is in the open position, which allows fluid to bypass the cooler and return to the transmission. When a preset temperature is reached, the valve closes, and fluid will flow to the cooler. It's like the radiator thermostat, except that it closes instead of opening. The vehicle's computer needs the engine and transmission to reach operating temperature, before it operates at efficiency. In an ideal situation, your car is not overloaded, you are not climbing hills, and the ambient air temperature under 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The little oil to water heat exchanger bolted on top the transmission allows cooled radiator fluid to bring down the transmission fluid temperature. I have heard that operating transmission fluid temperature can be acceptable anywhere between 185 - 220, in modern vehicles. The car is designed, with a bypass valve, so that the vehicle can warm up, and not "over-cool". In the event that the transmission temperature is overheating, your only alternative is to pull the vehicle over, leave the engine running, raise the hood, and wait for the transmission fluid to cycle and cool. Ideally, you should not need any added cooling for normal driving. If operating in extreme conditions, the cooler may be beneficial. All day, stop & go, extensive idling, in hot climates. Some people overload without knowing. If you have 7 people, plus all of their stuff, a rooftop carrier, and a small trailer - like you're going to a campground on a holiday weekend, everyone drives a little slower in the campground, uneven terrain, dirt roads with a little wheel slip, maybe a very small boat on a trailer...... I can imagine wanting a little more transmission cooling. Of course, I'm from the mindset of driving trucks & Jeeps. Stupid to think that trucks & Jeeps, which you think are engineered to go offroad, all need transmission coolers because the transmission fluid temperatures soar when you go offroad. I have no worries at all about the family loading into the van for a trip to dinner & a movie. Even a long road trip, where it's mostly freeway driving with the torque converter locked, should be fine for 12 hour drives. But the auxiliary cooler can't harm the transmission in any way.

Okay, I think I've got it. Part No. 7A035 is the transmission cooler. It is an oil to water cooler which uses coolant to bring down the transmission fluid temperature. The line which goes back towards the front of the transmission is the return line. Fluid has either bypassed the cooler, or is returning already cooled, to the transmission. The shorter connection at the rear of the transmission is the fluid cooling line. Hot fluid flows out from this line, to Part No. 7H322, the cooler bypass valve. It looks like the parts are already available from Ford, as there are other cars which come with a factory tow package which includes auxiliary cooling. It looks like everything could fit.

The only part under your hood exposed to water from rainfall or a carwash is the front grille fascia. Water would have to spray directly in for anything to get wet. The only part on the front of the car exposed would be the air conditioning condenser, accumulator, fittings, and lines. This is the part that looks like a radiator, in front of your radiator. The air conditioning compressor is under the hood in the engine bay. Look for visible damage.

Since it does so much, we should have a subforum for using ForScan. What kind of hardware are you using? Apple, Mac, PC, laptop, Android tablet, Microsoft phone, Motorola, Samsung, et cetera? Bluetooth, WiFi, physical cable from OBDII to your computer? Which brand or source for your OBDII connection equipment. What did you do with the application? Step by step to help the next guy. Maybe screenshots. Looking forward to Transit Connect specific task performed with ForScan. Or maybe some other app or program which you are using, and care to share the knowledge with the next guy.

If you commit a crime, the police will only have a description of a white minivan. Do you know how many white Transit Connects are out there waiting to be pulled over by the cops? I recall a bank robbery, in downtown San Francisco. They didn't actually rob the bank. They robbed the armored courier making a cash delivery to the bank. The bandits were dressed as bicycle messengers, and made their getaway on bicycles. They blended right into the the downtown traffic with bicycle messengers darting in & out of traffic.

He's the unknown stuntman......

Very good job. Thank you for the figuring out the wiring and showing us which wire to tap into. I like that you used better quality parts for your installation. The Posi-Tap is a nice touch. I've seen a lot of installations with lower cost LED strip lights, single color without a controller. Same idea. Just not as nice.

It's difficult at best, to negotiate through the process of buying. We all want the best "out the door" pricing. Sometimes, that can be found locally. My local O'Reilly's will price match against direct competitors. When Amazon has a low price, Home Depot & Walmart usually has a similar price. I go to O'Reilly's, and they will match Walmart or Home Depot's price.

Don, thanks for pointing that out. Real easy to make that mistake. Especially with their High Mileage, Domestic Vehicle, Import Vehicle......the list goes on. And they are all branded as Transmax.

Who diagnosed it, and how did they fix it?

The transmission fill amount is 4 liters. We don't use the metric system, and it is confusing. You can do this with 12 quarts. For your final fill, after you add 4 quarts, or 1 gallon, you will add 7.256 ounces. That will be 4 liters. How you do it is up to you. I used a measuring cup (stolen from ex-girlfriend's baking supplies). Buy an extra quart, and use 7 - 8 ounces from that. Pour out 7 - 8 ounces of the first quart you open, and set that aside for the final fill. Or, take an ounce from each of the 1st 8 quarts you open. If you get between 7 and 8 ounces, you will be fine. You will not be overfilled or underfilled by less than 1 ounce. Look around a little bit before you order the fluid. There are alternatives to Ford Motorcraft LV. Walmart now sells a Supertech LV. Mag1 offers LV. When I serviced my transmission, I used Valvoline MaxLife which is labeled for LV. Another forum member used Triax Global ATF. You always hear that you should only use Ford Motorcraft Mercon. Motorcraft LV is what your transmission was engineered to use. Other people have found that other fluids work also.

Not sure it's going away. As a kid, I remember reruns on television: a bounty hunter with a lifted truck. I'm not Colt Seavers. That was a bro truck.

4X8 plywood will be a challenge. Lengths of lumber will be a challenge. The van's interior isn't really that big. Just about any low cost camera on Amazon or eBay will work. All of them require you to tap into the reverse lamp wires for power & ground, and they should come with a wire run for you to bring the signal to the front. If you replace your stereo for something with a screen, those units will usually have the correct RCA & power connection to your camera. Crutchfield dot com. You will get everything you need for your installation in 1 place. You can pick up the wiring harness connector which is specific to your vehicle, and antenna adapter if needed, and a dash trim kit if applicable. Maybe not the cheapest. But it's a good place to start, to figure out everything that you will need. Look for something with a screen so that you can wire in the backup camera, BlueTooth for your phone, SD card and/or USB for your music & media, and maybe even GPS navigation. Carpet scraps are a good way to go. I did that for years with my Jeeps & trucks. Even door mats from a dollar store or thrift shop. You get them dirty, muddy, spill food & beverage.....throw it out and get new ones. See if you can get leftover pieces from a flooring store. Then you can cut to fit. Unless you spend a lot of money for rubber mats like WeatherTech. My 1st concern with the bare floor, since you bought the van used, is how much of the paint has already been scratched & worn off, leaving exposed metal to eventually suffer corrosion. Most cargo vans, after years of use, will have damaged paint, exposed metal, corrosion, and rust. You have several options. The cheapest & easiest is a couple of spray cans of primer. It could look good if you do a good job. The key is to spend the time and do a good job. Wash it out real well. Prep surface correctly. Et cetera. Truck bed liner would be great for your application. People with Jeeps love using truck bed liner on the inside of their Jeeps. There are a lot of reviews and articles online about choosing different materials and brands, and how to do it yourself. Or you can pay a professional $XXX. The leading brands are Line-X & Rhino Linings. My pickup truck bed was applied at a Line-X franchise in San Leandro, around the corner from The Ford Store. 12 years later, with lots of use & abuse, It's still like new. A piece of plywood cut to size. Liquid Nails will work great for carpet scraps. Even better if the carpet scraps are all mismatched, to give you some "artistic cred". Home improvement centers sell a product known as "carpet tile"; which is exactly as it sounds. Little squares of carpet. Get different colors and designs, and checkerboard them. You can load your equipment and the carpeting will provide some padding. You have tie down anchors. Use those with ratchet straps for your larger, heavier items like amps. This carpeted plywood will also be a great base for a futon pad & sleeping bag. Since you have an Ikea in Emeryville, you can probably pickup inexpensive bedding and some sort of cushioned mattress pad. You can go all out with a crazy build. Being an artist, you can let you mind wander, dream, and create. Plenty of roof vents and fans for that model year. You could also look into a roof rack. OEM windows or aftermarket window can be installed. LED strip lights like the inside of a limousine. My opinion is that it's a 2012, and you don't know what you have mechanically yet. Your first consideration is maintenance and wear items. You don't want to build out a mobile glory hole, or whatever, and then it doesn't run. Do more than you think you need to do. Flush out the cooling system, install new belts & hose, and replace the water pump & thermostat. Exchange the transmission fluid and motor oil. Run some Techron through the fuel system. Replace all the filters. Spark plugs & coils should be on your list. Plan on new brakes, bleed the lines, replace the old brake fluid. Maybe upgrade with better rotors & pads. There were issues with the wheel bearings on that generation. There may be other known issues that you can address. Try your best to begin your ownership with as many new parts as possible, so that you will be secure in knowing what works. Do everything possible mechanically, before you invest in other projects. No point getting the van exactly the way you want it, and then it stops running.

In USA, we believe that a RWD offers more power. Increased payload.