22CarbGrayElite

Made a little more progress today, but I had a set back that prevented me from finishing. As some of you may know, the fuse panel under the dash is in a miserable spot and accessing it is a PITA. There are three major wire harnesses attached to it. Well, in my efforts to check and test for switched and constant power, I managed to loosen the latch lock to the middle harness and my issues eventually began. The key fobs stopped working, the car went into battery protection mode, the car wouldn’t go into accessory mode or power on/engine off mode, let alone start. I was beside myself. I had to call my daughter to come get me and go get my battery charger and scan tool. After doing my due diligence, I called a knowledgeable friend who walked me through a couple of things, one of which was checking a certain fuse in the panel, and that was when I discovered the loose connector. The scan tool told me communication was lost to the BCM and the push to start button was stuck ON. Couple that with everything else, and no flashers or horn, it was frustrating. I snapped that connector back it and secured it and everything came back to life like it should. Note to anyone going into that fuse panel under the dash… be mindful of those harnesses and double check they are secured properly before you call a tow truck. I have signal wires hooked up, the power harness for the LOC ready to be plugged in, and power, ground and remote for the amp ready to be cut to size and plugged in. Sub wires are also ran and ready to be plugged. Last is the amp fuse. Realistically, this is an hour or two of work and it will be running. Hopefully there will be no more set backs or being pulled away to do something else and. It being able to get back to it.

If the amp and LOC prove to be an issue, I will move them to the cargo area. I have installed amps under the seats of a 2014 Impala I once owned and never had any problems. We shall see, good to know regardless.

Amplifier installation wiring is a KnuKonceptz Kolossus 4 gauge OFC power and ground kit along with a set of short Klarity RCA cables, a mini ANL fuse holder and 12 gauge speaker cable. They also include 20’ of remote wire. KnuKonceptz has been at the amplifier and speaker wire game for a long time and has a stellar reputation for reliability. Their amp wiring kits are significantly cheaper than Crutchfield’s offerings as well. I also have the Metra ANC bypass cable as well. I haven’t hooked that up yet as I want to see what the AudioControl LC2i can do with its Accubass settings. Hopefully I can finish this install next weekend and get it dialed in.

The AudioControl Epic500 amp, which will feed the sub 350 watts RMS @ 2 Ohms, and the LC2i line out converter…

The Kicker sub, 48CVTDF102, 10” CompVT sub rated at 350 watts RMS @ 2 Ohms. This was originally bought to go in my Acadia as it fit perfectly between the second row captains chairs on the floor. That install never happened and the sub sat brand new on the shelf, until now.

Power wire run… Don’t know how some did this without removing the battery. Took 10 minutes to remove the battery and it gives full access to the grommet, although the brake fluid distribution block does sit somewhat in front of it. I poked a long screwdriver through the divot and then taped a 12 gauge wire to my 4 gauge wire and pulled in through from the engine side into the cabin.

Today I mounted the amp and LOC under the seat. I bought a piece of plexiglass from Lowe’s and cut it slightly larger than the amp. I then put it under the carpet and screwed the amp down to it. I screwed the LOC down to the plastic cover that covers the seat control module. I fished the amp power wire under the carpet and it is ready to be cut and hooked up. At this point, I am ready to ground the amp, hook the power wire, hook up the sub speaker wires and hook the signal and RCA cables up. Since I am using two AudioControl components, they included a power wire harness with the amp along with an imbedded one amp fuse, to power the LOC, simplifying the install. All I have to decide is whether to let the amp automatically sense the signal and turn on both components or run a remote turn on wire. Pics in the next post showing progress and hopefully to help someone else planning to do an install.

Finally got started on the install today. Going in is a Kicker 10” down firing sub box, an AudioControl Epic 500 amp and an AudioControl LC2i LOC. This sub was going to used in my previous vehicle but that never came to fruition, so I am going to use it in the Edge. So far, I have tapped the stock subwoofer wires for signal and ran them to the spare tire area. I also ran the 4 gauge power wire from under the hood to the cabin. My initial plan was to mount the amplifier and LOC under the cargo floor panel, but after receiving the goodies from Crutchfield and glancing under the front seat, I decided to mount the amp and LOC under the front seat. They will get plenty of air flow and it will make tuning the stuff easier. The seat will not interfere or come into contact with the components or wiring.

I have two in my driveway, along with a 2020 Lincoln Nautilus. Great cars, pretty good acceleration and fuel mileage with the 2.0 Ecoboost. Do you plan on doing maintenance yourself, or paying a shop? Regardless of that, do some reading about maintenance, and I would plan on changing some fluids sooner rather than later, namely the transmission, PTU and rear differential. FORscan is out there to make some functionality changes (coding) to the car. Do some reading on that and decide if that is something of interest to you. Plenty of aftermarket items available for the Edge to make it yours. Enjoy it.

Ordered and received the aftermarket ST grill from eBay. Now the search is on for black Ford oval emblems. I have found the rear and varying options for the front. Trying to figure out the difference between the SE, SEL and Titanium and the ST/ST line emblems. Apparently there is a difference between them but I can’t pinpoint what that is. Window tint is scheduled for the end of the month. Looking at a custom leather steering wheel wrap as the next update. Looking for the red to match the interior along with perforated black combo.

I took it a step further and compared a ‘22 ST to my ‘22 Titanium on Rock Auto for brake parts. Most part numbers were the same across the board for calipers, pads and rotors. On some there was mention about the red calipers or brake package but if you pulled up both vehicles and went back and forth between the specs, most everything was identical. I was wondering if the brake package option had something more to offer but I don’t feel like it does, given it seems I have the biggest rotors available stock from Ford on it. Been looking for stainless hoses and haven’t found any for the ‘19-‘24 Edges. Can always have them made if need be. I have 20” Elite wheels on mine, but I like the 21” wheels more. Regardless, the previous owner put cheap Walmart tires on it and they are just that, cheap tires. I know better brand tires will help braking but I can’t run ultra HP summer only tires on it unless I buy a second set of wheels and switch them out. Haven’t ruled that out. I deal with cold winters, ice and snow so running a summer only tire year round is a no-go for me.

Edit: No personal attacks. That brake package is not impressive. I have the large vented front rotors on my Titanium along with the rear vented rotors. The caliper size is the same, but painted red. My daughter’s ‘22 SEL has the same brakes. I don’t know what the brake pad material is, maybe it is a semi metallic material that may offer better stopping power but maybe it leaves more dust to clean off your 21” wheels, that anyone can buy after the fact, or you could order on your Edge without the brake package. Summer performance tires might be great in the summer but winter? Yeah, no. So you either learn to drive a high performance sticky summer tire in the colder winter months or you swap wheels with a tire that is more appropriate for winter driving. The issue you were specific with was wanting to know if you could upgrade the stock Edge brakes with Nissan 370z parts. Then you commented about some Volvo parts possibly working. Then you go on about using the performance brake package parts to “upgrade” your brakes and solve whatever issue you were having. Then you get butthurt over the use of the word “warped” pertaining to pulsating rotors. Then you further get butthurt because I mention German cars with big Brembos up front, particularly my friend’s Audi I mention. The fact that most 21 - 24 Edges come with the bigger front rotors, vented rear rotors, and the same caliper sizes is half the battle. There isn’t much left to upgrade. If the cooled brake dust shields let you sleep better, more power to you. You bought a PowerStop OE equivalent rotor, a Carquest high carbon rotor and platinum brake pads. Congratulations! You probably bought better parts than the OE Motorcraft parts. After all, if they were that good, you would have bought them again, right? The fact that I test drive two low mileage Edges last year with “warped rotors” and after a few weeks mine are starting to pulsate, tells me that the OE Ford brake parts really aren’t that good of quality. You do you. You are entitled to your opinion and I am to mine. I endorsed your idea for a factory Brembo upgrade because I did just that on a car I own. You seem to be mad because more than one person stated that the performance brake package wasn’t all of that and that is the path you chose for your “upgrade”. Relax, it isn’t that serious. And to your comment about hating because we drive lesser Titaniums or SELs… 🤣

I agree… the term “warped” for rotors is a generic way to describe a pulsating brake pedal while braking. An actual warped rotor is rare. Brake pad deposits on rotors from all of the aforementioned causes, fairly common. I’ve looked at the Edge brake package and I don’t think it is all it is cracked up to be. You get painted calipers, a different pad material, same size rotors, dust shields with cooling vents, a special radiator fan and I thought I read somewhere about a bigger front sway bar? You can replicate and better that by buying a high quality slotted rotor, good pads, paint the calipers yourself, buy the vented dust shields if you really want them, buy stainless brake hoses, and flush the crap out of the brake fluid with good quality synthetic fluid. Of course, if a four or six piston Brembo can be bolted on with a slightly bigger rotor, a good pad and stainless hoses, this would be the way to go. The German cars come pretty standard this way, focusing on the fronts as the rears come with small calipers with electronic parking brakes. My buddy’s 2021 Audi RSQ8 has a monster Brembo up front and a puny rear setup with EPB. It stops very well.

That is true but at least with the key, it isn’t a gimme like finding the fob and being able to start it and drive away.

First thing you need to do is pull the key off the top and compare the Ford part numbers and frequency ID codes. If the fobs don’t match, it won’t work. Second thing that may have to be considered, is the Escape fob still programmed to the Escape? Since you are trying to add a third key to your Edge, you can DIY and the worst case scenario, it won’t program to your Edge because it is tied to another vehicle. I am willing to bet that any used fobs need to be unmatched from their vehicles before being able to be learned to a new vehicle. It makes sense because, back to my situation, I lost a key and two are required to do any programming. I had to go in and delete all old keys (mark as lost) and program my remaining OE key along with my new replacement.

Had the misfortune of losing one of my two OE fobs. Hunted for it until I finally gave up and realized my stupidity was going to cost me a pretty penny, or would it? This is for my 2022 Titanium Elite. Not sure what the process is for 2018 and older vehicles. I have a very good scan tool that does IMMO and programming, along with diagnostics, testing and some coding. I still gotta buy parts like everyone else. I was able to locate a new OE Ford fob on eBay that came with the E-key for $80. Once I determined it was the right one, before buying it, I hooked up my scan tool to see what was involved in deleting and reprogramming old and new fobs for the Edge. Read lots of conflicting information online so I decided to see for myself what the deal was. My scan tool is a Launch x431 IMMO Elite. It does a lot for the money, and is overkill for a DIYer. My fob arrived and I got to work yesterday. After updating the software and downloading some Ford specific files, I was ready to give this a try. What could go wrong? Just brick my crap and have the mobile Ford tech come to the house and get me right again! To answer some questions and correct some misinformation I found online, here is what I know from first hand programming… No matter how a fob is gone, whether lost, stolen, your dog ate it, you can delete it from memory and no longer worry about your car being ripped off. You have to have two fobs programmed to your Edge at all times. So if you are down to one, you need to have the replacement on hand so two will be available to program, and delete the old ones at the same time. You can’t delete any now and then worry about buying replacements down the road. Doesn’t work like that. If you lose both fobs and have nothing to work with, the process is harder and more expensive, but not impossible. If the car is locked, and the battery is dead, an emergency key will need to be cut to get in, and then a scan tool hooked up to go from there. You can unlock with the Ford app or keyless entry code if the battery is charged. Using my scan tool and the center console master pocket, I erased all fobs tied to my Edge and then programmed my new replacement and my old OE fob and everything was good after that. If I wanted to add a third fob, it can be done without a scan tool although it is quicker to do it with one. I tested both fobs and all functions worked like they should have. Another note, to verify the correct fob you need, remove the emergency key and you will see the Ford part number, along with the frequency ID codes stamped on the lip of the fob. The print is very tiny so get your phone out and take a pic so you can blow it up to read it. Sucks getting old. I know some of you are very well aware of the info I have presented here, but there are newbie Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus owners every day like me who don’t know this and find out the hard way sometimes. Luckily this ordeal only cost me $120 all in. While at the parts department getting my E-key cut, I asked the parts guy what a new fob and all costs would be to get up and running. His response was $179 for the fob, $60 for the key, $25 to cut the key, and $60 to program, plus tax. You can buy aftermarket stuff and get programming and cutting cheaper, but you have to watch the aftermarket stuff. I don’t know what FORscan’s capabilities are with fob programming so if this can be accomplished with it, more power to us. I didn’t even try with it. I just went straight to my scan tool. Hope this helps someone.

I will sum up the last couple of weeks here… - Ordered a K&N cabin filter for it direct from K&N and installed that - Managed to lose a key fob and was able to find a new OEM Ford fob with the emergency key for $80 on eBay. Whipped out my Launch x431 IMMO Elite and after some updating and downloading, was able to delete all keys and reprogram my one fob and get the new one programmed. Took the E-key to the Ford dealership to cut it. $27 later, I am whole again. - From Rock Auto, I ordered Motorcraft plugs and coil pack boots, a dozen oil filters, a turbo oil supply line, and PCV hose to have as a spare (catch can plans in motion). Installed the plugs and boots, easy peasy. The supply line will go in eventually as I ordered it to see how the filter was set up and supposed to look. For $40, it was worth it. - From eBay, I ordered the engine cover and required hardware, a hood insulator, an owner’s manual, and the Ford dual horn used on the 15-18 Edge. Installed all of that yesterday, still waiting on the manual. - PTU and diff fluids are done. Got a couple more maintenance related things to take care of and then I can get to the fun stuff. On deck is window tint and all weather floor mats. Contemplating an ST style grill from eBay because they come with camera provisions and no ST badge. I have thought about getting an OEM ford grill, but it will say ST on it and since I don’t have an ST, I didn’t want to drive around pretending. I am open to opinions on this.

I don’t really race my GTO, although if I ever got the chance, I would Autocross it for the experience. I’d be more confident with the Brembos in place of the factory brakes. My complaint about the Edge brakes is probably more to do with not so good factory parts. When I bought my daughter’s SEL last year, hers and the one we test drove prior to buying both had warped rotors. I was shocked to drive two back to back with warped rotors. The selling dealership said they would fix it and while they did turn the rotors, they still pulsated. I told my daughter I would just replace the brakes myself and not go back there again. My Edge is starting to pulsate and it appears to have the factory brakes on it. Nothing showed in the service history about prior replacement. I will most likely get some O’Reilly’s pads and rotors and call it a day. I’m with you regarding the idiots we share the road with. I value good brakes.

I can tell you why I did the “Frankensteining” on my 2004 GTO. The stock 2004 GTO brakes were barely adequate for 4000 lb car, with driver in it. This is probably why Holden slightly upgraded the 05/06 GTO brakes. They also painted the calipers red for aesthetics. Could I have swapped on the later model brakes and called it good, and seen better braking performance? Yep. But my anal to every detail self wouldn’t have been happy spending a grand on it and leaving performance and better looks on the table. Someone had worked on and designed caliper brackets to fit the Cadillac or Gen 5 Camaro Brembos to the GTO so I went for it. I bought brand new GM calipers, the Raybestos performance rotors that are a perfect match to the GM performance rotors, PowerStop pads, stainless brake hoses and of course, the expensive but necessary brackets. 100% my labor, and man, was it worth it. The brake pedal feel is the best I have ever experienced in a vehicle. You just nudge the pedal and you are slowing down. This car stops confidently from any speed and feels right for a heavy car. They look great behind the 19” VMR wheels I have on it. There are gains to be had from brake modifications, maybe not as stunning as a tune on the Ecoboost, but for $2300, I have a set of brakes that looks and rivals the $6000 off the shelf kits. Every part I used was brand new. Could I have spent less? Yep, if I wanted cheaper parts. Decided to spend once and cry once. I tried to mimic what a factory upgraded brake system could look like and I pulled it off. I can swap to 6 piston front Brembos if I ever decide to in the future, but I doubt that will ever be necessary. Would I do a 4 piston Brembo with a bigger rotor on the front of my Edge? Absolutely, but not at an off the shelf kit cost. I’d rather use parts that work with a little frankensteining. After all, this is why we modify and make them our own. And for the record, frankensteining in my book does not mean rigging, or using duct tape and bubble gum to make it happen. It means doing it right using parts from other platforms if needed to achieve the end result.

49.5k miles on it when I bought it, tick over 51,500 on it now. So far I have drained and filled the rear diff and PTU. Neither appeared to have been done before . Previous owner left a handwritten log in the glove box showing oil changes and a couple of transmission drain and fills. I just ordered a set of Motorcraft spark plugs and coil boots along with a dozen Motorcraft oil filters. I also ordered a turbo oil supply line as it comes with the filter and new o-rings and a gasket. Trying to hunt down transmission fluid. Rock Auto as of yesterday did not have enough Ford or Valvoline in stock. Gonna check out another brand called Triax. Lots of good reviews and carries the Ford certification. I can get a five gallon jug for $150. Seriously leaning on it. I am a maintenance person so I am particular to getting things done and keeping it rolling down the road smoothly. My commute is like 550 miles a week to work so I don’t want any let downs if that can be avoided.

I’m interested in your wife’s tune and fuel mileage… I’m looking at an intercooler, down pipe, charge pipes, BOV, cold air or just a K&N drop in and a tune. The extra power will be nice, but I also want to maintain my highway MPG’s. Can you offer any insight on gas mileage?

Definitely interested in any information you find for this. I can appreciate what you are doing as I put a combination of Cadillac CTSv, Gen 5 Camaro SS and C6 Corvette four piston Brembos, pads and rotors on my 2004 Pontiac GTO. Talk about a night and day difference in braking, and aesthetics.

As already mentioned, disabling start stop in the BMS settings on FORscan will give you a check charging system message at start up every time. Saw this first hand as it was attempt #1 on my part. Attempt #2 was disabling it in the IPCM module and all that did was eliminate the ASS disabled message on the cluster. Going to try the method that @omar302posted and see what happens. My gut feeling says this is the answer. On another note, I have disabled the double horn with engine running and key out, enabled fog lights with hi beams on, adjusted quick blink from 3 to 6 flashes and something else. A couple of things I wanted to change were already set to where I wanted them. I doubt the previous owner did it as he was an elderly fellow most likely not interested in screwing around with this kind of stuff. Still getting to know and learn about my recently acquired 2022 Elite and put together a mod and maintenance list.

Changed the PTU and rear differential fluids this evening. Neither appear to have been changed before.

Just bought a 2022 Ford Edge Titanium with the Elite package for myself on Saturday. I traded in my 2016 GMC Acadia Denali for it as the fuel costs were getting to be too much for my liking. It also had a torque converter stutter that was most likely going to let loose before too long and with 145k miles, I decided it was time for something different, and more fun. This will be platform vehicle #3 for us. I bought my daughter a ‘22 Stone Blue SEL+ last July and two years ago, bought my wife a 2020 Lincoln Nautilus Reserve with the 2.7 engine. Mine is the Carbonized Gray with the two tone black and Brunello (burgandy) inserts. I love it. 20” polished wheels, the 301A and Elite packages round it up. Gonna do a few things like window tint and some black emblem overlays, along with diff and PTU fluid changes.