Ford Problems

The engine in your Territory uses a rubber timing belt which the trade recommends be changed every 100,000km. However, it’s not that simple. This engine also uses a second toothed rubber belt to drive the high-pressure fuel pump critical to the operation of a modern, common-rail diesel engine.

This second belt is located at the other end of the engine, between the engine and firewall, and the recommendation is also to change this belt at the same, 100,000km, interval.

Many owners also find the timing-belt change-point is a good time to change the water pump and thermostat at the same time to avoid disassembling the engine a second time should those components fail.

Transmission problems are not unheard of in the Ranger and problems usually stem from either the oil-pump gears wearing or problems with the valve body. If caught early enough, sometimes these problems can be fixed without changing the entire transmission, but in your case, it sounds like the wear or damage was terminal.

If the transmission was to fail again in another 120,000km, would you spend another $6000 on a vehicle with 240,000km on its odometer? That’s the real question here, and given the price of second-hand dual-cab utes, maybe you would. The option would be to sell the vehicle now, using the brand-new transmission as a major selling point. If the thought of another transmission failure is keeping you awake at night, then that’s one option.

Also, talk to the workshop that fitted the new transmission and ask if the replacement unit was fitted with updated mechanical parts that are likely to reduce the chances of the same problem happening again. Often, the industry develops these improved bits and pieces as a reaction to common failures and faults. If the replacement unit is better than the original, maybe it’s worth persisting with.

As fuel prices continue to spiral upwards, the idea of using the slightly cheaper E10 (petrol with up to 10 per cent ethanol content) becomes more attractive. Unfortunately, not all cars can run on E10 with that ethanol component causing damage to other parts of the fuel system and engine.

But in the case of a 2003 Ford Falcon, it’s good news. Your car is E10 compatible and using e10 will not adversely affect the vehicle in any way.

The triangle symbol is universally used in the car world to suggest a problem. So, more universally, is the colour red. The combination of these is a sign that something, somewhere in your car, all is not well. Actually, on that model Falcon, the warning triangle will be lit as a yellow light for mild problems, and only switches to red for a major issue. Which is what you clearly have. This could be a major safety issue, so don’t ignore it.

You can either have a workshop or Ford dealer check this out for you, but the first step is to press the 'SEL' button which should take you to an information screen with more details about what the car thinks is wrong with itself. After that, it’s an electronic scan to home in on the problem.

Mitsubishi’s L300 Express was available as a four-wheel-drive model way back in the 1980s (83 to 86) and was a very popular van to convert for camping thanks to that all-wheel-drive grip that allowed it to tackle rough roads with little problem. After 1986, a few of the later model Express 4WD vans (often badged Delica) made it into Australia as private imports, and there are a few of them around now to choose from.

The requirement to be able to stand up inside the vehicle will limit your choices a little, but popular vans like the Toyota HiAce, Ford Transit and Mercedes-Benz Vito were available in a high-roof configuration. Even though they lacked all-wheel-drive, generally rugged construction means they should cope with dirt roads pretty well. They just won’t have the grip for off-road work.

As with any second-hand commercial vehicle, try to find out what it did in its previous life. A van that has been used for hard labour might well be worn out. And don’t forget, nobody bought these things new for anything other than a working life.

If, on the other hand, you’re shipping for a brand-new van, there are plenty of options from Ford, Mercedes, Peugeot, Fiat, Toyota and more. The vast majority of them use a turbo-diesel engine so will be quite economical and many also offer an automatic transmission for ease of driving. Choose the one that suits your intended layout best in terms of side and rear doors and the ability to climb from the front seat into the van area without leaving the vehicle (some have cargo barriers that will prevent this).

Our first suspicion would be a bad earth somewhere on the vehicle. Dashboard faults are very often the result of a poor earth contact and the symptoms you describe are spot on for that very problem. So go around the car and check all the earthing points form the battery to the body of the car.

You could also be dealing with a broken solder in part of the circuit-board that controls the dashboard, too. A good auto electrician will be able to test the circuit for breaks and bad solders and repair them quite cheaply. Ultimately, though, the cost of this repair will be determined by how much of the car has to be disassembled to remove the circuit-board.

I'm not sure what vehicle you're talking about, as Ford stopped making the Falcon ute in 2016, regardless of what fuel it ran on.

But, if your ute was made by Ford as a gas-dedicated vehicle (it was a factory option) then changing it back to petrol would be an enormous job with – as you have noted – the need to source a fuel tank and all the fuel-injection gear to work with petrol as opposed to LPG. Even making the fuel gauge work with petrol instead of LPG would require changes.

If your ute was dual-fuel (with the ability to run on either LPG and petrol) you could simply leave it as is and just run it on petrol, but a gas-dedicated ute needs to be converted to use petrol.

You'd almost certainly be better to sell your car and buy a Falcon ute that already runs on petrol. That said, don't write LPG off yet. As petrol and diesel prices continue to rise, LPG might just come back into fashion as a cheaper alternative fuel.

I'm not sure where you read that LPG would be phased out in the next two years, but the internet is full of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Be very careful what you believe. That said, since Australia isn't making any more cars, there won't be any LPG cars sold new, and anecdotally, finding a service station with LPG is becoming more difficult as electric cars become the new default alternative to petrol.

The main fuel filter for this vehicle will be under the car, approximately beneath the part of the floorpan where the rear seat is located. The filter will be an inline unit and to remove it you need to remove the fuel line from each end of the filter and undo the bracket that holds the filter in place.

But here’s a warning: Often, there will be residual pressure inside the fuel line that may cause fuel to spray everywhere when you disconnect the lines. So wear eye protection, or de-pressurise the fuel system by removing the fuse for the fuel pump and cranking the engine a few times before disconnecting the filter.

It’s a bit hard to go past an older Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon for this brief. That said, your towing requirement means you’d be best looking at something like an AU (1998 to 2003) Falcon Ute (assuming you only need to move one other person).

These are strong, simple cars that any mechanic can deal with and parts are plentiful and relatively cheap. There are other options (older Japanese dual-cabs) but nothing really gets close to the Aussie stuff for durability and running costs. An elderly Nissan Navara, for instance, might do the job but is likely to become fragile as it ages. A two-wheel-drive Toyota HiLux is another possibility, but you’d probably be right at the limit of your towing capacity with one of those. The Falcon ute, meanwhile, can legally tow 2300kg. It’s not glamorous or sexy, but it’ll do the job and stay on target price-wise.

The other obvious contender would be an early Mitsubishi Pajero with a V6 engine. These had a towing capacity of 2500kg and are around now for very little money, certainly within your budget. They also double as a very handy off-roader should you wish.

You’re talking about two distinct models of the Ford Focus, so if there’s any interchangeability it won’t be much. Perhaps there would be some mechanical parts in terms of the engine, but the 2007 model was a physically larger can than the original (2003) so even things like the suspension units and brakes are unlikely to be interchangeable.

As for body panels and interior fittings, I doubt there’d be any interchangeability at all. The later car had different panels and the interiors were also completely different. Changes to styling also mean that headlights, tail-lights, glass and even detail things like door handles would not be interchangeable.