jdbob

Did try that, along with a couple of different magnifiers.

I could only read one of the four latch numbers, really poor quality manufacturing. Still haven't had the charging cord replaced, the closest dealer (about 1.3 hours each way) wouldn't do it and the dealer I bought the car from will do it but haven't felt like driving 3 hours each way unless there is something else I need to do in that city.

I changed mine earlier this year (Energi model, same engine) and it wasn't too bad, looked at a few videos on YouTube before proceeding. I rarely use the engine so the original filter was still pretty clean at 30K miles, but the housing did have a fair amount of seeds in it.

In section "418-00 Module Communications Network Description and Operation" of the service manual it says that the max speed of the HS-CAN bus is 500 kbps. Might be different on different car models. You are right about the 125 kbps MS-CAN.

That's not what actually happens. If the engine is cold (which mine always is, because this is the 1st trip of the day), then it does actually run the engine until it heats up. This might be related to the engine not having run for some period of days, I don't know. On mine I usually go for a couple of months without running the engine and then force it to run to stir up the fluids.

Grade assist works find on grades that are at a consistent angle. The trip down has steep sections interspersed with near level sections, it doesn't work too well. Using grade assist will also trigger the engine running if you fill the battery.

The engine running situation is something I actively have to deal with every time I go down from my house into town (about 600 foot drop in 4 miles). I prefer to drive in "L" down the winding hill but keep an eye on the battery percentage and if it gets to 100% I switch back into "D" for the rest of the downhill. Just one of those annoyances that Ford will never fix.

Yeah, the Volt is a similar setup to the C-Max. The gears never change. On the C-Max Ford calls it "L", on the Volt Chevy calls it "B".

According to ALLDATA it's called a "Harmonic Balancer - Crankshaft Pulley". The actual flywheel is on the other end of the crankshaft, the end that goes into the transmission.

Looks like it's just a spring. Probably a nightmare to get down in there to put in a stronger spring.

The touchscreen on the MyFord Touch system lacks some features required for Apply Play and Android Auto if I recall correctly. I saw this link for a Sync 2 to Sync 3 upgrade quite a while ago. At lot more than $1000 at this point. https://www.infotainment.com/collections/all/products/myford-touch-sync-2-to-sync-3-upgrade

http://www.driven.co.nz/news/lifestyle/ford-teams-up-with-tequila-maker-jose-cuervo-to-make-bio-plastic/?ref=NZHNetwork

Tesla's use one motor per axle (rear wheels on all models, also front wheels on "D" models). So there is still a gear reduction and a differential, essentially the same as our cars when driven with only the electric motor. There are a few cars with one motor per wheel, but they are pretty exotic at this point.

4th generation Prius (went on sale late last year): "The next Prius features improved batteries with higher energy density; smaller electric motors, with higher power density than the previous Prius motors; and the gasoline engine features a thermal efficiency greater than 40% (third-generation Prius is 38.5%)."

Thanks dicko the information. I just used that firewall opening to run a wire from the Park switch on the shifter to my DIY LED daytime running lights so they wouldn't come on when in park. Got tired of having them running for hours and hours while charging my 2013 Energi.