Ford Problems

I would agree with the mechanic, it’s struggling under load by being too lean. I could be a broken or cracked vacuum fitting on the engine, or even the brake booster, and I would also check the PCV valve.

No other reports of a similar nature have been received at Cars Guide, perhaps other readers could tell us of their experience with the system. It does sound like it could be a pump that's causing the noise, I would take it back to the installer and have it checked, if that doesn't resolve it contact Parnell direct and ask for their assistance.

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.

If you have the service book you will find the service schedule printed in that. If you don’t have the book, then work on intervals of around 10,000 km or six months. Again, if you have the service book check to see when the cam timing belt was last changed. It should have been changed at around 100,000 km and will next require changing at the 200,000 km mark if it hasn’t been changed in the meantime.

The fact that you can save it by using the choke tells you it's running too lean. Have the carby reconditioned, it's probably worn, make sure the idle mixture is set correctly, and replace the air filter.

Thanks for the feedback Peter, all good info for the owner of the BA, Waynne Lee.

The pro is that you have the extra boot space, the cons are that you have to get a tyre man to clean the foam out of the punctured tyre before it can be repaired, and if the tyre is more severely damaged to the extent that the foam won’t seal the wound you’re stuck.

By the advice he gave you the dealer probably believed the engine was pinging, but switching to the higher-octane fuel did nothing to fix it. The car is still under warranty, so take it back to the dealer and ask that it be fixed again. If they can't fix it, ask them to consult Ford about the problem. Persist until it is fixed, long term pinging can cause damage to the engine.

There's no system available to do what you want, and with the plastic fittings Ford uses on the heat exchanger it's not an easy thing to develop. And a note of caution from AW Automatics, who have looked at making an aftermarket exchanger, the six-speed auto tends to run a little hot anyway and replacing the factory exchanger that uses water with an aftermarket one that uses air has the potential to cause the transmission to overheat if the replacement exchanger doesn't have sufficient capacity to do the job.

No, brake rotors are regarded as consumable items and not covered by the new car warranty.