Somewhere in between my afternnon nap, and going to do a load of laundry, my dogs decided to spread the contents of the laundry basket all across the house lol

 

I have the same issue finding information on Fusions, I guess no one works on their own cars nowadays.

I have a 2013 and 2 2018 Fusions, all with the 2.5L. My gut was to buy the base engine cars and stay away from the eco-boost turbos and it proved me right. The 2013 has 157,000 on it and the 2018's 76,000 and 57,000. They are comfortable, reliable cars but unfortunately Ford decided to kill their 4 door sedan line.

 

I have it with the MDX, too; you're on your own. Although it actually seems a little better than the Edge platform.

Looking over the vehicle and the details, I might be able to do the turbo in under 5 hours. If I pull the CV shaft on the pass side, there's a lot of room not being a 4wd.

I got my Mahle brand new turbo yesterday, and within the hour, it was on its way back to the seller. Mahle and the seller says it's for the early 2.0L with a thin flange for the cat, but it had a thick flange. I ordered a rebuilt Mahle that also says it is a thin flange, but at least it has images. We shall see.

I would have preferred a non-turbo as well, but this one was in such good condition for the area, despite the higher miles. Everyone thinks it is a new car, not 11 years old. We took it on a test drive, and I plugged in ForScan. It's showed a turbo issue pending despite the engine light not on. So when it came time to negotiate the price, not only was I able to deduct off the physical things I found, but a $2500 turbo cost as well. The third brake light and backup camera were faulty. Those were discounts at Ford Service pricing. The salesman said he's never seen anyone scan a car before. So we got it where I was happy from a non-Ford dealership.

 

Sort of like my old 2003 Mercedes, it was a free car, runs good and looks good but the electrical parts of it are a nightmare to work on.

 

I was able to do the electrical problems easily. Ford's price for the third light was high. I couldn't find an aftermarket, but one popped up on eBay as a NOS never installed with a good discount. The reverse camera ended up from Amazon after other platforms showed one version was a good part, as it did not distort the image, change the alignment bars, nor was it upside-down. Ford is nuts on that price, $500+ discounted to $350, Amazon $70, and has been working for 1.5 years. I think I got $800 knocked off for the rear camera.

Besides the turbo, the Edge runs very well, with minor undercarriage rust. While local, I think it stays out of the snow mostly. I was buying it as a runner until the pricing insanity went away, but we may hold on to it longer. We might be at a tipping point for the new and used markets. The interest rates are too high to support the high prices.

 

I agree on the prices. I would love a new F250, then I look at the Excursion, I can do a lot of repairs for the cost of monthly payments and have a great truck I have the title to. I try to keep all my cars running and working decently.

We don't have rust issues to worry about in Central NC but the sun bakes paint, I have 3 that need paint jobs, Excursion included but with the economy and my wife being laid off I don't need the extra expense.

 

I have rust, and baked paint. It does make it hard to justify as I know how hard it is to stop rust. We’ve been living the low income half retirement, so a new model is a hump. I would go for a roller with a lack of rust, engines are easy. I occasionally look.

 

I think I jinked us.

I got a call from my wife on her way home, not far away. A loud bang and some noise. Pulled to the side of the road and shaken.

Nothing under the vehicle or dragging; I had her start it, and it sounded OK. We switched cars, and I drove it home. When the A/C compressor would engage, it was noisy, so I turned the A/C off.

When I got home, I started to hunt for a new A/C compressor and then looked under the hood. I could figure out why the belt was fine, but a pulley was between the frame and the A/C compressor. It wasn't the A/C compressor; the harmonic dampener/pulley came apart. The pulley ejected, the rubber mounting tore, but the fan belt came off the pulley and landed on the dampener part under it. So the belt's ribs ran on the smooth surface, and the tensioner took up the slack.

One of Ford's extraordinary designs, the harmonic dampener/pulley, is not keyed to the crankshaft, so when you remove it, the camshaft's timing gear behind it can move. So to replace the pulley, you have to lock the crankshaft and the camshafts in place. And the pin that holds the crankshaft can't be stressed, or it breaks, so the procedure is to use a strap wrench over the pulley to keep it from turning while you deal with the crankshaft bolt.

They say you must use an impact when removing it, but hand tools when installing it, without moving the pulley or crankshaft. 74 lb-ft, then 90º.

 

Sorry to hear that man.

 

Les was still freaked this morning.

It don't look right.......

 

What motor is this? that sounds nuts!

 

koochie koochie coo. Its so cute. Little baby glow plug.

 

A little off-topic ranting...

Geezus, trying to sell a catalytic converter and scrap vehicles is such a PITA. Makes you feel so abused - you know you're being taken advantage of.

I'm trying to get one of my Prii running and its hybrid battery is dead. Rebuilt ones are about $1500, but these cars aren't worth much - many people toss theirs rather than spend than amount. So, like these trucks, I'm always searching the auctions looking for parts cars. Now, I need one with a good battery. And I find one, and get it for less than $600. So the plan is to scavenge the cat, sell it, and get my money back with a battery for free.

Which I'll be able to do - I got an $800 offer on Marketplace for them. But, I'd rather sell them directly to the recycler. You just know this anonymous FB person is just going to do that. But that's where it gets screwy. Trying to get pricing information by searching online is frustrating. Site after site just give vague pricing or obvious low-ball pricing. It's like all the scam websites and lead-generation websites are the first 5 pages of web results.

And it's the same with selling the carcass after I take the cat and battery. With these cars, that's all there is. Nobody buys parts for them, so I just want to haul it to the scrapyard. But trying to get them to tell you what they give for them is again a PITA. I just want a price per pound so I can get a rough estimate to know whether it's worth paying a wrecker to tow it over.

With both groups, the only way you're going to do business is to let them hose you. I compare it to people who repair things are your home, like the AC guy, or the plumber, or appliance repair. Literally I've had those guys turn around and leave when I caught them trying to hose me - not that I made a scene or got mad; just that they weren't going to be able to screw me and it wasn't worth their time otherwise.

 

Just saw this, don't always check this thread. When was the last time one of your cars broke down on the road before this? I bet that did scare the bejinks outta the missus. Did it shake a lot? Well, good to see you can still twist a wrench when you have to, lol.

 

Well, I'm still battling the cat buying process. But, the Prius deal went great, but took some ad lib. The auction was in Andrews Tx, about 530 miles from me. Middle of nowhere West Texas. Triple-digit temps outside the whole way. I rolled the dice - I've been hosed before by Copart with a car that didn't have a cat. If this one has the cat, that part would pay for the entire car and related costs, and selling the carcass would net a couple hundred bucks to boot. I'd get a free $1500 battery and whatever else I could easily scavenge for free.

So the plan was to drive there in one of my Prii there at 50mpg (<$80 round trip), and take out its seats for more space. Ideally, I could just drive the parts car to the recycler - it was wrecked in the back (actually a very nice car, and I have the parts to fix it, just no time) and was listed as a run-and-drive, and remove the parts in their yard. Copart won't let you do anything at their facility.

And, it starts out great - the cat is in the car! But the car can't drive - the rear end is torn lose. Copart's definition is that the car started and moved forward, not that it went where the steering wheel.is pointed. So, I can't tow it either, won't roll. Copart also owns CashforCars.com so I asked them how much they'd give for what was left, and I ran into a funny problem. I later was told the same thing by the recycler.

They couldn't take the car because the title was not in my name. In Copart's case, the title was still in their name - I hadn't signed it yet - and they still said that I had to go register it first. Same BS from the recycler, but after talking to her, she agreed to call Copart and confirm it was legit. Crazy what it takes to throw away a car.

Then, my luck turns, big time. I'm looking for a wrecker to tow it to the recycle 5 miles away. One said $250, which was too much. Another said $150, but couldn't do it for hours. So, obviously, I'm not going to get any money from the recycler; it's all going to pay for the wrecker. That's OK, I'm getting a free battery. But, by chance, I ask the recycler admin is she knew a cheap wrecker and scored.

She turned me on to some guys straight out of Pulp Fiction - they crush cars and don't ask about titles. Also a great deal because those guys helped me remove the parts, which, it turns out, would have been a major PITA. The exhaust bolts were rusted, and I only had hand tools. I would have made it happen, but lots of work in blistering sun after jacking up the car. They had a cordless impact (I know, I need to buy one,being the 21 century).and rolled it halfway off the trailer so I could easily get under it. Turns out the tires were brand new, but I wouldn't have been able to get them off - they had wheel locks - grrr, cheap old car, cheap little tires, no value wheels and they got them locked on. Again, these guys pulled out the heavy hammer and with the impact got those off. I literally would have been in that recyler's yard for hours, filthy and dehydrated before I was done and left without the tires. With these guys, I was in and out in an hour.

Never asked for money, but I gave them $50 tip, all I had with me, and the got the carcass. So break even on the deal after I sell the cat. Got nice interior seats, console, trunk liner, tires, two new headlights (I won't have to clean mine!), and battery for the two-day drive. Got to spend the night with my son's family coming back. But, it was a long drive. On the way there, I drove at night and just slept in my car until Copart opened. Not quite as comfy as my bus, lol.

So, anyway, now I'm down to selling this cat. Would still love to find a Prius owner trying to save one of these old cars. You can't get these from Toyota any more, that's why these cars are so cheap - several states (CA) require expensive or OEM replacement cats - +$2000 - so the insurance companies total them out. In TX, we can use $200 cats, so I buy them for nothing and cherry pick the nicest ones.

Anyway, the scrappers are still giving me a hard time, even with the serial numbers, titles, pictures and all the other roadblocks they put in the way of just telling you what they'll pay. I discovered that most of your searches lead to the "big" websites and they charge you to tell you what your cat is worth???

You can tell that the entire system is designed to work with druggie thieves, and to rip them off as much as possible, knowing they're desperate for money and worried about being caught.