enigma-2

"Were you listing to Boss Radio (Rock and Roll) in the 60's?" WLS out of Chicago & WSM out of Nashville. Dick Biondi was a crazy DJ on WLS back in the 60's. Screaming, always screaming. Huge audience. Used to call himself the "wild I-tralian." First DJ in the country to introduce the Beatles. Several others as well. Remember he held a contest, which did the audience think would be the bigger hit, the "Beatles" Please, Please Me, or a song (forget which) by the "Peanut Butter Conspiracy." (Care to guess who won?) That was the first time Americans ever heard the Beatles. Anyway, I remember that night (for certain other reasons.) That was right after a basketball sectional game, back in 63. (H.S. Basketball - Indiana.) He got fired after he cracked the joke "guess what new game they're playing in Washington? Its called Jack-in-the-box." (Jackie Kennedy just announced that she was pregnant.) They cut to commercial and when they came back, he was gone. That was the night the music died. (At least on AM radio ... Dick Biondi was as big a celebrity as we had in the Midwest. And we'd pretty much forgotten Buddy Holly by then.) .

IThat's a bad sign. The water pump is leaking and he should NOT DRIVE THE CAR. It will cause damage. Get it serviced immediately. I'm going to have my 09 MKX changed at around ~150—175k for preventive maintenance. At that time, will also have everything else that fails replaced as well, ie, timing chain and guides, cam phasers (not a common failure on naturally aspirated 350's, but why chance it), spark plugs, coil boots, PVC, etc. On the fence over also changing the injectors and coils. Motorcraft parts only, of course.

On my car, the shark fin serves two functions (that I'm aware of), one section serves the Siris Radio reception and the other is for GPS. My car has a separate antenna for AM/FM. In driving later year's Edge models (loaners) I dis notice much poorer reception (rural in my area. Only able to listen to three (local) stations. Others were extremely poor. Even on my MKX, reception is still iffy. But then again, I never listen to AM anyway. Mostly Sirus Radio (probably 95%), CD's and DVD's, talking books recorded to the hard drive, or connected jump drives. In later models, I believe that it also connects to cell towers for modem service through the internet. (I've also read that it provides Bluetooth service as well.)

Yo, @FixOrRepairDaily100, you're responding to a post thats 10 years old. (Thats fifty years in forum years.)

"the radio should work as well as the AM radio in a 1969 Ford Mustang" Back in 1968. AM radio was still widely listened to. Today's it's considered as a last (distant) choice. Back in 69 your car used a 42" whip, sticking out of the front fender. Great place for reception. But it killed the looks of the car. So they relegated to antenna to a "that oughta be good nuf".

"Second - transmission flush quoted at $249. Third - Brake fluid flush $225 Fourth - serpentine belt $260" For reference, local Ford dealer near me charges $399.95 for transmission service (basically fluid exchange) & $299.95 for brake fluid exchange. (Which is the reason that I found a private mechanic to service my car with. Only uses OEM parts and checks everything before returning the car to me.) BTW, which engine do you have (that needs a new serpentine belt.) .

No. That much coolant in the oil will always turn it into a light brown milkshake. It's probably not the water pump. Most likely cause on a car that old is a hose has failed. Specifically, the first place I'd look is the lower radiator hose. Shouldn't be too hard to find. Refill the coolant, start the car so that the cooling system is pressurized and look under the engine for a dribble.

(A whole new exhaust???? ABS control module????) Yeaaaaa, I'd definitely get a 2nd opinion. Seems like a lot (too much) to fail for a car of that age.

What did you have done, and what else does it need? (Believe i would get a 2nd opinion.)

Be smart & save money. Your rims are just scratched up (wait till you see what happens after she parks it at the high school parking lot.) Keep the rims, take them too a GOOD mechanic and buy tires from him (reminding him that you can also get them through TireRack so he discounts what he offers. I just did this and my mechanic told me all professional mechanics are aligned with a tire distributor. Gave me Pirelli Scorpions at the TireRack price. (Plus refinished the rims.) ) Have him refinish the rims to stop the leaks (its not hard to refinish rims to stop leaking, plus they can always use a sealer, either way, stops leaks.) Tires..? I'm a firm believer in GOOD tires, not (never) cheap. I like Pirelli Scorpion's. BTW, 21's weren't listed as an OEM size (18" & 20"). 22's were listed as optional. One more thing, don't forget to check the spare. They have a habit of losing air or valve stem cracking from age.

Think I'd check the tie rod ends, ball joints and wheel bearings, as well. Often times there's more going on than just being out of alignment due to hitting a pot hole.

I have had my batteries and charging system checked and both passed. All too often dealers and mechanics check the battery by just checking the voltage. A battery at rest can show 12½ volts, but drops dramatically when a load is applied. The proper method to use when checking a battery is to check its actual capacity; the CCA rating. A battery check can show 12½ volts but have only 40% backup capacity, which means that as soon as you crank the engine, there's no reserve left for the other loads; and the voltage drops.

@FOUL MUSTY SWEET ODOR Ever figure this out? When I first read it, coolant immediately came to mind. Dealer finely step up & come through?

????......?

Never had it, never missed it. Just use the remote to lock/unlock the 4 doors. Haven't use a key to lock/unlock doors in ........ like never.

First thing to try in troubleshooting is to switch the lamp assembly in the passengers side to the drivers side, (and drivers side to passengers side.) If the passengers assembly no longer works in the drivers side, you have a wiring problem in the drivers mirror or where the wiring passes from the body into the door. (Especially true if the one that failed in the drivers door now works in the pass door.) If the passengers assy continues to work in the drivers side, you have a defective replacement (and OEM) assembly. .

Ever get the switch replaced?

Try resetting the tailgate sensor by pressing (and holding) the tailgate close button (upper left on the open tailgate), for 10 seconds.

Try your local parts yard. Nationally, Paul's is always a good place to try: https://www.paulsautosalvage.com/used-auto-parts-inventory

Remove bumper (15—18) Grill (15—18)

Try it with your Bluetooth turned off and see if that corrects it. (Conflict with two paths of connecrion.)

Couple of suggestions. 1. Replace the coin cell in your remote, and 2. Reset the system by disconnecting the car's battery for approximately 10 minutes. (Things can get disabled when the battery voltage ran low before the battery went dead. Doesnt always reset when power is restored.)

Check to see if there is anything blocking the windshield in front of the camera for a blockage. This camera needs a clear view of the road or the low beams can't activate. Read through the Automatic "High Beam Control" section in your owners manual for more. (Pg 82) Also make certain that the Automatic High Beams are turned on in the instrument cluster menu (vehicle->lighting->Automatic HighBeams) (Pg 106) .

Its almost always a broken wire at the door hinge area (wires flexing and pinching.) Heres one fix ...