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Adding an audio amplifier, power inverter or other high current loads requires connecting heavy gauge cable directly to the battery. The Gen 2 TC’s battery is tucked under the front cowling and is enclosed in a covered box so making this connection difficult. Plus, having a big cable bolted to the battery with a big in-line fuse looks amateurish. There is a professional, safe and easy alternative. The front wall of the battery box holds the high current battery junction box (BJB). This is where all the power is distributed to other fuse blocks and modules in the TC. Remove the air filter housing. The BJB is attached to the front panel of the battery box. This panel lifts up and out to access the battery. Disconnect the (+) terminal and carefully pry open the BJB cover (5 tabs). You will have to cut some cable ties holding the cable on the front of the BJB. Here is the front of the BJB (air filter housing has been removed) This is the inside of the BJB. I have already added a cable on the bottom post of the unused slot on the right. The BJB has 10 circuits from 40A to 150A. The last slot on the right is used for glow plug power (60 amp) for a diesel motor. This slot will be available in all TCs in the United States. Connect your new power cable to the bottom terminal of this or any other open slot. Install the proper size MIDI style Littlefuse brand fuse. Attach with 5mm nylon locking insert nuts. I used #4 AWG cable and this fit with some trimming of the plastic housing. The #4 lug had to be shaved to fit the narrow slot. #4 AWG was overkill in my application. Remove the battery and battery box. Run the cable into the cab using the plastic square knock-out located on the firewall on the left (driver’s) side behind a perforated cutout in the padding/insulation. You can see the knock out under the master cylinder. I routed the cable under the center console. The console is easy to access by removing 4 screws. You do not need to remove any dash panels if you use an electrical fish tape or other stiff wire to pull the new cable under the short section of carpet and padding between the dash and console. The fish tape will poke out under the carpet near the accelerator pedal. Route the cable to your load. Plastic knock-out on the driver side firewall Important notes: Use the proper size and type of cable. I bought power cable designed for automotive audio amps. This is much different from cable used in homes and buildings (THHN for example). Automotive cable has many more strands of wire and is much more flexible…and expensive. Many of the cheaper offerings will be copper clad aluminum and the gauge may not be true. Use pure copper if you can afford it. My cable was sold by Kicker. What size cable? Note that the OEM cables in the BJB are #8 or #10 AWG but they are fused at 50 to 80A. This amperage does not comply with the NEC and does not need to. Do a Google search and you will find that you can safely use # 8 cable for automotive, 12 volt loads of 70 or 80A depending on the length of the run. The #4 AWG cable I used can handle well over 150A. If you are going to run large loads continuously, like power tools or large air compressors, you need to use an external generator. The TC is not a power plant and you should only connect large loads that are on intermittently, like a coffee maker or espresso machine. The standard alternator outputs 88 amps at 1800 rpm (150 amp max), so running the engine may not be enough power for large loads.

Regarding FORD Safety Recall 18S20 – Shift Cable Bushing Replacement affecting 2013-2014 Ford Escape, & 2013-2016 Ford Fusion, this failure mode also appears on certain models of the Ford Transit Connect. In my case, I have a 2015 XLT that experienced this failure. The original factory-original bushing is white. The replacement bushing outlined in the recall below is orange. This is a standard Ford part used on "small" chassis Ford vehicles and is common amongst vehicles using this type of transmission shift linkage. The Ford part number for the REPLACEMENT bushing is: DG9Z-7K340-A and can be found at most ANY ford dealership. I paid $5.10USD for it, and ended-up buying two just to have the 2nd one around in case this is actually a recurring problem (or in case I dropped the first one down in the engine bay accidentally during installation!). BACKGROUND: Please note that when I searched for a recall SPECIFICALLY covering this particular failure mode on the Ford Transit Connect I could not find any references to one anywhere. However, a very smart parts guy at my local Ford dealership in Lake Orion, Michigan knew of the problem on the Focus and Escape and had a small box right on his counter full of these replacement bushings. This told me that it's a failure common problem (despite not being specifically referenced to the Transit connect). I suspect that the original plastic bushing was molded from a material not capable of withstanding the constant pressures of the daily shifting cycle. As such, it would seem that if Ford went to all the trouble if initiating a recall action on a number of vehicles with this problem, they wouldn't simply have released the exact same "replacement" bushing, but would have molded it from a more durable material in order to prevent a recurrence. This has been my experience with OEM safety recalls as an auto industry engineer since the OEM is legally responsible for demonstrating to NHTSA that their planned repair solution resolves the safety concern prior to deploying that solution into the field. As such, it is unlikely that NHTSA would have approved an OEM-proposed solution that utilized a bushing the same as the one that originally failed from the factory (common sense?). Incidentally, when replacement parts are produced in a different color, that is usually an indication that they are a different material so that technicians don't erroneously install the wrong replacement part when effecting the repair. Visual cues are important in repair circumstances and used broadly in the auto industry so that quick visual reference can be made when assessing the completion of a safety repair. Here is a link to some of the detail of the recall. REPLACEMENT/INSTALLATION: I knew as soon as I saw the replacement bushing that it was an exact replacement, and as you can see from the photos below it is. To complete the repair, I first snapped the replacement bushing onto the transmission shift lever, then pressed the shift cable onto it. As luck would have it, that was the opposite of the replacement instructions I later found online for the Focus and Escape. regardless, it snapped right in and securely retained the shift cable once installed. The repair took me about 5 minutes and was a bit of a tight squeeze when attempting to get my hands past other 'obstacles' in that area of the engine bay. it was a little challenging holding onto and orienting the replacement bushing when attempting to push my hands past the intake snorkel and fuse box! But, again, it only took 5 minutes total to complete the repair. I hope you find this information helpful. Ken Here are a few photos of the actual linkage and bushing:

Hi! I have wired up two auxiliary lights, so that they fire up when i switch to full beam. But i need to put a switch inside the car, so i can turn them off. But i can't get the cable through the torpedo wall. So i wonder if anyone know about a hole in the torpedowall, and can guide me through there? Thank you!