2009_AWD_V6

I chose to not mess with my IPOD as they seem to corrupt and need reset after a while. I only used it in the car so I left it plugged in. After I got tired of reseting it and several others I tried, I got a 16 gig thumb drive filled it with wmv files and have left it plugged into the usb port for almost a year now. It works perfectly and if I have new music I take it inside and add to it, pretty easy stuff and no headaches.

I don't mind the ambient lightings, some of the colors I am not hip on but they can be left off if you wish. DRL, I wish they had them here in US. I run with mine 24/7 for safety. It really does increase the chance of others seeing you on the road.

I personally plugged into the "spare" (19 I think) fuse slot for my trailer wiring. You have to leave the cover off (put it in the glove box) and took a 3/8" eyelet and cut 2/3 of th loop off so that all that was left was a "flat blade" on one side that is th size of a fuse blade and pushed that into the "power" side. I then atatched an inline fuse then crimped it to my 14g wire to the trunk. It was easy to do and didn't involve any drilling or digging to fish out a wire in the engine compartment. I had tried that first and got "frustrated" and went this route. Pretty happy with how it worked out.

There is a good chance that you have some form of debris in the clutch facing of the compresser. It maybe dirt, grime, rust, or any number of things. You can try using an air compresser to blow out the clutch surfaces and if that doesn't help then you can have it looked at. You just do not have enough grip to not slip when the compresser kicks in and you accelerate. It might even correct itself before you get it into the shop by just "rubbing" itself clean when ever the compresser kicks in and the clutch clamps down on the plate. I would recomend using it more often just to clean the surface and keep rust out. The other possibility is the serpentine belt is slipping and under the extra load of the a/c is causing it to slip which would also explain the diminished power steering. Check the belt to see if its worn looking or has any dirt or oil or anything on it. The belt is easy to change, just a bit cramped under hood to work on it.

It wont really help a manual transmission but is free life for an automatic. I put my hitch on over the weekend and it was a huge pain in the booty. Things went well until the bumper part. I had to drill those holes and that took longer to do than everything else put together. I was shocked and pleased at how hard the bumper material is. I destroyed several cobalt drill bits trying to drill the 1/2" holes. That is a very expensive bit to tear up. It was breaking chunks out of the cutting edge and got hot and was smoking even with oil and stopping to try and cool it. The worst was when the bits would start to get thru and then would "catch". It would instantly stop my electric drill (not weany cordless). I ended up having to use the jack under the handle of the drill to put the pressure on and more and more oil until I finally got them all. The bolts and little metal pieces would not go into my bumper so I had to drill 2 more (and that was after 2 trips to hardware store and 50$ in bits) holes to run my bolts out the top of the bumper and get longer bolts. Its on and looks good, its a nice fit but the bumper was almost impossible to drill. I will get the lighting kit and trans cooler in the near future. I test pulled my little 5x8 trailer and it pulled nicely.

Sat radio never sounds as good as a regular FM or especially a CD. I will say that it sounds a lot better in my Fusion than my wife's 300 Touring. I am thinking the newer satelite radios do better. Both cars have best sound option from the factory.

Towing a trailer is something I am interested in as well. I did just order one online and am waiting for it to show up. I am pretty sure the care will do fine, my trailer weighs less than 500lbs and generally the load is less than 1000lbs, most likely less than 500lbs. I figured I would get a bike rack for it mainly though. I may install a transmission cooler as that will help the life of the transmission reguardless of towing a trailer or not. I can't see how the Fusion wouldn't be able to tow as I have seen people with boats (bass boats and speed boats) behind escorts. I think the big thing is to be gentle on the car if towing. Take it easy and not get in a rush.