Bugblndr

Didn't think I'd ever join the 600 mile club.  This was by far the best tank I ever got, probably 80% highway, 87 octane, 45 PSI, no aero mods, and AC on 50% of the time.  Was hoping to make it 1000 kms but I filled up at 981.

 Also the  Curt recommends using their stabalizing strap for any "non-trailer" load like a bike rack or Thule box.  Have you used one or just have the box mounted in the hitch?  Thanks for any info!!

Tom

I've got the Curt and don't use any stabilizing strap on my bike rack.  The bike rack doesn't use a hitch pin but rather a bolt that goes through the receiver and bolts into the hitch, with a lock on the otherside.  No need for any additional stablization with that type of set up.

I also find the inability to turn off the DRL

 

But, you can use FORScan to turn them off for a drive-in purpose.

 

Open the Body Control Module, add the control options for the headlights and set them both for 0%, and just leave it open.

Thanks, I will give that a try later tonight.  Not ideal, probably won't count on it for use at the drive-in, but I will definitely test it out on my Canadian model.

I think the problem was the OP was in Canada, and the DRL cannot be turned off.

Correct.  Still waiting for FordServiceCA to offer some insight. Perhaps they are on vacation, I've PM'd them but not heard back.

I did go to a restaurant drive-in once, and when my coke tipped over and landed in a blob of ketchup in a paper tray that was precariously balanced above the radio I thought "Why the hell am I not inside, sitting in a nice warm booth?".

 

But it would have been great to have lived through the 50s.

The drive-in theater close to me is about a 15 minute drive.  They have three screens, hold several hundred cars each and are pretty close to capacity most weekend nights.  Within a 30 minute radius there are several million people, so it's no surprise they are so popular.

I don't go to the movies, as my home theater setup is way more comfortable with great sound and a 95" screen.  But I do love the drive-in from time to time.  It's more social, it's inexpensive, I can bring our dog, some wine or beer and some food and no one cares.  My wife and I went on our last anniversary, she packed a bottle of wine, some sushi, veggies and dip, cheese and crackers, etc.  It was a good time for all including our dog.

The C-Max has more room and is no less comfortable than my other two choices, a 2000 Trans Am or a 2005 Acura RSX.  It also has a better sound system than the Acura, although that turned out to be false when put to the test.

2 hour movie?  It was triple feature night.  I stayed for 2 and left before the third one.  I've sat in worse seats than the C-Max. 

Sounds to me like the light wasn't reset at your first oil change.  I'd just reset the light and carry on.

I occasionally go to a drive in and realized this was going to be an issue, when I bought the car. Unfortunately, on the SEL there is nothing you can do. With the SE (which has a physical key), they still have an accessory mode that should work. I still may go to a drive in but the only option, that I'm aware of, is to bring a portable FM radio.

Yeah, that really bites.  Time to retire the C-Max for our drive-in nights.  Portable radio is okay for warm nights but doesn't do much good up here during spring or fall as sometimes some heat or defogging of windows is necessary.

Every post I read on here said to just start with the emergency brake and the lights won't come on and the car would start and stop as required.  DRL's have been mandated here since 1990 and I've never had an issue with any other keyless ignition vehicle until this one.  

  :swear:

My wife and I go to the drive-in theater once or twice a year.  I've gone in many cars over the years, from old school carb'd cars with auto nothing to hybrids with push button start and never had an issue.

On Saturday night we took my C-Max, which was a big mistake.  No matter what I tried, I couldn't get the headlights and DRL's to stay off (Canadian car). I tried the following:

• Press start button on car with emergency brake on and foot not on the brake pedal.  Headlights come on.
   
• Press start button on car with emergency brake on and foot on the brake pedal.  Headlights come on.
   
• Press power button on the radio only, which let me listen to the radio for a few minutes until the car shut it off to save the battery.
   
• Pulled fuses F74 (headlamp supply) and F75 (foglamp supply) from the panel under the glovebox.  Headlights come on mysteriously.  This makes no sense at all.
   
• Pulled fuse F24 (relay coils / light switch module) from the power distribution box under the hood.  In case you aren't following a pattern here, the headlights were still on!

In all cases I believe the headlights were the DRL's that were on.  It made for a waste of time and money at the drive in as after the first 20 minutes or so, we had no sound.  

Does anyone have any ideas on what else I could've done besides disconnecting the wiring harness from the headlights, or smashing them in with a hammer?  Perhaps FordServiceCA can find out something?  Or at least provide me with a hammer?

For 9300 miles I've had no issues and absolutely loved this car, until Saturday night happened.

FYI, in all cases, the headlamp switch was turned to the OFF position.  I also tested that several times.

Some please remind me why I'm paying premium prices at a dealership, vs, having my co-workers at Wal-Mart do it in the automotive department (17 year associate, there might be a incident or 2 year at my store.) ???? I could have slept in, checked in my car at work, clocked in, and left at the end of my sift. 3 hours of my life gone. 

 

Good question. My 2011 Toyota Highlander Hybrid never went to the dealer after I picked it up. 85,000 miles, 4 years, not one visit to a Toyota service department. 

I had all maintenance done at a local Jiffy Lube, or an independent garage across the street from my work, or the shop my wife worked at.  I saved a ton of money and sacrificed nothing by doing so IMO.

My C-Max will definitely have at least it's first service done at the Ford dealer since there's already been a recall on it.  My wife works at the dealer I bought it from so the pricing should be reasonable at least.

Thanks Frank.  I guess I will just take my measuring instruments with me when I look at used wheels.  

 

Regarding tire size using 16" wheels, is there any disadvantage to going even narrower than 215/60R16?  There is a good set of Blizzak WS60 tires with Focus aluminum wheels available for less than what the wheels would cost new but the tire size is 195/60 R16.  

The skinnier tire will have less circumference thus throwing your speedometer off by about 4% versus the 215/60 R16 tire.

Strange to see a whole LOT of negative about Ford and C max, in THIS forum.

 

How unfortunate for the advertisers.

This isn't a forum owned by Ford and most of the advertising is done by google Ads.  This is a forum for C-Max owners and potential owners, it's about our experiences and thoughts, not about blindly proclaiming the C-Max the best car since the Model-A.

I've been reading this forum for 8 months now and haven't seen much negativity in comparison to other forums I've been on.  Based on your signature, you seem to have issues with the forum, perhaps you should start your own with only positive posts allowed?

I use a 21" deck gas powered Lawn Boy mower for my small yard.  It starts first or second pull every time (as it's guaranteed to do) and use maybe a gallon of gas a season.

My neighbor has the Ryobi 40V lithium ion cordless mower, chainsaw, and trimmer and let me try out his mower a couple of weeks back. It's fairly light in weight and did a pretty good job.  It doesn't have the grunt that my gas mower has so It would struggle more with long or damp grass IMO.

For now I'll stick with my gas powered mower and plug-in electric trimmer.  By the time either needs replacing, I'm sure the technology will be even better.  

For the winter time I use a Toro plug in electric snowblower which starts first time every time.   :salute:

Nice work, glad to see you got it done and installed Jim!

What information does this Vehicle Health Report contain?  In looking at the owner's manual, it appears it doesn't work on Canadian models for some bizarre and unexplainable reason.

I have a Nokia Windows phone, so obviously not Android. Anyone know if this would work on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 WiFi version?

It should work fine as the Tab 4 has Bluetooth. Scaling of screens may be weird but if they did a good job of programming all will be well.

I'm interested but I'm new to all this.. I have an android phone and the mount.  What device do I need to purchase besides the software?

You will also need a bluetooth OBDII ELM327 device.  There are a ton of them out there, I use this one:  http://www.amazon.com/Goliton%C2%AE-Bluetooth-Supper-Compatible-Andriod/dp/B009NPAORC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1435692326&sr=8-3&keywords=Mini+OBD2+OBD-II+Android+Bluetooth

Excellent, thanks for the post.  I had $5.71 in my account from Google Rewards and it cost $5.67 CAD :)

The 2015 definitely has efficiency leaves.  That's the default screen setting from the factory I believe.  I turned mine to the same screen as marshtex2 on the drive home from the dealership and its still on that screen today.

Yeah, it's pretty obvious and is really not that difficult, as long as you widen the holes enough to get both through.   Somehow I made an idiotic move on the one side and pushed the bolt back into the frame rail.  I panicked for a minute but it was actually really easy to get it back out and start over.  The other side I wasn't worried about and things went flawlessly.

They are probably the exact same ones I have, I'm sure they'll do fine.

Good luck!

I originally tried a regular 15/32 bit and was getting nowhere fast.  Then I brought out my step bits I had from Canadian Tire http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mastercraft-step-drill-set-3-pc-0540698p.html That won't help you out too much though.

Searching Home Depot shows the following which look similar:  http://www.homedepot.com/s/step%2520bit%2520titanium?NCNI-5

Amazon also has a bunch of them:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_14?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=titanium+step+drill+bit&sprefix=titanium+step+drill+bit%2Caps%2C155

They seemed to cut through like butter.  You do need to be sure you don't go too big though.

Got my tray today and it fits great.  No problems with wires from the USB or 12V plugs routing to outside the console either.  Thanks for the tip timwil56!

I had this happen for the first time today. I figured the CVT tranny just got confused about what I was doing.

Thanks for the pics. I will probably swap my toll freeway transponder location with the dash cam when I go to hardwire it in.

That will put the camera about where you had it for your 2nd location. I may try the center plastic rain sensor cover too to see if I'm happy with it there.