Ford Problems

When it comes to buying old cars I tend to go with the car that is in the best condition and usually the one with the lower odo reading regardless of age. In your case that's the older car, but because it has done a lot less kays it is likely to give you a better run in the long term. Of course the dual-fuel ED will be cheaper to run, but it will take you a year or so to cover the extra $1000 you have to pay for it. The ED was little changed from the EB it replaced; it had better side impact protection and used environmentally friendly gas in the air-conditioning system.

It's an old car and I'm guessing the gas system is also old and hasn't been serviced in a long while, so take it to a mechanic and have them service it. Your problem could be a wax build-up in the system, or a number of other things. Whatever, it needs attention.

While you are clearly distressed about this problem, and rightly so, the only thing you can do is be patient and wait for Ford's response to your claim. Ford is a large company and sometimes takes more time than we would like to respond to problems, but I would give them a week or two more before going back to them again. Be patient, but also be persistent.

Ford will tell you that because it wants to sell you into a dedicated E-Gas Falcon, which has hardened valve seats, valves and even special con rods to handle LPG, but there are thousands of Falcons running around with non-factory dual-fuel systems fitted. In short it can be done and done very successfully. But I would be very suspicious of anyone approaching me with an offer to convert my car, and I would suggest you check their bona fides very carefully. I would also suggest you seek out the expert opinion of recognized specialists in the field to get advice you can rely on.

I have had reports of others needing diff bushes, from what I can determine it's not an uncommon fault in the Territory.

No, they aren’t, and the Territory does seem to suffer more problems than most, even the Falcon. There’s not much that can be done about it, it comes with the territory so to speak.

I'd say you are correct to suspect the transmission and I would recommend you have it serviced.

While I agree with you that the transmission should not need replacing or rebuilding at such low kays, your Explorer is 10 years old and without a Ford service history you would be battling in my view to get any assistance out of Ford. I would have the transmission serviced, the transmission fluid is 10 years old and I would guess well past its use-by date.

Ford recommended 91 RON fuel for the XR8 so E10 would be fine with its higher octane rating.

Hopefully Ford will get to the bottom of the problem on your car and fix it so it doesn't occur again. We have had the odd report on failures on Falcons, but nothing like we have had on the Territory.