i86hotdogs

I'm leaning on the root cause of an overfill somewhere. It's the only thing that makes sense seeing that once the overfill condition was eliminated, the problem seemed to disappear. Now, we don't know how damaging that overfill was. Like I said, I've taken the van on a couple of longer road trips since the last drain n fill, and no issues came up. I decided to retire the van from racing as well (bought a Mustang last weekend). So that factor is also eliminated. It's now my daily driver and road trip vehicle. I will continue to perform the DnF procedure every 2-3 oil changes, but I am optimistic that I have another million miles in this van (exaggerating of course)

A regular black color. I know it doesn't take long to darken the color of this trans fluid thanks to the composition of the clutches. No sparkly metal debris or anything were in any of the drained fluid.

I just learned Forscan is suspending smartphone distribution due to the conflict in Ukraine. Looks like I gotta get the PC version

After i drained the 8qts, I filled it with just 4. Drove it for a few minutes to get the trans to temp. Then did the fluid level check procedure (shift the trans to all the gears for 10 seconds each, open drain hole on side of transaxle, add fluid until it starts coming out of said hole). Ended up being about 4.25 qts

Hey all, let me fill you in on my last 6 months dealing with transmission issues with my 2016 TC XL Cargo LWB. Background: Besides the van being my daily driver, I also have raced the van on both track days and RallyCross. Safe to say I put the van through heavy use. August 2021-I decided to do a traditional DnF (drain & fill) ahead of a long road trip for a RallyCross weekend. This was the first time I did this service, and I do not know if it was ever done prior to me owning the vehicle (I bought the van with 102,000 miles, and performed the service at 150,000 miles). Drained about 4 qts in to a bucket. Fluid was black, but no signs of debris in the fluid. Filled the trans with 4 qts and drove it for about 5 minutes to get it up to temp. I then followed the procedure to check the fluid level: put the van in to all the available gears (P, N, R, D, and S) for about 10 seconds each, open the plug on the side of the transaxle and topped off fluid until it started coming out of the hole. Vehicle drove fine all month leading to the trip in September. September 2021-Drove about 7 hours to the RallyCross event with no issues. I raced all day Saturday with no issues all day (was .2 seconds behind the leader!). Upon driving to my hotel, I noticed the transmission didn't want to ship up or down. It felt like I was in manual mode, and was hanging the revs high. The "Service Transmission Now" message came on my dash a few minutes later. I pulled in to a parking lot to check around. Checked all connectors and cleaned off whatever dirt or dust I found. Opened the drain plug on the side of the transaxle and didn't see any fluid come out, but was able to see the fluid with a flashlight. I pulled a "Transmission solenoid 1-2" code using my cheap OBD2 dongle. I let it sit for about 30 minutes while I searched the internet for answers. I started the van and all the messages disappeared. No service transmission light, no codes from the dongle. I slowly drove around the parking lot and didn't experience the issues I had previously. I carefully drove it back to the hotel for the night. The next morning, I decided not to participate in day 2 of the races out of precaution. I started the van and slowly drove it around the parking lot. No issues came up. No lights, no codes, no nothing. I decided to head back home. Not a single issue in the 7hr drive home. I took an extended break about halfway through as well. October 2021-Since that event, I experienced zero issues with the transmission. I had not taken a long distance trip, only commuting to work daily. I had to drive 3 hours north to pick up a car part (not for the van). About 1 hour in to the drive, I get the "Service Transmission" message on the highway. I take the next exit and notice the transmission feels like it is stuck in high gear. I shut the van off and sit for 30 minutes like before. OBD2 dongle pulls the same solenoid 1-2 code. I start the van up after 30 minutes and everything disappears like before. I decide to turn back home and the drive home is uneventful. Out of precaution, I check the fluid level again. Fluid level is good. A week later I do another DnF. Same procedure as last time, 4 qts out;4qts in. Road test and checked the level: all good. November 2021-regular daily commuting; no issues December 2021-Have to drive 3hrs north for my weddings. About 1 hour in the drive, the same messages come up: Service Transmission. This time, though, I start seeing other messages: Hill-Assist disabled, Blinking Check Engine Light, Traction Control Light turns on. I take the nearest exit and stop at an intersection. The van suddenly shuts off, and wont start again. I notice there is no designation on what gear its in with the key on/engine off. My assumption is the van doesn't know what gear it's in, so it won't start out of safety. I get it towed to the nearest shop. Few days later, shop tells me they pulled two codes: transmission temperature voltage high and transmission temperature voltage low. Shop claims they checked the fluid level and said it was ok. They also said they had no issue starting the van. They quote me for either a rebuild or a full transmission swap. $1,200 and $3,400 respectively. I decide against it. I pick up the van and carefully drive it back from the shop (1 hour away from home), I can feel the transmission struggle a bit, but I took side roads and hardly went over 50MPH. I took it to a local shop where they basically said the same thing. I decide to hold off on service. The van still gets me to work and back, I just can't take it on long trips. January to February 2022-regular daily commuting with no issues. March 2022- I decide to do another DnF. I open the drain plug and end up draining nearly 8quarts of fluid. I have no idea where this extra 4qts came from?! I do the regular drive test and level check; everything checks out. Later in the month, I have to make another 3hr road trip. I make the trip with absolutely no problems. No codes, no drivability issues. So now that you're all caught up, where the heck did that extra fluid come from?! If I had to guess, all of my transmission problems derived from the excess fluid in the transaxle. I simply do not know where it came from, though. I understand the entire transmission holds about 9qts, and a good chunk of that stays in the torque converter. But why would the first two DnF's only drain 4 qts and the third dumps out 8? The van runs like new now. And I plan on doing a DnF every other oil change from now on.

Don, you're a saint for this. As suspected, the purple wire is the IAT wire, and that's what was frayed. I took the pigtail from the fusion at the junkyard and wired it up with no issue. Thanks again for the help!

Forgive me for the sporatic questions, I pulled a P0113 code on my 2016 TC with the 2.5. Is the IAT sensor integrated in the MAF sensor located on the airbox? I only ask because there are only 4 wires going to the MAF connector. On most MAF sensors with the IAT integrated, there are 6 wires going to it. I replaced the MAF sensor back in January to correct a MAF sensor code. So the sensor is fairly new, and I've only put a few hundred miles on it since. I did notice some fraying on the light purlple with dark purple striped wire. So that may be the root cause as well. I just want to confirm before I do some wiring. I haven't been able to find any diagrams for this piece. Knowing which wires go to what would be beneficial. I bought a Motorcraft wiring kit yesterday, and just my luck: the connector does not fit on the MAF sensor. There are hundreds of these wires in the junkyard, from similar Fords: Focus, Fusion, Escape, etc. But all of them have 6 wires going to them, and only two wires match in color: yellow with purple stripe and light purple with dark purple stripe. Any direction would be greatly appreciated in this. The van runs, but will struggle to start when cold. And I know the van will run lean with this code active, so I'm trying to fix the issue ASAP as possible. Thanks all!

Congrats on the successful swap! I have always toyed the idea to do this. I race my TC, and that puts a beating on the 6F35 trans. Since this swap is very uncommon, there isn't much on the internet about it. So I would love to hear details and the trials & tribulations of this job. I assume you swapped the 2.5 Duratec with the 2.0 from the Focus? I am very interested in seeing how much this costs and how much work actually goes in to this.

The hitch will be stronger. You are utilizing more than one connecting point to the vehicle compared to the single connection of the tow hook. It is strongly advised that one tows with the hook with caution. That hook threads in to the front bumper brace and will easily come off. I knew a guy with a Jeep Renegade that thought his threaded tow hook was a legitimate off road tow hook. Learned a lesson that day

Reviving a dead thread here. It's my turn to replace the aged battery in my 2016 TC 2.5L. Read through this thread and took in a lot of great info. I too am interested in an AGM alternative due to my aftermarket sound system. It's nothing fancy, just an amp and some better speakers. So I took special note of the two kinds of AGM batteries: TPPL vs DC. I found an Odyssey AGM battery that says it's a TPPL type. https://www.odysseybattery.com/products/odp-agm96r-battery-96r-600/ (click on the spec sheet link to find the TPPL info) It's also the same battery size as the factory: 96R. So it should fit like a glove. I'm picking up the battery tomorrow morning, and will update you all!

You're right on that. But those vans are in a different segment than the TC and ProMaster City

I've been wanting to upgrade the battery on my '16 since I've added some upgrades to the sound system and added auxiliary lighting. My first instinct is to look for an Optima. Unfortunately there are no applications for our van. Odyssey makes an AGM that fits our van, though. I've never heard of them before, and Autozone sells them for $250. I'm curious if the Odyssey brand is legit or not. Otherwise, almost any standard battery from your favorite parts stores (Autozone, Advanced, etc) will suffice.

I'm 75% sure the body is simply a test mule for the chassis and powertrain. They're not going to axe the best selling compact van in America. If anything, it will be a collaboration with VW to make an EV variant.

I owned a base model Renegade before I picked up my TC. When I say base I mean absolute base model: manual transmission base trim. The only option I ticked was all weather floor mats. I had a "Toaster Jeep" sticker on the window of it. No joke, that thing was so much fun to drive. It shares the same engine as the Abarth Fiat, so there is a ton of aftermarket parts for it as well. I'd love to own one again

So far so good! I check the plugs about twice a year. Haven't seen anything wrong yet with em.

May I suggest....racing it? Kidding aside, there's no wrong way to own a TC. Welcome to the club!

Sheesh that's a load of cash!

I took the splash shields off a while ago, along with the shield between the bumper and the subframe. I'm sure you can reinstall the splash shield with some modifications to it.

It seems very doable. The TC could have been optioned with the same ecoboost engine as the Fiesta ST. So swapping that manual transmission seems feasible. It's on my "if I ever fall in to a pit of money" list. I even have bigger dreams of swapping the Focus RS powertrain in to the van as well. I have very expensive aspirations.

For those familiar, I installed a very inexpensive bumper mount to install a set of KC halogen lights I had purchased. The mount fastens to the bumper leading to excessive vibration while driving. When the KC lights were on, it was definitely noticeable. So I decided to get something a little more robust. Shopped around for a bull bar in my price range, and came across this: $228 and comes with two LED pod lights and wiring kit. Not bad. https://www.autoanything.com/bumpers/vanguard-offroad-bull-bars Installation was not as bad as expected. Utilizing brackets, you basically clamp the bar to the subframe. Final product looks great! It definitely cuts in to ground clearance in the front. So far, I've been clear of obstruction with the exception of one obnoxiously large speed bump in a parking lot. I plan on installing the LED pods it came with at a later date. I'll probably just wire them in to the KC harness and put in a bigger relay to handle both sets. If ground clearance becomes an issue in the future, I will look in to fabricating the brackets to raise the bar up a few inches. There is some room between the radiator and the bar to do so. I don't mind cutting in to the bumper if I have to. It's my race vehicle anyways

Updating you folks: I decided to upgrade to a more robust bracket. Bought a bull bar that mounts to the frame underneath. This bar comes with LED pods, so I'll have double the lighting!

It's not a direct shot through the a-pillar. It took me some luck and a mangled coat hanger. Once through, it's easy peezy. And there is plenty of room under the dash to run wire to whatever you need to connect to. I have a power wire from the battery going through the passenger a-pillar for my stereo unit, and another going through the driver side a-pillar for my rally lights switch. I'll check on the condition of both wires occasionally for any wear or issues. Haven't found any yet.

Another method I use is running the wire up to the upper corner of the engine bay. There is a small enclosure behind the plastic triangle that is in front of the side mirror. Pop that off, and you can see some through holes. They are not direct in to the interior, so some luck and finagling will have to do. They come through to where the a-pillar tweeters are (for me, there's no tweeters in my version). The a-pillar trim pops off, careful not to damage the curtain airbag.

Agreed. Trying to find a way to secure the back of that portion of the bumper to the subframe directly behind it without posing any dangers in case a frontal collision occurs.