Just got my vehicle back this afternoon. They said it was likely a connector that had moisture in it.
We'll see; I haven't got too much confidence in it.

That's it!

You've obviously been using your car as a submarine!

Can you please give additional information regarding this
electrical connection that FORD claims had moisture in it ?

If this transmission problem can be traced back to a simple
electrical connection then more than likely others have the same
condition in their vehicle.

Once this connection is identified, possibly as a preventative
measure, maybe it would be worth while cleaning same with
contact cleaner, or possibly wrapping with electrical tape.

Thanks,
Ken H.

[quote="KAH"]Can you please give additional information regarding this
electrical connection that FORD claims had moisture in it ?

Sorry, I didn't really pursue what the connector was. I will have a look at the service ticket when I get home and see if there is any information on it.

On another note though, when they first looked at the transmission a couple of days ago, they did find a small leak where the axle goes into the transmission. The fluid level was still within limits though. They put in a new seal. At any rate this morning as I left my garage there was a puddle of transmission fluid about 6" in diameter. So back to the Dealership today.

I phoned Ford Canada today complaining about all the issues I have been having. Hoped that they would look at least at giving my a deal on an extended warranty. They were less than helpful. Told me I shouln't worry because have another 2 years; and I said that it only applies to powertrain and my issues have been with other things. Said there is nothing that they would do, and take it up with the dealer. I said that the dealership is doing their best to fix this car, and why should they take a hit for these problems when clearly this is a problem with the car and the manufacturer should take responsibility. I kept my cool through the phone call but ended up hanging up on them as clearly it was going nowhere.

Here is what the service ticket says, but I don't think it will be too helpful.

"Elect Trane Test/Diaoag I/D/S test pass p 1000
Check OASSIS Check fluid cond/OK
Dielect/Bulk HFAD Road test OK"

They did say that they put dielectric grease on the connection

You're right. Not necessarily very helpful unless you can understand their shorthand. One thing I discovered is that service techs will often hurry the typing of this stuff into their computer, and they'll misspell things, which makes it even more difficult to decipher.

For example, I wonder if that first line that says "Elect/Trane/Test" shouldn't be "Elect/Trans/Test" as in "Electronic Transmission Test" or something like that. Who knows? What's a "Trane?"

Line 3 possible interpretation:

Dielect/Bulk HFAD Road test OK"

Could this mean something to the following:

Disconnected the Transaxle
Bulk Head Electrical Connector and
after cleaning contacts applied
dielectrical grease. Then took
for a road test and all was well.

Just my guess,
Ken H.

Bulk Head Electrical Connector sounds familar. Somewhere in the back of my tiny brain I seem to remember them saying that.
Good Call.

At anyrate, got the car back yesterday and they said that the fliud dripping was just residual.
This morning there was a puddle 12" across on my garage floor. Residual my A**.
At anyrate I'm going wait until the dipstick is reading low (which will probably happen in a couple days), and take a picture of the fluild on the floor, and then back to the dealership.

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could provide
the location and possibly a picture of the bulkhead
electrical connector.

My book refers to it as connector C199 and gives a
location as " On engine, LH side, center ". A bit more
info would be in order.

Based on your experiences with moisture building
up in this connector, it may be well worth the time to
clean the terminals and apply dielectric grease, as
part of a preventative maintenance program.

Thanks,
Ken H.

Finally figured out what was wrong with my transmission, and it wasn't the connector with moisture in it. As well they finally fixed the leak they made worse.
This time the problem happened with me driving and not my wife. So I was driving along and all of a sudden I have no power and the tach is buried. I slowed down as quick as possible and got the revs down. Try to drive but can't go over 20 km/hr. So I call my wife to meet me at the dealership and try to slowly drive there by going down as many side streets as possible. As I'm driving along I see that the transmission is not slipping, it simply thinks it is in low gear. So I stopped, put it into park and back to drive. Everything is back to normal, so I slow down and put it into low. Then I try to shift it back to drive; it will not shift out of low. I remembered that a couple of weeks ago I put it into reverse and nothing. I thought it was just me, so I fiddled with it and it finally went into reverse.
So actually the shift lever is just a little out, or on the edge. When it is in drive it is just ready to go into low and when in reverse it could actually be in neutral. So I explained it to the dealership and they said that makes perfect sense. So I think finally I will get my car fixed.

On another note, because I've been under the hood so much lately I noticed a bit of rust starting to bubble under the paint on the front edge of the hood. I bought the car in July of 2008 with 10,000 kms (6,000 miles) as a lease back. Thought I was getting as car a good as new. At any rate the dealership looked at the rust, and then a little closer at the whole front end. Turns out the car had been in a front end accident and whoever did the repairs didn't properly seal the front lip on the front underside of the hood. Technically they do not have to repair it but fortunately they are being very good and said they would fix it.
So if you ever buy a lease back, just something to be aware of.

Do you think the hood is steel? IE it's rusting? The OE hood is aluminum so they might have replaced it with an aftermarket steel hood, hence the rusting.

Autobody Repairs to today stink! You never know what you'll get for parts.

Lots of 'em have paint bubbles on the hood (see other thread, I went to a dealership who had like 15 X's and all but one had bubbling hoods).

Wow, so sorry to hear about your troubles Doug. I asked for a Carfax and got one but the dealer (from whom I didn't end up buying - stupid me) said that a lot of lease car accidents never get reported because the cars are simply fixed by the lease companies and no report filed.

On brakes: mine just replaced, everything (60K) for $500. Dealer I got it from said they checked everything 3,000 miles ago and everything was fine. Right. Another dealer never to trust again!