azdamay

You are right about the Bluetooth. Things on my end improved when I put in some Alpine speakers, I can hear better. But the other end still can't hear me, I end up having to talk loud/almost yell and that makes phone calls pretty frustrating. I'm not sure if an aftermarket stereo with built-in Bluetooth would be better, or worse. The location of the Ford microphone puts it away from the direction of your voice, and right by the window, so driving with the window open and talking is nearly impossible. Another thing about the Ford stereo (and maybe this is something I could turn off, I've never looked) is that the volume keeps changing itself. Make a call, go "hmm this is way too quiet" and turn up the volume, end call. Go to make another call, and find "what the...?" the volume went way back down again. I thought it had something to do with the auto volume feature, but I can make two phone calls back-to-back and the volume automatically goes down when ending the first call. ' Nice ramp you found, that would be great for loading an organ. It takes up some space at the back when folded in but I presume it still leaves you enough room for the equipment.

Based on your post, I went to Kelley Blue Book and entered my van's info and options, I got a suggested retail value of over $23,000! Wow. I don't have more than a couple of low-cost options on a 2010 XLT (DRL, Bluetooth, reverse sensors) and similar mileage. Of course, price guides are just that, guides. But it makes the $18,000 they are asking for a fully-loaded TC seem reasonable by comparison. Fleet use could be good, as long as the fleet was actually maintained. Mine is not actually mine -- it's a fleet vehicle and belongs to the company I work for. I take advantage of the fact that I'm paying for nothing and get regular oil changes/service, and plan to have any issues taken care of promptly. So a fleet vehicle could be a good buy. How much does a Hammond organ weigh (I noticed you put organs, plural)?

If it looks like this, we can't specifically help you (this forum is geared towards the North American model, and we don't have that head unit). Maybe someone here happens to be in the UK/Europe, but I wouldn't hold out for an answer, better check another forum. If I had to take a guess based on that picture, it looks like you have to remove a facia panel first before you can release the head unit.

Depends on what kind of air horn. I got the Hella triple tone, it sounds very "Ferrari" and I like it... but I had a coworker tell me my horn wasn't very manly. And a service shop who joked that the lunch wagon had arrived. But there's only so much space in that area to mount a horn, I don't think a more powerful 'manly' horn would fit, much less the compressor and air tank needed to power it.

It's hidden by the black plastic splash shield behind the bumper and in front of the wheel. IIRC the shield is held on by a couple of Torx screws and one push clip, and once you have it off, you'll also see the front of it slips into a slot to hold it in place.

The dealer's explanation of what caused your engine trouble doesn't really make sense. The Duratec 2.0 used in the Transit Connect has coil-on-plug ignition, meaning each spark plug has its own coil, and the coil pack is a sealed unit (the four black cylindrical devices located in the spark plug valley of the cam cover). How could leaves collecting on the cowl vent area cause water to get on the coils? There's a rubber seal along the back edge of the hood that should stop both debris and water from falling back into the engine compartment. I see you are located in CA, so you most likely experienced the same unusually wet winter that I did. I don't have a lot of trees around my house, but the underhood area of the Transit Connect certainly got very wet from all the rain, and I did not experience any issues. :shrug: At any rate sorry you had the trouble, and at least it is resolved.

You probably already found them but just in case, here is the gallery: He doesn't seem to post too much here at the moment, but if you have questions you might try private messaging him.

You went for a drive at 3:30 in the AM?? Glad you are enjoying your new Transit Connect.

Zepper (one of the members here) uses his for this purpose. Try searching the photos uploaded for his pictures of the bike in the back of the van.

Wow that's weird. I saw those on the internet the other day and was thinking those would look awesome on the Transit Connect... and that's what you got. LOL. Nice choice. If the TC wasn't a company-owned vehicle and I had some spare money, those would be my choice as well.

Mine is loaded evenly in the cargo area from front to back and as evenly as I can get from side to side (left side has shelving unit). Traction is a problem, even on dry pavement, if you are on an incline (like a steep driveway). I work in the Bay Area and most cities here are built on the sides of hills, so there are many instances of steep driveways or changing angles. For example, I had a customer in Sausalito where I had to drive downhill to get to their driveway, which was on the right side of the road at about a 30 degree angle to the road, and went UP to a leveled-off area. I approached it at a normal, cautious speed and as I began to go up the driveway one of the front wheels broke traction and I just sat there spinning for a second. Backed up slightly and tried it again, same thing. Possibly the short length of the van coupled with the awkward change from downhill to uphill meant not all 4 wheels were in contact with the ground, I don't know. All I know is I just had to back uphill, cross my fingers, and take a running start to get up his driveway. That's one example of many. I don't think I'd want to drive this thing in snow or ice, but... I am from California, so even with an appropriate vehicle I probably still would have trouble. Like I said I have figured out work-arounds such as backing up and taking a running start, going backwards, even putting it in 2nd gear. I've driven various FWD and RWD vehicles over the years and this van seems more 'tricky' in that regard.

I first read this topic on here when my van was brand new, and I was worried I would be getting new brakes only a few months into driving it. I have about 22,500 on mine at this point, and brake with what I would probably consider a little bit more aggressive use of the brakes than others (hey it is California). I just got the oil changed at the Ford dealer and they noted there was 6mm left on the front pads and 3mm left on the rear shoes. This required them to check the yellow "might need attention soon" box on the checklist. No mention of rotor wear. I actually find the braking performance of the vehicle to be quite good, the pedal feel in particular is better than a lot of other Ford products I have driven.

The seats are pretty basic, but the driver's seat offers a fair amount of adjustment (provided the vehicle is not equipped with a cage/bulkhead). Although it took some adjustment I now find it to be more comfortable than the Grand Caravan C/V I drove previously. Again compared to the Grand Caravan, it's actually quieter which I found surprising. As ncranchero mentioned, the stock audio system does suck... although the TC is relatively quiet on the highway and you can comfortably listen to your music, you will not be able to totally overpower the road noise with the stereo. It does have a short wheelbase and I find that on certain freeways with expansion joints it will "hobby horse" which can get annoying. I live in sunny, relatively dry California and find that one of my major annoyances is the thing lacks traction. Maybe the OEM tires suck (they probably do), but with some weight in the back it seems to be light on the front. Trying to make it up steep or awkwardly-angled driveways results in embarrassing loss of traction. I've actually had cases where I just had to back up and make a "running start" to get up the driveway (or go backwards up the driveway). Also due to its tall sides and boxy shape it does catch the wind, I know there is a slight breeze without even looking out the window for trees swaying... because I can feel the van "wiggling" back and forth. If it's really windy you better have both hands on the wheel. Oh, and passing. I get politely shut down about this here on this forum from folks who find the engine perfectly OK, but yeah IMO the engine is WEAK. I can most definitely tell a difference between loaded and unloaded performance, and passing other cars is sort of a joke. I practically have time to strike up a conversation with the person I am passing as I slowly edge past them.

Thanks for sharing that info! What kind of Focus wheels did you end up putting on the Transit?

Not sure why you quoted me specifically, when I'm not even the one who originally posted this topic, but I'll respond: I don't expect to win drag races, but it would be nice if it could keep up with other modern vehicles on the road. We're in an era where even cars like the vanilla Honda Accord have more power than most people need, yet the TC is slow as molasses. It would be nice to be able to merge onto the freeway, and not have everyone trying to get out of the lane because they don't want to get stuck behind the slow-moving van merging on. The people who aren't bothered by the lack of power are obviously the people who live by the "slow and steady wins the race" motto, and that's fine for them but not for me... I HATE slow and steady. So sue me.

Well I guess the lack of replies speaks volumes. I am curious, though, what kind of price you might be asking for something like that? I have a Predator for my GTO and that's been, as you said, a performance boost and a great tool for fine-tuning fan on/off temps, transmission timing, etc. From my layperson's perspective, I don't see a lot of untapped power in the stock Transit Connect engine that could be released with a tune??

Dang, I meant to go try out that trick and see what happened and then I forgot all about it. Good to know it works and I am definitely going to try it out now. Thanks for the info.

Well if you figure out again let us know! I used to have a Focus and I recall they had a not-so-secret mode that you could engage that allowed the odometer to display various information (I believe this was for Ford service techs to easily view pertinent information). The gauge cluster in the Transit Connect is from the Euro-market Mk.II Focus... maybe they still have the same trick and you inadvertently accessed it? The old Focus trick: http://www.focushacks.com/index.php?modid=13&ht=Instrument%20Cluster%20Test%20Mode

As in a real-time average MPG? Or an estimated MPG? Mine shows distance to empty at the top, the trip odometer underneath, and the odometer underneath that. I'm not aware of any way to show anything else, other than to temporarily display the clock in place of the DTE figure.

I would definitely check fuses, the fuse block is on the bottom left of the dashboard. There is a legend on the inside of the panel that covers the box that shows what the fuses are, or you can look in the owner's manual. That would the easiest thing to check first. I did that once while replacing lights on my car, and thought I had just wiped out some expensive LED bulbs, only to find I had simply blown the lighting fuse (which, in retrospect, I probably should have pulled BEFORE replacing the bulbs).

I presume you are referring to the "things that could be improved" topic. Every vehicle has room for improvement. In my case, I didn't buy it... it is a company-provided vehicle and I had no choice in the matter. I like the Transit Connect, but it could greatly benefit from an increased options list. Specifically, it could do with at least the option of a better powertrain (more powerful engine, transmission with more gears), although in my opinion that should be standard. I would hope these things are coming with the redesigned model coming in the next couple years. If you can run 85 as easily you do 45, the area in which you live and work must be very, very flat and/or you are not hauling much weight. Come to the hills and mountains of Northern California and try to maintain 85 mph on a grade, with 500-700 pounds of cargo in the back. It struggles to do it, and I say this from experience. Going up really steep streets to reach someone's home, I routinely have to hold the transmission in first gear in order to maintain forward momentum. None of that is a deal-breaker... but I do find it annoying. It makes what I thought was the sad-sack-POS Grand Caravan I used to drive, seem like a powerhouse. A couple extra cylinders can make a big difference.

Well good luck, hope they fit. I'm going to be honest, don't expect miracles from the speakers. The Alpines do sound much, much, better than the stock speakers... but they are still very limited by the head unit, in particular how loud I can turn it up. But it is nice to have some amount of bass, as opposed to NONE.

Sorry, I put in 2-way speakers, can't really help much. FWIW I put in Alpine SPR-13C and they sound about as good as a great speaker being powered by a crap stock head unit can possibly sound. The plan is to someday replace the head unit and really put those speakers to good use. http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/spr-13c/ Good luck in your search for the right fitment.

There is more to this than simple fuel efficiency. As you stated, the European vehicles are designed and built for the European market. Why? Because the needs and wants of a European consumer are different than those of a North American. Different climates, different topography, smaller streets, regional tastes, etc. Frankly I find your tone more than a little condescending, but I'm keeping an open mind because this is the internet and sometimes things don't translate to text well. Also, BMW designed the Z3, but because it was built by Americans, it was a POS? If it had been built by the Germans and turned out equally crappy, would you make excuses for it? Last I heard, when the Transit Connect is redesigned, Ford will begin building it in the United States as well as continuing to build it in Turkey: http://www.leftlanenews.com/ford-to-shift-transit-connect-production-to-the-u-s-by-2012.html Will the "American" Transit Connects be crap because they were built here?

On other vehicles, I have used Mothers Back to Black with success. It is NOT, however, a dye and will not permanently return the black color. It's a dressing or treatment. I use it on the window trim on my GTO, which is parked in a garage, and it lasts for many months thanks to the lack of environmental exposure. On my previous work van which I parked outdoors, the Back to Black still would last 2-3 months before needing reapplication. Personally I don't care for Armor All, I find it too greasy and messy. But the last time I dabbled with it was the '90s so maybe they've changed it since then?