Fifty150

You're doing this yourself? It's a new car. Your insurance should take care of it. Go to your local dealership's body shop. Every dealership has a collision repair shop. Ask for a quote. You can try to source the parts yourself from many of the online sellers. You should be able to search the part no. on search engines, and come up with the correct match. Maybe even source a used auto part.

Go to a different insurance company. Explain your scenario. See what they have to say. You may end up with a better policy. Or the other agents will quote you a lower premium just to get your business.

Maybe you can hire a commercial transport company, and their insurance will cover it all.

You need a computer diagnostic. Datalog a test drive to see what's going on inside of the transmission. And it wouldn't hurt to check the fluid. Maybe even exchange the fluid. Fresh fluid, filled to correct level, could be all it needs.

Which filter are you using? Is everyone sticking with MotorCraft FL-910S? Is anyone using a higher priced filter like K&N, Wix, Royal Purple, Mobil 1, aFe? Are there bargain hunters who are buying bulk package, shop grade oil filters? In case anyone is interested, even Amazon has shop grade filters at a very low cost. I think that shop grade filters are fine. Thousands are installed, every day, by lube shops across the world. The lower cost filters are suppose to meet ISO standards. And if they were so bad, that they are causing engine failure, then at least 1/4 of the cars on the road would be failing on the side of the road. I get it. Some of the more expensive filters, are simply better. Silicone anti-drainback valves. Thicker wall canister with higher burst strength. Higher integrity and better designed bypass valve. Higher strength springs. Crimped pleats. Metal end caps. Synthetic filter media. More filter media. More pleats. Stronger cores. All of these factors make sense in an application such as a high performance engine. I'm driving a Transit Connect. Naturally aspirated. Low compression. No turbo. No supercharger. No direct injection. Nothing special. For me: I do not drive under extreme conditions. Not racing. Not towing or hauling heavy loads. Not driving at wide open throttle. No extended oil change intervals @ 15,000 or 20,000 miles with Mobil1 or Amsoil. No reason why a lower cost filter will not last for a OEM specified oil change interval. Look at the ISO gang. Don't you trust them to maintain standards? An old school gimmick, which I do fall for, is putting a couple of magnets on the filter. Don't know if it's actually doing anything. But I don't think it hurts. Plus, I already own refrigerator magnets that aren't doing anything else for me except holding up paper menus from Chinese food delivery joints. Even if you had to go out to buy a magnet, what do they cost? $0.50? Fifty Cents. From photos of cut open filters found online, it looks like the magnets attract some of the sludge material, holding along the wall of the canister, which will prevent that sludge material from clogging the filter media. But I don't know. I've never cut open any of my own filters. I'm not spending $75 on a tool to cut open a $2 filter. Same way I won't spend more on a used oil analysis, than it cost to change the oil.

@ 5,000 miles, I'm always in angst. Do I trust the Oil Life Monitor? Should I wait for the dashboard message to change the oil? Or should I just change the oil? In theory, if the IOLM activates every 7,000 to 10,000 miles, I change the oil 2 or 3 times in 20,000 miles. As opposed to 4 times, every 5,000 miles. So what do I save? Less than $20. ABout $15 for 5 quarts of oil, and $2 on a filter. After 100,000 miles, I will save $100! Yippie Kai Yeah! It's like with spark plugs. Use (every expensive) nickel anti seize? Or don't use any, as most spark plugs supposedly do not require it anymore? Adjust the gap? Or use the plug as is, out of the box, as most spark plugs are supposedly pre-gapped and you could damage the electrode when you adjust the gap? You just can't win.

Impressive

Rivet nuts are very easy to install. Only problem is spending the money on the rivet nut setter. That's a very expensive tool to use for 6 or 8 pieces of hardware, then probably never use again.

California reformulated gas gets less mileage. More ethanol = less mileage. Rumor is that "top tier" actually is just a marketing gimmick. But some people swear that certain brands of gasoline get better mileage.

From what I have read, the OBDLink MX tool appears to be working the best. It is expensive. Yo9u can buy something for less than half of that cost. Enter "forscan" into the Amazon search box, and other options will appear. Ideally, you will want something connected by a USB cable to your laptop. This is the most stable method. Anything wireless, such as Bluetooth or WiFi, you could risk losing the connection randomly.......which is not what you want if you were to reprogram features or run tests. I have tried several inexpensive units. The preferred style has a toggle switch for High Speed and Medium Speed CAN. Cheap wireless connectors can and will lose the connection. Annoying when using as a monitor. Screws up your datalogging. And could cause catastrophic failure if you are running a key on engine on test, or rewriting a program feature into the car's computer. Cheap wireless connectors offer unexpected and irregular results. It may pair perfectly with 1 carr, then not work well with another car. Then on the same car, work well with a tablet, and not so well with another tablet or phone. A cheap connector can be bought for less than $20. If it works, then it works. If it does not work, return it and buy something better. When reading the reviews on Amazon, cheap units work perfect for some people, and don't work for others. I can only guess that the quality control and manufacturing standards are not maintained. Same seller, same model, same factory, and no quality control. You can luck out and get 1 that works perfectly. Or just spend the money, buy the most expensive unit, and you will be fine like everyone else who bought it.

I always have 2nd thoughts about mods like that. How long will the seals last? Will it leak years down the line? What about structural integrity? Will cutting into the rroof decrease the rigidity of the van body?

The fan is loud. At least to me. Maybe everyone has a different tolerance.

FYI Valvoline MaxLife ATF is now available in a 5 gallon box.

The fill check plug on the side is used when ATF is at 85 - 93 C. You will need some sort of scan tool or app to read the ATF temperature via the OBDII port. A popular setup is HS/MS Can OBDII dongle, via USB, to a laptop with FORScan. You can forget about trying to use a point & shoot thermometer, as you will get a lot of different readings, and none will be accurate to what the car's computer sees from the sensor in the transmission valve body. At the correct operating temperature, your ATF has closed the cooler bypass valve, is flowing in a complete loop through the cooling system, and has expanded. This is the correct fill level for the fill check plug. From what you have described, your ATF was not at the correct temperature when you opened the fill check plug. This will result in an overfill condition. Not entirely catastrophic. Excess hot & expanded ATF will probably purge from the vent cap. But the best idea is to now adjust the fluid level to where it is correct. Between you, me, the tree, and nobody else - I think that transmission engineers design automatic transmissions with a certain level of "oops factor". They know that some people will make a little mistake with underfill & overfill, or what if there is a fluid leak causing some fluid to be lost? Everyone will tell you that you should have the correct fluid level, and I agree with that. But you're probably safe by a quart within the correct fill level. Meaning 1/2 quart low or high would still be safe. Not ideal. But safe. After all, why is there a hashmark range on dipsticks? Otherwise, the dipstick would just have one line, or hole, and you better be at that exact level. The factory fill on this 6F35, as published in earlier versions of owners manuals, is 4 liters. Not 4 quarts. 4 liters. Fill with 4 liters. Drive until transmission fluid temperature is 185 - 200 F. Then open the fill check plug. If nothing comes out, then add fluid. If fluid is coming out, wait until nothing is coming out. Now reinstall the plug. I'm lazy,. My 3rd fill is 4 liters. I'm done. I add 4 liters of Mercon LV, and then drive it until the next transmission service. It's not right. It's just what I do. Don't consider anything I write to be advice or recommended. You do what you want to do. It won't be my fault when something goes wrong. You won't be able to say, "5150 told me to....."

Good work, Mr. Ridley. This information will serve everyone who is planning on upgrades which require better grounding.

Should I take it to the track? Or just take a chance on the open road, with less than controlled conditions, and see what happens?

89. Different safety standards too. Glad you are still with us.

If it were me, I would buy an extra set, to have spare parts. You never know when your mirror gets kicked off by an angry hipster on a Vespa.

Maybe somebody could remove the speed limiter via Forscan, and see how fast it can really go.

I remember reading that cars of the 80's & 90's with much less technology, got much better mileage. Honda CRX, GEO Metro, and even the Ford Ranger was a MPG champ. But none of those cars could pass today's emissions regulations. I am not a scientist. I don't have any of the facts. Just things I hear or read randomly. But I have heard that to reduce tailpipe emissions, some MPG was lost, and now, technology such as gasoline direct injection, and engines turning off at a stop, are the path to getting better mileage while trying to keep the air clean.

With my driving style, I see the same range of temperatures whether the ambient temperature is 51 or 102. That's just me. It's different for everyone. If I had another 1,000 lbs of cargo or people, if I was at a different elevation, if the humidity was different.........who knows. In The Bay Area, we are close to sea level. I travel up and down The State, and my temps look the same after driving all day. I haven't seen any overheating yet. This is a fairly efficient cooling system.

Hang a tree on the mirror.

For me, it's not the top speed that I worry about. Where I need power is from a standstill. Most important to me is being able to pickup enough speed to merge into freeway traffic. Metering lights, short onramps, and just trying to merge back in from a stop on the shoulder requires a good 0 - 60.

Unless you are taking the tire off the wheel, replacing the TPMS yourself, then remounting and balancing at home...... the dealership or tire shop should relearn the TPMS as part of the installation service.