FusionDiffusion

OK, I'm back and I figured it out! Only a little more than a year late. ? Finally got around to determining how it all works. The subwoofer amp has always-on power on pin 5. The enable/clip wire on pin 1 works as follows. When accessory power is active, pin 1 receives 6V from the ACM (non-Sony) or the DSP module (Sony). This turns on the sub amp (so if pin 1 doesn't get 6V then it won't turn on). The amplifier IC (which appears to be a custom TDA8569Q variant used in a paired output configuration) has a clipping or distortion feedback feature if you crank the volume too high. If the IC detects clipping, then the sub amp boosts the voltage on pin 1 to 12V. The ACM or DSP module detects this, and will lower the volume level to the sub amp as needed to limit or prevent more clipping. This is to protect the speakers and amp from damage. The clipping signal will also be trigged by thermal overload and shorted speakers. I was only able to trigger the clipping signal for brief moments at extreme volume levels (practically max volume with bass level cranked up on a bass tester track), so the clipping feedback might never get triggered for most people. Ford uses a 6V remote turn on wire for almost everything. The DSP module is also turned on with 6V from the ACM. Aftermarket stuff uses 12V, so that may cause problems if you are doing an install.

Get the MX. The LX doesn't have MS-CAN capability, so you won't be able to communicate with all the modules in the car.

Oops, I forgot the 2.5L only has a CHT...

Personally I'd want to get a scan tool and verify the codes myself. You can buy an OBDLink MX and download FORScan for free. You can change the purge valve yourself then. Induction service is not required, nor is it recommended by Ford. If you have a direct injected engine (EcoBoost) there is no fuel spray to clean the back of the intake valves, so they get dirty. If it gets bad enough, it impacts the fuel economy and the engine starts to run rougher. However cleaning them has risks as well, such as carbon pieces scoring cylinders, which is why Ford doesn't recommend this service. The module that controls your heated/cooled seats is called the "Front Seat Climate Control Module" or SCME for short. Before I replaced it, I would want to figure out exactly what the problem was. Since they specified a harness, perhaps you had a wire that got frayed or shorted out somewhere, so it would do no good to replace just the module. Running diagnostics with the scan tool might help in that regard. My favorite parts place is AutoNation Ford White Bear Lake, which is in the Twin Cities, MN. Call them and tell them your VIN and front seat climate control module and they can get it for you.

Replace the canister vent solenoid...

Wait, how do you know the CHT sensor is bad? Is it giving a bad reading? Did you see how closely it agrees with the coolant temp with your scan tool? Pretty sure temp gauge is driven by the coolant temp sensor, not the CHT sensor. Maybe the coolant temp is actually low. Did you actually try measuring the coolant temp with an external thermometer or by feeling hoses? Perhaps you just have a bad thermostat, or have a clogged hose. Do some more diagnostic work before you run around changing sensors that are probably fine and creating more headaches for yourself.

Sounds like some kind of strange wiring issue. I would try to find a shop that does electrical diagnosis. It's possible that you have a have a smashed wiring harness somewhere that is shorting out or has partially cut wires. That may be causing things to not operate properly. Perhaps you have a bad SJB which is the wiring module under the dash that controls all the lighting. A competent shop should be able to run diagnostics on it to see what problems there are, if any.

Not sure where you're talking about? Do you mean the plastic fender liner that lines the wheel well, or the metal brake dust shield inside the wheel attached to the knuckle? If you are talking about the brake dust shield, yes someone might have bent it out of place while working on the suspension components. It shouldn't extend very far past the brake rotors.

You may want to take a sample of your oil and send it into Blackstone Labs for analysis. It won't tell you what the noise is, but it will tell you for sure if you have metal particles in the oil or excessive wear. They may be able to tell you what type of metal is being worn which can give you a few more clues as to whether it's a bearing vs. piston, etc. Or they might be able to tell you have plastic shavings, etc. Just tell them you have a knocking noise at idle coming from timing cover area on the sheet. If you are DIY, timing cover may take you the better part of an afternoon to get off. Gotta remove a lot of stuff in the way.

Perhaps a sticking evap purge or vent valve caused an excessive fuel tank vacuum that caused it to partially collapse inward like a crushed can. I'm guessing you meant an internal support rod poked through? Make sure they check the evap valves or you might crush your new gas tank if the root cause isn't fixed.

So to be clear, you've run the engine with both belts removed and it still has the noise? If you're sure the noise is not related to the serpentine belt drive, and you are confident it's coming from that area, then I would suggest removing the timing cover for inspection. Perhaps you have a broken chain guide that's getting slapped around. Any metal particles in the oil?

Interesting. Wonder if it's worried about exhaust fumes getting sucked in with the windows down and the HVAC off or something like that.

I measured my WiFi OBD adapter, and it took 110 mA idle FYI. That is a moderate parasitic draw. A good battery should be able to keep that going for a week or two, but on a marginal battery maybe only a day or two. So I'd say leaving that plugged in is probably a factor. Just for fun, you could measure the battery voltage an hour after you get home (open the hood right away when you get home so you don't cause a voltage disturbance by opening a door right before measuring), then plug in the OBDII device overnight and check the battery voltage again in the morning before you touch anything. If you have a good battery, the voltage should be hardly different (less than 0.1V change), but if it went down a lot then you know your battery has a poor capacity and should be replaced. Jump start or charge it after if necessary. For EE people: I have a Solar BA9 conductance tester along with a traditional resistive tester. They are both good at testing for cranking amps. However what I've found with my failed Ford batteries is that the cranking amps test good after a charge, but the problem is the reserve capacity is what really goes bad. To test my batteries, I bought a 300W 12V light bulb and hooked that up with 12 gauge wires. One battery that had previously left me stranded tested at 570 CCA with both testers (more than 100% rated), but the reserve capacity was only like 4 minutes! So it cranks the car just fine in below zero weather, but if you have the radio on for 5 minutes you'll be stranded. Testing the battery's capacity rather than it's cranking amps seems to be the single best indicator of overall battery health in my opinion. This failure mode leads to these odd battery problems where it handles loads fine when fully charged, but falls flat very quickly due to poor capacity. I think what's happening is there is still sufficient plate surface area to get enough coulombs moving through for a start, but the plates have gotten so thin you run out of reduced lead very quickly and thus have no capacity.

Simple voltage checks with a DMM aren't enough to really test a battery. You need to put a load on it to test it properly, or possibly get a reading while the errors are still being displayed. I'm not sure if you can do that with accessories on the FFH without the DC/DC converter kicking in, so I would use an external battery load tester on the 12V battery with the car off. Or just replace the battery. If it's a 2010 on the original battery it's probably due.

Yes, there needs to be a gasket between the throttle body and the intake manifold. You can reuse the old one, but if you didn't put one in at all, you need to or you will have a vacuum leak.