[TransitGA]

Well the sound from the rear end is coming from the drive shaft. Something about a driveshaft adapter. There goes another $600. BTW that airbag sensor came in at $650.

I can't believe Ford sells this van.

 

[TransitGA]

**** dude, I feel your pain. Good luck.

All the brake and tire stuff sounds like bad driving conditions to me. I don't want to get accusational that the driver is a "bad" driver, I don't know the driver, never seen them drive, but if I were to just read those symptoms and compare it to every other driver of the same vehicle, I would assume there is a lot of extra fast acceleration, hard cornering and hard braking or riding the brakes going on. It may not be bad habits, but the area where the van is operated may require driving like that.

As for the other stuff, every vehicle made these days has cheap plastic parts and the lowest cost materials/parts available. Stuff will break. Faulty sensors are the bane of our existence these days. At least it's not worn piston rings or broken camshaft at 50k like the old days.

The storage shelf is a wonder of bad modern design. Mine also flops around, but not "violently" (and I'm on CA roads, basically a bunch of connected potholes and patches, because they spent all their money on perks and benefits for the highway department employees instead of fixing the roads, but that's another story...). I'm planning on "fixing" mine by removing the cheap plastic "brace" and replacing it with aluminum square tubing, and removing/replacing the useless center console.

I am aware of the guibo issue, and will have one on hand to replace at about 50k. Maybe there will be a quality aftermarket one soon.

Sorry for the late response. I don't visit this forum as often.

I also thought it might be the drivers but we have 2 other e-350 extended lengths and the tires and brakes wear normally. It's just disappointing that's all. The van is used to transport people back and forth between a hotel and an airport. It's a 3 mile ride one way with speeds never exceeding 50mph.

I like ford but the transit platform doesn't seem to up to the task of heavy commercial use. We'll probably be going back to the F series shuttles.

 

[TransitGA]

85,000 miles already. It could be you are carrying excessive weight. Any chance your 15 passengers need to mix in a few salads once in a while?

LOL. Still the trip would only last 7 minutes and the shuttle makes it's way back to the airport with just the driver. Around half of the 85,000 miles were with just 1 driver in the van.

 

[TransitGA]

LOL. So back in the shop with a check engine light. Something about a cam shaft causing the check engine light and they need to tear down the engine... There goes at least $1500 to get it fixed.

BTW Ecoboost engine. I'm shopping for another shuttle and I can't wait to get rid of this thing.

 

[TransitGA]

Aha!

A key word was mentioned: DRIVERS!
When vehicles are used by employees, they are abused by employees. Kind of the same thing with Sprinters; when used as fleet vehicles and driven by employees, they break down a lot, go through brakes and tires at twice the normal rate, etc. When driven by OWNERS both Sprinters and Transits do just fine.

I think the old econolines were detuned and built in a way to make it hard for malicious and mentally handicapped employees to destroy them. Even though they would try, anyway.

That's what I thought to but the other E-350 shuttles don't have a tenth of the problems the transit does. There is no way I can recommend this van to anyone. BTW, a couple other hotels bought the Transit extended length high roof with the ecoboost. They don't have anything good to say about them...

The Ford Transit was not designed for heavy commercial use. As a cargo van or even the normal low roof normal wheelbase passenger van might be okay. However, the Ford Transit IS NOT designed for heavy commercial use.

 

[TransitGA]

Your use is not normal, also the OP use as an airport shuttle is not "normal" also...



Your experience is one that Ford needs to pay attention to. They will need to beef up the brakes, drivetrain etc for this heavy commercial market.

I've been in a lot of airport shuttles. They are driven hard and braked hard. So your experience is uniquely different scenario than 99% of transit owners. That said if you buy a 15 pax van it should be as tough as the Eseries it replaced.

I agree. Ford should either discontinue a 15 pax van or only limit it to the Starcraft Starlite version...

Probably best to just buy a Startrans shuttle van, which is purpose-built. I think most are on 3 ton cab/chassis frames.

That's what we're in the market for now.

it was never designed to be a passenger van in the first place, that was just something ford cobbled together to get additional sales for there transit line of work vans, probably 90 percent of transit sales are for a medium duty commercial work van that gets decent mpg

That's what frustrates me. They shouldn't have released a 15 pax van with the stock parts... BUT they did and that has me telling every hotel owner I know as well as our franchise VPs that no one should buy the Ford Transit.

 

[TransitGA]

Biggest mistake was getting the EcoBoost when employees are driving the van. Of course they'll drive the sh*t out of it. Hard acceleration then hard braking. No big mystery.

With employees you should stick to the 3.7 engine. It's more than adequate for a shuttle service.

BTW the Transit is a great commercial vehicle. I haul expedited freight and I have over 120,000 miles on mine.

������

That's what I thought as well when we first started having brake and tire wear issues. I installed a GPS monitoring system that reports back multiple different readings. Two of the ones I was most interested with was heavy acceleration and heavy breaking. To my surprise there were rarely any incidents reported, and yes, I tested to make sure it reports properly.

The transit may as well be a great commercial LONG DISTANCE HAULER. But, it's not made for short trips with a van full of people. Many of the other hotels report the same issues with their new Transit 350s.

 

[TransitGA]

BTW, the heater isn't working anymore and the check engine light is on AGAIN. Lovely...

 

[TransitGA]

.
First model year may be a contributing factor.

It is possible the 2017s have the obvious issues sorted.

My guess is Ford will heavy up what it needs to.

Are early vins primarily the problem vehicles?
.

That's what I'm thinking and that's what the service manager told me. Still, I'm rather disappointed.

BTW I mentioned the heater didn't work in the last post. Found out the coolant was really low. Filled it and the heater worked. Then I checked it 2 days later, today, coolant is low again... Lovely. Going back into the shop tomorrow for the leaking coolant and the CEL.

 

[TransitGA]

I know there is a difference between "normal" braking and easy on the brakes driving. I don't ride my brakes. I coast to slow down. Even normal braking is going to produce more wear than my style of driving.

I know you have a history with other vehicles and the transit isn't living up to your experience not trying to discount what you are saying for sure.

I just know from my experience people who use the brakes have them wear.... sadly And it doesn't have to fall under the "hard" braking category. I follow other drivers on the freeways, or in the city and see their brake lights coming on all time, and think to myself they should back off the car in front of them and they would not have to touch the brakes so often.

I see. It's just a bit frustrating. I practice the same and my brakes last forever.

Now you are preaching the WORD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGFqfTCL2fs

I came upon the above video more than 2 years after adopting what I wrote below. You can imagine how vindicating it was to me.


My rule is no matter the speed, allow three seconds between you and the vehicle you are behind. Don't go by distance, go by time. At high speed that is a lot of distance, at low speed same thing. Many good things result. You become like a little Zen monk on freeways because someone looking for a lane change has plenty of room in the gap you leave which forestalls them endangering or breaking the rhythm of other traffic. It buys you reaction time in case something happens suddenly and that can have a huge reward if you happened to have been slightly inattentive when it occurs. I have found that when you leave space like that generally cars behind you will back off more than traffic normally does. In tight freeway traffic where things get to be speed up then slow down speed up then slow down ahead of you, when everyone else's brake lights are lighting up you can simply coast and if need be shift to a lower gear as you are doing it. My personal game is to see how long I can avoid having to touch the brake pedal. It enables you to maintain a more consistent speed in all kinds of traffic that is otherwise inconsistent. And the thing is, the whole time you are traveling down the freeway just as fast as the rest of traffic.

The downside is that as other cars occasionally accept the opening you provide and you have to back off to another three seconds of lag, you'll end arriving where you were going by as much as ten seconds later.

Same, when a car cuts in front of me. I always think to myself, that space wasn't for you...

 

[TransitGA]

BTW. They found the coolant leak.

Coolant line T-joint has a crack in it...

Still waiting on the diagnosis of of the Check Engine Light.

 

[TransitGA]

Got the engine light checked out.

The cam chain tensioner apparently skipped a tooth on the gear... LOVELY! That repair was going to cost $3k. Decided that it's not even worth it to repair... It's been a nightmare and Ford should be ashamed at releasing this vehicle for commercial shuttle service.

 

[TransitGA]

Actually I don't remember seeing any Ford brochures or advertising that recommended the Transit for commercial shuttle service.

???

Ford calls it the "Ultimate People Mover". I looked up the 2017 transit on ford.com and that's what they call it. They also have a picture advertising hotel shuttle. (see below)

Ford Transit is marketed as a commercial vehicle. People use these as delivery vans which is just as abusive. He just got a lemon.

That's what I'm thinking. A lemon that was hand selected by the manufacturer with parts from the worst parts bin...

 

[TransitGA]

BTW, the van stopped moving in the middle of the road. Thankfully no guests were on the van...

Brought it to the dealer and they said a the fuel pump died. AWESOME!

Anyways, we're using the transit still since the E series shuttle that we ordered is going to take a while since it has to be customized.

 

[TransitGA]

I'd also like to warn everyone to watch your doors. The wind blew the driver side door open once and it over extended on the hinge. The door wouldn't close properly and caused body damage. That was a lovely repair bill.

Also, we were averaging 10.5mpg with the ecoboost when it didn't have any problems. It was a miracle to see 12 mpg, loaded or unloaded. Remember, this was when it actually did run fine and didn't have any issues.

 

[TransitGA]

Well. The shuttle is dead again.

It'll turn over but wouldn't start and, no it's not out of gas. It's at the dealer...

 

[TransitGA]

Alright, so this is probably my last update on Transit.

I'm half relieved and half pissed off.

So I got an update from the dealer. The engine somehow jumped the timing as it was off. The engine has no compression and it was either the valve or piston that was bent. Well, the engine needs to be replaced... We're throwing it away.

2015 Transit ecoboost extended length high roof
110,000 miles

NO WAY I would recommend the Transit. I mean, I probably dumped another $15-20k in parts labor to repair it. That's just stupid...

Anyways, last update. Good luck to everyone else, I really hope that I just had a horrible lemon.

 

[TransitGA]

Well I lied about two things. That wasn't the last time you would hear from me and we're not throwing it away.

I'm sort of in a situation that we need to have another van. The one we ordered isn't scheduled to arrive until April, my fault... So I spoke with the dealer and we're getting the engine replaced. The one thing that convinced me was the 3 year unlimited mile warranty on the engine.