$3000 Flasher

WHILE travelling home to Sydney from the NSW south coast, the gear selector indicator in my 2004 BA Ford Falcon, which has done 49,000km, started flashing. On checking the owner's manual I found the flashing suggested the transmission was overheating. Later, the car seemed to slip out of gear and then when I pulled over, smoke poured out from under the bonnet. I had to be towed back to Sydney. My mechanic told me the problem was caused by the transmission oil cooler failing, causing coolant to enter the transmission. This made the transmission overheat and fail. I have had to replace the radiator and transmission. I have been told this is a common problem with this model Ford and could be prevented by fitting an external oil cooler and bypassing the original one in the radiator. I have been very happy with the car and was seriously thinking about trading up to a new Ford, but having spent $3000 fixing this problem I feel I'm stuck with keeping the BA. To say that I am not happy is a gross understatement. I believe this problem is a design fault and Ford should compensate me for the $3000.