Fifty150

The North American market is dominated by gasoline. Politics. Money. Probably a combination of both. There's probably a very good reason why it's so difficult to sell diesel engines in The USA. Ever notice how many gas stations don't even sell diesel? Then there's the clean bio-diesel option. I live in a major metropolitan area. I can't find any within city limits. And it's just not an option for me to drive 25 miles to the nearest bio-diesel seller, then 25 miles back home. Who goes 50 miles out of their way to buy gas? I would buy diesel if it didn't cost more, and bio-diesel fuel was more widely available. Same reason why I don't own a car which is capable of E85. It cost more, and you can't buy the E85 anywhere.

Obviously, you guys don't like stickers either. I want to believe that some of these kids know that stickers, wider wheels & tires, a spoiler........none of those things add horsepower. I think most of them do it because they like the way it looks. I remember when people installed body kits to make their car look lower to the ground. Then every steep driveway and speed bump destroyed the expensive body kit. Same way kids do "home made" lift kits which are just plain stupid & dangerous. Despite what a lot of people think is stupid, dangerous, useless.............there's a huge aftermarket for auto parts which are stupid, dangerous, and useless. Mind boggling. Unless that teenager is an engineer and able to manufacture his own parts - he's buying those parts. And somebody is producing them in volume.

That is excellent mileage.

I think it's 2.25". Although I haven't crawled underneath to measure it either.

Try http://www.lkqcorp.com/en-us/Inventory-Search

Don't trust the onboard system in any car. Real world miles between fillups is the only accurate information. I saw a Dodge Ram reporting 18 MPG, but it really got 12 - 14, like every other 1/2 ton truck. Torque Lite says that My Transit Connect gets 35.

Sorry. I wasn't clear. My fault. I meant the 6F series. 6F35, 6F50, 6F55. Like what's in the 2nd generation Transit Connect. As I recollect, a lot of complaints about the Ford 4R 4 speed transmissions also. People called those weak. Complaints regarding longevity and service life. Same as you hear now about 6F transmissions. Yet millions of these are in use across the world. Many still running fine I wonder what the transmission failure rate is, and what is acceptable. 1 transmission failure out of 1,000, 10, O00, 100,000? Hondas have notoriously weak automatic transmissions. But they keep selling weak trannies in larger cars with bigger engines. And Ford will even sell a transmission known to be defective. But then again, some companies sell an entire car which they know is defective.

The 6 speed transmission is weak. But not defective in design. I see a lot of police cars in the dealership with transmissions out. The 6 speed transmission does fail under severe duty and pursuit. There's an upgraded cooler. There are different calibrations for shift strategy. But probably not much different internally. A police car could log a lot of hard miles in a year.

We'll all find out after you do it. I do not like anything on when the vehicle isn't running. But that's just paranoia from old tech, in old cars, where everything drained the battery. I'm pretty sure that someone here could do the math and figure out what the fan's draw actually is, and how long you can run it in theory. Because everyone's battery is in a different condition. You may have a brand new battery. I may have a battery which is a few years old, and it may discharge faster.

From driving cargo vans of yesteryear.....back then, I wish I had a nice, bright light....in the old vans, some didn't have a lamp at all, and some had lamps so dim, you couldn't see anything.

Overall, it looks good. Good job! Did you buy the van new, with the mesh screen? I've seen similar items as an aftermarket option. I didn't know that those were now being sold installed at the dealership level. Those are great for cargo. Anyone who has broken a window will know.

I started buying ATF & motor oil in 6 gallon "bag in a box" enviro-packs. Dilemma was transferring fluid from container to vehicle. Bag-In-A-Box has a spout, so it's just like boxed wine. My solution was to buy dispenser bottles. Measurement marks on both sides for quarts and liters. Flexible pour spout. I attach a 3/4" ID, 1" OD length of vinyl tubing to the end of the spout. This allows me to insert the tube into the engine or transmission. No more funnels. I found these items on Amazon for a significantly lower price than my local stores. Lisle 19752 Red Oil Dispenser - 6 Quart Capacity https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ETVOP2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 3/4" ID Low Pressure Clear Flexible PVC Tubing https://smile.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00LX6MIV4/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new

When I lived in El Paso, summer lightning storms over the desert were bad enough to interfere with air travel. 22.94 is good mileage for what you are describing. Especially with a full load, air conditioning running, and higher speeds with higher RPMs. I have partial records for fuel usage. Odometer miles, amount of fuel, and cost. I can see that my MPG low was 14, and high was 27.3.

Removing cross bars are not going to give you any significant gain. At least not in the way of getting 30 MPG like some members claim. It could help.....maybe 1/2 MPG. For the record, if someone says that they are getting close to 30 MPG - I believe it. Driving style, fuel type, road conditions, gross vehicle weight......many factors involved here. Donuts, if you turn off the air conditioning, set your cruise control at 55 MPH, keep the windows rolled up, remove all of your passengers, cargo, seating, interior - basically anything & everything to lighten the load, install tires with the least rolling resistance, tie your dog to the rear bumper, tie grandma to a rocking chair onto the roof.....or just slam your fingers in the car door repeatedly..... 22.3 MPG is good mileage for the driving conditions which you described. Believe me. I've seen lows of 15 & 16 MPG. Now share some of those crazy road trip stories. What did you see alongside the road? Post some pics of those roadside attractions. Stop at a truck stop for a shower. Tell us about the hitchhikers you picked up.

Think about closet systems engineered to mount to hollow walls. There are vertical pieces which attach to the wall with many fasteners. This distributes the total weight of the shelving system and whatever goes on the shelf. Hundreds of pounds could be placed on a shelving system fastened to hollow walls. I'm thinking that on any van door, you could install 3 pieces of unistrut vertically, with perhaps 3 attachments to the door. Rivet nuts seem like a good idea. Except that it puts all the weight against the outer door skin. Or you could drill 3/8" holes all the way through the door, and anchor with a combination of bolt, washer,, lock washer, nut. Then you could mount your accessory rails horizontally on the 3 vertical pieces of unistrut. Somebody with a welder might have other ideas. My concern would be the weight, road vibrations, and what that would do to the way the door hangs on the hinges. With enough use, and enough weight, you could end up with crooked doors that won't close.

Maybe with the 2013, you can also buy the harness adapter. Then you won't have to splice into any OEM wires.

From what I recall, if you pan on installing a lot of electronics, you should use a battery isolator to protect the battery under the hood which operates your car. Then you can run a 2nd battery for all of your electronics. 2nd battery would be a must for any camper conversion.

It has been discussed. You can look for spacers. Wheelchair transport companies lift minivans all the time.

Your road trip should get good mileage. You'll be on the open road. Freeway driving is really good for 2nd generation Transit Connect. I've seen great mileage the few times where I was able to drive continuously at freeway speed, and cover enough miles to actually use several gallons of fuel. It's the stop & go city driving, where you are stopped and idling, that really hurts fuel economy. My best tank was 27.1 MPG. That was with a couple of longer trips mixed in with my daily driving.

I don't have a 2013. But I have installed a few stereos. A lot of aftermarket head units have a wire for the parking brake. This is so that the unit can display video entertainment. And to prohibit the video display if the parking brake is not set; so that you can't watch videos while the vehicle is in motion. The units which I installed, if I recall correctly; we simply grounded that wire to fool the head unit into believing that the parking brake was set. But double check by researching your stereo make & model. There's usually a "hack" posted online for the installation. For aftermarket reverse backup cameras, the camera is typically powered by tapping the reverse lamp wire. This is easiest right behind the lamp socket. Pull out the lamp as if you were changing it. Test the harness to ensure that you have the correct wire for power. Then splice. On most aftermarket stereos, there is a wire which needs a reverse signal, so that the screen will display the backup camera video. Most backup cameras have a wiring kit with an extra wire running alongside the RCA video signal, which will deliver the power from the reverse lamp to the head unit. The VSS wire sends a series of pulses (from 800 to just over 1,000 per mile) only when the vehicle is in motion. If the VSS wire is not hooked up, the navigation system will not realize that the car is moving at all, and will be unable to track position. There is a work-around.

It would be great if we had step-by-step directions for the dealership tech. Then anyone could walk into their dealership, hand them a printout of what to do, and the tech who is not experienced could follow the directions using what the dealership has on hand. As opposed to guys trying to convince a service writer that it could be done, and nobody in the dealership has any knowledge.

I would clear the adaptive strategy, and allow the transmission to relearn.

Buying used, you will be able to negotiate a much lower price. With a good mechanic inspecting the vehicle, your used car inspection should be an eye opener. This is where some of the wear items will be prominent. Your budget will determine what you end up with. At this point, I would consider the 1st generation for lower pricing. But the 2nd generation may be better mechanically. And in the used car world, 1st generations will have more mileage, wear, and tear. With the 2nd generation, 2014 - present, it does not appear as if owners have had wheel bearing issues. The transmissions have been a concern in regards to longevity. I'm not so impressed by the cooling line only going to a small oil-to-water heat exchanger on top of the transmission case, but thus far, it has been effective in regulating temperature. Some of the forum members have adapted to a more frequent automatic transmission service interval as a solution. Engines have been okay to date. No overheating from failed water pumps, thermostats stuck closed, radiators blowing up, hoses bursting. Tune-up parts (spark plugs & coil over plug) appear to be holding up to over 60,000 miles. Of course with ignition parts, some people willfully replace the items as part of their 60,000 or 75,000 mile tune-up; and others just wait until they have misfires, the plugs are seriously fouled, and they have no choice. No brake or suspension failures being reported. There are aftermarket brake parts which should stop better.

Good information. Thank you very much. If it's not too much trouble, maybe a few pictures would help the next guy.