Ford Falcon 2002 Problems

Another reader told us of his experience with a similar problem, which was found to be a problem with the brake master cylinder not fully releasing correctly and causing the brake rotors to overhead and warp. The problem went away when the master cylinder was replaced.

Remove the seat and inspect the tilt mechanism to see if it can be repaired. If not head to your nearest Ford wrecker and get a replacement assembly and fit it. It shouldn’t be very expensive.

It's most unusual to be able to hear petrol sloshing around in the tank; most tanks have baffles to stop it, and yours should have. I would doubt very much, however, that sloshing petrol caused your spins. The most likely cause is a greasy road, low tyre tread, too much speed or too much throttle.

The fuel consumption is maybe a little too high, I reckon 11-12 L/  100 km would be closer to what you should get, but a lot depends on the load you carrying, the speeds you drive at, the traffic density etc, which makes it hard to be too specific. As for the engine I reckon you need to have it thoroughly checked over, it doesn't sound healthy to me.

It’s clearly an imbalance problem; the challenge is to track down the cause. It could be a problem with the torque converters but, as they’re both long wheelbase cars I would be focusing on the tailshaft.

Get it to an auto trans specialist and have the gearbox serviced, or maybe rebuilt.

Ford offered an option on the AU ute that would increase its towing capacity to 1600 kg; there were other dealer-fit options that would increase it to 2300 kg, so check with your local dealer to see if they could retrofit either option. Otherwise see a towing specialist, such as a Hayman-Reese dealer for tow packs they could fit.

Adding a third seat to wagons was once quite common, and carmakers have even offered a third seat option in the past. But with the availability of so many seven-seater SUVs and people-movers now, it's not so popular. The demands for compliance to Australian design rules have also made it more difficult. I would suggest you look at people-movers such as the Honda Odyssey and the compact VW Caddy Life, which is a Golf-sized vehicle able to seat seven.

It's likely that there's a problem with the Automatic Fill Limiter in your tank. Have an LPG installer check the car to determine if that is the case and replace it if necessary.

Ford recommended 91 RON fuel for the XR8 so E10 would be fine with its higher octane rating.