Ford Problems

There's been plenty of talk in recent years about the future of diesel engines in vehicles like the Ranger and Everest. And while there's a school of thought that suggests that they'll switch to petrol and petrol-electric hybrid drivelines, that hardly makes a diesel-engined version a dinosaur overnight. Take the Toyota Corolla, for instance: While the latest Corolla is available with a hybrid powertrain (and it's a very popular format) there are still plenty of people happily driving around in their 20-year-old Corollas with conventional drivelines.

The point being that progress is a fact of life. Every time a new piece of tech arrives that is seen as an improvement, car-makers will adopt it. Which means the previous technology is out of date, but not necessarily beyond its useful life.

If you think a plug-in hybrid Ranger or Everest would suit you, then by all means wait until 2024 (the rumoured launch date). But bear in mind that, by then, there may be talk of the next big thing in Rangers and Everests; an advance that could make even the plug-in hybrid look a bit yesterday.

Ford's popular PX Ranger (sold from 2011 until its replacement in 2022) marked a distinct move away from timing belt technology, but prior to that, the Mazda-sourced engine in your vehicle uses a rubber toothed timing belt. As such, this belt and its tensioners and idlers require replacement at regular intervals.

The recommended belt-change interval for this engine is 120,000km or six years, whichever comes first.

The model you've nominated has a timing chain, which, in theory, should be good for the life of the engine. However, that's not always the case, and some specialists recommend changing the timing chain at intervals of 200,000km. That is still a pretty decent innings for a hard-working vehicle like a Transit and is longer than the change interval for most engines with toothed rubber timing belts.

The crucial number here is the towing capacity of the Transit. This model ranged form 2000kg to 2750kg (depending on body and wheelbase) so a Daihatsu car shouldn't take you anywhere near that limit. That, of course, is if you flat-tow the Daihatsu behind the motor-home. If, however, you tow the car on a trailer, then you might (depending on the trailer's size and construction) find you're getting close to that limit in some circumstances.

The other problems will be the same ones faced by anybody who tows a decent sized load; wear and tear on the mechanical components and the sheer cost of fuel, particularly diesel.

They might both be Ford Focuses, but they're a couple of generations apart meaning that they are not only physically different, they also used different transmissions to each other. Even if, by some miracle, the older gearbox would bolt to the newer engine, the car still wouldn't have the correct electronics to make the transmission work properly.

Even if the transmission in question was a manual which requires much less in the way of electronic control, the unit in the 2008 Focus was a five-speed, while the later car used a completely different six-speed. Even things like the clutch and flywheel would be incompatible. You'd probably even find the gear-shifter for each transmission enters the cabin in a physically different spot, meaning the interior trim would no longer fit.

There's been plenty of talk in recent years about the future of diesel engines in vehicles like the Ranger and Everest. And while there's a school of thought that suggests that they'll switch to petrol and petrol-electric hybrid drivelines, that hardly makes a diesel-engined version a dinosaur overnight. Take the Toyota Corolla, for instance: While the latest Corolla is available with a hybrid powertrain (and it's a very popular format) there are still plenty of people happily driving around in their 20-year-old Corollas with conventional drivelines.

The point being that progress is a fact of life. Every time a new piece of tech arrives that is seen as an improvement, car-makers will adopt it. Which means the previous technology is out of date, but not necessarily beyond its useful life.

If you think a plug-in hybrid Ranger or Everest would suit you, then by all means wait until 2024 (the rumoured launch date). But bear in mind that, by then, there may be talk of the next big thing in Rangers and Everests; an advance that could make even the plug-in hybrid look a bit yesterday.

Just for starters, the ZX4 is a four-door sedan, while the ZX3 body is the three-door hatchback. At the very least, that will mean differences in the wiring loom as regards door-courtesy and boot/tailgate lights. Cars will have different wiring looms depending on their transmission, too, so even if the engine is the same in both cars, the loom might not be.

Then there's the more basic question of whether they're actually the same model of Ford Focus. Ford Australia switched to the all-new second-gen Focus in April 2005, and if your 2005 Focus is that newer version, the wiring will not be compatible with the 2001 model. But even if they're from the same generation of Focus, swapping a wiring loom from one car to another involves many, many hours of work.

Good news; Ford Australia is indeed set to launch a new, limited edition run of the Everest Wildtrak very shortly. Although no firm sates have been set, the Wildtrak version of the Everest could be hitting showrooms in the next few weeks, maybe even sooner. The model has already been launched in New Zealand, South Africa and Thailand.

But while we don't have firm dates yet, what we can tell you is that the Wildtrak Everest will slot in between the Sport and Platinum trim levels and will use the 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel engine mated to the 10-speed automatic transmission. Price is expected to be $73,090 plus on-road costs.

By connecting the Ranger to a diagnostic computer, you should be able to work out what's constricting the engine power. Modern engines constantly monitor everything from boost pressure to fuel pressure, and transmission temperature to alternator output. Somewhere in those hundreds of parameters will be the problem and it should be fairly obvious to somebody who knows how to interpret the codes the car's computer will spit out.

Meantime, it could be that the engine's installation skipped hooking up a sensor or piece of wiring and that has caused the engine to go into limp-home mode which limits the power the car will produce in the interests of self preservation. On a really simple level, have you checked that all the turbocharger's plumbing is intact and the joints are tight post engine installation? Loose plumbing joints and cracked or split plastic tubing are a common way to lose turbo-boost pressure.

The current model Everest is rated to tow up to 3500kg (with a braked trailer) making it one of the better credentialed tow-vehicles out there. These ute-derived station-wagons sometimes lose a little of the towing capacity of their dual-cab brethren on the basis of their more complaint rear suspension (which makes for a nicer ride). But, somehow, Ford has managed to retain the full 3500kg towing capacity for the Everest.

The question then becomes which engine you choose and, on balance, the V6 turbo-diesel is the one to have. The V6 models cost a bit more, but they do get you all-wheel-drive (great for towing) and the V6 engine has a handy 30kW and 100Nm more that the four-cylinder version. All things considered, the Everest is a great vehicle with which a tow a caravan.