TheWizard

As far as the fuses go, there has never been a Ford with an OnStar fuse since no Ford ever had OnStar, and the satellite radio (SiriiusXM) doesn't have a separate fuse because it runs off the audio system (fuses 28, 32, and 33). I would ask them about the fuses again and specify that it's a Ford not a GM product. It sounds like they gave you information for the wrong product.

A lot of the highways around here have road signs saying "tune to xxxx for traffic info" (usually an AM frequency). Maybe the icon indicates areas which have that type of coverage?

The first two are bogus garbage that will do nothing to improve performance and have the potential of damaging your vehicle. There is no such thing as a "chip" you can install in an Edge to improve performance - that's a thing from a bygone era when cars were much simpler. The third is a true programmer that is designed to install custom tunes but doesn't support your 2013 Edge (the device would work but there are no tunes available that it could load). Livernois is a recognized expert in Edge programming and SCT tuners have been well received as well.

Yes, companies can pay big bucks for an extended support contract with Microsoft to provide security updates well past the end-of-life date (which was way back in April 2014). This is intended to support systems like ATMs and point-of-sale systems but will cover any Windows XP machine the company wants to pay for. There is also a registry "hack" that will extend support on a Windows XP machine until April 2019 by making Microsoft see the computer as a POS device. But for ordinary users, there is no support for Windows XP anymore. Maybe I should have used Windows Vista in my example because it was far less popular and has not had any offer of extended support (thankfully it died a well deserved death).

A 32mm socket is only $4.99 at Harbor Freight. Granted, those aren't the world's best quality but I doubt you would have a need to use it regularly. They didn't seem to have a 36mm on their website but Amazon has them for as little as $10.

A less expensive alternative

I don't recall saying I was happy about it - I was merely pointing out the reality of the situation. Bear in mind that software is licensed not purchased so you don't actually own the software and the provider can make whatever changes they deem appropriate because it's their property. Eliminating some little-used peripheral functions like vehicle status reports is nothing like eliminating primary functions such as engine management... but even there the manufacturer is under no obligation to provide you with the latest and greatest updates as long as the car runs as intended. Your comparison is just plain silly. You can tilt at windmills all you like but in the end it all comes down to cost/benefit calculations for the manufacturer. I'm afraid that's just the real world.

You mean like Microsoft not supporting Windows XP anymore? Companies don't have to support software for any specific period of time and are free to change the terms as they see fit. Even advertising that a vehicle comes with a particular feature doesn't bind them to continue to support that feature unless they say something like "3 years of vehicle status reports included". You will notice in all advertising and brochures that there is a disclaimer that "features are subject to change without notice". For that matter, manufacturers are under no obligation to even supply replacement parts for vehicles that are out of warranty. The federal government requires parts availability for emissions systems for eight years so almost all manufacturers have 8-year emissions warranties separate from their standard warranty.

We had the same thought except they dropped the CX-7, leaving only the CX-3 (tiny), CX-5 (Escape size), and CX-9 (bigger). I do remember that the CX-9 was one of the most comfortable vehicles we tested but we went for the Edge with the Ecoboost for mileage.

Off topic... how does your wife like the CX-9? We had been considering one and may look again when the time comes.

Interesting. That's good to know.

Oh yeah... that will buff right out. Look on the positive side (like a Kavanaugh optimist "keg is half full" kind of guy) - things could have been much worse. Your injuries don't sound debilitating and will heal. The modern safety devices in your Jeep helped prevent a much more serious situation. A 45 mph crash in the not-so-distant past could have been fatal. The vehicle can be replaced so your health is much more important. Glad to hear that you two are (relatively) all right.

Have you actually done this on this particular vehicle or are you referring to normal practice? On most engines, lining them up is a simple process but the Ford manual specifies that is not the case with your vehicle.

I've always been a fan of those small, self-contained air horns (the ones with the compressor about the size of a soda can). They're fairly cheap and produce a lot of sound. You can wire them in parallel to the factory horns to get the best of both. The compressor takes a moment to spool up so you can still get a short toot out of the factory horns so as not to be obnoxious - but leaning on the horn produces the full blast.

You don't mention having it towed so I assume it started with a boost and you were able to drive it to the shop. That would make the battery the obvious first thought. Even if it's relatively new, having it load tested would be a good idea because sometimes even new batteries fail. They can even show a full charge on a meter yet not be able to crank the engine.

Actually, I don't think I ever called Trump stupid... a narcissistic, immoral, sociopath yes, but not necessarily stupid. He's certainly no genius either but neither was George W Bush and he managed to be president for eight years without tearing the country apart. There are lots of people who are smarter than Trump and there have been many famous and successful sociopaths as well... Hitler comes to mind. But I really don't need to spend time debating foolish conspiracy theories with you. You might be better going back to Alex Jones and Infowars where your ideas originate (oh wait... he's been cut off from almost all social media and is being sued for his outrageous falsehoods - maybe that's not such a good idea). Well, Fox news might be the next best thing if Infowars isn't available - they have no sense of right and wrong over there either.

Yes, that is correct - he is entitled to all of the warranty coverage that comes with a CPO car. Unfortunately, Ford's CPO warranty doesn't cover the steering wheel or any trim pieces. Here is the coverage listing from the Ford site: https://www.ford.com/resources/ford/global/pdf/cpo/ford_program_brochure.pdf

I agree that the condition of that steering wheel should not happen in such a short time or mileage. And I hope that Ford will help you out with it as a goodwill gesture. However, I looked at the CPO warranty coverage as posted in a PDF on their website and it appears that this wouldn't be covered under the CPO warranty. In the "Steering" section, it lists all of the mechanical parts, seals and gaskets, and the electric power assist but there is no mention of the wheel itself. And there is no mention of trim anywhere so they probably consider the steering wheel leather to be no more under warranty than any other trim like seats or door panels. I wish you luck.

It makes no difference electrically whether you disconnect the positive or negative cable. Both are necessary for current to flow. The reason for disconnecting the negative is for safety... if you happen to bang your wrench against something metal while disconnecting the negative cable, nothing will happen. But if you happen to bang your wrench against something metal while disconnecting the positive cable (while the negative is still connected) you would create a massive and very dangerous short circuit.

Or ending up in a retention pond... something that seems to happen almost weekly around here. I could be wrong but I think that the airbags must deploy for the Alert System to activate. Still - it's good to know. Assuming nothing could ever go wrong with it, it seems to be a good safety feature. Still doesn't make up for the annoyance of some company deciding for me whether my doors should be locked. In almost 50 years of driving, I have only locked my doors once while driving - that was while going through an extremely seedy area of Detroit where even the police don't stop for traffic lights.

I have to agree with cabin393 on this one... I wouldn't buy a vehicle which had auto locks that couldn't be disabled. The situation of being trapped in a car with responders unable to get in may not be likely but are you willing to bet your life on it? I've seen plenty of news reports of passersby saving occupants caught in vehicles on fire or in retention ponds. Sure, police and firefighters have the tools to break the windows but the average person doesn't and they're not as easy to break as you might think. Besides, I just don't like any company telling me how to use their product without giving me any choice. I also won't buy a car that has nannies like automatic braking unless they can be disabled.

That won't fit. You'll need to find wiper blades that fit an "I&L" arm which has a hook at the end which the blade swivels on to engage squeeze-to-lock tabs. I have found Motorcraft to be the best fit but PIAA, Bosch, and Rain-X also make blades that work. The Motorcraft model is WW-2801-PF.

I agree that the decorative lights in the bumper are pretty much useless but in the situation described by lm700, fog lights would actually be worse. Fog lights are designed to throw a wide but low beam that illuminates directly in front of the vehicle for use at slower speeds in low visibility situations. They're fine for general use in built-up areas that are generally well lit but they actually reduce your vision in dark rural areas. That's because the flood of light up close to the vehicle causes your pupils to contract, killing your distance vision. The ideal lighting in that situation is almost no light close to the vehicle but a long throw of the main headlights to illuminate as far as possible down the road.

I agree with WWWPerfA_ZN0W, you would be better off with a good HID setup. The sharp cutoff was designed to handle much brighter light sources such as HID but got carried over to halogen headlights when they started using projectors instead of reflectors. The projectors are designed to have some "leakage" light above the cutoff for precisely the situation you describe (as well as for road signs) but with halogen bulbs that extra light is usually not enough to effectively illuminate non-reflective objects. Replacing the halogens with a good HID kit will increase that extra light without it being blinding to other drivers.

In this case, most of the performance and mileage increase is because of the pure gasoline rather than the octane rating. Gasoline has about 33% more energy by volume than ethanol so switching from an ethanol blend to pure gasoline (even at the same octane rating) will give you an immediate improvement. Often the difference is enough to be noticed by the "butt dyno". The trend lately has been for more and more gas stations to offer a non-ethanol grade because it is much better for small engines like motorcycles, boats, lawn mowers and generators. It is usually offered at separate pumps as a mid-grade 89 octane but some are premium and a very few are regular 87 octane. Just be aware that it may not come from the same supplier as the ethanol blends sold at the same station. It may not even be branded or top-tier fuel. Generally, if it is offered at all of the pumps as their higher octane (e.g. all premium at a station is non-ethanol while the other grades are E10) then it is their branded fuel. But if it's only offered at one or two separate pumps then check the labeling carefully to determine if it might be unbranded fuel being sold as a convenience.