Fifty150

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.

You should be able to negotiate better pricing with Dodge or Chevrolet. Chevrolet and Nissan also sell small vans. Overall, Ford Transit Connect beats those vans for driveability, build quality, engineering. Mercedes is the best. Just way more expensive.

On the same transmission, Mazda uses an Idemitsu fluid with greater viscosity. But I don't think that filling with Idemitsu Type-M fluid is the solution. You mention that transmission fluid was changed. Was it a complete fluid exchange? Or was it just a drain & fill? Was Mercon LV used? I believe that on your model year, Mercon LV is the specified fluid. In earlier models, some of those transmissions were factory filled with Mercon V. If a shop did the work, they may have filled your transmission with some sort of Dex/Merc compatible fluid, which is not suitable for Mercon V or Mercon LV. And I have seen where shops make mistakes with filling to proper level. You may have issues if the transmission was only drained & filled, with the wrong fluid, and the transmission fluid level is not correct.

I thought there was a thread where someone used unistrut to fabricate an awning.

There are commercial ladder racks. I don't know if they would work for what you have in mind.

Those headlights are so clean!

I ordered this last night. Pricing is reasonable for the product. Not super expensive like boutique brand full synthetic.

If it were closer to home, I would go pick up parts. But shipping would kill the deal on just about every part.

Good job. Everything looks good. I like the extra 12 volt power points.

For 1st generation vans, youtube may be a better resource than this forum.

For what you would spend, money & time....... My option would be to buy another car. Once you install a new engine, what else will fail next on a car with that many miles?

That's like fixing a check engine light with a can of spray paint.

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.