Devin's 2014 MKZ

[DeviLSh]

RAB - thanks for the info, I will ask my dealer to see if they can sneak this into the CPO, but I believe you are correct in that I am S.O.L. on this being covered now that im over 50k.

Car is back from the shop - the entire engine assembly was removed for the waterpump job, and maybe more since they also performed an alignment. (steering wheel is not straight, so I have to take it back, ugh). So far, i still am getting some faint coolant odor when the car is running, but the tank level seems to be holding. I will have to keep an eye on it, and I hope the smell is residual fluid from the previous leak burning off.

 

 

 

[DeviLSh]

Hey guys -

Still here, and the MKZ is approaching the 62k mi mark. Started noticing clunks/noises over bumps from the rear, so I took it in for a diagnosis - they confirmed my suspicion of blown rear shocks - which of course, are NOT covered under CPO coverage, even though the fronts are. How convenient. $1,200 was the quote from the dealer, so I declined, and ordered the following from RockAuto - Two rear motorcraft struts, rear mounts, and front strut mounts and bearings. At the same time, I ordered a set of H&R sport springs from Tire Rack. I figured I might as well make lemonade out of this scenario.

I finished the install this weekend and so far I am loving the car on the new springs. Firm but not harsh, handling, response and body roll dramatically improved. Still feels civil, especially in "D" mode. I still came in at under $1,200 for all parts and I got much more out of it than I would have if I just had the dealer do it, so I am feeling good! I have had rear brake noise for a while, so I took this opportunity to tackle the rear brake job as well. 

See below for some pictures and additional info. Let me know if I can answer any questions on the springs/hardware. These are the same part# for the FFS, and mkz 3.0TT too, so if any of the MY17+ guys have questions, I can try to answer. 

Install Pics & Comments: 

To start off, I had to put the rear brakes in maintenance mode, and get the lugs off. It appears my car is a victim of the dual-layer lug nut failure. Had to pry off the exterior layer of 1/20 lugs. The others came off by hammering the socket on, and using brute force to loosen. Installed a set of 20 new Dorman lugs. None of the OEM's were salvageable. 

Rear brakes were straight forward. The rotors have a threaded hole for popping them off the hubs, worked flawlessly. Pad swap was simple, and I re-greased the slide pins since they were a little dry. Pads were less than 3mm, indicators long gone, it was TIME - haha

Rear Springs - I thought this would be easy, but it took us a while to get this done. After removing the shock's electrical harness, and unbolting the shock, you will need to unbolt the sway bar, outward lower control arm hardware (3 per side), belly pans, and finally, the rear subframe hardware! Supporting the RSF with a jack, threading out the bolts, the entire assembly lowers enough to let the springs come out. 

Note the 6-7" gap between chassis and sub-frame.

Side by side, OEM vs H&R

And installed, along with new Rotors. 

Fronts - MUCH easier, get the wheel off, unbolt the upper sway link, unplug drive control harness and brake line bracket. Then loosen the lower strut bolts (2) and upper mount nolts (3). After this, the assembly comes out easily. Compress the springs and swap over the upper mounts. And we are good to go. **Be careful to note the orientation of the upper mounts.**

After getting the car back on the ground (had to use a pinchweld adapter for my jack to clear side skirts) installing all new lug nuts, (Broke a stud in the process), the car was wheeled out of the garage for the first look. LOWER! 

After a couple days of settling and test drives - here is how she sits

One final shot! H&R says 1.4" in front, and 1.3" in rear. I'd day its about an inch all around, but it may settle more. I will take final measurements after my alignment and some more break-in driving. Looking to address the final look, and ordered a set of 5 & 10mm spacers. Hopefully those will be on next week. I will update with pics. 

Looking into front brakes next, those weren't nearly as bad, but they will need to be done soon. 

 

Thanks for checking in - just found out my rear-pass window regulator isn't working, so a new project is on the horizon. 

 

-devin

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by DeviLSh

[DeviLSh]

Comparison - Stock vs H&R's

 

[Izzy3906]

Your MKZ looks amazing.  Glad to know your happy with the outcome.

This would definitely be a project I would be thinking to do in the future.  

[Airflow]

That is a substantial drop and looks great. On the rear shocks, are these the electronically adjustable with Lincoln Drive Control? Or is it just the fronts that adjust?

[DeviLSh]

Thanks Izzy - if you decide to take this on, set a full day aside for it if you dont have a lift/quickjack/etc. The rears will take a bit, fronts are easier. Let me know if I can provide further direction for you if & when that day comes. 

 

Thanks Joe, the rears also have DCC, the wiring goes from the bottom of the shock and clips into the rear lower control arms until it meets its chassis side connection on the rear subframe. 

 

Glad to see you guys are still on here! Debating if I want to paint my upper grille centers black once it gets warmer. I like the black label look. Also still chasing the idea of getting amber DRL's. Need to do another deep dive on that soon. 

[drolds1]

Nice work, Devin. Looking good.  I'm surprised that you had time to do this during tax season.?

I guess you're not selling the car.

 

[Airflow]

Understood. Yes I am still here! I had a moment where I thought I was going to get into something different, but that is not the case anymore. 

[DeviLSh]

13 hours ago, drolds1 said:

Nice work, Devin. Looking good.  I'm surprised that you had time to do this during tax season.?

I guess you're not selling the car.

 

Thanks! Yes, this season has been pretty brutal with the 2018/2019 TCJA changes and such. Working on the car is.... theraputic in a way. ? 

Joe - I saw your lease swap thread and cried out for a second - "NO!" Glad to see you've still got it. 

 

I test drove a lightly used 3.0TT w/ driver's pkg and no sunroof a month or so ago. It was.... divine. Honestly it sent me down a rabbit hole and I almost got one. But with how many miles I have put on my Z, I am not in a positive trade situation, plus i have some other projects going on so I decided to wait and have some more fun with this car. So that's what I am doing. 

[Airflow]

Lol. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m all in on the MKZ again. I now want to get through my lease so I can make some tweaks to it like exhaust, black out the trim, and the rear motor mount. Another year to go. 

[Zalvern]

Heh, its like looking at a MKZ version of my 2014 Fusion, which used to be Sterling Grey as well. The H&R Springs were good. Only had some times where the bottom front bumper panel would happen to scrape, but nothing too bad given the drop. Looks great Devin!

 

10 hours ago, Airflow said:

Lol. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m all in on the MKZ again. I now want to get through my lease so I can make some tweaks to it like exhaust, black out the trim, and the rear motor mount. Another year to go. 

You would probably be fine putting that rear motor mount on if you wanted, plus the front wheel hop reduction is nice. Now its the transmission mount that would be more...*ahem* noticeable with vibration increase, while the engine mount is just a pain to install because of that huge bolt.

That Edge ST was very underwhelming, so its great to hear you're sticking to the MKZ! If I didn't lose mine, now I would have upgraded both the downpipes and seek a more optimized exhaust to really let the 3.0 flow to the fullest.

Edited March 22, 2019 by Zalvern

[DeviLSh]

Glad to see you are still lurking Zalvern ? 

Update on cool stuff:

• I have started to fab up a home-made heat shield and mounting system for the Edge/Explorer AfE intake I am running, I am currently running my first version out of thin 28ga aluminum, if I like this, I will make version2 out of something thicker and improve the mounting. Pics soon...
• H&R spacers arrive today, 5mm front and 10mm rear. Should dial in the stance nicely and fill some fender gap. 
• In discussion with a tuner on getting a engine/trans tune made for the car. My car is not yet in the SCT database, so we need to start from ground up. Apparently, there are some MKX 3.7 owners out there who have tuned their cars, and benefited from all the mustang knowledge out there. More on this later, I have to pull data from my LS's xcal and send to SCT. 

I mentioned that I broke a wheel stud when reinstalling wheels after the springs. According to the service manual, the only way to swap out studs, is via removing the hub/bearing assembly from the knuckle. So I have to remove brakes, and axle nut/outer cups. (ugh). This is all thanks to the poor lug design, and "someone" over torquing the lugs. I suppose I had my hand in this too. Was hoping there would be an access window at each corner allowing me to individually remove each stud, but it looks like a hub removal and press is the only way this is happening. Let me know if anyone can confirm this for me! 

at 62k in a Chicago car - do I even want to assume I can get these bearings out of the knuckles without damaging them? 

 

 

[DeviLSh]

2 hours ago, DeviLSh said:

 

• I have started to fab up a home-made heat shield and mounting system for the Edge/Explorer AfE intake I am running, I am currently running my first version out of thin 28ga aluminum, if I like this, I will make version2 out of something thicker and improve the mounting. Pics soon...

Here are some status shots of my project. Using thin sheet metal, tracing out a cardboard template, and then cutting with some tin snips, I was able to fab up a nice heat-shield for the intake. A few test drives in and everything has remained in tact, no rattles or rubbing. I am utilizing the OEM air shroud that draws air in from the grill area as well. The bay gets very hot with the engine to the side and the trans below. The final version will have some heat/tape insulating paneling underneath and on the back to further insulate. This shield also gives the intake something to rest on and remain secure under engine movement. A round clamp with a bracket attached may also be a great addition for good measure. 

If anyone has some tips on what tool to use for easily cutting the next (thicker) version, I would appreciate some insight. 

[Zalvern]

If you look into some DEI Thermal Wrap to layer on top of your heat shield creation, it will greatly help improve both heat soak resistance and heat shedding when the vehicle goes in motion. If you have a scantool like OBD II, you can test and see how those IAT temps are doing.

To make it more stealthy, a fine layer of black engine paint will do(or whatever color you may prefer). Its what I did for the Steeda Intake which made it extremely better over a sealed stock box. Enough air supply, resists heat soak, and shed heat faster when in motion.

Taking the time to make your own intake for the 3.7 is great to see. Well done!

[DeviLSh]

Hey guys, quick update on the MKZ

Intake:

Heat shield prototype is holding up great, so I am looking into new materials to fab my final version. Will probably use a combination of sheet aluminum and DEi's barrier mats/shielding.

3.7 Custom Tune:

I am working with a specialty SCT tuner to try and get a 93 oct tune made for the MKZ. The mustang, F150, and allegedly an MKX owner out there have all seen great gains and driving dynamics (throttle mapping mostly) from tuning the 3.7. Next week, my LS comes out of storage, so I need to flash that car to stock, scan the MKZ, and send the stock data to SCT. The ECU strategy on my car is not yet available in the database it appears. Hopefully I can make this happen and get a little more power out of the car. While no 3.0TT the NatAsp 3.7 is very enjoyable. I would like to liven it up a bit and trail-blaze if you will. Hopefully by Mid-May I will more info on this. Maybe even a dyno or track visit to get some real data on power change. 

Springs:

Car is still riding GREAT on the H&R's. I know Willie (member on here) who tried these out did not like them, but I cannot see why after running them for a while now. I have already become accustomed to the ride, and love the change. The car has settled and sits very nicely. Watching it drive down the road looks very.. majestic. The MKZ's lines and flow work very well with a lowered stance. 

Spacers & Bearings & Studs:

I mentioned above one of my rear studs snapped after the spring install. I confirmed the only way to swap studs on the Fusion/MKZ is to remove the bearing assembly, and press out studs. So, I decided if I was going to swap out studs, might as well go bigger. I ordered a set of H&R spacers for the front and rear. 5mm and 10mm, respectively. These come with new studs (longer) for proper thread engagement. The fun part though, was that removing the 60K bearing housings from the aluminum knuckles meant not being able to salvage, so I had to purchase new rear bearing housings for this swap. While costly, I now have new Motorcraft wheel bearings, with H&R studs and spacers. The car's stance is near perfect for me. Very happy with the results. After a proper 4-wheel alignment, and some warmer temps, I have been able to fully enjoy the car with the new shocks, springs, spacers, and intake. Still in love with this car after nearly 3 years of ownership. 

Picture after spacers and some settling:

 

Question for the group: Has anyone successfully painted, vinvyl'd, or replaced the pano panels on this car? Mine are all faded and chipped, and of course - not covered under CPO. 

[Airflow]

Looks perfect. The spacers moved the wheels out just enough to fill the fenders fully without looking like things are sticking out past the sheet metal. I like how it still has a little space between the top of the tires and the wheel well. Nice work!

[DeviLSh]

Some friends went to the dragstrip last night, so I decided to take the MKZ and join in the fun. I wasn't sure what to expect from the 3.7, but we had a blast. I also decided to "test" the intake kit. I ran the car stock and it did a 15.1 @94. After installing the intake in the pits, and running a few more times, I achieved a 14.7 @ 96. Temp was about the same and I just lightly launched the car off the line. (giving it gas at the same time I released the brake, not really true brake torquing or converter staging, just using two feet and exchanging). I never thought I would see gains that good from an intake on an NA sedan. but It def wakes the car up, and now I have some real world data to back it up. 

I was really impressed with the way the car moved, and sounded on the track. Even got a few compliments on it from the staff at the strip and some of the other racers. 

Still trying to get this car sold to a good buyer, but enjoying it in the meantime. ?

[drolds1]

That's quite impressive,  Devin.

[DeviLSh]

In an effort to keep my FS ads for this car current, I decided to take the day yesterday and wash her, followed by a photoshoot in a variety of settings. I have the car posted on CL, Cars.com, and Cargurus now. Looking to get into a 2017+ 3.0TT if I can get rid of it. One last effort to sell for a while. 

Anyway, I figured it wouldn't hurt to share the pictures with you guys here as they would be appreciated! Been a while since I have shot with anything other than my iphone, so this was fun to do again. 

Enjoy, and let me know what you think. (Spacer's uninstalled in these pics) 

[Zalvern]

Very nice photogenic shots you got there. I wish you the best of luck in selling, and hopefully the new owner takes care of it just as well.

I'm sure you're just raring to go in enjoying a 3.0 Turbo MKZ!

[DeviLSh]

Sold her today! Been a great car for me, time to start the search for the next thing! 

 

I knew it was a good sign when a white MKX rolled up to my house. Car sells itself ?  In all serious-ness though, it is going to a good home, and for someone like me - that matters/makes a difference. 

 

 

[Airflow]

Congratulations! It was a beautiful car! Let us know what you get next. 

[DeviLSh]

Probably not too surprising, but when you like a car so much and get rid of it, what do you replace it with? The better version!

 

 

 

[drolds1]

Congrats, Devin!   MY, options, etc?

[DeviLSh]

Thanks, I will most likely make a new thread to track progress on it, but for now - 

 

2017 Reserve CPO'd, 38k mi 

3.0T AWD 

Driver's Package, Climate Package, Revel Audio (Not Ultima) Moonroof

 

Compared to the last one, it gained power, lost features of tech pkg, and lost a little weight. The park assist/adaptive cruise and pano were all really cool and special, but I rarely used them. At the end of the day I really wanted the all black/Carbon fiber interior and a driver's package car with the powertrain. I was able to get the price down because the PO swapped the DP wheels to his new car, and the dealer put these wheels in it place. I figured I might go aftermarket on the wheels and keep these as a back up so I wasn't too upset about it, even though I do like how the drivers package wheels look on the car. I will get something similar in looks, but hopefully a bit lighter to get this car moving even faster.

 

Doing tons of research on mods and support for this car, and so far the driving experience has been incredible. Just what this chassis needed, I loved my last one, but something was lacking.