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Tweaking My Fusion


chemfusion
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Having been on the forums a little while I thought I'd make this as a diary of the things I've been doing to make my Fusion a bit nicer :)

I know it's not the most exciting car in the world; a bit of a granny-mobile but I'm rather fond of it and hope to keep it going as long as possible. It's soo cheap to run and drinks diesel like it's sipping it from a cup and saucer with it's little finger sticking out - been getting 68-70 MPG for the last few months using it to commute to my placement (65 miles there and back).

The extra boot space is great for hauling stuff back and forth from uni and the extra headroom is good for mates in the back, and the flat boot floor and tailgate is great for sitting out of to change muddy walking boots a la LR Discovery :D I prefer the higher driving position as well.

Inherited it from the parents; the one previous owner was a mobility company. Over the years its had a new rear wheel bearing, new mid and rear exhaust section and one new injector. Currently on 92,000 miles - I've put more miles on it in the last year than Mum did in the previous 4 years combined!

Here it is in all its OAP glory (sans wheel trims that I am refurbishing - see below)

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First thing (a little while ago now) I did was give it mudflaps; intending to protect the paintwork as the bottom of the doors curve in quite a bit. Hopefully will stop it from continuing to grit itself.

I also got it Terraclean'd during the week, first impressions are great, its quieter and smoother and can hold onto gears a little longer before needing to change down. Have already noticed an increase in fuel efficiency but will wait until I've used up the current tank to calculate an MPG.

I've decided to do up the wheel trims as they are very very scratched from hitting the kerb... (not all my doing)

Halfway through 1st plastic primer coat following sanding -

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After 2 primer coats -

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Those 4x two coats (not 100% complete coverage mind) used up a 300ml can of grey plastic primer from Halfords. Will follow probably with 1200/1500 wet&dry, then switch to white primer (need to buy a new can anyway) so that the silver on top appears a bit lighter (well that's the theory anyway).

Following that will be the metallic silver spray paint, then clear lacquer (with the W&D in-between etc).

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I highly recommend blanking the egr valve and fitting an upgrade panel filter to improve mpg and prolong the life of the engine

see guide here: http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/42915-guide-fitting-egr-blanking-plate-16tdci-engine/

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I highly recommend blanking the egr valve and fitting an upgrade panel filter to improve mpg and prolong the life of the engine

see guide here: http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/42915-guide-fitting-egr-blanking-plate-16tdci-engine/

That's my plan :) I have the blanking plate, just not fitted it yet.

Also, what's he best image hosting to use to show pictures on threads? Mine above were linking to OneDrive but now they've disappeared

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That's my plan :) I have the blanking plate, just not fitted it yet.

Also, what's he best image hosting to use to show pictures on threads? Mine above were linking to OneDrive but now they've disappeared

If using photobucket. Please check what other content your links allow people to access.

Thanks

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

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If using photobucket. Please check what other content your links allow people to access.

Thanks

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

+1
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If using photobucket. Please check what other content your links allow people to access.

Thanks

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

+1

So I've re-uploaded them (using Photobucket) but it's only those pics on that PB account so that's ok yes?

I assume it's for privacy reasons etc?

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So I've re-uploaded them (using Photobucket) but it's only those pics on that PB account so that's ok yes?

I assume it's for privacy reasons etc?

It's because somebody recently has shared a link to their personal account that contained very inappropriate images & he's no longer on the forum. I'd hate for anybody else to go the same way

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

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It's because somebody recently has shared a link to their personal account that contained very inappropriate images & he's no longer on the forum. I'd hate for anybody else to go the same way

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

didn't hear anything about this ?
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didn't hear anything about this ?

That's because we cleaned it up quickly :)

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

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Tried to get to the EGR valve today to see if I could fit the blank. Was the first proper use of this set I picked up in Halfords the other day; the flexible extension was particularly useful!

Air box etc off. Also took the filter out of the box so I could see the arrangement of the inlet pipe that comes in round the back. Happened to find a piece of what looked like solid tar/carbon/oil/small stone about 5-6 mm across that had somehow bypassed the air filter and got stuck in the grille on the in-side of the airflow sensor just by the red cover on the battery. Removed that - it might have even improved the air flow a little bit. I assume it could of done some damage to the turbo if it had made it any further...

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Getting closer...

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Almost at it...

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It was at this point I was sure I had identified it;

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The rounded top of the valve could be seen hidden under the fuel filter, just to the right of the covered cable set in the pic above. What I think is part of the EGR cooler assembly comes in from the middle at the bottom, and then bends to the right.

Now what with it being buried under the fuel filter I decided to chicken out at this point, to try again another time. Didn't want to start messing with that as I needed the car within the next two hours. Put everything back together and went for a spirited drive to check that everything still worked... it did :D Still noticing the effects of the Terraclean.

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Shame it's at the back of the engine & hard to get to

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Looks good! But you could've got more well known polishes for that price! Ie, CSP, Menzerna :)

They've come up well for what you used. Was it via hand or machine?

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Looks good! But you could've got more well known polishes for that price! Ie, CSP, Menzerna :)

They've come up well for what you used. Was it via hand or machine?

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The Novus stuff was essentially free, Dad borrowed it from work :)

Old rags and lots of elbow grease!

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Ah! I thought you got it from the link! Can't argue with free stuff! Looks great for a hand polish!

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Second attempt at blanking the EGR valve; got as far as the valve itself, after taking out the fuel filter and could see where the blank was to go and the bolts that had to be loosened. However due to the position of the valve, the other pipes etc. in front of the bolts and how tight they were it was just too awkward. So I abandoned mission again :P Put it all back together and checked that the car still worked. Also hoovered out the air filter whilst I had it out.

At least now when the time comes to replace the air and fuel filter I can do it myself no problem! :D

My wheel trims on the other hand are looking brilliant; pictures soon.

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Trims finished finally. Did mess up one by dropping it face down on the lawn whilst the lacquer was still wet, leaving blade and droplet marks but from a distance it's not noticeable. Still miles better than they were before...

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Those do look much better. What other mods have you got in mind? Its interesting to see stuff being done to a car that isnt a typical candidate for mods.

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I've been at a few more things recently, though first up...

Was routing a USB power cable for a dashcam today, and came across a small rubber shark hidden behind a piece of trim

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More things what I have done over the last 2/3 weeks:

A leather gear knob gaiter that I got from eBay from TopGaiters. Looks so much better than the horrible rubber one that looked like a CV boot. Almost matches the steering wheel and handbrake :)

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Swapped my wipers for some Bosch Aerotwins - they're brilliant - and now have a pair of Dunlop Sport BluResponse on the rear. Tempted by a 3 for 2 offer on Autoglym at Halfords I've transformed all of the exterior plastic trim with their bumper gel. (Also got the tar remover and conditioner shampoo).

Now one thing about the Fusion is that it's rather noisy at speed. Road noise makes for quite a droan on the motorway. Seeing as there's no sound absorbing material anywhere that I can find in the boot or rear of the car, I decided to add some. It's made quite a difference! I've covered the rear arches, boot floor, spare wheel well and as far as I could go under the rear seats with Pyrosorb/Fireseal acoustic foam. Had looked at other DIY approaches (underlay, flashing, etc.) but wanted to go with something safer (it's non-irritant, doesn't smell, fire proof/resistant - rated class '0' - doesn't erode/break down and won't support mould/mildew growth). Some of the leftovers I've stuck under the bonnet in addition to the insulation already there.

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Something else I've wanted to do is fit a dashcam (Mobuis V3 C2) - useful for insurance etc. as well as just having a liking for gadgets like that. Thanks to the less than premium build quality of these cars hardwiring was a doddle, gaps around trim and the headlining meant I could just tuck the wire in to hide it. Used a bit of wool to take the USB power cable from the voltage converter in the glovebox up out of the dash.

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The power comes from an unused reserve fuse via a piggyback adapter (used as a means of connecting, not that I'm actually piggybacking another) that happens to come on only with the ignition.

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Camera fits nicely behind the rear-view mirror.

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However having watched back some of the footage so far you'd think I was driving a tractor, not a car...

Next on the list of things to do was investigate the flappy driver's-side mirror. Up til now the mirror itself was held in place to stop wobbles by a large chunk of blu-tac black which was now black with moss and mildew and stuff. Turns out, unbeknown to me, I have heated mirrors!

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I tried to test for power to see if they work; the fuse is in tact but they didn't seem to get power - I assumed at the time that they would come on with the heated windscreen - and that it might be related to only the passenger side of the windscreen working. (Both fuses for this also fine).

However reading this thread this evening it would seem they actually probably come on with the heated rear window instead. This was after I'd put everything back together so I'm going to leave it until the weather gets colder to test.

The source of the wobbly mirror was a loose clip that holds the positioning motor assembly to the mirror housing. Pushed them back together and now, no more ugly blu-tac!

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Still to do is swapping over the front passenger door as the current one has been attacked by rust along the bottom weld seam. I previously picked one up in the right colour from a car recycling place so it's just a case of swapping everything over when I have enough time in one go to attempt it.

Car also went to the local garage yesterday for an investigation into the whining noise. It's the two bearings each either end of the spindle that goes through the centre of the alternator. The alternator still works fine though, battery continues to be charged at the right voltages so am leaving it for the time being - (trusted) mechanic says it can still be driven with fine. It just makes an annoying noise. If I do come to replace the alternator then I'm going to save myself the labour costs and probably do it myself - it's all in the Haynes manual and looks straightforward, despite part of it being rated 4 out of 5 spanners :D

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The heated mirrors should come on with the heated rear screen. clean up the contacts on the mirror

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