Ford Falcon 2009 Problems

A snapped tailshaft is very unusual these days, and suggests a material fault in your shaft. I would expect that Ford would replace the shaft almost without question. We'd certainly like to hear more.

You need to have a paint specialist inspect it for an opinion on whether it’s a problem from the factory or not. Phone Graeme Cuthbert on 0422 444 335.

Ford had some problems with one colour in the BF, but we haven’t had any reports of problems with the FG. If it is a problem from the factory I would think it should covered by the warranty, but make sure it isn’t a result of a shoddy crash repair before you blame Ford. It would also be worth having a paint specialist, such as Graham Cuthbert (0422 444 335), inspect it and give you an opinion and report, so you have some solid evidence to give Ford if you go down that route.

Let’s hope we hear from other readers about their experiences with the sat-nav system in their Fords. Clearly you have been given the runaround, and to give the dealer credit they would seem to have been given the runaround by Ford. It’s obviously a design or component fault and must be fixed by Ford.  I would consult the consumer affairs people and ask them to assist you in resolving the problem.

The tyre pressures are best set to the manufacturer’s recommended pressures, bearing in mind that you need to adjust your pressures according to the load you’re carrying in your ute. You can run the pressures a little higher than recommended, if you like, and generally you will reduce your fuel consumption, and improve your handling and braking, but at the cost of ride comfort. But running them at 40 psi as the tyre retailer has recommended is too high, you’d want to know a good dentist if you ran them that high. As for the wear, check your alignment and make sure that is correct.

I'm not surprised Ford fobbed you off. You asked a question they would not be prepared to answer. Power steering pump whine is quite common, as the dealer told you and you discovered for yourself by replacing the noisy pump on your BA. The only way to fix it is to replace the pump, as you did on your earlier car.

We consulted our LPG experts and their feeling was that it could be a spark issue. As gas takes more time to fire, it can highlight a misfire on gas and not display any issues on petrol. Testing of the coils and inspection of the spark plugs would be a good starting place assuming the basic gas system has been thoroughly checked. If it has shown this symptom since the day you had the system fitted it would be worth double checking the firing order correlation of the petrol to gas injectors, when this is incorrect it will show these symptoms. It can easily operate normally under higher loads and show these issues at light loads and idle. Air leaks a and leaking petrol injector seals can cause odd issues, although these are now normally seen on the turbo models.

The FG automatic is rated to tow up to 2300 kg when fitted with the Ford-approved heavy-duty tow bar and load leveling kit. That should be sufficient to handle your pop-top caravan.

It's not unusual to hear of tyres wearing out at such low kays on heavy cars like the Falcon. Tyre specialists strongly recommend that you balance and rotate tyres every 6000 km or so on a car like the G6 to get decent tyre life.

Tyre wear is an issue for many people with many different makes and models. Basically it comes down to the geometry used by carmakers today to make their cars handle well, and the way they're driven.