One step forward, two steps back...

A few things to update on...

A new update for SYNC to 3.6 was made available, so I upgraded to that. 

http://fordtechlane.com/new-myford-touch-upgrade-to-be-released-in-august-2013/

 Most notable changes are that I have seen so far are it can now display Song/Artist info when playing tracks on Spotify, and that information shows up on the main dashboard view in the Entertainment quadrant, even on Sirius or FM channels.  Very cool.

A recall was issued for Taurus models that may have a defective fuel pump issue that could lead to a leak condition, which could result in a fiery death condition.  I scheduled to bring the car in on 8/12/13 to have it examined.  

Next...since the spring install, I have noticed a weird feedback from the steering that is hard to describe.  Basically, on uneven pavement, speed bumps, or the like, the front wheels feel strangely disconnected from the input being given to the steering wheel, when the bump is encountered.  I decided this was not normal, and took the car back to COBB Tuning in Plano on 8/9/13 to have it looked at.

They put it on the rack, and the technician did find a bolt on the passenger side control arm that was loose that was the potential culprit.  While on the rack, he pointed out to me that the rearward turbo had visible oil on it, indicating a possible leak.  I decided to have it looked at on Monday when I was dropping it off anyway.

The tightened bolt solved the steering issue.

On Monday, I dropped the car off to have the fuel tank looked at, the turbo looked at, and a third issue.  I noticed recently that when accelerating at 1/2 to 2/3 constant throttle, the car begins "surging" between 3k and 4k RPM, from say 30mph onward.  I was able to do it twice on the way to the dealer, and twice on the test drive with the Service Advisor. 

As of today, they have repaired the turbo, the fuel tank is ordered, and they have replicated the surging issue with telemetry hooked up, but have no idea what the issue is.  I am told they are sending the information to Ford engineers for next steps...

SYNC problems...

Recently, I noticed that my phone stopped pairing automatically.  On the way to work the other day, I decided to troubleshoot.  (Bear with me here, this is long, but I want to document it for future reference.)

Manually trying to pair, SYNC would hang at "Connecting Phone..."

I disabled/enabled Bluetooth on my phone, and tried again.  Same thing.  I restarted my phone.  Same thing.

So, I decided to delete the profile for the phone from SYNC and start over.  First, I went to the settings to display the profiles.  I decided to delete all three, since two were for phones we dont have in our household anymore. I selected the first one, pressed delete, and said Yes to the confirmation dialog. The dialog disappeared, and left me with...the same three profiles.  So I did it again, and this time, it actually deleted it.  I had to repeat the "double-delete" process for all profiles.  I also deleted my SYNC profile from my handset.

Next, I tried to add a profile.  The instant that the PIN was displayed, the voice prompt said a device was not found.  No delay at all.

Now, my background is in IT, and I know that Windows is under the covers for this system.  This kind of reaction to the Connect sequence told me that there was a problem even setting Bluetooth to discover or pair.

So, I went to Settings, and turned off Bluetooth for the car.  Then I turned it back on.  When I returned to the BT profiles list, my Nexus 4 phone was now listed again(!)  Great!  I tried to Connect, and search for SYNC on my device to repair.  Instead of SYNC though, the system advertised as:

BCM4325D1????  That can't be good.

The system slowly connected to my phone, but would only do so for audio, and not for Phone functions.  I tried to disconnect and reconnect a couple of times.  No joy.  By this point,, I had been messing with it in the parking lot at work for 10 minutes, so I gave up and went in.

Doing a quick Google, it appears people have been seeing this bug in many vehicles back to 2010!  Not good...

After work, it paired up fine.  No issues.  I have yet to try to make a call though, so an update is probably coming again soon....

Finally - Eibach Pro-Kit Springs installed!

As the title says, afer a few months of waiting with them in the garage, I finally got my springs installed.  Work performed by Cobb Tuning of Plano.  I had a hard time finding a shop that I would trust with a job that while probably easy for a knowledgeable person, would take care of my car and not otherwise scratch or damage it.

Anyway - to the pics!

Front:

Before

After

Back!

Before

After

Pretty happy with the results - also it is readily apparent how soft the factory springs are after riding on these new ones for five minutes.  So far I would have to say this is totally worth it.

The whole package...

First rotation on new tires

Got the (new) tires rotated today at just over 19,500 miles.  Discount Tire on Ohio/121, and they knocked it out in 30 minutes.

Checking the FordOwner site, it appears there is a new recall for something with the Fuel Delivery System, so looks like I will be taking it in.

Also, planning to finally get springs installed on Wednesday!

Final Production Numbers for 2013

With the 2014MY production starting in a week or two, I felt it was finally safe to start looking for the production numbers for 2013 SHOs.  After turning up nothing on Google, I tweeted @FordService and asked them.  They responded quickly, pointing me to the Customer Relations Center.  I gave them a call, and the next day Research had my answer.  What they said:

According to our records, there were a total of 7,477 Ford Taurus SHOs manufactured, out of that there were: 

• 262 Produced in Deep Impact Blue Exterior Paint Color
• 381 Produced in Green Gem Metallic Exterior Paint Color
• 537 Produced in Ingot Silver Metallic Exterior Paint Color
• 633 Produced in Sterling Gray Metallic Exterior Paint Color
• 1,206 Produced in Ruby Red Metallic Exterior Paint Color
• 3,182 Produced in Tuxedo Black Exterior Paint Color
• 1,276 Produced in Ultra Blue Clear Coat Exterior Paint Color 

So this explains why I havent seen another Deep Impact Blue (nor has my selling dealer).  Rarest color! Awesome!

Update 5/29/13: Realized that White was not represented in the list, so I contacted Ford again.  They responded quickly to say that there was indeed an error, and the 1,276 produced were in fact Oxford White, not Ultra Blue.

15k miles, and a visitor appears...

Turned 15k miles a few days ago (February 22) on the way to work.  Already!

Still getting a lot of compliments on the car, and have actually seen a couple other 2013 SHOs around town, but only in silver or black.

We also finally got Marge's 2013 Ford Escape in to have the paint defect fixed, and the PermaPlate stuff added to the interior and exterior, and to look at a couple of other small issues.  I took it in on 2/27, and Sales had arraigned a loaner car - a brand new 2013 Taurus Limited in what I guess is Tuxedo Black. Equipment wise, it appeared to have most of the tech in my car, minus the Active Park Assist.

I was pleasantly surprised, and actually interested to see how a Limited would drive compared to my SHO. 

The differences were immediately apparent as I turned out of the lot onto the service road. The 3.5 liter, naturally aspirated engine is down nearly a hundred horsepower to my SHO.  Between this and what I swear is a totally different shift logic for the transmission, this car is very much a comfortable cruiser once you are at speed, but isn't sure what to do when any serious pedal pressure is applied.  (Translation: It is set up for a older more mature driver.)

The ride quality was quite good though, and the softer suspension was very noticeable on my drive to Irving for a meeting. I enjoyed the softer ride maybe too much, as I wondered aloud if I am getting old!

Later, I went to pick up the kids in it, without mentioning it to them.  Campbell, who is almost 4, noticed immediately. "This isn't our car!" I asked her how she knew, and she said, "This one's black.  Its so pretty!" She then asked if we could keep it forever, because it is beautiful.  She really, really likes the sparkly-black paint, much more so than my Deep Impact Blue SHO.  I told her we only get to borrow it for a few days, but we will drive it a lot.  This made her happy, but I think she will end up probably having a fit when it is gone.

New shoes!

So, after eleven months, and just a few hundred miles short of 15k, I had to act to replace the OEM  Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires due to the wear bars showing.  Doing some research on my options, I selected Nitto Motivo tires.  I was particularly intrigued by this review:

http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/1203_nitto_motivo_tire_test/

Got them installed 2/13/13 at Discount Tire for $986.25.  I opted for the road hazard warranty to cover the set for an additional $149, as these tires have a written 60k mile warranty, and I had to replace a Supercar tire at just a few thousand miles.

So far I love them - the ride seems smoother, very grippy, and there seems to be less road noise than before!  Time will tell if they stay this good - maybe I will throw another update out there in 6-12 months.