Dogbert62

Awesome.. I have a second gen connect but it looks doable thanks for the link!! regards Dogbert62

All, I miss manual transmissions... I am guessing all of the infrastructure is in place to swap the transmission from automatic to manual.. given the concerns regarding the longevity of the automatic, I thought I’d consider a manual if my tranny goes south... Thoughts? Dogbert62

I hit a very little deer on the drivers side 5 months ago which required minimal body work. Mostly plastic wheel well replacement stuff. They replaced the white sound deadening wrap and likely didn’t replace this bag since it wasn’t damaged.. My guess is that the sticky tape on the bag wouldn’t hold it in place and it worked it’s way to a point where the oil guy removed it for some reason and put it on the valve cover for the other oil guy to mention... when I went back a week later, I talked to a third guy that had no knowledge... the guys that worked on the van were not there. I was fairly sure it was an oil absorbent bag and thought it unlikely that it belonged to the van... thanks again for the help... once Don identified the bag, I went to check an sure enough, I saw the bag in the wheel well on the passenger side but not the drivers side. Dogbert62

Thanks...

All, 2017 Transit Connect XLT wagon with 2.5 gas engine i had my oil changed by the local quick lube shop the other day.. in their “up sell” comments, they suggested replacing the air filter.. instead of paying 3x the price for them to do it, I went and did it myself... when I opened the hood, I found this bag of... foam?.... Absorbent?... on top of the engine... my first thought was that it was absorbent for small spills when the top off the oil during a change.. however, the quick lube shop didn’t recognize it.. So, I assume it was inside the engine compartment somewhere... Any Ideas?? it is a black plastic bag with a silver adhesive strip down the middle.. it is filled with what feels almost like foam shipping peanuts... any help would be appreciated.... Dogbert62

All, one of mine was barely hanging on so I removed it... saw this thread and was about to buy the goo when I thought it might make sense to see if I hear wind noise.. I do not hear wind noise from the front drivers seat at 65mph.. wondering others are having trouble hearing wind noise... wondering if I need to be in the back seat to hear it... wondering if I need to be north of 65mph Thoughts. Dogbert62

All, yeah.. I was tempted to hit the gas pedal but was more interested in MPG... this does beg a couple more questions has anyone tried to correlate measured MPG to the dashboard average MPG? I assume it is somewhat tough without knowing the sampling rate and total miles in the average.. does anyone one know if there is a sweet spot for freeway MPG vs speed? Or has anyone maxed MPG to speed my guess is that it is fairly linear but if I get 27mpg at 60 and 12mpg at 75... I would tend to drive like a geezer... Dogbert62

All, 2017 TC wagon LWB w/2.5 I have tracked via on-board so it is at least relative... I generally stay at 22.5 mpg with mostly in town driving.. when I have taken it out for short road trips, I can gat up to 24.2.. took the TC on an extended road trip from Austin to Estes Park.. started at ~22.5... likely 24.5 when I hit the NM-CO boarder averaging 75mph on the open road.. hit Estes park at 25.1.. on the way home it climbed to 26.5 about the time I hit the NM-TX boarder with a 75mph speed on the open road.. it dropped to 25.8 when I pulled to my driveway in Austin... I pushed the speed up to 77-78mph and had a 25mph headwind.. the van was packed with my wife and I along with a couple light suitcases.. A/C was on Thoughts... —i am at least happy that the van got close to the 27mpg spec.. — wonder how many miles and how often the van is sampled for the on-board system — wonder if the ethanol percentages where different in CO than in Tx and NM causing some of the drop..... the drop did line up a bit with the last tank fill up CO... next time I will do a true mpg analysis and not rely on the van computer Regards Dogbert62

I like the Steelie ball solution... dogbert62

Suction cup based cradles often release in the TX heat... Cup holder based cradles lose the use of at least one cup holder... I want my coffee and my wife wants her soda... Air vent based cradles would require a USB cable that will get in the way of the brake/cup holder area... permanent mounting a cradle is not my style... throwing the connected phone works as long as I don’t have a passenger... this is solution is... reversible without permanent damage and stealthy with a managed USB cord while allowing full use of the passenger seat and cup holders Dogbert62

All, As an Android Auto fanatic, I have been trying to determine where to put the phone when plugged into USB... putting it into the storage bin didn’t work... using the cup holders was a bit of a waste... I found the answer... at least for me... Between the emergency brake and cup holder there is a seam in the plastic. I took an used gift card an pushed it into the seam. This creates a narrow slot that doesn’t next to the cup holders The gift card went it a bit tough but I tested my idea with a thinner card first.. regards Dogbert62

At the end of the day, the van is working as intended; picking up my granddaughter from preschool everyday, and hauling all of my grandkids on Grandpa days. No need for compensation for lost time or money... it wouldn’t change anything... With that said, Ford has badly failed to earn my future business... regards Patrick

No out of pocket expenses..However, I was without the van for 3 weeks the first time and 5 weeks the second (and 150 miles out of town) Dogbert

I now have 5k miles on the rig since the fix.. No issues.. I am finally trusting the van more.. Dogbert

Yep.... This started with the last Sync 3 3.0 firmware... It also happens if you have a usb stick with music; when you turn off the car, it defaults to the last Am/FM station you had on... If you turn off the radio before turning off the engine, it will remember your last XM station... For me..... I am waiting for a Sync 3 update to fix this.. BTW.... Does your sync 3 NOT go into night mode when you start your car in the dark? There are not many TCs with Sync 3 so I thought I'd ask... My garage is dark enough that the auto headlamp light goes on but often the sync 3 doesnt. If i turn the headlamp knob from auto, to on, and back to auto, it goes into night mode. Regards Dogbert62

All, I poked through the autobytel link in this forum and noticed the Ford seems to be replacing the 2.5L 4-Cyl with a 2.0L 4-Cyl I was wondering if anyone has thoughts on the updated gas engine planned for the 2019 TC.. Is it a proven motor? Will conventional wisdom hold and the reduced displacement result is lower off the line torque but better gas mileage.. I ass-u-me the the engine is already in another vehicle somewhere.. At any rate... just wondering if has thoughts on this update... Regards Dogbert62

"Is that $30K for the entire van with the ramp installed" >> I contacted a mobility retrofit company which told me that the conversion was ballpark $20-30k if I brought them a new van for the conversion. Since I only wanted a ballpark, i took it no further... With that said, I have seen a used TC that have been converted for ~$35k if i remember correctly.. The Honda seems to be the swagger wagon of choice... Their options list screams soccer mom which would be a good fit as well for me. A couple downsides as I see it... First, they can get very pricey... I generally worry about spending bucks on depreciating assets. Second, I *think* it is rear wheel drive. So a wheelchair retrofit would have to come in from the side and not into the back. I always envisioned opening up my cargo doors and rolling the wheelchair in.. lastly, the TC seems a better fit for camping. I get the impression that the cargo height with the seat laid flat is better on the TC. It would be much better if I stripped the seat system out completely.... I think.. Dogbert62

Yep.... That is the concept... The grand daughter has shown much progress and has fairly good upper body ability so I am hoping that she will be able to "swing" her way into a normal seat or booster... Time will tell... I agree that normal car seats would be much safer than a strapped down wheelchair. With that said, lifting a child or teen into a normal seat would likely be tough.. For reference... these type conversions run $30k ballpark Regards Dogbert62

Right at 1k miles since the last fix... Likely out of the woods Why the TC and not a true swagger wagon? A ton of reasons 1) I have a 6 yr old and an 8yr old set of grandkids that Dad wants in 5-point harnesses. The Chicco car seats hit the roof in most of the standard swagger wagons but the TC is extra tall 2) I hate to put money into depreciating assets like cars... Especially a kid hauler... 3) I have a 2.5 yr old grandchild that may never walk that even Mike would fall on love with. The low seat height and high roof is much easier to sling her into the massive rear facing car seat than the Tahoe and Suburban that Mom and Dad have. 4) The TC can be easily retro-fitted for wheelchairs... I got the cargo doors and not the lift gate 5) I take loooong camping trips so good gas mileage is important 6) The seats fold flat nicely such that I can crash in the back on a long trip 7) I may be weird, but I like the looks of the TC much more than the classic swagger wagon.. My mid sized 2006 truck is getting long in the tooth so I was originally looking for a utilitarian van with good gas mileage that I could build out for camping.. So, I was looking at the little cargo vans like the TC. I liked the TC the best.. When it became probable/possible that I would need a wheelchair capable rig, the TC wagon was almost a no-brainer. Mike.... I'll take grandkids over pets... The Lampoon video posted above in this thread is one of my favorites... Dogbert

All, Thanks again for your help and info.. I have looked into the TX lemon laws and it looks like the closest version to my tale is the 30day rule. The bottom line is that if I have another issue with the PCM before January, I can invoke the lemon law. As you can imagine, I have soured on Ford and have looked into alternatives that fit my wants and needs... Well, the best vehicle I can find is the Transit connect. Add to this the fact that the TC seems to be a fairly reliable commercial platform, I would likely replace it with an exact copy of the TC that I have. On the time to fix and loaner... I have another vehicle and didn't need the TC as a daily driver. So, allowing the dealer to work it and not require a loaner was not a big issue. in hindsight, it may have lit a fire under their back side if they had a financial impact for taking a long time performing warranty work on a vehicle that they didn't sell, but that is water under the bridge. The bottom line is that there is seems to be some confidence on this forum that they flaky voltage on pin 20 may be the smoking gun.. If it isn't, i will be shopping for a replacement on Fords nickel.. Dinocarsfast.... I chuckled when you said you were a BMW guy.... I sold my 2001 BMW 330CIC convertible with very low miles to make room for my grandbaby swagger wagon... I passed 500miles.... So I have my fingers crossed Regards Dogbert

Fifty150, The first dealer will never see my business again. I have also expressed my concerns with Ford. With regards to the battery, it is likely that their house battery will last nearly as long as a new one. It is a consumable... Besides, would take your vehicle back to them to replace it? Not me... I prefer to chalk it up to experience an move on with the hopes that Ford slaps the back of their hand real hard. Back to the van's issue... I haul grand-babies in my transit connect ranging from 6-months to 8-yrs old. I can handle a most issues since I can limp my van back to my house. However, having the van cut out on the highway and not restart..... in 105deg Texas heat.... with a 6-month old and 2-yr old special needs child is not something I can handle. My original post was put up before I went through the service documents from both dealers. Additionally, the responses made sense.. especially the ones that talked about voltage regulation. If I were to guess, the first dealer noticed the low voltage on the PCM pins and replaced the battery. When they went back to check, the voltage was back up to 12v since it was a flaky connection so they though they had a bad battery and the problem was fixed. It was the second dealer that noticed the flakiness and chased the problem differently. The nagging question is whether a flaky voltage on one of the many power pins to the PCM could in fact kill it. It seems plausible but car companies are required to make their mission critical components as bullet proof as possible.. I would hate to to declare and "all clear" when in fact there is another root cause that may rear it's ugly head.... again.. Thanks again all for your help... Dogbert

Thank you everyone for your responses... Although I was hoping that the consensus would be that I got a bad replacement PCM, the tenor of the responses say that it is likely something else. So, let me explain my saga a bit further.. The first repair was just over three weeks here in Austin, They replaced the PCM and battery. When I got the car back, there was a circuit tester on the passenger floor so I *assume* they were worried about some of the voltages. . Since this is my grand-baby hauler, I went on a couple break-in hill country drives when it crapped out the second time.. The nearest dealer was in Kerrville. While sitting in the lobby, I at least got the feeling that their shop want near as hectic as the one in Austin.. About two weeks in, the service advisor said that they were still scratching their heads. He said that they have a Ford expert come in once a month to help them with the tough issues; mine being one of them.. Just got the van back and have put ~300 miles on it without issues. Their report is a bit more detailed. First they replaced the PCM and battery tray. I guess the Austin dealer broke the battery tray when they replaced my 6k mile battery with their house battery.. It also looks like the PCM power on pin 20 was only 10v. They traced it back to a loose connection on the bottom of the fuse box on the downstream side of Fuse 32. Crossing their work with the manual suggest that Fuse 32 is the 15A fuse that is one of two that power the Engine Control Module. Since there are two fuses, I can see how a bad voltage on one could kill the PCM. They also said that a fuse was blown.. Not sure if it was one of the two control module fuses though.. Looks like they did a few EEC system diagnosis (quick test) during the debug as well. Got the van back in 4.5 weeks Any thoughts on whether I have put my issues behind me? Again, thanks for the help Dogbert..

All, Have a 2017 Connect with 6k miles. The van shut down and would not even turn over the starter.. Just flashed a bunch of warning lights.. Dealer replaced the PCM. 300 miles later.. the same thing. So, either the van had a faulty PCM and the dealer replaced it with another faulty PCM (skeptical), or something is killing the PCM and I will likely get stranded again.. The service advisors in both instances said that the diagnostics pointed to a bad PCM.. So.. what can kill a PCM?? my myopic view is nothing since it has burned firmware that theoretically can't change. It also kills the car. So, it isn't like the PCM overheats and starts the car later... it is dead other than throwing a bunch of sensor type errors and finally telling me I have a powertrain fault (dont remember the verbiage). With all this said, it seems highly unlikely that I would have two catastrophic PCM failures in 6k miles Regards Dogbert

Thanks All for the replies.. DRL.. I will check intensity.. I "don't think" it is reduced but that is an easy check.. Also... yes.. the standard low beams are used for DRL. There is a second small bulb that also lights up. I would have thought that this would be the only bulb on for DRL.. Quick defrost windshield.. I hope you are right that I will get used to it.. Sync 3... Stopped by the local dealer.. The service scheduler guessed that it may be a software/firmware glitch.. This is my bet as well since the auto headlamps work as advertised and the wagon likely only has one dusk sensor. Thanks again.... Dogbert

All, Bought in January to help haul the grand kids to school. Likes: Sync-3 (google maps, SiriusXM, FULL audio library on a USB drive), fold flat seats, double rear doors, Instrument info, Blind Spot, and controllable back cabin air cond. Misses; Quick defrost windshield has "strong light" artifacts at night. My version of the Daytime Running Lamps leaves the main headlighst on.. I would have expected a lower power light for daytime. Issues: The Sync 3 doesn't always switch to night mode... The indicators in the instrument cluster (parking lamp indicator and 'shadow van" shows head and tail lights) suggest it is in night mode but the sync 3 stays in blue on white background and not the white on black background. Again, it works about 65% of the time but not always.. I can turn the headlight switch from auto -> full headlight -> auto and it switched the sync 3 into night mode.. Thoughts?? Dogbert62