The latest newbie, Hi

[Green Machine]

Hi all I’ve just gotten my first Fusion and I’ve a tonne of questions,

Most Pressing, when it rains water pours in through the cloth up beside my head, I don’t see any split in the door seals and it’s too high up to be them any way, could it be the manual sunroof? I don’t see any splits there either but I can’t think of where else water can be getting in and I think the sunroof is quite noisy when I'm driving. The drivers side carpet is sopping wet! has anyone fixed a sunroof?

1: What’s the first things I should do with my car?

2: Is there a better spark plug I should be using? What about intake filters?

3: I’ve filled it to the brim with hi octane petrol and added Dipetane, I've had some great results with Dipetane in the past but has anyone else used it on a fusion? The read out that shows litres per 100k seems to be getting better (if I'm reading it right) so I'm hoping it’s paying off.

 

4: To get the best out of it I was wondering about really good engine oil, and I might do something with the gearbox oil as well so is there a better oil than the OEM and has anyone tried slick50 in the engine or gearbox?

5: What sort of coolant should I avoid? I wanna get the stuff that keeps the temp lower by a degree or two but some metals don’t react well with them.

6: What about good sources for bulbs/led’s I’m not interested in the mad blinding headlights but id like to reduce the draw on the battery/alternator for a bit of performance and fuel savings. Would led’s in the indicators and parking lights cause problems?

7: The fitted radio/CD is a 6000cd but is there a better ford unit that I can get from the scrap yard and fit without losing the use of the radio stalk? I’d prefer ford so I can pretend to the insurance company that I never made any changes to my car cos those fuckers put up my insurance up if I even mention I washed my car. I’m hoping for bluetooth, speaker phone, USB, aux, mp3, s*x etc...

8: Is there a better aerial I can get? I hope to get LW a bit better.

9: The cigarette charger doesn’t turn off when I shut off the engine, is that normal? I don’t want to run the battery down when I’ve stuff plugged in.

10: What type of engine do I actually have? When I try and find out exactly what type/model/series it is I get conflicting info. I’m hoping to see what other cars have the same engine and pick up little tips and info from them

11: What wash and wax do you find works best for the metallic paint?

12: This is more odd than anything but all my documentation says my car is blue but it’s clearly green and there’s no sign of it ever getting repainted; and a website I was looking at gave the colours my car came in and green isn’t one of them, any ideas what happened?

13: my plug in obd2 sensor doesn't light up or anything

I like to be nerdy and learn about my few cars so sorry for the heap of questions

Thanks lads.

 

 

 

[Luke4efc]

So here's my attempt at answering these questions without writing war & peace lol.

1) Fix the roof leak lol. I'm not sure what you mean though, do what you want, it's your car. Sunroofs are renowned for leaking over time so I'd start there.

2) You can get lifetime filters that you have to clean every so often instead of replacing. They cost quite a bit so you have to weigh up how cost effective it is. A spark plug is a spark plug (provided you don't buy crappy ones). NGK are my go-to. If there's nothing wrong with yours and the car runs ok then leave them until it comes up on a service.

3) Never used Dipetane sorry, don't believe in fuel additives especially on newer petrol cars that are so efficient and clean.

4) Just stick to the oil Ford recommends. Your car will be scrapped long before you get engine problems due to the oil used and you could've used a slightly better one. oil additives are generally used by those driving an absolute banger around soon to be converted into coke cans. Certainly not a permanent fix for a worn engine or it would cost a lot more. Again if it's not broken, don't fix it.

5) The thermostat controls the coolant temperature not the properties of the coolant used. The main issue with rust is people topping it up with tap water. When you mix coolant you should use distilled water or ready mixed coolant in order to prevent corrosion.

6) You'd save more fuel by turning the engine off 1 second earlier when you stop. Headlights use very little power as it is and you won't notice any difference in performance (Just turn them off and see if you get more MPG and feel like the car pulls faster. I bet you don't notice). The cost of new bulbs would considerably outweigh any fuel savings. Either way Phillips tend to do decent LED's (or so I've been told. I like a softer light so don't care for LED).

7) Nope the 6000cd is the top radio Ford did for the MK6 Fiesta/Fusion. You'd have to go aftermarket for a better one however you can generally find adaptors on eBay to convert the steering wheel controls etc. to work with the new stereo if you choose carefully.

😎 Not sure sorry. Only seen stubby aerials around.

9) I believe so. Many Fords have an 12 socket that stays on and then goes off after a certain amount of time after the key is removed/ car locked. Others are permanently on.

10) https://www.etis.ford.com/ Gives all your vehicle info including optional extras. You need to sign up (free) as an "independent dealer". Failing that there should be a sicker inside one of the doors with the info on.

11) It's generally personal preference. I use traffic film remover, snow foam then wash with either AutoGlym, Meguires or AutoFinesse (in order of preference) car wash then finish with AutoGlym waxpolish.

12) DVLA probably just take it as being closer to blue than green I'm assuming. You can check VIN against the logbook to make sure you've the right car. The paintcode will be listed on a sticker somewhere. The owners manual should tell you where exactly. If you google the paint code it should tell you how close it is to your colour. They often take silver cars as being grey etc as they only work from a small colour pallet.

13) You may have a dummy ODB2 port fitted or the fuse has blown is my first guess.