nichols2k

as a final update (i hope). i took the advice and drove the car this week w/o any issues. I drained and refilled the transmission this weekend with fresh gear oil. I inspected the gear fluid after i drained it and didn't see any type of residue. i commute about 90 miles a day plus other trips, so i put about 500 miles on the car. Let's hope it got pulverized and the refill prevents any accumulation issues. Thanks again for the response!

Thanks! After the stress settled a little, i did search the net and found similar stories and recommendations. (guilty relief that I'm not alone) I'm going to do the drive and replace. My Fusion is my commuter car so it gets 90+ miles a day, so I'll replace next weekend at the latest (sooner if I can). I'll update then. (Gonna go try finishing the the two mounts today so I can update that thread)

So, I'm throwing myself out there for ridicule, but i need expert/experienced advice. While changing the gear oil in my trans axle, i was test fitting the oil bottle but forgot to take the removable black cap off. Said black cap is now in my transmission. HOW F%@$ed am I? Is there clearance for the cap to flush out the drain plug? Will/could it come out when i fill it (plastic floats?.. a friends consideration)? I didn't realize (until i spilled some and was cleaning it up) that removing the air box gives a lot more clearance to get a funnel in there. I was trying a tube, but it was way too small and the fluid wasn't flowing through it. After moving the air box, i thought maybe i could fit the bottle in the space to fill it directly. I don't have any long neck funnels, I will now. :-( Good news, prior to this fiasco, i finally got my torque mount replaced! see other thread.

A coworker of mine bought that system for his Civic. He's pleased and has only said good things.

Looks Good!

Update: I made the attempt only to find out I don’t really have the right equipment to knock it out. So I may use this opportunity to test a new mechanic. it’s my daily driver so I can’t afford to break it by “learning”.

Oh, BTW.. yes I had the shifter cable but that was on my fusion (like the mounts). This compressor was on my expedition. My A/C hasn’t worked forever. Every time I get money to get it replaced, something else comes up. I commute in New Orleans, so it gets pretty hot sometimes. Thankfully I park in a parking garage or else I’d melt down after a day in the sun.

Thanks for the response! Well to avoid paying for parts and labor, he said the parts is covered under a lifetime warranty, so I have to take it back there to get it fixed (I assume). I showed him the pics and he said it locked up and that’s what could cause that. But I do plan looking elsewhere for future work. I did think about the better business bureau too. Maybe my engine mount task (other active thread) may be a good test for someone. I made the attempt only to find out I don’t really have the right equipment to knock it out and it’s my daily driver so I can’t afford to break it by “learning”. Thanks again for your response!

First:this is on my 05 expedition, but I hope someone here can give some insight. We had our A/C replaced almost a year and a half back and recently it’s been making funky noises when the clutch engaged. I finally got a chance to investigate today and I find the compressor housing is cracked. Is this “normal” possible quality failure? It appears the power cable or whatever in the pic is real tight across it and eventually broke the housing, but that’s a guess. Or is it another “quality” job from our mechanic?

85k miles on a 2006? Geesh, I wish. Mine has 233k!! (no recommendations on your issue, sorry.. interested in the responses)

Now that the shift cable issue is behind me, I’m trying to catch up on some other tasks I’m behind on. All my mounts have been needing replaced, so I finally got off my butt and ordered them. They all came in today (Rock Auto plug). I’ve browsed this site and reviewed my Haynes manual and don’t expect any issues. Any advice or gotcha’s I should expect?

A final entry on this topic. This time the mechanic seemed to do a thorough job. No issues to report and now it drives like I expected it to after the clutch was replaced. I’ll never be an expert clutch driver no matter how long I have one, but after the new clutch was installed, I was more inconsistent than ever and the feel wasn’t the same. I thought it was just lack of experience with a new clutch. Well after my test drive, I’m wondering if the failing shift cable contributed to that. The shifter is tight/snug and I was as close to perfect on the clutch as I’ve ever been. Obviously the tight/snug shifter makes sense, but I’m guessing the weakened end of the cable may have been affecting the clutch feel/engagement since it wasn’t holding the levers as rigid. I thought a transmission would be ‘in gear’ or not. Thoughts? Additional input for a newbie? next project: engine mounts, but that’s another thread. Thanks to to everyone who replied and especially @FusionDiffusion For the excellent manual pages (even though it still went to the mechanic)

Well, as expected the mechanic denied any potential culpability in the broken cable, and said labor will be 6 hours (roughly $600+). He guess-timated the part to be $50-$70, but i can't find it through Rock Auto or local parts store and Ford Parts list it as $147 (free shipping!). So to have them fix it will probably run close to $800. So i pulled the battery and center console just to investigate and (sure enough) the cables run under the dash brace and under the airbag sensor (?) and it's very tight. I don't have the resources to pull the heater core and dash, so probably going to let the mechanic do it. (unless someone can verify the dash doesn't have to come off) So close, yet so far. Sigh...

I'll try to be brief as possible: I recently had my clutch replaced. Shortly after replacement, i was shifting to 5th and it felt 'spongy' (for lack of a better word). The feeling came and went, but i never had any issues shifting into gear. Today, i shifted from 4th to 5th and nothing, the car acted like it wasn't in gear and the shifter flopped back to center. It went back into 4th and i was able to continue on (thankfully i was close to home). Now the selector will randomly go into 1st, and 5th or not. I was finally able to identify the cable (linkage?) is bending when its fully extended for 1st/5th gear right where it comes out of the support bracket and the rubber boot starts. I can feel a metal collar or such under the rubber boot sliding back and forth, so when it fully extends for 1st/5th gear, it's far enough away from the support bracket that the cable underneath has no support and flexes, thus not providing enough rigidity to get the transmission into gear. I can manually shift the gears with my hand and i don't feel any binding. Can anybody tell me if something broke and the whole cable needs replaced or can it be adjusted to fix? I've seen mixed comments on cable replacement (take out the whole dash or not). Haynes manual talks about draining A/C and heater coil like the whole dash would need to come out. Is that true for a 2006 or could i do it over the weekend? 2006 Ford Fusion - manual transmission (obviously). PS - the car has 236K miles, so i'm sure the mechanic will say wear/tear, but it sure is coincidental that it happened right after being serviced. If it's broke, could they have bent/damaged it while removing the transmission? Thanks in advance for any advice.