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Sounds familiar... this with upper two grills blocked. Highway driving as well; I get heat that way, without feeling guilty. Frank

I went looking at wiper blades a few weeks ago, and just compared what I ended up buying this morning. Buy the more-expensive Ford wipers, and use a coupon through support.ford.com to get them for $20 the pair. You want the blades packaged without any adapters... WW-29 and WW-25 on this site. Auto parts stores will have wipers that fit. I got a pair of Trico Onyx blades, for more than $20 each, because they were the only ones with the odd-ball adapter and a nice aero shape. Problem is, the airfoil is left-handed... it's backwards on the passenger side. I took that one back, but kept the driver's side just in case Ford wanted more... I was wrong. Learn from my mistake! HAve fun, Frank

Road maintenance makes all the difference in the world...

Thanks for the interest, gents! My thought process is best captured by Plus 3's last quote: "... This will enable you to get the maximum safe use from the lubricant saving a valuable resource in the process." I'm expecting to keep this car for a long time. I missed the first oil change (not my car yet), so right now, my sample is N=1 so I know nothing yet. I'm looking for trends. Here's what I expect - metals will drop as the engine breaks in. - TBN @ oil change will remain low as long as I use FoMoCo Blend oil and test when the car says it's time: a repeatable result. The real surprise in the first test was TBN; the oil was really worn out. I've installed the same FoMoCo blend as used the first time, so we'll see how it does a second time. Then I'll try FoMoCo synthetic, then commercial brands as I do plan to change my own oil,and I'm curious what's going to work best. One of the expectations for a hybrid is that oil should last longer because the ICE isn't running as much, and when it is, it's running cooler, so the oil suffers less thermal stress compared with a conventional car. All true for the oil, but what about the engine? Cold oil is thick oil which doesn't flow well, so it doens't get to where it's needed. Cold engines have greater blow-by, increasing contaminants in the oil. They wear more, increasing metals in the oil. In many ways, hybrid oil is always in severe service - lots of short trips on a cold engine. That's what makes TBN - total base number - significant. We're talking "base" as in pH - the nicer side of acidity. The measurement tells you how much buffer is left in the oil for pH control. A "buffer" is a compound that allows the oil to neutralize acids without becoming acidic itself. TBN is in units of mg of MgOH per gram of oil. If we're going to operate an oil in a cold engine, we should expect a lot of contaminants, so TBN is a critical parameter. At least that's my thought prodcess going in... HAve fun, Frank

Enjoy your time away! (And nice job on the plexi, too.) Of course, some of us would consider a trip to the Bay Area as time away... away from -6F this morning! Watch that sunburn... HAve fun, Frank

Hopefully some of you will see the irony... What's the downside of trying to get through deep snow? If you say "getting stuck," consider that you're already "stuck" if you don't try. Last weekend I finally got a chance to drive through some deep stuff. Worst that happened is my grill got blocked with snow, which we know only brings up the heat faster. We'll need more than a 14" storm for the next test. HAve fun, Frank

I've been using synthetic oil since the early 1980's, and had great results with extended change intervals in my Volvos, up to 330K miles. But those were used cars, purchased sans warranty, so there was no expectation of a bail out if I screwed up. With a new car, my first goal is to meet warranty service requirements for the life of the warranty, but this also provides an opportunity for some baselining - what does the oil look like chemically when the engine calls for a change? Does the grade used (synthetic vs blend) make a difference? (I had always used full synth., but Ford uses blend unless you ask and pay.) Blackstone Labs offers an oil assay service. Kits are free, $25 for the analysis when you send the oil in. I added $10 for a TBN measurement, as TBN is a measure of oil life remaining. (See the two links for details) I sent my first sample at 15,880 miles, and got it changed at 16,061 (today) for $35. Oil had been changed at 5,626, so this represents the full 10K mile interval. The service receipt from 5626 miles listed "XO*5W20*QSP OIL - ENGINE" which today's service writer identified as "blend" oil (part synthetic, part dino-juice). He installed blend as well. Here's the start data. PORTER-013114.pdf I won't read you the comments, but I see two key results: - there are a lot of wear products (Al, Cu, Fe, Mg, Si are high) consistent with a new engine. - the TBN is very low; this oil is worn out. I paid the premium for TBN, and I'm glad I did. We'll see what 25K brings! If anyone else does an oil assay, post it and lets see if there's a pattern! And if we have any petroleum experts, here's a soapbox... give us your insights (technical, not Honda). HAve fun, Frank PS IMHO, the easy way to do this (if you're not changing oil yourself) is with an oil extraction pump. Blackstone Labs sells a manual pump that looks quite nice for $30, but I got one of these. (Note: this method for oil changes has drawbacks unless you've got a hard-to-drain locations, like inboard motorboats.) Slip the inlet hose down the dip stick tube, and pump a few ounces into the bottle. As close to "no mess" as you get when motor oil is involved...

Click the pull-down arrow next to your user ID in the upper right corner. Select "My Settings" On the left side of the page, select "My Attachments." I only have 830K left myself... 5MB per user. Seems easy to delete things... may create threads with holes, though! Have fun, Frank

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/2800-whats-in-your-c-max-today/?p=30030 Pics of the longest thing I've carried. This tailgate's tall compared with my 29" Volvo wagons, and in a pinch, you can load from the side. I've fit a pie safe (60x36 with a 40" top), drop-leaf table (in the side). No problems with cargo capacity here! Have fun, Frank

Those who find the cargo capacity insufficient have had good results with a tow hitch platform. There's a nice thread on a summer trip; hopefully the poster will chime in... the great advantage is you don't increase the size of the hole you punch in the air. Roof racks can't say that, and your fuel consumption will care. I would be very nervous putting a roof rack on my pano roof, but the trailer hitch and platform, not so much. HAve fun, Frnak PS Thank you fotomoto!

But not as much as Grand Rapids, according to a Fantasy Snowfall league! And you're right about it being snowy, Michigan is leading the nation in big cities on the Top 10 list - Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Detroit and Flint. If it's any consolation for you and Jelly, you're an inch and a quarter ahead of us... but we're having an average year, so there's another 3 feet coming before Spring. Hopefully you'll do better ... hopefully. HAve fun, Frank

I believe that grill covers are doing two things. - reducing air infiltration - smoothing out the air flow as it splits left and right at the car's centerline One can envision an adjustable cover, were you can easily increase air infiltration when cooling needs increase, without much damage to the air flow. In Winter, or in rural driving, you'd minimize infiltration because you have excess cooling capacity. When your driving style changes so the coolant temp starts to rise, stop and open the vents. I know for my part, this would be a rare event. Have fun, Frank PS nice data Plus!

Well that explains it... you found the secret time travel button!

Two thoughts... The tech didn't forget to tighten the lug nuts, he forgot the lug nuts. In my autocrossing days, I'd change tires twice/event. On occassion, I's forget to torque all the lug bolts (it's a BMW) and the worst that ever happened in competition was a lost run. I could tell right away things were loose, but I never lost a wheel. This wheel fell off driving out of the garage... no lug nuts. Get a transferable extended warranty. The dealer owes you, and it gives you something to fall back on if problems crop up down the road, or for resale. HAve fun, Frank

A repeatable problem is one you can investigate. Mine has't come back. However, I've got suspects... look at these pics of Paul's car without the rear bumper cover. Note the louvres on an opening under the cover, below the tail lights. Reading Hucho, he notes that interior ventilation will be speed dependent unless the vents are located in areas where the local air pressure is not speed-dependent. His example looks like Paul's car; vents behind and above the rear wheels. That leads me to suspect that we're seeing the interior exhaust vents in Paul's pics. Now, a C-Max also has battery cooling, through vents in the interior, above these exterior vents, so I wouldn't be surprised if they exhaust better cooling air, too. If so, they form a Helmholtz resonator, similar to a ported subwoofer. The moan I hear would fit this phenomenon; I'll have to try recirc. Have fun, Frank

I didn't weigh the tires when I did the Fall swap... but I'll get another chance in the Spring!

I've heard something like this, but only over Thanksgiving, in Vermont after a little snow. It sounded a lot like a drivetrain moan (bearing?), but it came and went quickly, had no tactile component (couldn't feel it through the controls) and only occurred at a narrow range of speed, 40-50 mph. I concluded it was an odd acoustic resonance in the ventilation as I've yet to hear it in Rochester, or on other long trips. Have fun, Frank

Great having you around, Rebecca!

Thanks, but I have the cable. It's just in the car... and I'm not remembering to bring it in with me! It's just a software problem.

That's an attitude that can't be beat! Glad all the important stuff stayed safe; have fun with the parts! Frank

My snows came on 16" Ford OEM steel wheels from tire rack. Could be stocked seasonally, though... Frank

From what I can gather, a dirty tailgate is the penalty for good aerodynamics. Let's review some of what we know. - Bernouilli's law can be paraphrased to say that air pressure on a surface is inversely related to the speed of that air across the surface. Areas of high speed air flow will generate a vacuum. - When dealing with tailgate, any vacuum resulting from the air flow will be felt as drag. - Dust particles borne on the wind will land and stay put only in areas of low air flow. Otherwise, they'd be knocked off. The logical conclusion is that a car designed to minimize air flow-related drag on the back of the car will likely get very dirty. Looking at the tuft test stills, you see a very sharp change in air flow at the edge of the rear window. Air flow on the C-pillar is attached, but that on the window is both low speed and only slightly turbulent, and it's at right-angles to the C-pillar flow - a clean break. The rear window air flow is consistent with weak trailing vortices coming off the C-pillar- the right air flow direction with not a lot of speed - so dirt builds up. I've got some pic to show these effects, but need a cable... HAVe fun, Frank

Compare rev/mile to find what your speedo will do. Per Tire rack: 215/60-16 - 796 rev/mi. 225/50-17 - 803 rev/mi. It's more like 1% because the narrower tire has a longer contact patch, and it isn't as big around as the static diameter indicates. I didn't notice this difference with my snows; the magnitude of the change is comparable to tire pressure or tread wear effects. If you want to change gearing, try 215/65-17 (742 rev/mi) or 225/65-17 (730 rev/mi)... if they fit. Frank

My snows are 215/60-16s, but they're not a tire optimized for comfort...

Looks like they're suggesting what appears to be an oxidizing paint sealant, per Amazon: "as soon as the contents are exposed to oxygen, the hybrid polymers immediately begin to cross-link and harden" http://www.amazon.com/Sonax-223100-Black-Polymer-Shield/dp/B00BDO48XM As such, if there's an issue with moisture infiltration into the sensor assembly, this should help. That would correlate with my experience that it's not cold, per se, that result in the IA failure to unlock (mine malfunctions by repeatedly locking the doors when activated). Have fun, Frank