I did not read every post in this thread but I will tell you
about something I just used-
A friend of mine had left her car parked in her garage
for a month- Toyota -
the dome light had been left on car would not start
and the battery voltage was .03 volts-
not even one volt -I figured the battery was toast -
A friend of hers purchased one of those tiny battery
jump starter gizmo battery things for $50
at walmart -
was about the size of 3 packs of cigarettes -
All of these jumpstart battery gizmos that I have ever
seen were Total pieces of sh*t and I figured No Way
was this tiny battery pack going to start this car -
Just wasted $50 -
I followed the directions and hooked this jump
start battery hooked to the cars battery for 5 minutes-
Amazingly the car spun over and fired right up -
WOW --
The jump battery looked like it was made from
5 or 6- 18650 batteries -
the kit included some adapters to charge cell phones
and other stuff -
I know that these vans have larger harder to
start engines but after seeing how easily
and quickly this jump battery kit
worked I have changed my mind on having one
of these as an emergency option -
Bigger engine = leave it connected for longer
before trying to start -
I am not 100% sure that this link is to the
jump kit I used but it looks close and cost the same --
http://www.walmart.com/ip/11000mAh-Car-Battery-Emergency-Jump-Starter-USB-Power-Bank-Charger-w-LED-Light/46103853
Also when reading the options list for the Transit
one option was a Alternator Bracket for around $900 -
like most of the other options listed for the Transit-
there was zero details -
so I have no clue exactly what it is -