akirby

Every cruise control I’ve ever had allows you to accelerate without cancelling cruise. I think it’s a good feature. No reason to disengage it if you’re trying to go faster.

Exactly. It’s only an issue with the Intelligent Access fobs.

Only the dealer or a locksmith can add a second key. You can only add a key yourself if you have two working keys. At least that’s how it works on newer models.

Regular lead acid battery. You should remove the caps and add distilled water as needed, then you can try reconditioning - no need to remove it from the vehicle or disconnect it. But my experience is it will only buy you a few months.

Had to do that on daughter's escape to replace the purge valve - ended up being a lot easier than I expected. I think it was only 2 bolts (one per side) and 2 nuts (one per wiper) and it just lifted off. Only takes a few minutes.

Should be able to remove the cowl and wipers with a few bolts i you need the extra room.

Did you miss this? There have been several cases of brand new Dorman fans being DOA.

I was just pointing out that it's expensive because it does a lot more than just maintain a charge like a battery tender. I don't know why it's so expensive in canada but I think I bought mine for $75 a few years ago which isn't expensive at all to me (here in the states).

If it’s more than 3 years old chances are it’s toast and should just be replaced anyway. You might be able to nurse it for another 6 months but once they start to go bad they never fully recover. Be aware the old style load testers used by some shops don’t work on these new vehicles. Make sure they’re testing the CCAs compared to the battery spec.

Fans are more common. Put the A/C on max and both fans should come on.

It doesn’t matter - the new fans come with a new module. Get Motorcraft not aftermarket - aftermarket is crap.

Many sporty cars have the battery in the trunk for better weight distribution like my 2000 Lincoln LS V8 sport. Or modified vehicles where there isn’t much room in the engine bay. But it’s not done for heat protection.

That’s not a maintenance charger - it has multiple modes including battery reconditioning. And it’s only $93 US.

There are thousands upon thousands of licensed locksmiths and Ford dealers - plenty of competition. And they allow you to program your own keys as long as you have 2 and haven't exceeded the limit. It's a security measure. Why should anybody be able to program new keys? What would stop a mechanic with bad intentions from adding their own key to yours and then stealing the vehicle? Why is that "absurd"?

Yes short trips don't give the battery enough time to recover from starting the engine. Just throw it on the charger once a month or once a week and it should be fine. I can't recommend enough getting a SOLAR BA-7 or BA-9 tester (less than $79). Whatever tester most of these stores and mechanics are using aren't good enough and give too many false results saying the battery is ok when it's not.

You're not wrong about wanting to troubleshoot the root cause. However, you do have some facts wrong about batteries. The only way to tell if a battery is going bad is with a digital tester like the Solar BA-7 or BA-9. When my batteries have failed in the past, it was always between 3 and 4 years old and the vehicle cranked, started and ran perfectly fine until one day it was dead as a doornail. No amount of charging will fix a bad cell and once they go bad they're toast. As an example - my 2016 MKX is 4 years old. I put the battery on the CTek charger and fully charged it. Then I tested it. When new it was 730 CCA (cold cranking amps). Now it's at 430. It's going to die one day very soon. I have my Li-Ion jump starter in the back seat until I can go replace it. It's never given a warning or failed to start but it's a ticking time bomb and it will fail one day probably without warning. Here's the other thing - let's say this is a different problem and you fix it. If your battery is more than 3 years old then about 6 months from now it's going to die anyway and you'll have to replace it. Rarely do folks get more than 4 years. So you're not replacing a perfectly good battery - you're replacing a battery that is on its last legs - you're just doing it before it dies completely. And worst case you've eliminated a potential problem (and at least 9 times out of 10 fixed the problem) and you don't have to worry about the battery for another 3-4 years. That's well worth $150 to me.

Here's the thing - at least 9 times out of 10 if the battery is more than 2.5 years old it's a bad battery. They have proper voltage but not enough amps to crank the vehicle. And the only solution is a new battery. There can be other causes - parasitic draws e.g. or a bad alternator. But if the battery is 3 years old or older just replace it because it's probably on its last leg anyway. Then if you continue to have problems you've eliminated the most common cause.

Sounds like a battery problem for sure. How did you verify it's new and working?

Well that’s what you get when an IT guy gives car advice,.....

Nope. IT Cloud Architect.

I believe the torque converter lockup starts in 3rd gear. Just a guess though.

Sounds like the torque converter.

It’s in the tank, but it doesnt normally doesn’t need to be changed.

You'll get far more bang for the buck trading it for a 2015 Sport and adding a simple tune.