Ford Falcon Problems

There are a number of factors that could contribute to causing brake shudder, and you’ve highlighted another one. Finding the cause on an individual car can be frustrating.

Have the injectors cleaned to make sure it isn't a partly blocked injector, if that doesn't fix the problem replace the injectors.

From your description it appears it only happens when the brakes are applied so I'd be looking for a vacuum leak associated with the brakes, such as a split or cracked hose or fitting on the brake booster or manifold.

It’s a fairly straightforward installation without major modification to the car, and there are companies doing it. One we know does it for around $2200 drive in, drive out, and guarantee the rego authorities will accept it when you go to change the engine number.

It's likely to be a faulty engine sensor that's not telling the computer that it's a cold start and the engine needs extra fuelling to start and run. Take it to a mechanic that has diagnostic equipment and is able to test the computer and its sensors, and if need be, leave the car with them overnight so they can do a cold start the next morning.

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

Before you do that I would strongly suggest you get with the dealer and Ford and attempt to thrash out your differences. The lack of feedback from Ford is of concern, it suggests they don’t think there is a problem with your car, that it is within Ford’s specification as they have said, or they can’t solve the problem. It is highly likely that the issues you are concerned about have been observed by Ford’s engineers and deemed to be acceptable for release to production. That is a normal part of the development process of a new car; the problem is that the engineers might have a different view of the problem to you. You could consult an automotive engineer, but that’s likely to be a costly exercise, and I suspect an ultimately frustrating one.

To my knowledge they don't, but it would be worth your while next time to contact Rare Spares as they carry a lot of parts for makes other than Holden. The XG is now 14 years or so old and the doors date back even further to the XE/XF model, so it's probably a big ask for Ford to be carrying parts for it, particularly today when like all carmakers they are struggling to make a quid.

The control module is the most likely cause; they are known to be troublesome.

Fading usually happens when plasticizers migrate out of the plastic, and is accelerated when the car is exposed to the sun for long periods of time, but we haven't received any other reports of the dash fading on Falcons. Make sure the car is parked out of the sun when your son is away, that was the fading should be reduced, and using a product like Armor All should help maintain the colour in the dash.