Ford Problems

YOU don't say if your car has a factory LPG system or an aftermarket one, but I will make the assumption that it was a Vialle system fitted by Tickford for Ford. The Australian Liquid Petroleum Gas Association says its important for good running that the ignition system be well maintained because LP requires a stronger spark than petrol to fire. Make sure the ignition system, plugs, leads and ignition packs are serviced, and the LPG converter is properly drained regularly. The Vialle system was imported by Boral Gas, so if you still have problems, ALPA recommend contacting Boral for advice.

DEFINITELY tow it in Drive, and I would think of adding a transmission oil cooler. It's also a good idea to service the transmission and replace the fluid.

ACCORDING to Mark Lynch of Carcool Airconditioning, there are three possible causes of ``no heat'' with this EF Fairmont: a blocked heater core, a faulty blend door motor or a broken heater flap shaft. To diagnose the problem, set the control on manual floor and the fan speed at medium and, with your hand over the floor outlet, range the temperature from 16-32 degrees and back. You should feel a variation from cold to warm back to cold, If you do, you have a blocked heater core. If there is no temperature variation, it will be the blend door motor or a broken shaft. You can confirm which one by doing a climate control self-test (refer to a Ford manual) which will confirm an E2 error (blend door faulty) or, if no fault is shown, it will be a broken flap shaft.

WHAT conditions produce the vibration? Does it occur at certain speeds, under acceleration, while at constant speed, even slowing? If the dealer, having checked or replaced everything possible, cannot find the cause, I would suggest you pursue it directly with Ford. Call its customer-help people.

EITHER car would be fine for your purpose. But remember that whatever car you choose, it's likely to have lots of kilometres on the odometer. By all means try to find a Telstar or a Camry, my preference would be for Toyota as long as it's a four-cylinder model, but if you cast your net wider you might land a mint model of some other make. The key things with a car that old is to find one that's in good condition with the lowest odometer reading possible. Hopefully, you will find a car that has been lovingly looked after by its owner, and perhaps not often driven.

THERE was a time when a car was thought to be worn out and worthless when it had done 100,000 miles or 160,000km, but technology has come a long way since those days and cars last much longer than they once did. While the average annual mileage on this car is low, it has still accumulated more than 250,000km, and that in my mind is high mileage. Cars don't wear out with time, its a function of kilometres covered, and this particular car has covered plenty of kilometres. It might still be a good car in good condition, but it's still well on its way to the end of the road. I would consider 100,000km or so to be low mileage on this car.

THE BA Falcon should do the job. It is rated to tow up to 2300kg with the auto and the Ford tow pack. I wouldn't recommend the manual, as it isn't rated as high as the auto. As far as the Subaru goes, I would think it should cope with the load you want to move without any drama. The Ford is more solidly built than the Subaru, but I wouldn't advise you against the Outback.

I WOULDN'T agree with rodding out the radiator every six months or so, I would rather try to eliminate the problem. If it is casting sand then I would have thought it would have been flushed out by now. Talk to a cooling system/radiator specialist and try to have the sand flushed out. There shouldn't be any affect on the lubrication system.

CarsGuide approached Ford for its help in solving Stephen's problem, and it sent an engineer to assess the car. A new set of brake pads was fitted and the car was given back to Stephen, apparently fixed. He thought otherwise and asked us to drive the car. The noise we heard was a swishing noise rather than a squeal. There are a couple of possible causes: a warped disc, or the park brake pads rubbing against the disc while driving along. The PBR park brake has a problem which allows the pads to drop out of position and rub on the disc. This can be checked by gently applying the park brake a notch or two while driving -- enough to reposition the park brake pads. If that's the cause, the noise will stop for a short time until the pads drop out of position again. If the noise does cease when the park brake is applied, there isn't a fix. If it doesn't go away, look for a warped rotor. The best fix is to install better quality rotors from a company such as Disc Brakes Australia.

THE AU 3 XR8, introduced in May 2001, had a sportier body kit, 220kW V8 engine, clear side indicator lenses and a dot matrix windscreen. The TE50 was built by Tickford, the predecessor of today's Ford Performance Racing. Its V8 engine was stroked to produce 5.6 litres, and it put out 250kW and 500Nm. The model released in tandem with the Series III Falcon had new front and rear styling, a chrome grille, side skirts and a rear bumper.