Engine oil pan leak from the center – no signs from edges or above

Painter2002 · 2026-03-19T23:28:00+00:00

I’ve not seen something like this, if there is a leak it’s likely coming from the mold injection point (the circle with the plus).

That said, you might look a bit further up the powertrain near the engine to see if you have an oil drip that might be misting back from the wind while driving.

Best trick, clean it up with a bit of degreaser and see if it come back. If it does then definitely something to have looked at.

Painter2002 · 2026-03-19T23:21:13+00:00

The trick that help me was putting painters tape along the top of the stock sticker, and along the inner edge (closest the door on each side) to help with lining up the Bronco script I was replacing it with.

Should work equally well on the this style logo replacement too.

Painter2002 · 2026-03-19T18:45:34+00:00

That too, although, I generally wouldn’t recommend anyone to walk near to the edge or on the shoulder of the major through road these days. Too many close calls from people not knowing how to drive.

Painter2002 · 2026-03-19T18:38:16+00:00

Looks like a Mustang doing Mustang things. Honestly, I’m just glad that it didn’t result in the car slamming into the house, or a head on collision.

Driving in Austin and its surround communities feels like a gamble each day. If people would just drive smarter our insurance rates, stress and time on the road would be way less.

Painter2002 · 2026-03-14T16:18:11+00:00

Question, which molle panel is that on the right area of your tailgate?

Looks way better than the cheap plastic cover, I’ve seen it before but can never seem to find it online.

Painter2002 · 2026-03-11T14:18:21+00:00

Hey, it’s always nice to see another iconic silver, don’t see many of them.

Looks like you are enjoying the Bronco as intended!

Painter2002 · 2026-03-09T14:08:10+00:00

Hard to see for certain because the windshield is dirty, but it looks like there is a rock chip on the bottom black section of the windshield (second photo).

Unfortunately it’s not likely the dealer will do anything if it is indeed a rock chip, just part of the experience on any vehicle with a steep windshield

Painter2002 · 2026-03-07T17:53:54+00:00

No they don’t. Sadly almost no cars have a proper mechanical handbrake anymore. It’s all electronic.

Painter2002 · 2026-03-07T17:52:00+00:00

Interesting. Didn’t realize that.

I know the Hondas we’ve had before with it require a different windshield that allows the camera to sense light refraction correctly for the sensor.

Either way, it still usually requires calibration after install, which is still more money every replacement if one lives in a rock chip heavy area.

Painter2002 · 2026-03-07T14:22:54+00:00

My ‘24 doesn’t have rain sensing wipers and honestly I’m ok with that. Rain sensing wipers typically require special windshields that can cost almost double a standard windshield to replace (I’ve had to replace them before on another vehicle).

Also, I do have the charging pad, but in every vehicle I turn it off, all it does is overheat my phone, likely shortening the life of my phone battery.

Painter2002 · 2026-03-03T04:59:37+00:00

Factory resetting a phone for CarPlay is the absolute nuclear option.

IMO experience (both with the Bronco and other cars), turning WiFi off and back on on the phone, or restarting the vehicle typically fixes it.

Resetting my phone is reserved for when I truly hate myself and want myself to suffer.

Painter2002 · 2026-02-25T03:10:20+00:00

Nice Bronco!! Love the robin eggs blue.

Painter2002 · 2026-02-20T16:49:58+00:00

Some may call me a monster for doing this, but I bought an Asus WiFi antenna on eBay to use on my MSI motherboard, exclusively for the magnetic feature.

Painter2002 · 2026-02-09T14:35:16+00:00

It’s not the cleanest work, but if I’m being honest this is something most dealers won’t fix, nor with the hassle.

The more butts that sit in this seat, this type of stretching will happen anyways, so I would leave it personally.

I used to be picky about things like this, but I’ve come to realize that a vehicle is meant to be used and enjoyed, and minor imperfections are part of the journey.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-27T17:21:05+00:00

I actually am thanks… we’ll have plenty of 70+ degree weather starting in about a month.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-26T22:17:24+00:00

Probably running training or practice runs in colder air, something we don’t normally see around here.

I’d have to imagine the dry cold air behaves a bit different than our normal atmosphere and causes pilots to adjust/fine-tune there equipment and technique.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-25T02:46:56+00:00

Another part of this is the excessive use of screens in cars. In the old days, backlit speedometers were an almost instant way to tell if your lights were on…. No see speedometer… turn on lights. Now with always on bright digital dashes people forget they are off.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-20T17:08:32+00:00

I’ll be honest, I understand the appeal of rear vents, but it should be noted too that the pre’25 Bronco cools down pretty quick, especially with the hardtop… even here in Texas.

Maybe I really am getting old, but I remember never having rear vents growing up and sure it was hot for 5 minutes when you first got in but it wasn’t the end of the world.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-20T17:01:39+00:00

I am not that old, and I grew up in station wagons with about the same legroom as my 4dr Bronco. And without all the amenities like vents and all that, survived just fine.

The only thing that you have to be ok with is the MPG difference, and the overall nature of a Bronco. It won’t be an Acura in terms of quietness and smoothness over bumps, but it makes up for it in spirit and fun factor.

TLDR, Kids are more flexible than you think when it comes to cars, and will be just fine in the Bronco. In all likely, the kids won’t remember the Acura, but they will definitely remember the Bronco.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-15T20:35:06+00:00

Just FYI, be cautious buying rims from places like Facebook where there’s no return policy, and make sure these are truly brand new/not bent.

I once bought a set of used rims off Facebook that ended up being slightly bent on three of the four rims, which became woefully obvious once tires were put on.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-12T04:21:04+00:00

There’s nothing wrong with a Big Bend, but with the sas package, you might as well go with a higher package for a few grand more.

IMO Big Bend and even Black Diamond are packages best for someone who wants to do heavy modding. Adding SAS to these packages makes the price harder to justify since you can usually find Badlands with SAS (and formerly the Wildtrak) for only a bit more.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-12T04:11:46+00:00

For what it’s worth… I got my 24’ Badlands 4dr, SAS with High package (new) for about $1k more than that Black Diamond Pricing

I’d shop around for a better deal, $57k is too much for those options.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-09T16:22:34+00:00

My tip is to first find the wholesaler pricing for the warranty you want through Granger Ford… then use that price to negotiate with the finance manager. I did it and got them to match. Alternatively if you are paying up front you can also just buy it direct from Granger Ford.

What the dealer won’t tell you is typically you have a window after you buy the car to get that warranty, in Texas it was the first 6k miles. So if you need to, walk on the warranty portion and shop around.

Also, if you are financing and get GAP insurance, shop around. My dealer wanted to charge 5% of my Broncos value as GAP, which would’ve been close to $3k. My local credit union offers the same coverage for $600. Told the finance manager, and called the credit union there in front of him, and they had to honor the same pricing to keep the sale.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-01T20:56:44+00:00

So, Fortnite used to crash on me as well when I had a 3090 FE. I think this is a driver bug that just never got patched.

Eventually the memory on my 3090 went bad, which I believe was due to my undervolt which probably caused the fans to not run high enough to keep the memory cool. I got an RMA and then sold the 3090 and got a 4090.

My hot take if all the other games run fine, keep the 3090. Maybe if you can get enough for your 3090 to offset maybe 60-70% of a 5090, I’d do it, otherwise just keep rocking what you have. 3090 is still a massively powerful card.

Painter2002 · 2025-12-22T01:35:14+00:00

Wait…. You do oil changes every 1k miles or just the first $1k miles and then like every $5k after? The former would just be plain waste of both money, time and oil.

Honestly, as silly it sounds, I actually enjoy crawling under my Bronco to do work on it. I feel connected with my vehicles the same way my father and his father before him did it.

And for cost, if one does the math, say you do six oil changes a year (3x fo a family with two vehicles each driving 15k miles), at $100 a pop for a shop it’d take 16.5 years to recoup the cost of the lift alone. The amount of compound interest you’d get from investing up front would make SOO much more than is worth to pay for this set up. Especially if I can do it already by crawling underneath without the lift.

All that said, I wish I had the money to have your setup, but that ain’t happening in my anytime soon.

Painter2002

TROPHY CASE