Fifty150

Exactly. Compared to the Econoline and Express vans, Transit Connect is a dream. But it's still a commercial vehicle. Not a luxury car.

How long are you driving? How far are you going? What is the ambient temperature? A lot of factors. Then there could be a mechanical cause. They're multiple safeguards against overcooling.

The dash light is on because you are using the spare wheel. It doesn't have a sensor. Your OEM sensors in the black steel wheels may be fine. You may not need to replace them. Check them out first. TPMS sensors can be installed on the silver wheels. Motorcraft and aftermarket parts are available. Sensors can be triggered by letting air out, with a special tool, and allegedly a magnet. There are videos online you can view. The car will only read the sensor trained to that wheel position. It won't read 5 sensors and be confused.

The needle is not accurate and indicates no exact temperature. Don't worry too much about it. Listen to the idle. Look at the tachometer. When you start the car cold, the idle will drop from 12XX to 8XX RPM as temperature reaches 100 Fahrenheit. This is very fast, compared to cars with old technology. At or about 150° F, the car goes from open loop to closed loop, and idle reduces to around 7XX RPM. That needle is probably now where it indicates that you are okay - in the middle. If you really want to fixate on the issue, set up some gauges with real numbers, and you can look at the temperature as you are driving. You will also find that motion creates adequate airflow through the radiator, and the electric fan doesn't turn on much.

Good strategy. Other forum members have considered it. Same as dropping the pan in the old days. Nobody did a "triple drop the pan". Idea is that you can refresh the fluid every oil change. Fluid will be in better condition than doing nothing at all.

Sometimes that has to do with pressurized flush machines. Sometimes the new fluid detergents loosen so much of the built up sludge, that the sludge moves to a different part of the transmission and damages it. With a lot of those old transmissions which have never been serviced, you are on borrowed time. Those transmissions should be rebuilt. If you take them apart, clean out the sludge, then reassemble with new parts..... it's almost as good as new. Except that nobody wants to spend money to rebuild a transmission which is still running.

I agree. Do it once, and the only thing that happens is the fresh fluid you just added, will be contaminated by the larger volume of the old fluid. The most effective way is to use the machine connected to the cooling and return lines. No member of the forum has done it at home yet. But it's possible to disconnect the return line to drain until fresh fluid is coming out. There's a special tool for the fitting. A little more work. Those quick connect fittings are not easy to get to. You will need about 2' of hose to attach to the return line.

There's a filter. You will not be changing it. It's inside the transmission case. The transmission has to be removed, and split open in half, in order to change it. No worries. The filter is just a screen. You will be fine as long as you are changing the fluid.

Maybe a misprint. Get low viscosity fluid. An OBD II reader and free software can efficiently do more than you need. You no longer have to buy $$$$ scanner which a professional uses. Many applications allow your cellphone to display transmission fluid temperature. 10 miles may, or may not, bring the fluid to correct temperature. 10 miles will ensure that the transmission is warmed up. The fluid is warm, and viscous, and will freely flow when draining. I say that because my 10 miles commute usually ends with ATF reading 150 - 175.

Forget about it. Just like buying any other used car: perform all maintenance, as if it weren't done. It's yours now. Start off with new oil, transmission fluid, coolant, spark plugs, air filter........

The information is available. I can see it with Forscan. You could read the PSI of all four tires, and monitor it as you drive.

As suggested by many: a piece of tape over the light.

Strut spacers could be engineered and fabricated. Or even adapted from another vehicle with similar specifications. Your could design your own strut spacer, and have a shop manufacture it for you. Most of these simply bolt on top of the OEM strut, then bolt onto the vehicle. Some are a little bit more complex. The real question is what happens to the rest of the vehicle after you install it. The front end components will all be just a little bit off. Nothing will line up and fit as it did when the car left the factory. Most trucks with leveling kits experience alignment issues. The ride will be a little rough. Certain items will wear out faster because of the new angles.

I am driving with the TPMS light on. I am okay with that. I am using the spare tire. It's a full size wheel and tire, so I rotate it into use. I visually inspect the tire. I top off the air whenever I can, as I remember to do so. I use a tire inflator, with a gauge which stops at the correct pressure. Set the digital gauge to desired PSI, turn on the pump, and it automatically stops at the correct pressure. For anyone who does not want to buy a tool like that, they can use the tire fill stations which are equipped with the same type of pump, at Costco or most tire shops. For some people, they don't want to ignore the light. They want the sensors to work properly, so that the light can actually warn them. TPMS is an important safety feature. That being said, if all of us were looking at our tires, and checking air pressure, there would be no need for TPMS. We would see the obvious nail in the tire. Air would always be topped off. We would also see if the tread and sidewall appears damaged. TPMS sensors on my truck are original, and that makes them about 13 years old. Still working. I wonder how long the TPMS on my Transit Connect will last.

You put my ex into your van; you might intentionally roll the vehicle over yourself.

There must be a little wiggle room. I doubt if any tire will burst when you exceed the recommended load rating. I am fairly certain that load rating is recommended, with the thought in mind that some people will exceed it.

Is it just the Ford CVT that has problems?

I thought CVT wasn't made anymore. Great idea on the drawing board. Did not transfer well into the real world. Sort of like the rotary engine.

The engine needs to be on. The transmission needs to be hot. Engine heats up faster than transmission. You will not get the right fluid level with a hot engine and cool transmission. You need the transmission between 180 - 200. The cooler bypass valve should be closed, so that transmission fluid is flowing through the oil to water heat exchanger.

That doesn't sound right at all. Fleet Service companies usually follow severe duty schedule, perform all maintenance such as belts and hoses, spark plugs, fluid exchange, et cetera. Fleet Service is suppose to prevent downtime and save on more expensive repairs. Cheaper and easier to replace hoses every year; as opposed to a hose bursting, an engine overheating, a tow, and the van being down for weeks.

You can order a rebuild kit, and do it yourself. There are YouTube videos. You can buy a manual. My skillset is limited. I can't do it myself. But maybe you have the skills.

I could tell you to check the motor mounts, datalog with a scan tool, flush the fluid, reset the learning tables........but it looks like an internal issue. Although I can't possibly know anything over the internet. Get it checked out. Local transmission shops may want to rebuild, usually because it is more profitable for them to charge you work hours and parts. A remanufactured transmission, no matter the cost, will be a better option. But it still wouldn't hurt to run FORScan diagnostics. Check it out yourself, for free, before you take it to a shop. Go to a dealership so that they can hook it up to a Ford computer for test drive. At least 1 shop will halfway look and try to sell you a rebuild. That shop does not know what the problem is, doesn't care what the problem is, and their profit is taking apart the transmission and installation of the rebuild kit. Try to find a shop which will hook up a computer, go for a test drive, and explain the results. There could be other issues not always mechanical. I have seen transmission problems traced back to bad wiring harness connection points. A rebuild will not fix a transmission control module fault. You don't throw thousands into the transmission when it could be a bad computer or loose wire.

First, go into learn mode. Then see if you can trigger the sensors by letting air out of the tire. If that works, the sensors are fine.

You probably have the best solution. I am sure that a little extra sidewall makes the ride softer. I wonder how much extra width, makes the traction better. And how much more of a wider tire you can fit with a wider wheel. Years ago, before you could actually recalibrate the speedometers, most truck and Jeep guys simply got bigger tires. Period. Nothing was recalibrated, or reprogrammed. And if you got a tire big enough, you used a spacer to push it out, and cut off body parts which rubbed. Not that I endorse taking a reciprocating saw to your wheel wells and fenders.