enigma-2

Is it noisy from the getgo or does it quite a little after the warms up? Bearing noise or more like tappets, etc?

I should have worded it differently. I meant that on "pitch black roads" you would probably be running brights and the fogs are disabled when the brights are on. Didn't mean to imply that they look stupid, just will not contribute any additional, useful light by throwing additional money in making them brighter. They work perfectly as designed, to illuminate the edges of the road right up in front of the car. Adding brighter fog lights serve of good purpose and probably would just throw additional glare towards oncoming drivers.

A 5" locust? Holy sh☆☆! Can you imagine hitting a swarm at 60 mph an a motorcycle?

Is it "only" after you refuel or does it also happen after the car has been sitting overnight? Personally I doubt it has to do with a "vacuum" problem, probably more like the fuel line is not remaining pressurized. Who were you referring to as "they"?

First thing i would suspect is the battery itself. I would have the battery tested with a professional battery tester. Your dealer will probably do this for you free, in expectation of selling you a new battery. Btw, if you do need one, Ford has a coupon on their website for a 84 month battery. As for 33k and have problems, you should expect problems with anything mechanical or electrical, no matter what the age. Things fail. Batteries fail at different times depending on the loads and enviroment they have been exposed to. I've had a Diehard fail in less than one year. Had a Motorcraft go six years. (Shrug).

It's Ford's warranty. I misread the coupon, it's 7 years, 84 months. http://owner.ford.com/maintenance/service-coupons-and-offers.html?couponId=BT010

Pitch black roads, don't you use your brights? Fogs are disabled with brights.

Gotta tell you, I occasionally see people running around with their fogs on on clear nights, and I've never thought to myself that it "looked good".

Hadn't considered that, I can see your point. Reminded me of when I was on a business trip around the city years ago. Was on the freeway headed to LaGuardia. Traffic running 90+mph, bumper-to-bumper. The guy in back of me was bumping into my rear end, I was bumping into the car in front of me. Worst place to drive anywhere in North America. If it hadn't been a Avis would gave wanted bigger bumpers. Still doesn't look good though.

It's difficult to say inasmuch as if you have them, how would you know what kind of stone damage would have occured had you not had them. That being said, yes, they do seem to block some spray from the side of the car. The real purpose is to protect stones from being thrown up by the tires.

It would agree that WWWperfA hit on the coating on the cat converter burning off.

Mine always squeek every time I back out of the garage. Like WFDEdge, it stops after I've driven a short distance. Was told that a thin layer of rust forms overnight that burns off after braking. (?)

Is it possible that there is a different version of Sync for non-US cars than US cars? I would tend to think that the hardware is the same, only the software being different. Considering this, I wonder if it would it be possible for your dealer to reflash the radio/nav unit with the US version.

FYI, I don't know about the traffic part as I don't subscribe (no coverage in the rural areas) but I do carry travel link weather, and it's fully accessible through voice commands. Push the media button, say "travel link", 2 boinks, and say "weather", "weather map" or "five day weather forcast". Traffic commands are listed in the manual (as well as sports, movies at local theaters, etc.)

Just make sure the ice reallllly thick. (Heavy car). Speaking as one who slows down for even small puddles LOL

They're on the out takes reel.

Don't know the answer but yellow light (or amber) is preferable over bluer light for fogs. (See better in circumstances of low visibility).

BTW, are you certain the old filter was Motorcraft and not an aftermarket?

May have to switch to aftermarket.

Do you smell it after the car has been sitting overnight, or when the car is running and still cold, or only after it's been warmed up but not driven, or only it's been warmed up and driven? (Sorry for the run sentence, but knowing when you start to sense the smell could help to isolate the cause).

Gasoline varies in composition from batch to batch. The refine from whatever source the can obtain it from, Middle East, Europe, US, Canada, South America, etc. What was perfect gas one day can easily have a much higher sulfur content the next. Exactly what kind of smell is it? Sour, putrid, musty, wet, dusty, like exhaust, like gasoline, like something burning, like burning rubber, like sulfur or acid? Can you describe the smell better? When you smell molten solder your really smelling the mostly resin in the solder. I would lean to protective coating on engine parts burning off.

Just curious, did you put the old one next to the new one on a flat surface and compare what differences exist? Be interesting to see if they were made differently, or if the existing one became compressed.

Perhaps this might help.http://owner.ford.com/how-tos/maintenance/engine/selectshift-automatic-transmission.html

Ford's offering an 8 year battery for $120. http://owner.ford.com/maintenance/service-coupons-and-offers.html?couponId=BT090

Fuse?