grege

My plan is to change both our trans fluids around 100k. Without any leaks, I'm expecting to add more than is removed due to "heat evaporation" from use (although I remember older transmissions having some venting option that cause some minimal loss). Greg

Cmax air filters are tedious. My engine air filter didn't look too different to the 'mouse nest' one above. I was tempted to 'let it go' for another year, but decided to change it; I similarly sucked up some monster cotton/felt/debris. Not concerning since the filter caught it, but that was unexpected. For my cabin air filter, I threw the retaining screw away since the plastic cover snaps into place although the cabin air filter requires some gymnastics. Greg

Cmax lover, Tough call. In general, if you love your cmax and it's in very good shape and well maintained, I'd price a new tranny (hopefully one having a 3 year warranty or so) and if the price is reasonable, pull the trigger given you'll likely get 200K on it. If you want something newer, I'd look at used 2016, 2017, and 2018 cmaxes since those transmissions are purportedly 'better' (although my 2017/2018s were not). At this point, if my 2018 cmax crapped its tranny again, I'd want a 2017 energi, but that's me. Greg

Check the splash guard - likely that has bent and rusted such that it is touching the rotor just enough. Greg

Wheel bearing is quite possible. If you can load some audio of it, that'll help diagnostics. Greg

Failed vehicle inspection due to "leaking" rear shocks. Shop wanted $700 to replace both. Nope. DIY and casual 4 hours later, replaced both shocks (using TRQs), rotated tires, and cleaned the HVB filter/screen behind passenger-side rear wheel tub while "in there"; screen was clogged and read that can reduce HVB charge. Shocks were slow to remove and reinstall/retorque the bottom bolts (given limited/tight access) and went ahead and replaced both upper shock brackets as well although both looked fine. Not bad overall for $200. Greg

On long trips with lots of downhills, try pressing the downhill regen button on the shift lever; that will help regen charging of the HVB. Able to significantly recharge m wife's energi HVB in some downhill parts of the Shenandoah mountains. Greg

Cars and repairs have gotten so expensive now, warranties need to keep pace by increasing as well. There is no reason (other than greed) that warranties should not be extended to 7-10 years and 120-150,000 miles standard. Manufacturing and reliability has improved (in general), so should vehicle protections. Out of pocket costs have become exorbitant. Greg

My wife and I test-drove both the prius and cmax and the cmax was the far better driving car. My only issue is the cmax has suspect build-quality issues well below the prius. Properly built, the cmax is easily the better vehicle (just not better in MPG). Greg

The recent bushing recall is what first popped into my head as homestead mentioned. Cold and/or coldANDdamp weather can also trigger some weird anomalies in some vehicles. I had a brake pedal brake light switch "stick" and throw codes when the weather turned. First, check for any codes and if your bushing recall was not done, do it and hopefully that settles it! Greg

Welp, it's disappointing but not unexpected. Now our 2017 cmax energi titanium (owned since new) with only 52,000 miles has just finished eating its transmission. 2018 titanium tranny toasted around 36,000 miles first and today 2017 energi titanium toasted at 52,000. Nice job, FORD. Greg

Sadly, yes. Our 2018 titanium tranny was replaced before 36,000 miles and the replacement doesn't drive as well as the original one and occasionally makes noises that suggest the replacement too is not going to be long-lived either. Car currently has 56,000 miles on it. So, I'd much rather see a recall for those displaying signs of problems (e.g., shavings, growling). Greg

Good point. I was hoping they'd communicate without hassle, but now that you mention it...maybe I'll keep wheel/tire fidelity! Thanks, Greg

Can anyone confirm for me that I can definitely interchange/completely swap the wheels on our 2017 energi titanium and 2018 hybrid titanium cmaxes? Tire specs are the same and the wheels appear to be identical, so... My plan is to simply X-cross tires from one cmax to the other (RF to LR, RR to LF, LF to RR, LR to RF from one cmax to the other) to simplify rotation by swapping the tires between vehicles without using a fifth wheel/spare (that I don't have !!!) Thanks for the help! Greg

old one above. New one: https://www.tsbsearch.com/Ford/22-2396