Goneracin

I guess that makes sense, to each their own. i can agree that the method with the extra filter would work, after all, we are both making the same point, that the filtration is just as important as a good oil. hey, if it works for you, great. it obviously works for the car, i dont doubt that. if you dont mind me asking, what do you race in SCCA? its just an interesting topic

I dont see where you are disagreeing with me monochrome11? you said the filter needs to be changed at normal intervals, thats exactly my point. and yes, if you add a second filter it will extend the life of your oil. but do you think ford will be willing to honor a warrenty claim for an engine issue if they find out you are going 20k between changes and you have altered their filtering system? i do agree that those systems do work very well, i also say that using conventional oil changed at the appropriate interval, maybe using a block heater for cold start up, is a better solution. the reason being, how much more money does it cost for the extra filter and the increased cost of the synthetic oil? (im honestly asking because i dont know). you dont save any money on the standard filter because you are still changing that one at the regular interval. i just dont see how it is beneficial, i would imagine the cost over the life of the vehicle isnt that much cheeper to use synthetic at even double the change interval. especially because ford will not honor a warrenty claim on an engine that is modified and has not been serviced in accordance with the owners manual.

yea, lets see some pics

you said you were open to any opinions, so here is mine. based on engines i have rebuilt, discussions with professional engine builders, and ford techs, synthetic oil is pointless. yes the synthetic oil does have higher thresholds for heat and such, but the standard oils thresholds are still higher than any temperature the stock engine will ever see. so whats the point. besides, the part that everyone seems to forget is the oil filter. think of it this way, what oil is better for your car, clean conventional oil, or dirty synthetic oil? the reason i say this is, the oil filter will clog up with dirt just as fast no matter what type or brand of oil you use. so just because your oil is synthetic doesnt mean you get more miles out of the oil. if the filter is full at 5k miles, then the dirty oil is bypassing the filter and keeping dirt in your engine. with all that said, my OPINION is that the oil should be changed fairly frequently, using the specified oil and filter. you can go to synthetic if you wish, but it will not increase your oil change interval, so i think its just throwing money out the drain plug. best of luck, let us know what you decide.

that doesnt sound right to me, might be time to visit the dealer.

its very simple, the car was designed for a motorcraft filter, thats what should be used. i can only explain it due to my education on ford diesels. when i attended classes from ford on the 7.3 6.0 6.4 and 6.7 diesels, they showed the importance of using motorcraft filters. every single one of them had a small but important difference. this was compared to all other brands of filter including but not limited to wix, napa, purolator, fram, stp, bosch, and mobil 1. they showed the filters side by side, and there was always something different. one fuel filter had some type of material wrapped around it to help seperate water. the aftermarket one didnt have it. another was an oil filter with an anti drainback valve. the aftermarket one did have the valve, but the filter was about 1/8 inch shorter (cartrage type) so the valve wouldnt be pushed by the cap when installed. this rendered the valve useless. another was a filter without a strong support in the inside, therefore the aftermarket ones would collapse and loose their filtering capabilities. another one didnt have an orientation notch cut in it, allowing the filter to be installed backwards. the list goes on and on. i guess what it comes down to is that its not worth saving $1.50 to not use the parts your car was designed to use, whatever the reason is. now did the filter cause or is it causing your knocking noise? probably not. it could be a defect from the factory, it could be that the oil used wasnt 5w20, it could be an addative that was put in the oil, maybe the shop didnt top it off one time, (the 2.5 takes an odd ball amount of oil, i think 5.3 qts). who knows what the cause is. its tough to internet diagnose something like that. but i think the point is, eliminate variables, and use the correct parts, then if the knocking continues, maybe you can eliminate the filter as the current cause. hope this explination wasnt too confusing. best of luck.

yea i hear you about the no snow in new england. I live in CT and am very disapointed with this. however it is keeping the fusion fairly clean :D Im glad to see that you think the husky liners were a good fit, maybe i will pick up a set myself. but for next year since apparently winter isnt coming to us new englanders this year

sounds good

i dont know of anyone who has done it, but that doesnt mean it cant be done. that is a huge jump in width though, and im sure you would need to run spacers as you stated. It will also put a lot of strain on the steering components, so try not to dry steer with it like that. im sure you know this though since you say you have done it before. however, i dont want you to think im being negative on the idea, i think it would look AWESOME if you can pull it off. you might not need to go quite so wide, but i do agree that a wider tire and a slightly wider stance on any car makes a big difference. not to mention that the Fusion already has a decent stance with the wheels fairly close to the outside edge of the car (comparativly speaking), so the change you are planning should come out very nice. keep us updated, good luck, and post pics.

ok, now i see what you are talking about. makes more sence now. not my particular cup of tea, i just dont think it would survive up here in new england, hell, the one on my garage door itself doesnt last lol. but to each his own, i can understand what you mean about not having anything in the aftermarket world to use, so if you really want the lip, then i guess this is your only option. post up some pics when you are done.

i would agree that unless you are getting it done at a ford dealer, you are not getting motorcraft filter or oil. its just not possible. think about it, a garage sees anywhere from 5 to 20 cars per day for oil changes. all brands makes and models. how much money do you think they would have to invest to carry motorcraft, ac delco, nissan, toyota, honda, bmw....... just think about the inventory that poor guy would have to carry. thats why they usually use one brand and just get the most common types. (thats what the garage i worked at did) not to mention that a lot of filters in the aftermarket are supposedly interchangable among lots of different cars of different makes. and by interchangable they mean they fit, and dont leak. that doesnt mean they have every feature originally required in there. also about the oil, todays engines use very thin oil by comparison to the cars of the 80s and 90s. this is because the tolerances inside the engines are much much tighter. the downside to this is that when the oil is extreeeemly cold and thick, it makes it hard to travel into some of these tight spots for a little bit on start up. (thats why the backflow valve is there, to help with this.) my 2011 ticks slightly on startup, has since day 1, and it now has 18000 miles on it. the oil has been changes every 3000 on the nose at the ford dealer using motorcraft oil and filter. it hasnt gotten better or worse, its just there. hope this helps, i would just start doing the oil yourself, or going to the dealer, it cant hurt.

I have a Blue Flame SE 2011 and when i purchased the car i was assured it had the appearance package but with the chrome grill. when it got there, it had the blue grill. at first i didnt like it, and i discussed having ford replace the grill to a chrome one. i even looked at the chrome one to just do it myself. the grill is 3 seperate pieces. each piece is around $200 (give or take $25) so spending $600 plus was out of the question. I do have to say though, now that i have had the car since may of 2011, the monochrome has grown on me. I mostly like it because it is not the same as every other fusion out there. I see fusions all the time on my 84 mile commute. and since may i have only seen one red monochrome, and one black monochrome. the guy driving the red one even gave me a thumbs up, almost as to recognize that we each had something a little different. as for the chrome bezels, mine came with them originally. maybe that is part of the appearance package, im not sure. but in reading on other posts here, i have seen that they can be ordered from ford, but they are pricey. so im not really sure what to tell you here, maybe see if you can find a member who is trying to black out their car, they might want to trade. best of luck, nice looking fusion you got there. P.S. i would have to say i agree about the one chrome bar, it just doesnt look right in my opinion.

thats what i love even more about my SE, is the fact that it is well equipped, and still a manual

thanks, im glad this helped and wasnt too confusing. good luck with your tire / rim purchase.

I do believe (but im not sure, so feel free to correct me) the steel 17s were the better fuel economy choice for the fusion. The dealer told me that the 16 inch alloys on the S were there for fuel savings, so that would be the best choice. but i dont think any of this increase or decrease has anything to do with the size of the overall package. all fusions of the same year have the same outer diameter and width tire. so there is no gain or loss as far as number of rotations per mile. the change comes in 2 other areas. rolling resistence, and total rotating mass. rolling resistence on a snow tire will be higher than a typical street tire, so that is where some of your MPG loss is from. also, the winter tires have larger tread blocks, generaly thicker construction, and therefore they weigh more. also on top of all that, winter fuels usually get worse MPG than summer fuels. the reason weight on your wheels makes such a big difference is because, rotating mass has a much bigger effect than total mass. for example, if you put a 10 lb weight in your trunk, you probably wont feel it or notice any change in driving performance, but if you put 5 pound weights on your drive wheels, it would be very noticable. not only does the car have to move the weight forward, but it also has to make it spin. i dont really know how else to explain it. I hope this helps, basicly if you want MPG, get the lightest package, with the least rolling resistance.

yea thats a good point. i dont think i have seen more that 5 S models in total.

i agree smoky14, i worked as a mechanic for a while myself, and although i was not at all like the mechanics of old, my good friend and boss at the time was. he used to allways bust my chops saying how i was just a parts swapper instead of a mechanic. no one wants to "fix" anything anymore, just replace it. I unfortunatly was kinda the same way, i never really learned all the diagnostic methods of the old school mechanic. it is a lost art.

Nice write up. very informative.

thanks for the info akirby, that makes sense. i know that when my mustang was 11.7 to 1 compression, the car ran a heck of a lot better on 100 octane than it did on 93. but then again, our fusions arent anywhere near that compression level. if money was no object i would run that 100 octane turbo blue all day every day. just something about the smell on a non catalyst car

well yes there is a difference in the actual fuel, however if your engine does not have high enough compression to require the higher octane, then i dont see the point. there is an old belief to put in 93 octane once in a while to clean out the engine. higher octane might burn a little hotter (i really dont know, so someone please correct me if im wrong) but i dont think its enough to make a difference. you are better off staying with the factory recomended octane, and just using quality fuels, try to stay away from discont brands. its not worth the $0.15 savings. thats just my 2 cents. hope it helps.

Well yesterday morning the shifter was stuck again as usual. so i took it right to the ford dealer first thing. by the time i got there the shifter had freed up a little but not much. A tech came out to look at the car, and the first thing he asked was if the shifter had been changed to an aftermarket one. i told him no, that it was just the shift knob that had been changed. he layed with the shifter for about 10 minutes while i tried to explain to him why it was a problem. once he finally understood what i was talking about, he immidiatly said there was clearly something wrong with it and to go inside and have them check oasis. he told the service manager to make an appointment and put on the ticket that the tech had VERRIFIED the concerns. at this point i was impressed, they were going to take the car in and see what they could do. however, once they checked oasis and couldnt find anything about the shifter, then the techs attitude changed. now that he was actually going to have to diagnose the problem, he said it is all because of the shifter ball. i mean really? i understand the whole thing about changing parts to aftermarket being a problem with warrenty work, but we are talking about a shift ball here. i didnt change the actual shifter or anything at all under there. there is no way that could be causing the problem. the shift boot is even still in the exact same stock location. whatever, the car is still going in thursday night, i guess i will just swap the shifter ball back to the stock one, its just irritating that they are so quick to blame it on the shift ball instead of diagnosing the problem that the tech verrified. i will let you all know what happens after the visit to the dealer. sorry to rant with such a long explanation, just had to vent.

that actually looks a heck of a lot better than i thought it would. looks pretty darn good. yea, lets get some close ups and part numbers

well isnt that just a wonderful response. if they dont care, then why make the shifter move up and down for a lockout feature in the first place? oh well, i will see what my dealer says, i will probably have to leave it over night so they can try it in the morning, and then they will tell me that they cant duplicate the problem.

I cant say that i blame you for that. any dash is hard to remove and replace, thats why usually they are built upside down first, then slid into the car with a robotic arm. doing work on them while they are in the car is horrible IMO. did they mention anything to you about maybe repairing it? im not even sure if you can still do that, but i would think you could melt some rubber or plastic in there and smooth it out. atleast to make it look a little better and stop the crack. I really have no idea about that, im just kinda talking out my ass and trying to think of other solutions for you. best of luck

I agree chington, i would never think of a car like our fusions being a collectors item, and yea, the centenial editions were a little rare, but i dont see why they would be worth more either. its just like how honda puts "limited edition" on some cars. limited to what? only 10,000,000 units produced? what about the explorer limited? whats limited about it? lol besides, we all know, just because something is rare or really old, doesnt mean it is worth anything. I was just wondering why all these SE owners were complaining about not having the options, when they could have gotten them in the first place. I went with an SE because i wanted a manual transmission. the manual transmission option was actually what pulled me twards the fusion in the first place. I was going to be happy with a fairly bare bones car, but then the dealer messed up the deal on the car i wanted and forund me my current one instead. now in hindsight im very glad i did go for all the other options and different color. everything happens for a reason.