TheWizard

Sorry... if you think you can gain 20% HP from simple bolt-ons and a tune, you're expecting way too much. If that was possible, everyone in the Mustang world would be doing it. V6 Mustangs with tune, long tube headers, high-flow cats, cat-back, throttle body and CAI are getting into the mid-340s at the flywheel (mid-280s at the rear wheels).

Install a relay. The relay is basically an electronic switch that switches a high power circuit on and off under the control of a low power circuit. They are quite inexpensive ($5 - $10) and available from any auto parts store and even Walmart (as well as countless online vendors). You connect the main power of the inverter through the relay to the battery and then connect the relay switching coil to an ignition-switched circuit from the fuse box. The current draw of the relay on the ignition-switched circuit is very small so you don't risk overloading a factory circuit. That will give you an inverter that gets its power directly from the battery but is switched on and off by the ignition.

Actually, the old thermo-mechanical flashers would usually exhibit the opposite effect when installing LED bulbs (or when a stock bulb burned out)... there would not be enough current draw to heat up the bimetal contact arm so the lights would go on and stay on rather than flashing. Later, a number of manufacturers went to electro-mechanical flashers that would hyper-flash when a bulb was out. Now almost all manufacturers use some sort of electronic control module usually embedded in a more general purpose box like the BCM on the Edge and Explorer (Mustangs still have a stand-alone module but that is because it controls the sequential turn signals). Both the electro-mechanical flashers and the more current electronic control modules were designed specifically to hyper-flash when a bulb is burned out (based on low current draw) to alert the driver to the problem - although it's obvious nobody explained this to most drivers judging by how many you see driving around with hyper-flashing turn signals. You are correct that the low current draw of LED bulbs is what triggers the hyper-flashing but WWWPerfA_ZN0W is correct that there is no traditional flasher that can be replaced to resolve the problem so we have to do things like add load resistors to draw enough current to fool the system.

Well, the powertrain warranty is 5 years, 60,000 miles. You're already 50% past that. At what point would you think Ford would no longer be responsible for fixing your car? That's why it's called a limited warranty. I sympathize with you for being caught with an unexpected repair. It sucks that bad things happen sometimes. But at the same time I suspect there is much more to this story.

It varied... some of the individual schematics that were obvious scanned book images and had been posted on a large number of other sites were left up on the assumption that they were commonly available. Other schematics that were higher quality captures from electronic manuals were taken down to avoid any potential issues. I don't think the copyright holders ever complained about any of them but the site is owned by a corporation that runs a large number of similar sites and they didn't want to take any chances.

Not my call. I just mention it because the situation came up on another forum where I'm a moderator. It's really up to the admin and moderators on this forum to decide.

The Ford factory service manual is available from Helm Inc at: http://www.helminc.com/helm/welcome_retail_frd.asp?Style=helm You can buy the DVD for about $180 or you can use it online for short periods ($11 for 3 days, $20 for a month, $109 for a year).

Very helpful information but I'm curious... how does this forum's management feel about the posting of copyrighted information without express permission? I think Ford and Helm might not be too happy that portions of their $180 service manual are being distributed here and that could lead to unwanted legal action. Under the DMCA, they could have the whole site taken down without warning. Just food for thought.

Very nicely done! I'm curious though... why mount the resistors so far away? There is plenty of space below the left headlight.

...but it's okay to install an aftermarket light assembly. Sorry, I still don't get the distinction (or what the cost of the vehicle has to do with anything) but it's your car. My feeling is that I've bought this car, I want it to work the way I would like and if that takes a few modifications then so be it.

That is not possible with the Edge 2 lights from DBL. There may or may not be some other provider that makes replacement light strips that are just like the factory ones but brighter. I don't know because I haven't looked but I wouldn't think there would be much of a market for an item like that. As I've mentioned before, why would anyone want those lights to be brighter at night but not at any other time? What would be the purpose? Turning on your parking lights during the day is not a good substitute for real DRLs because it also turns on the tail lights (which can be mistaken for brake lights) and the lights don't turn off with the ignition so you could inadvertently run your battery down by leaving them on.

It is not possible to have replacement accent light strips that add DRL function but use the factory plug because the factory plug isn't wired that way. The factory plug provides only power and ground connected to the parking/headlight circuit so you will always have to add wiring to power the lights during the day (with the ignition on but not the parking/headlights).

That's true to a certain extent. If voice commands worked properly and consistently, I would use them more often. As it is, I have only been able to get it to respond consistently to perhaps a half dozen voice commands. Sometimes it seems to be programmed for planned disobedience and I half expect one day I will say "call home" and it will respond "deploying airbags". I have discovered that someone at Microsoft had a sense of humor because dropping an f-bomb works the same as saying "cancel". (I'm sure you will recognize how I discovered that) Seriously though, voice commands have one big disadvantage even when they work - if I have people in the car, I don't want to have to tell them to shut up just so that I can say a command to SYNC.

Wow... that's quite a leap. Just because I don't like everything in the Edge doesn't mean I want to get rid of it. Yes, I enjoy driving my Mustang. I drive the Edge because it is practical and comfortable (and my wife likes it), but certainly not for the fun of driving it. It's a people mover not a sports or performance vehicle... it gets you from one place to another - in many ways better than most of its competition but it's not perfect and it's not what I would call entertaining by any stretch of the imagination. My point is that the touch screen is not the best way to handle common controls and that other vehicles from the same manufacturer are better designed ergonomically. I am not alone in this - Ford has announced that it is redesigning new models due to customer complaints about MFT. MFT is not enough to make us want to ditch the Edge although it is enough to make us think twice about buying another one if Ford doesn't improve the driver interface. And although music is obviously not the primary reason for being in the Edge, I would not be driving any purely practical vehicle without music. I have nothing against touch screens per se (my phone and tablet are both touch screen) and it is very useful for things like navigation and setting vehicle options. It's just not appropriate for everyday function control.

Really, Doctor? I have my most common two radio stations on buttons 1 and 5 which are right next to the volume knob which I can certainly reach without looking. Radio vs. USB media are the two buttons immediately to the left of the volume knob so I can switch between those two without looking. The left temp is a concave rocker so it is easy to recognize by touch. The heated seat is directly above my radar detector (or next to the temp rocker). Seek and volume are on the steering wheel (real buttons) although I still use the volume knob almost exclusively rather than the steering wheel button because it gives more granular control. Granted, less used functions require a quick glance (fan speed, defrost, etc.) but one glance and pressing a button is still less distracting than a glance at a menu or touch screen, then again to see the selection you made, then possibly again if you need to go deeper in the menus. Unless you memorize that you have to press left once, up twice, right once (or whatever)... you are looking at the menu screen. And even if you did memorize those selections, they only work if you always start at the same screen.

There should be existing factory grounds on both sides of the radiator mount as well as at the front corner of the fenders. You can always put a ring terminal on your wire and ground to the battery ground cable.

No, you're missing my point. I'm not referring to functions that by their very nature require a screen (navigation, backup camera, etc.). And I'm not referring to functions that aren't used all the time such pairing your bluetooth phone and similar things. I'm talking about basic functions that we use regularly such as selecting an audio source, tuning a radio station, or changing temperature/fan speed/air flow direction. By comparison, here is my Mustang (SYNC and navigation but no MFT): Notice how I can select radio or media, change volume, select a preset station, tune a radio station, turn heated seats on/off, adjust left/right temperature, set fan speed, and control the front and rear defroster with real buttons that provide tactile feedback and in many cases don't require taking my eyes off the road at all or at most for just a second. (BTW, the new 2015 Mustang due out soon has even more real switches than mine) As far as the radio display, any current $100 aftermarket single DIN head unit can display title and artist these days - that is not the domain of MFT by any means. And my cell phone has nothing to do with the touch screen - once it's been paired, I can answer and hang up with the steering wheel buttons. Oh, and I have real gauges that I can see all the time without switching screens. My last car had a nice Kenwood double DIN navigation head unit with bluetooth and all the other goodies but it wasn't necessary to control the car's functions. I'm merely pointing out that in terms of actual functionality, MFT is more about impressing people in the showroom than actually getting the job of daily driving done. I have yet to see anybody here who has ever said that they use it regularly (not just set and forget) and still like it better than real switches.

Buy it from Helm. Go to www.helminc.com. They are the only authorized factory service manual provider and they are very expensive ($180 for the book). An alternative is the Haynes Service Manual... you can get the 2007-2013 Haynes manual for under $18 from Amazon. It's not as thorough as the factory manual but it is usually good enough for most driveway mechanics.

Wow! It's amazing to me that the best praise anyone has given is that MFT doesn't suck as much as some other touch screen systems. Or that you don't really need to use it because you can set things to auto mode. Nobody has yet said that MFT/SYNC or any touch screen in general is an improvement over normal switches and buttons. I find that significant. Yes, you can say that it works okay or that you can work around its shortcomings but personally I prefer functionality over glitz. And one of the things I've learned in over 35 years in the technology business is that technology for its own sake is not a good thing - if a new technology does not provide an improvement over the existing practice, don't buy it (like "cloud computing").

That does not change the fact that if you don't want to use auto mode (I switch it off occasionally myself), you have to use the touch screen as described. Sometimes one may not want the Ford computerized nanny to make all the decisions such as when it selects an inappropriate fan speed (fairly common). Sometimes one's wife may find her feet getting cold and want to direct heat to the floor when the auto setting would do something else. Sure, if you set everything once and don't change it often then using the touch screen is not much of an issue but for those of us who change settings more often, the touch system is inefficient and distracting.

Well, I suppose I could record the horns to give you an idea of the tone but the volume would be hard to convey because it depends on recording level and playback volume. I won't be able to do that until the weekend since we have a major project going on at work and I don't get home until late (don't want to disturb the neighbors).

I installed those horns this weekend. I put two on the OEM bracket on the right and the other two on the left by just drilling a couple of holes for self-tapping screws. I used the factory horn connector to trigger a relay. Battery power comes from one of the unused terminals in the Battery Junction Box under the hood and there is an existing ground bolt on each side bumper mount. The relay is both for added safety and to ensure that the horns get a full dose of current for maximum output. And there is a noticeable difference in volume between testing the horns with the car off and with the engine (alternator) running. If you plan to do this mod, don't be disappointed if you mount the first two horns and run a test. Just two of the four sound rather anemic. But connect all four and they sound quite impressive - not just volume but tone quality as well. Guaranteed you will not be ignored if you lay on these things when someone cuts you off.

I have a set of WeatherTech in-the-channel dark tint window deflectors and they are tremendous. No interference with the window and they look factory installed.

I think you are making assumptions that aren't necessarily true. I am the IT Director for my company so I certainly have no fear of or problem with complicated technology yet I absolutely hate My Ford Touch and merely tolerate SYNC. My reason has nothing to do with complexity or familiarity... in this case familiarity breeds contempt. The problem is that far too many of the basic car functions require using the touch screen instead of real switches. That requires taking your eyes off the road... and not just a short glance to find a button but a longer time because there is no tactile feedback to let you know that you actually got the function you wanted. Even the limited set of switches provided are flat panel with no tactile feedback. This is the primary complaint that has led Ford to redesign new models so that there are real switches and buttons for commonly used functions. Sure, there's voice activation but that seems designed for deliberate disobedience. I say "call home" and it says "deploying airbags". There are a number of voice commands that I have been able to make respond as expected but most do the wrong thing or just stop and do nothing. Besides, who wants to tell a car full of people "shut up, I want to change the temperature using SYNC"? And what ever happened to real gauges in front of the driver? There is no way to make MFT display speed, tach, temp, fuel, battery and oil pressure at the same time. I have the electronics package in my Mustang including SYNC and navigation (but thankfully no MFT). It has real moving switches for climate control and audio that are laid out in a way that I can find most by touch alone without ever taking my eyes off the road. And it has a full set of gauges. So don't assume that everyone who dislikes/hates MFT and SYNC are just cavemen who haven't learned the technology - the technology design has a fundamental flaw when used in a driving environment. It's great for impressing prospective buyers in the showroom but it misses the mark in actual use.

You don't lose high beam with HID. The original halogen bulbs aren't dual filament either - the projector assembly has a moving plate inside that blocks part of the light when on low beam (giving that distinctive cutoff pattern) and moves out of the way when on high beam.