a gift from Spain

[daneli]

So I removed the large under-shield from the Connect this weekend to do an oil change. Look what I found wrapped around the wiring harness at the top of the transmission. (Below the battery box). It's a shop towel, apparently left by an auto worker. It wasn't visible at all from the engine compartment, only from underneath the car. Weird.

[mrtn]

Kurt Vonnegut wrote about it. It was a Pontiac plant tho.

[Johnyguy]

from_spain.pngSo I removed the large under-shield from the Connect this weekend to do an oil change. Look what I found wrapped around the wiring harness at the top of the transmission. (Below the battery box). It's a shop towel, apparently left by an auto worker. It wasn't visible at all from the engine compartment, only from underneath the car. Weird.

ool how many miles you have on it and how you like it so far ,I guess you need to move that shield to do an oil change every time?

[Johnyguy]

from_spain.pngSo I removed the large under-shield from the Connect this weekend to do an oil change. Look what I found wrapped around the wiring harness at the top of the transmission. (Below the battery box). It's a shop towel, apparently left by an auto worker. It wasn't visible at all from the engine compartment, only from underneath the car. Weird.

Could you post some pictures from underneath? Thanks

[daneli]

I really like the wagon! On a recent family vacation we found the view out the front and side windows to be fantastic and by folding down one of the third row seats we were easily able to store all our gear. (There are 5 of us.) The ride and handling are much better than you think they will be when you first see the van. I also like the simplicity and “honesty” of a vehicle that doesn't need to try to pass itself off as a luxury car. The only real controversy in the family is about the overall shape. Is it ugly? Some seem to think so. (The kids kept holding up shoe boxes and the like and saying, “Here's our new car!”)

I did the first oil change at 3,000 miles because I wanted to get the break-in by-products out of the engine. Probably isn't really necessary. I reset the “Intelligent Oil Life Monitor” and I will probably go by that for the next oil change.

You have to remove the large under-car splash shield to get to the oil drain plug and the oil filter. The shield is held by 8 torx (30?) screws. Fortunately the screws go into easily accessible plastic clips rather than blind captive nuts so they shouldn't rust in place like these usually do.

Here's a view of the undercarriage and the splash shield.

[Johnyguy]

undercarriage.jpgundershield.jpgI really like the wagon! On a recent family vacation we found the view out the front and side windows to be fantastic and by folding down one of the third row seats we were easily able to store all our gear. (There are 5 of us.) The ride and handling are much better than you think they will be when you first see the van. I also like the simplicity and “honesty” of a vehicle that doesn't need to try to pass itself off as a luxury car. The only real controversy in the family is about the overall shape. Is it ugly? Some seem to think so. (The kids kept holding up shoe boxes and the like and saying, “Here's our new car!”)

I did the first oil change at 3,000 miles because I wanted to get the break-in by-products out of the engine. Probably isn't really necessary. I reset the “Intelligent Oil Life Monitor” and I will probably go by that for the next oil change.

You have to remove the large under-car splash shield to get to the oil drain plug and the oil filter. The shield is held by 8 torx (30?) screws. Fortunately the screws go into easily accessible plastic clips rather than blind captive nuts so they shouldn't rust in place like these usually do.

Here's a view of the undercarriage and the splash shield.

I'm glad you like the van I'm looking forward to my van when its gets here.

I think the van looks modern i like the design.

Thanks for the photos.

[Johnyguy]

from_spain.pngSo I removed the large under-shield from the Connect this weekend to do an oil change. Look what I found wrapped around the wiring harness at the top of the transmission. (Below the battery box). It's a shop towel, apparently left by an auto worker. It wasn't visible at all from the engine compartment, only from underneath the car. Weird.

Hey could you tell me if the oil drain plug has a magnet,if not I'm about to order one, also did you use a ramp to get underneath the van or you have a lift I'm getting prepared for the first oil change at 700 miles I like to do it earlier than manual says.

How dirty your oil was?

Thanks a lot!

Edited September 29, 2014 by Johnyguy

[windguy]

The only real controversy in the family is about the overall shape. Is it ugly? Some seem to think so. (The kids kept holding up shoe boxes and the like and saying, “Here's our new car!”)

I just re-read your post and had to chuckle and comment on what you said.

I've seen a bunch of the TC's on dealer lots but not passing by me from a distance.

I got a good first glimpse of a TC on the road a few weeks ago. As it got closer I said, "hey, that's a TC".

My first impression as it passed by, man that's an ugly van! So I guess I"m in "that camp" for now. Sorry if this offends any TC owner's.

From the side, it's something about how the windows and body drops down toward the front wheel is not very appealing to my eye. The front view looks fine.

I think they wanted to keep the van from being too boxy. There's no doubt it's not a Sienna, Odyssey or Caravan, which all look very similar to me.

But, I'm not getting the van because it would be a babe magnet, purely for utility purposes. This is definitely not a mid-life crisis vehicle

Edited September 30, 2014 by windguy

[Johnyguy]

The only real controversy in the family is about the overall shape. Is it ugly? Some seem to think so. (The kids kept holding up shoe boxes and the like and saying, “Here's our new car!”)

The only real controversy in the family is about the overall shape. Is it ugly? Some seem to think so. (The kids kept holding up shoe boxes and the like and saying, “Here's our new car!”)

I just re-read your post and had to chuckle and comment on what you said.

I've seen a bunch of the TC's on dealer lots but not passing by me from a distance.

I got a good first glimpse of a TC on the road a few weeks ago. As it got closer I said, "hey, that's a TC".

My first impression as it passed by, man that's an ugly van! So I guess I"m in "that camp" for now. Sorry if this offends any TC owner's.

From the side, it's something about how the windows and body drops down toward the front wheel is not very appealing to my eye. The front view looks fine.

I think they wanted to keep the van from being too boxy. There's no doubt it's not a Sienna, Odyssey or Caravan, which all look very similar to me.

But, I'm not getting the van because it would be a babe magnet, purely for utility purposes. This is definitely not a mid-life crisis vehicle

What are you talking about this is a chick magnet lol

I see more tc popping up in my town less chances with the ladyes damn.

[daneli]

Hey could you tell me if the oil drain plug has a magnet,if not I'm about to order one, also did you use a ramp to get underneath the van or you have a lift I'm getting prepared for the first oil change at 700 miles I like to do it earlier than manual says.

How dirty your oil was?

Thanks a lot!

It it is a regular non-magnetic drain plug. I wanted to use my ramps but they were too tall to fit under the TC's low slung front bumper. I've since bought a lower-profile set of ramps that work great with the TC.

There is a problem with jacking up the car and using jack stands: The recommended jacking points and the points where you place the jack stands to support the vehicle are the same! This isn't a problem if you are a shop with a real lift, but for a DIY type it is a challenge. The 'usual suspects' for jacking up a car like front cross members, lower control arms and the like didn't look to me to be thick enough on the TC to support a jack without a risk of bending something.

The ramps are fine for doing oil changes, but what happens if you want to change a wheel bearing, a shock/strut, or a ball joint? How do you get the car in the air and onto jack stands if your jack occupies the place where the jack stand is also supposed to be? My current (crazy?) idea is to maybe fabricate a lifting bar out of some fairly thick square walled tubing. The lifting bar would span the front of the van from one lift point to the other. You would place the hydraulic jack in the middle of the lifting bar. After you raise the car to the height you want you would place the jack stands at the outer ends of the bar underneath the official jacking points. Another approach to the same problem is this - expensive - solution:

http://www.jackpointjackstands.com/

The oil wasn't too dirty at 3000 miles.

[Johnyguy]

It it is a regular non-magnetic drain plug. I wanted to use my ramps but they were too tall to fit under the TC's low slung front bumper. I've since bought a lower-profile set of ramps that work great with the TC.

There is a problem with jacking up the car and using jack stands: The recommended jacking points and the points where you place the jack stands to support the vehicle are the same! This isn't a problem if you are a shop with a real lift, but for a DIY type it is a challenge. The 'usual suspects' for jacking up a car like front cross members, lower control arms and the like didn't look to me to be thick enough on the TC to support a jack without a risk of bending something.

The ramps are fine for doing oil changes, but what happens if you want to change a wheel bearing, a shock/strut, or a ball joint? How do you get the car in the air and onto jack stands if your jack occupies the place where the jack stand is also supposed to be? My current (crazy?) idea is to maybe fabricate a lifting bar out of some fairly thick square walled tubing. The lifting bar would span the front of the van from one lift point to the other. You would place the hydraulic jack in the middle of the lifting bar. After you raise the car to the height you want you would place the jack stands at the outer ends of the bar underneath the official jacking points. Another approach to the same problem is this - expensive - solution:

http://www.jackpointjackstands.com/

The oil wasn't too dirty at 3000 miles.

hi yes ford does not make it easy for the people who likes to do they own oil change and stuff at home, let me ask you what brand of ramp you got that fits under the van i need to get one of those.

thanks

[daneli]

hi yes ford does not make it easy for the people who likes to do they own oil change and stuff at home, let me ask you what brand of ramp you got that fits under the van i need to get one of those.

thanks

I got these: http://www.amazon.com/Scepter-08226-Plastic-Automotive-Ramp/dp/B004XATP04

[bx77]

You guys are talking about vans looks, from the front the van looks like a Star Wars Storm Troopers Helmet

That's all I got