Low mileage 2014 TC Titanium

[herb]

3 minutes ago, Fifty150 said:

 

 

That's a bit extreme.  

 

I just learned to say "NO".  "No means no".  

 

Real simple.  No excuses.  I don't lie about not being able to afford it.  I don't lie about not having the money for it.  I can afford it.  I have the money for it.  I just choose not to spend my money on that.  So, "no".  

 

You'll find that every once in awhile, a woman may actually respect you because you said, "no".  Not often.  Most of them will simply leave, and move on to someone else who will spend money.  Problem solved.  She's gone.  I still have my money.  

 

For the most part, they will just call you names, like "cheap-skate".  Then you can move on to the next one, who may actually realize that your miserly ways is what is paying for that nice, new creepy van that you're driving her around in.......YES!  Vans are creepy.  Metal cages with no windows.  A girl does not want to go out on a date with you, and end up with her photo on the side of a milk carton.

 

 

 

 

No,  not extreme at all , i have been involved with woman throughout my life and i have decided that i much prefer to be alone , besides i have found out dogs are much more trustworthy . 

 

One day i came home from work and put $40.00 that was in my pocket on top of the dresser , dog was staring at me the whole time , i left and came back two hours later and cash was still there untouched , couldn't believe it .

 

That would never ever happen if there was a woman in the vicinity and you and i both know it .

[Fifty150]

I depend on women for certain things that a K9 companion should not provide.

[DoubleOh7]

Wow - have we gone off-topic or what! 

 

FWIW I just remarried, which is why I moved and why I'm having to redo so much.  Long story short I was supposed to have my garage first, remodel her lower space for us (BnL and SnL live upstairs - she's a twin and has lived here with her sis and BnL for years) (and are great people). The house is all paid for. We planned to store all our extra stuff in second story of new garage, start my new business, live long and prosper.  Because garage didn't get done first, second, third, or forth, we had to sell nearly everything we could let go of - or pay a small fortune for gosh knows how long to store it all.  I kept all of my tools, but anything I could live without for a while I would sell and replace it later.  I'd have repaired the jack (it just leaked from the pump push-rod... it held pressure; though you had to keep it topped up), but decided I needed the space more than a leaky jack.  Once my other house closes with the new buyers, and I get a garage, I'll buy all the things I let go.  Things like my sand blast cabinet, horizontal bandsaw, jack, bench vise - things like that - I plan to get again and they're not too expensive.

 

My wife is VERY FRUGAL. Nothing wrong with that... it balances us out. HA. She garage sales every weekend with her friend and looks for only quality, not quantity. A couple weeks ago she bought some 1930's Christmas light for $10 and sold them 2 days later for $1200. Our "garage sale" netted us almost $20K after we paid the company that ran it for us. It was bigger than us. It was that kind of stuff. Had we had time to sell it the way we planned, would have been $80K, but had to empty my house to sell it while the market still exists. She will not pay full price on anything if she knows it can find it "on Saturday."  But she is practical as well and if I've need something, she's usually supportive of it.  She knows we won't go broke over it.  She went with me when I went to look at this TC and felt it was a great deal for what I needed for our future.  Anyway, said that to say - they're out there. I was blessed to find her - and that she didn't run when my "career ended abruptly" says all that needed to be said.

 

I did loose my Ranchero to her. She liked it too much. I said, fine, it needs a new 450HP crate motor, so I guess that's yours to buy.

 

Good info on the WIX catalog. Thanks for that! That's what I would have used way back then to make sure the oil filter crossed.

 

And since we are talking lift points and jacks - the one thing I will NEVER use is any of these China jacks with the levers to hold the car up on cast-iron teeth. China has ZERO QC standards on their own. If a US company specs out something, they can spec-out material and other standards, but few do. Cheap is cheap. I have a nice collection of pinned jack stands made out of steel. I never feel nervous under a car with these.

 

My '63 Ranchero, if curious.

 

Edited December 21, 2018 by DoubleOh7

[G B L]

Nice Ranchero !  A 300Hp Crate motor would be cheaper for her and make that rig plenty scary .

if you get the Chinese jack that the Chinese would work  under it most likely be ok. The Crappy Jacks that would kill you were imported for sale by an American sales man!
 

[Fifty150]

I have to tell you that almost every jack today is made in China or India.

[DoubleOh7]

On 12/21/2018 at 8:50 AM, Fifty150 said:

I have to tell you that almost every jack today is made in China or India.

 

Indeed.  I've had my jackstands for a long time, and though they are not marked as to where they are from - not a one is cast steel.  I'll probably restore my old O'brien jack, but lacking that I'll research who makes/sells/rebrands a jack and has 5 out 5 stars.

[davidparker]

Congrats on your new TC and your new career!  I like the blue with the wheels, nice combo.  I have had my 2018 about 4 months and like it more every day. I totally agree on the oversized "remote on the key", what a PITA.  I ended up buying a standard sized transponder key that I keep on my key ring and use daily.  I only use the "remote on the key" when I know I will be taking a passenger.  You can get a keyless entry pad from Ford.  It's a little pricey but not too bad.  However, it just sticks on with adhesive and is a bit of a pain to program.  Seems to work though, and the adhesive does allow you to mount it where you need it.  Totally dig the Falcon and the F100.  

[DoubleOh7]

On 12/26/2018 at 6:09 PM, davidparker said:

Congrats on your new TC and your new career!  I like the blue with the wheels, nice combo.  I have had my 2018 about 4 months and like it more every day. I totally agree on the oversized "remote on the key", what a PITA.  I ended up buying a standard sized transponder key that I keep on my key ring and use daily.  I only use the "remote on the key" when I know I will be taking a passenger.  You can get a keyless entry pad from Ford.  It's a little pricey but not too bad.  However, it just sticks on with adhesive and is a bit of a pain to program.  Seems to work though, and the adhesive does allow you to mount it where you need it.  Totally dig the Falcon and the F100.  

 

Thanks for the tip - since I still need to get a second key (only got one), that might be something to consider.

 

Just returned from a trip down the I-5 corridor to southern Oregon and averaged about 25.5 MPG, which considering the traffic through Portland both ways and the southern Oregon passes - not too bad. The K&N filter was here when I returned, so didn't get a chance to see if that might boost it .01 MPG or not. The filter in it is the original, best I can tell (kinda dirty), so I can hope it improves some now that it is installed. Also replaced the mid-way worn out factory Continental's for a set of Michelin A/S tires, which improved the handling about 2-fold. I was very impressed by how flat it held the curves on the passes. Didn't quite expect that.

 

Thanks on the Falcon and F100. I found the F100 on Craigslist about 3 years ago. It was in a barn from 1998 after being traded in by the original owner at a local dealership. A wholesaler bought it and kept it for himself until he pushed it into a field 15 years later and listed it for sale. The original owner had at some time earlier swapped the motor/trans/rear into it from a 69 Mustang (best I can tell from various tags). So it's now got a 390/C6/3.0 TracLoc. I had to redo all the brakes, interior, new tires and back to stock wheels, new fluids, did some minor bed-floor rust repair (followed by a LineX coating) - and repainted the white on it. The rest is patina. It is going up for sale after the holidays. I've had a few Falcons (stock 65 Tudor wagon, 63 Hardtop with a pretty radical 6-cyl, and a 62 Futura w/289). They're fun little cars, so got involved with the club. Once the truck is gone and I have a garage - the Ranchero is getting a heart transplant. Can't wait.

 

Picture is of my previous herd playing musical cars to get any one of them up into the garage (previous house).

 

Edited January 1, 2019 by DoubleOh7

[WillMartin]

That is quite the herd!  I have a similar herd, except it's bass guitars.  They take up less space, and my wife is not prone to telling me a need to get rid of one.  For what it's worth, she was all for it when I bought my TC.  She was funny about selling the Chevy van it replaced, too.  She couldn't wait until I got rid of the one I had before, but the one the TC replaced was one she actually liked.  Go figure.

 

I like the blue paint on the one you got.  That's a beautiful color.

[DoubleOh7]

On 1/8/2019 at 11:06 AM, WillMartin said:

That is quite the herd!  I have a similar herd, except it's bass guitars.  They take up less space, and my wife is not prone to telling me a need to get rid of one.  For what it's worth, she was all for it when I bought my TC.  She was funny about selling the Chevy van it replaced, too.  She couldn't wait until I got rid of the one I had before, but the one the TC replaced was one she actually liked.  Go figure.

 

I like the blue paint on the one you got.  That's a beautiful color.

 

It's a much smaller car herd now, but who knows what will happen if I ever get this garage built!

 

I have a herd of guitars, so I can relate. I whittled that herd down by half as well, but there are a few I can't part with. I inherited both a bass and guitar from my father, but I sold the bass and the amp he bought with it (in 1970) because I'm not a bass player and I didn't have space - and it wasn't the instrument of his we all felt expressed "him" as we grew up. He was a guitar player who played bass. He took up bass much later in life.

 

I like the blue on the van as well.  Just don't like the name they gave it... High Impact Blue. ?

 

I'm currently installing a trailer hitch on the van and got the hitch on in just a few minutes, but have to wait for the rain to stop now to do the wiring part.

 

Also struggling with front seat stowage for small things like cell phones.

[DoubleOh7]

Just added a Curt hitch and wiring harness to my TC. The hitch was easy-peasy, the wiring not so much. Once I decided what to do it wasn't that bad, but being a passenger van, the instructions you see on YouTube only really (easily) applies to cargo vans. You can't easily take the rear floor panel up since it is tucked up under the side body panels about two inches on each side. So I didn't do that step. Instead I looked on the passenger side and saw a rubber grommet (plug) there below the rear Fuse panel. There was nothing like this on the drivers side, so I punched a hole the same size (I have lots of those large rubber hole plugs) and in the same location as the other side. This let me run the power wire and connectors to the hitch and the passenger side turn signal connectors out this hole and over. Had to drop the spare tire to run the wires up and out of the way.  I plan to redo this harness a little once it warms up outside. It was also getting dark and my impatience overruled my OCD. Anyway, the rear fuse box had unused 12V constant terminals and allowed me to add the fuse harness from Curt using a spade connector. All in all, way easier than what Curt showed on the YouTube video.

[Fifty150]

Let's see what you're towing!

[DoubleOh7]

2 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

Let's see what you're towing!

Haven't bought it yet, but it's gonna be a smallish (5x8) utility trailer I can can haul stuff from the home center or to the dump. Gonna go look at one tomorrow and then I can post a picture of something.

[Sampa]

I've always been one to try to fit a higher capacity filter in as long is has the same flow/pressure ratings. On my 2015 2.5L I would have to get the die grinder out to "massage" the little triangular pieces on the filter mount that interfere with the larger FL-1A. I checked because I have a couple laying around. I was thinking that it would also bring the total oil capacity closer to 6 quarts. So the FL400S fits without any modification?

[Fifty150]

3 hours ago, Sampa said:

 I would have to get the die grinder out to "massage" the little triangular pieces on the filter mount that interfere with the larger FL-1A. 

 

 

Let me know how that works out.  Post pics.  I've got a couple of those filters sitting around also.

[Sampa]

Hey Fifty150, I probably won't do that right away as the vehicle still has an extended warranty on it. I don't like to give dealerships an excuse not to follow up on a warranty issue. That said, I will likely try a FL400S next oil change. The intriguing thing about the FL-1A is that it should bring the oil capacity very close to the 6 quart level and have tons of filtering surface area.

[Beta Don]

Modern engines are engineering marvels.  Most all of the internal tolerances are much closer than in earlier generations which were usually worn out at around 100,000 miles.  Newer engines use thinner oil (5W20 and sometimes even 0W15 or 20) than the 10W30 or 20W40 which was common waaaay back when the FL1A oil filter was designed.  Modern engines all use smaller oil filters than older engines largely because they are designed to produce many times less metal particles floating around in the oil, so large filters on todays small engines are pretty much a thing of the past

 

Mostly though, you've gotta consider that these modern engines which often last for 300,000 miles when properly cared for and can easily get 30 to 40 mph were designed by very smart engineers and you've got to wonder when any shade tree mechanic decides to make a major change to something like the oil filter the engineer specified for this particular engine, what are the odds that you're making a change for the better (you're smarter than the guys who designed it?) or are you changing an important part based on very little knowledge of all the parameters involved?  If your TC would really benefit from a larger filter, the engineers at Ford would have put one on there.  If it needed 6 quarts of oil, they would have given it a bigger oil pan.  To my mind, what you're proposing is very much like your doctor with 8 or 10 years of schooling in his profession telling you that you need to take this specific medicine, and you arbitrarily deciding that no, what I really need is this other medication 

 

When guys much smarter than me design something, I'm very hesitant to decide I know better than they do and make a change based on my own . . . . hunch

 

Don

[Fifty150]

It's exactly the same argument when people discuss using different motor oil. 

 

Some people feel that a higher weight and viscosity will be better.  A common recurring theme is that full synthetic oil is a better option.  Some people feel that European motor oil is better, and they will spend whatever to buy and ship it. In the cars of yesteryear, that may have been true.  Most large truck owners feel that 10W-40 or 10W-30 is better.  Maybe older cars did benefit from heavier oil.  Thank goodness nobody with Transit Connect thinks that the small engine should use higher viscosity oil because it has to work harder at higher RPM.   

 

When I drove Jeeps, it was common to use a larger oil filter.  Thought was that a larger filter would have more filter media.  I don't know if an extra half inch will help or hurt.  While filter media traps particulate matter, the oil additives are still wearing down.  

 

My own experience 1st hand is with years of driving commercial fleet vehicles.  Only using the lowest cost oil and filters, they all averaged 50,000+ miles a year.  Monthly oil changes.  Always OEM spec oil weight, viscosity, and grade.  We never gave up a car due to engine failure.  most cars are retired out if repairs cost more than value of vehicle, and as funding is available.  But if the budget does not allocate $50K for new car, then that car gets a new water pump, radiator, thermostat, timing belt, power steering pump, transmission, drive shaft, axle, brakes, and whatever else.  As I look at The City's fleet, there are still '97 Crown Vics.  No blown engines due to cheap oil & filter.  

 

I don't know if OEM spec is best.  Sometimes it is just to keep cost down.  Same way factory tuning is for CAFE numbers, and there's a lot of performance left out to improve fuel economy.  I do know that the engineers designed the car, then the factory builds it, and the final product may not be the best product for sale.  I question whether OEM parts under the hood can be improve or upgraded.  That's why I am in the aftermarket customer base who will buy questionable parts.  

 

For me, I don't see any reason to use only Motorcraft oil and filters.  Expensive retail does not indicate that oil or filter will provide added benefit.  My current oil and filters choices are driven by pricing and availability.