Idahoser

We just had to have the engine replaced in our 2008 Edge. Insurance doesn't help, and we didn't have an extended warranty, so we had to pay for it ourselves. The shop found a used engine and we felt pretty lucky to get out with only a $3,100 bill, with a 6 month warranty. Naturally this was not at the dealership. Got a low mile engine too, 65,000 in the 115,000 Edge. If I didn't still owe 10 grand I would have just junked the car, but now that we got it done I'm glad I did it. Anyway the cause was coolant got in the oil, due to bad water pump. We found a puddle under the car one day, thought it was a leaking radiator. Didn't know about the weep hole, or realize how serious this was on the 3.5L, and just refilled the cooling system, like you would have on an older car. Figured it would get us through a few more days. Bad move. There is a weep hole behind the alternator that's pretty difficult to see from under the car. You pretty much need a light and mirror. You'd never know it was there except when it's leaking. It looks like a freeze plug has sprung a leak, the weep hole is at the top of the freeze plug. If this is dripping, one of the seals on your water pump has failed. STOP DRIVING RIGHT NOW and get that fixed, because it won't be long before the other seal fails, and your engine is toast. I had first started looking into what it takes to replace the water pump, and even that's a nightmare, have to take off the engine front cover and the whole timing chain assembly, involves lifting the engine slightly. Guess experience with old V-8s doesn't really mean you know anything about modern cars.

why would you deliberately tow flat in the first place? Wouldn't a dolly make everything better? Heck I'd get all four wheels up if I could do it easily. Save the wear and tear on the moving parts even if it does work.

the housing is the same for all of them, lower levels come with a screen, higher models with a filter but they are interchangeable, and very easy to change. Take it out to see which you have, if it's the screen you can clean it and put it back, if it's the filter just take it out for a short time to see how much difference it makes. You can buy either a filter or screen if you like, they both fit (but not at the same time). I replaced my screen with a filter, but I cleaned the screen and keep it for when the filter gets dirty. It was probably 90% blocked with crud, no wonder the flow sucked.

i'd bet something fell into the fan and is rattling in there.

I haven't even done my first oil change yet on the Edge, but I love the Fumoto valve on the Super Duty. I have a discount code that expires tomorrow, and I'm considering just ordering it blind, but I was hoping to get some input as to how much room there is down there. Is the one with the long nipple going to stick out too much? Is the short nipple also too long- should I get the one with the detachable nipple? They also seem to be recommending either the adapter or the adapter-integrated valve, as if we have a recessed drain port. Incidentally, size 107 is what we use. The discount code is YSBFV, good for 5% off and expires Aug 23. Edit: Finally got under there to look, and the opening is horizontal and does not have any recess, so the standard 107N is a good choice. There's another special 5% off til Aug 29 2013, use code YSBFV http://www.qwikvalve.com Looks like they always have "buy two, ship free".

We found a 2008 SEL FWD, leather, Sirius, 95,000 miles but like new inside & out, paid $15,990 Might be a little high but it was one of only two on the lot (City Auto) and I felt lucky to get it. Made a trip to FLA and back and was much more comfortable than my truck for that. I wasn't looking forward to a car again after a few years in a truck, but this was really nice to drive and ride in. Plenty of room, sits high enough but easy to get in and out of, perfect all around. Only trouble so far was it didn't want to start once, may have been a loose battery cable connection, can't duplucate the problem to find out. It was weird, the solenoid clicked, no crank, didn't dim the lights when it tried to crank. A hard wiggle of the battery cable and it never happened again.