Jonathan Langer

Nope, none.

The six-speed transmission with the 3.0L does not have a filter. It does have a drain plug on the bottom of the pan that can be removed with a Torx 55 bit. You'll only get around 40% of the fluid out that way without some type of machine flush, though.

A few months ago, I noticed a faint smell of antifreeze coming from the engine area of the car after parking. I have hunted around but not located any visible leaks - even around the water pump. The odor seems to come and go, so I'm sure it's a tiny leak somewhere. No water in the oil and the coolant level seems fine. Any ideas or known common issues with the 3.0L engine?

You probably have this fixed by now, but I'll throw in my two cents: I believe there is a TSB on the front strut mounts. Also, I had to replace the passenger front sway bar link due to a rattling noise coming from that corner - worked like a charm.

Had the same issue on my 08. Replaced the front struts but the noise was still there. Finally replaced passenger-side sway bar link and the noise is fixed.

Same issue happened with my 08 SEL. I first thought it was the sunroof drain leaking. I finally figured out via talking to a dealer that it was the A/C drain tube on the firewall. Silicone around it fixed the problem - definitely a poor design on Ford's part.

I did my back pads two years back and one of the calipers started sticking. I'm not sure what I did wrong (I used the cube tool to turn them back in), but ended up having them replaced, along with the brake hoses going to them.

I'm pleased to say the issue is fixed and it had nothing to do with the transmission (my suspicions were wrong and I'm not complaining one bit!). It was a loose left-front axle nut causing the clicking sound at gear shifts and throttle changes. The dealer took care of it (tightened the nut) quickly for a relatively inexpensive price. The noise is gone and I hope it stays that way!

The fluid is fine - the noise is definitely mechanical in nature and is coming from the transmission area. It seems to be getting worse (low speed acceleration/deceleration almost always produces the loud click/pop) so I think I am going to bite the bullet and take it to a dealership and see what they think. Hopefully it is nothing serious, but something is definitely not right so I am going to do the right thing and get it checked out as I do really enjoy the car.

Very interesting idea with the bike chain link. Thanks for all the tips and suggestions in this thread - I removed my windscreen last night in about two minutes and the roof works great now. I can't believe it was that easy...it goes to show I should have poked around a little more and been a little adventurous! I'm still frustrated by this poor design and its proneness to failure, but at least it doesn't render the entire moonroof useless.

I'm curious if anyone else has run along this problem because I can't seem to find much info on the topic. My 08 Fusion SEL V6 has the six-speed awtf-80 SC auto transmission. I have around 75K on it now and it has been making a clicking/popping noise for several thousand miles when braking/accelerating at low speeds (ex. between 1st and 2nd gears) and also while shifting between any combo of P, D, or R. at a standstill. The car drives and shifts fine aside from the noise. It is very noticable when the windows or down and especially when along a structure (ex. parking garage or concrete wall). A friend works on transmissions for a living and thinks it might be the one-way clutch failing but recommended I drop the trans pan and check for metal shavings on the magnets to see if it's anything major or not. Either way, a weird issue. I have never driven the vehicle in an abusive manner (quite the opposite actually) but I did buy it used at around 35K miles. I may drop the pan someday when I have time but otherwise I don't plan to be proactive about getting it looked at/fixed...mainly because surely it will cost just as much as the repair in the event it fails or gets worse and warrants attention.

There are plastic pieces along the track that push the metal rods (which connect to the wind deflector at the front) down. When the sunroof is open, they are hard to see, but if you can look up under the glass while it is slid back, you can see the plastic pieces. Since mine is broken, I can take a flashlight and look closey at each side and see the differences. I'm tempted to cut the metal rods and the deflector off, but I don't want to break something else and cause the sunroof to not open/close at all. Mine still works IF I hold the deflector down while the roof closes and pull my finger off of it quickly right as it closes...otherwise, it jams.

2008 Fusion SEL here with the same issue...bought the car used with around 35K and the plastic piece that pushes the wind deflector down broke shortly thereafter. I'm curious where exactly you cut the metal wind deflector brackets to make it close properly - and were there any sealing issues after? I've also looked at some aftermarket wind deflectors that mount in front of the sunroof as a workaround if the turbulence is too much after removing the original deflector.