eiching1

I agree. I don't do any body mods. Maybe fog lights and/or a spoiler. Thats about it. When I talk about customizing I mean very small doses of mainly increased perfomance. When I was younger, for instance, I had a 1984 Honda CRX. Outside completely stock look, nothing extra. Under the skin however was a little different. Koni shocks, header, freeflow exhaust (no 4" contraption though), Weber carb. It was very quick, handled like a go cart and caught a few Chevy Novas of guard. Fantastic car. Nine years later I sold it to my best friend w/ 240,000 miles, he sold it back to my brother in-law w/ 320,000 who then sold it to some kid with over 400,000. Wish I had it back. Now thay was the most extreme I ever went. After that it is more, like K&N filters, tires, strut bars, Iridium plugs etc.

Meelan, Did you have any problems with the Fram valve? I just bought one for $2.00 at Pep Boys and was a little worried about installing it. I'll be talking to the service manager at the dealership on Monday about the shield (maybe the drain valve as well).

I currently have mine off and am contemplating leaving it off. The oil change was much easier without it. Not only less to deal with , but the oil drain plug was readily accessible. Also, with the shield it would be very hard to tell if you have any sort of leak. Anyone ever hear of the "Sure Drain Valve" by Fram?

Chicken or the egg?.....if more aftermarket parts were available then they might sell more cars. A lot of the younger crowd will buy the Civic or Accord because there are more parts they can customize their car with. Unless Ford /Mercury is not going to stick with this line up, then should put their best foot forward. They have the resources to come out with factory "aftermarket" items and just don't seem willing to do it. Some items they already have and just choose not to market. (ie: spoilers, foglights) Also, these engines are not new, so WTF! Anyone in sales knows that sometimes it all the little shit that you can sell with or after the main item that adds easy money. Easy example...how many resturants do you know that don't sell liquor? Most of the their profit comes from the liquor, but they are calling themselves a bar.

Be careful how you remove that cap! It is made out of plastic. I have seen & heard of quite a few cases where the cap gets cracked due to the wrong type of wrench (equipment) being used to remove it.

You could try hooking up a standard antenna to see if that corrects the issue or rule out the booster. Or it could be the head unit. Also, try grounding the head unit right to the car instead of the harness.

I believe it is for "manual". The six speed has paddle shifters on the steering wheel. From what I understand about "L" is that it will down shift to the lower gears, as allowed by RPMs, but never upshifts. Don't test it on my say so! LOL!

Did you notice if it happens when your rear defroster is on?

Did you hook up the antenna booster? Pin #5 in the 24 pin harness is for the "antenna power" whioch powers the booster. Most cars with the in window antenna need to have a booster. The aftermarket harnesses don't have a connection for it. I figured this out with the Crutchfield techs when I installed my headunit. I had no AM at all. Let me know if you need help locating it.

There is a very high probability that it will not work. I purchased one for my Milan, which is listed, and it did not work for me either. There are many posts with regards to problems with these units. I was told that they did not know why it would not work in my car, but they had not tested it on my specific radio. Apparently there are a number of different manufacturers of the Fusion/MIlan radios with different levels on electronics. Besides that the PIE customer service SUCKS. THey strung me out two weeks with "they are working on a solution" (I was not the only one with this problem) only to be told the thrid week that they just didn't have the time to test it yet. There is another company "Peripherial" that makes one for the Fusion. Others seem to have had good luck with that unit, but there were issues with that one also. Here is a post on another Fusion Forum site thats gives some more info. http://www.fordfusionclub.com/index.php?topic=62613.0

I believe they are well aware of the "o" rings requiring replacement. However, as I stated before the "o" ring or crush washer for the oil drain pan plug is a different issue. Again, it is quite interesting that the dealer found a solution for this replacement since it is a integeral part of the oil pan drain plug. Other than the parts guy that stated it is "optional " and you need to replace the oil pan drain plug, I think the others should be shot! If it's the same parts guy that found a replacement washer, I would be interested in what he found. Sounds like the dealership needs to have their "o" rings replaced due to some oil loss.

Meelaan, Due to the design of the "filter system" on the Fusion and Milan, there is an "oil filter drain plug" Our cars do not use a cartridge filter like most other cars do. There is a canister that has a cap (cover) that screws on from the bottom which houses a filter "cartridge" (paper filter, looks kind of like a small, tall air filter). The oil filter drain plug at the bottom of this cover allows you to drain the oil out of the filter canister before removing it. Otherwise when removing the cap the oil; would spill out all over the place. So, the "o" rings in the note in the manual are for the "oil filter drain plug" and the "oil filter cap"Check this link for the Mazda's that show it pretty clearly. Hope this helps. Ford should just put a standard filter on like the rest of the world! http://www.mazda6tech.com/articles/mainten...4&Itemid=51

That's exactly my point. The reference in the owner's manual is for the "o" rings as stated by akirby. Both pertain to the oil filter not the oil pan drain plug. What seems really interesting is, if this is the case, where are these dealers coming up with a "washer" for the oil drain pan plug. Other than the one that is part of the plug itself.

I am aware of the "o" ring vs. crush washer. The reason I asked was that I cannot find any reference to the crush washer in my owner's manual. 2006 Mercury Milan 3rd. printing.

Meelan, Is this the part of the owners manual you are speaking about? When changing the oil filter on the 2.3L engine you must also replace the filter cap O-ring. The oil filter drain plug O-ring must also be replaced whenever the oil filter drain plug is removed. Reuse of the O-rings may cause engine oil leakage and may result in severe engine damage. The customer warranty may be void for any damage to the engine if the O-rings are not replaced. This is from the Milan owner's manual

Hey Guys, I haven't checked in in awhile. Yes, I used the PAC- SWI-PS. I did not lose any of the controls on my steering wheel. However, as a note, I do not have the automatic climate control system with those buttons on the wheel. Just stereo on the right and cruise on the left. I don't see how it would effect them since the wires are being pulled off the radio harness, but who knows? The Pac unit is programable so I was able to program the media button to "mute" instead. The Pac unit plugs into the "wired remote" jack in the back of the radio. So your radio has to have that (so no it is not a IR wireless signal)

I understand. That's the first time I heard it referred to as MDI. So in other words, it does what it was designed to do under "normal" circumstances. I guess bumps in the road are not considered normal and I was lucky enough to get a car that gives me more then I payed for. Free rattles...whoopie! I guess it is no wonder Ford is on the ropes. Well next time it's back to Honda's for me. It's actually very difficult (as with most noises) to determine where it is coming from. It's a shame, this could have been a very enjoyable car and I know we (Americans) can engineer a better automobile then anyone.....if we chose to.

I do have an I4. What the hell is MDI? Does that mean it's suppose to rattle? 2010? I probably won't even have the car by then if it keeps rattling/clunking! LOL! I actually think it coming from somewhere in the back. I was under the car the other day and noticed that the brake caliper seems to be a little loose or at least when I wiggle the brake line it seems to make some banging noise. I am not sure if this is the source of my clunk/rattle but I will investigate it further

This ia a Ford/Lincoln/ Mazda problem. I had a Protege, a 6 and now a Milan. All of them have a very LOUD fan. I think it has more to due with the way the ducts are designed then the actual fan motor itself. Either way Ford needs to get its s**t together! This is one of those items that should not be an "item".

Has/is anyone had/having a problem with a fairly large noise coming from the passenger side of their car when going over a sharp bump? Almost like a loose muffler or two weights hitting together? My car was in the shop for 3 days and I am told that they hear the same noise in the service managers car so "It is a normal trait of the vehicle" I have not had a chance to drive his car yet. Sounds fishy to me since it is a pretty regular occurrence. I cannot believe that more people haven't complained if all these cars did this

Concept good! Execution..HORRIBLE! Just another example of why I will go back to imports the next time around. The American companies just do not seem to get the idea of doing the little things right. The interior fit and finish in my Milan is far below my wife's Honda CR-V. I just do not understand how they can continue to to produce cars that have stupid issues that have been solved by cars like Honda, Toyota etc. years ago. Or why they would put a cheap clock with plastic hands in these cars ($20,000+). I could see it in a Focus or some other base line car (think Yugo) Hey add $10-$20 and put in something with metal hands that has a little smoother movement! It's just sad.

mtl1977, Yea I though about the dimmer too but I am not sure. The DVD manual I have does not mention it. Just shows pin 15 -Hot at start and goes to the radio and off somewhere else ( I will have to trace the "somewhere else") Also, do you ever use your AM radio? Did you hook up the antenna power lead? I had absolutely no AM (sports talk) until I found out there was an antenna booster (see above post-pin 5).