Ford Falcon Problems

Unfortunately it is a common problem and your experience is in line with that of other Falcon owners. For a time there Ford was replacing diffs on cars that were out of warranty, but that seems to have stopped. If you had a dealer replace the second diff I would suggest you go back to Ford and ask for some compensation.

I would also like to have a new transmission, but I wouldn’t necessarily write off a rebuilt one, providing it is rebuilt correctly by someone who knows what they’re doing. Before settling for the rebuild ask for a report on the failure of the transmission and ask the dealer to justify why he thinks it will be ok when rebuilt. If you really want a new transmission, and I agree that it’s not too much to ask, you need to be persistent and keep the pressure up on Ford. Go all the way to the top if you feel strongly about it.

We've passed your comments on to Ford for a response, but in the meantime we would like other FG owners to tell us if their cars also have this vibration.

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.

It’s probably a blocked or split hose, or a blocked valve, in the system that takes the petrol fumes from the tank and burns them in the engine. Start at the tank and work forward to the engine checking all hoses, connections, valves and the canister itself.

A little more analysis seems to be needed. Try and identify the conditions in which it happens. Like, does it happen when you drive over a bump or a pothole? Perhaps it only does it when you accelerate or decelerate? The suspension bushes were worth checking, as the dealer did, and I would persist with checking all of the bushes in the rear; also check the shock absorbers and their mounts, and also the exhaust system and its mountings to make sure it isn't hitting the underbody.

It appears to be related to the crank angle sensor, but maybe not the sensor itself. Have you checked the connection to the crank angle sensor?

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.

We haven't had much feedback as yet, but by chance we've now had two in the last week or so, yours and the one from Garry Haynes that is also published this week. That suggests there could be a problem and we will follow it up with Ford.

The AU 2 was mostly a cosmetic makeover of the AU to make it a little more attractive, there were some changes to equipment levels etc., but there were no significant changes to the mainstream six-cylinder and V8. The AU 2 saw the introduction of the dedicated LPG six and a new 200 kW 5.0-litre V8 for the XR8. There’s not reason you couldn’t swap the engines.