Ask The Guide

That’s a very interesting question and one that my instinct suggested would be a yes. That’s because the Focus from those two model-years was based on the same platform and that the differences between the sedan and hatchback variants were all from the A-pillar back. And so it is. I checked with a major windscreen replacement network and, yes, the two vehicles have a windscreen with exactly the same part number. So you should be good to go.

The most common cause of a noise like this is likely to be a worn throw-out bearing, also known as a release bearing. Like most bearings, this component is designed to allow interaction between a moving surface (in this case the clutch which is turning at engine speed) and a stationary one (the clutch fork that physically disengages the clutch when you stand on the clutch pedal).

If this bearing becomes contaminated, rusty or just plain worn out, it can begin to emit the sort of sound you’re hearing. Why doesn’t it do it when the clutch pedal is pressed? Because the springs in the clutch are loading the bearing and taking the wear (or slack) out of it. When you release the clutch, the bearing relaxes and is free to make its noise again. Sometimes the reverse is true, and depending on where precisely the wear is located, the bearing makes the most noise when it’s loaded by the clutch springs. Either way, it’s a gearbox-out job, but beyond that it’s not a difficult task for a workshop.

The problem could be in the gearbox selectors which, as their name suggests, are the mechanical linkages that allow you to select each gear. If the selectors for fifth gear are worn or incorrectly adjusted, you could have a situation where the car is not fully selecting fifth gear, allowing it to pop out of gear when you load the transmission.

The other possibility, of course, is that, at 428,000km (a pretty good innings for one of these vehicles) the actual internal bits of the gearbox are so worn that the thing is jumping out of fifth in protest. If that’s the case, an inspected, second-hand replacement gearbox from a wrecking yard would be the most cost-effective solution.

The Mitsubishi Pajero is actually regarded as a very reliable vehicle, so your experience is not typical. There are several potential causes for this, but the thing I’d check first would be the air filter. Is it possible this was overlooked during the recent service? A blocked or dirty air filter will certainly make an engine blow smoke and operate poorly.

I’m assuming your vehicle is a diesel, so it would be worth checking the suction-control valve on the back of the fuel pump, too. Also, a stuck injector that is pouring fuel into the engine can also potentially create these symptoms. I’ve also heard of the Pajero diesel suffering from a build-up of black gunk inside the intake system that can also cause symptoms like the ones you’ve described.

The drive belts on the engines might be new, but what about the pulleys they run in? A pulley with a worn bearing can start to squeal when under load, such as when you start to accelerate and the belt has to speed up. Also, any coolant or oil on the belt can make it screech, too. When the belts had just been replaced, they were nice and clean, but after a few kilometres have passed and contaminants have been able to build up, you might be back to square one again with a screaming rubber belt.

Check the belts for coolant or oil (or anything else) on them as well as the pulleys and tensioners to make sure a small leak in the engine is not being spread all over the place by the belt. Check the belts for correct tension, too, as this can vary over time and is a classic cause of noisy operation. It does seem odd that both cars have started to make the noise in unison, but stranger things have happened.

A miss is fairly common on these engines and is usually tracked back to either a dud spark-plug or a crook ignition lead. If you’ve already changed the plugs, I’d suggest checking the ignition leads for excessive resistance. The other major source of misses in these engines is usually a fault with the coil-packs. Swapping these for another set is a pretty easy way to check whether they’re the culprits. Don’t forget, however, that a miss can also be fuel or mechanical-related, but experience with these engines shows that the ignition system is often the cause.

According to government websites, the 2001 Falcon six-cylinder can, indeed, use E10 fuel. You may find, however, that you use a little more E10 over 100km than normal unleaded, so the savings at the pump might not be as marked as they seem on paper.

When you say the suspension has been upgraded, did that, by any chance, involve raising the ride height? Problems centring around shuddering and vibrations, vague steering and the vehicle generally having a mind of its own are very common among owners who have paid good money to have the suspension hiked by anything from two to six inches.

Aside from the legal and insurance implications of this, raising these vehicles can throw the wheel-alignment settings (particularly the caster angle) out of whack and lead to the problems you’re experiencing. There are fixes including eccentric suspension bushes to return the angles back to normal, but it’s a specialist job.

Beyond that, a vibration at a particular speed can often be traced back to wheel balancing. The wheel and tyre combination on these vehicles is quite heavy, so making sure all the balance-weights are where they should be is critical.

These cars used a fairly simply check-valve on the fuel pump to prevent fuel draining back into the tank when the car was parked. As the car ages, this valve wears to the point where it won’t maintain fuel in the lines going to the engine. If that happens, it will take some time and cranking to get fuel from the tank to the engine. This is the delay you’re experiencing.

The worn valve is only allowing a small amount of fuel to drain back which is why you need to wait six hours or so for the problem to show up. A new fuel pump will fix it.

It sounds like you’ve tried pretty much everything here, but I have a few suggestions. Have you cleaned out the inlet manifold? The combination of soot and oil mist that gets recycled back through the Mazda’s engine (and a lot of modern turbo-diesels are the same) can cause all sorts of poor running conditions including surging and mis-firing. I know you said you’ve disconnected the EGR valve, but this build-up could already have occurred.

What about the fuel system? You said you’ve replaced the injectors, but have the fuel pumps been checked for flow and pressure? What about the fuel return line? Is it blocked and causing an obstruction to the fuel flow below 80km/h? What about the fuel pick-up inside the tank? A split or damaged pick-up can allow air into the system and cause all sorts of grief.

Also, this generation BT0-50 used throttle-by-wire. Many owners didn’t like the operation of the standard set-up and changed to an adjustable system that allowed them to soften (via a dial on the dashboard) the throttle action for off-road use. Has your vehicle been modified like this? Even if it hasn’t, the standard throttle set-up could be faulty and causing the problems you’re seeing.

The fact that the vehicle operates perfectly in some situations leads me to suspect an electronic or fuel supply problem. If it was a major mechanical issue such as a burned valve or a major mechanical glitch, the engine would likely not run properly at all.

It could be a computer problem, but it could also be a mechanical one with the driveline of the car which is faulty and is triggering the warning lights you’re seeing. If the body computer is the problem, then those lights on the dashboard and the symptoms you can hear are a distinct possibility. But the noise you’re hearing is more likely to be the anti-lock brake mechanism triggering than the vehicle trying to select four-wheel-drive as the Captiva has constant four-wheel-drive, so it’s always engaged.

The reason it moves slowly when the warnings are present is because it’s going into limp-home mode – probably - to prevent any more harm coming to the vehicle itself. I’d be having it looked at promptly, as any problems with the braking or ABS hardware are, obviously, a safety issue.