Ford Territory Problems

This is a pretty common fault on modern cars and it will usually lead a mechanic to one line of enquiry. And that is a check of the fuel pump.

Electric fuel pumps have a finite lifespan and when their time is up, they just stop. So the next time you try to start the car, it will turn over normally, but there’s just no fuel getting to the engine.

So try this: turn the ignition key until you get dashboard lights and then listen carefully. You should be able to hear a faint buzz or thrum that is the sound of the fuel pump whirring away. If you can’t hear it, that’s a strong suggestion that it has died. The other thing to try – if you’re a bit more mechanically minded – is to disconnect the engine’s intake trunking and spray some starter fluid down the engine’s throat. If it fires and then dies straight away (once the starter fluid has been consumed) you’re definitely looking like a new fuel pump is in your future.

This problem could also be about a hundred other things, of course, but eventual fuel pump failures on cars like yours are about as certain as death and taxes.

The Territory was sold in pretty big numbers, so finding a replacement transmission either in a wrecking yard or a specialist transmission shop shouldn’t be difficult at all. That’s helped by the fact that it used the same transmission as the Ford Falcon and that car sold in huge numbers over the years.

But before you rush out and buy a new gearbox, make sure the one you already have actually needs replacing. Sometimes, a small problem can cause issues like the ones you’re having, and it’s a simple, cheap fix instead of a complete replacement.

The first thing to check is the level of the transmission fluid. Low fluid level can cause a loss of drive like you’re experiencing, and a transmission shop should be able to diagnose exactly what’s going on. That said, a loss of drive in this particular transmission is often the first sign of a terminal failure.

This era of Australin Fords had a bit of a habit of having their body computers go on the blink. When that happened, a whole bunch of things could start acting up, but the central locking was a prime suspect.

When a car thinks it has a door, bonnet or bootlid opened, it will often refuse to lock, preferring instead to warn the driver that the car is not secure. And when the body computer is confused, it can interpret a closed door as an open one. But before you take it to an auto electrician to be sorted, try this: Take a can of lubricating spray and apply some to the little door sensor inside the door jamb. This is the micro switch that tells the computer what’s going on, and if the switch is full of dust or jammed, that won’t happen. Sometimes freeing the switch will make the problem go away.

The other thing to try is to disconnect the car’s battery and leave it overnight before reconnecting it. Sometimes this will actually reset the body computer. It doesn’t work every time, but sometimes it will do the trick.

The Territory is pretty well known in the fixit trade for having various transmission problems. Perhaps the most common was a failure of the entire transmission due to coolant from the transmission cooler mixing with the transmission fluid inside the gearbox. When that happened, the destruction was fairly complete with ruined electronics and internal hardware as the contaminated fluid could no longer satisfactorily lubricate the gearbox’s many moving parts. A whole new transmission was the usual outcome.

The first sign of this was usually milky transmission fluid (caused by the water mixing with the oil) but by then, the damage was often already done. This was more of a problem with the later model Territories with the six-speed ZF automatic transmission.

Fundamentally, this message is telling you that the vehicle’s charging system is not working to its proper capacity, or not working at all. Keep driving it like this and eventually the battery will run flat and you’ll be going nowhere.

The cause is likely to be a failing alternator which has the job of charging the battery while you drive. If this component gets slack or dies, the battery won’t be charged and eventually it will run out of volts and the adventure stops right there.

Other possibilities are a battery that is failing itself, a loose drive belt (that drives the alternator) or even something simple like dirty battery terminals or faulty cables. A single wire having jumped ship from its connector can also create this degree of havoc.

A good auto electrician should be able to diagnose this stuff in minutes, and suggest a proper fix. If you have a multi-meter and wish to test the alternator yourself, the output should be between 13.4 and 14.8 volts (optimally 14.2 volts) with the engine revving a little above idle.

Transmission problems in Ford Territories are far from unknown. That said, 64,000km is very low mileage for major problems to occur.

But the real answer to your question is yes; it’s unwise to continue to drive a car with a noisy transmission as you risk doing more damage to the unit. The actual cause could be any number of things from a low fluid level to damaged or worn internal components. Either way, it needs to be sorted before extra carnage occurs. A transmission specialist should be very familiar with this gearbox and its quirks.

It’s serious inasmuch as it’s pointing to a problem with the car’s anti-lock brakes which are a critical safety system on any car. It could be caused by a faulty ABS module (which is the component that physically modulates the brake pressure to avoid the wheels locking up). But it could also be the fault of a sensor somewhere on the car. You may even find something as random as low battery voltage can trigger this sort of alert.

It could even be a simple leak in the system that has allowed the brake fluid to fall below the minimum level. So start with that and check the contents of the brake master cylinder under the bonnet. If that’s okay, a brake specialist is probably your best bet.

Any time an Australian-made Ford of this vintage has a problem with its door locks, suspicions will turn to the car’s body computer. This is a known fault in these vehicles and will probably require a new body computer as well as somebody who knows what they’re doing to fit it.

The body computer controls all sorts of functions including the wipers, light, security system, climate control, entertainment system, and the central locking.

But before you book the car in to the auto electrician, try this: Disconnect the battery and leave it overnight. Next morning, reconnect the battery and see if that has sorted the problem. In some cases, this will reset the computer (kind of like a return to factory settings function) and the car will work properly again. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and the results aren’t always permanent. But it’s free and definitely worth a try.

The first thing to do is get your mechanic to drive the vehicle when it’s hot. Arrange a time and then deliver the car at that time with everything up to full operating temperature. Otherwise, the problem isn’t going to show up when it needs to.

While there are lots and lots of things that can cause this sort of behaviour, it does sound like something in the actual powertrain is the problem. That’s because the shuddering goes away when you drop the transmission into neutral and let the vehicle coast to a stop. If the problem was a wheel, a wheel bearing, axle, brake problem or an out-of-balance driveshaft, the problem would continue even though you were coasting.

You may have a problem with something inside the transmission itself, way too much backlash somewhere in the driveline or a problem with the torque converter. Either way, you need to have your mechanic experience the problem or everybody is simply guessing.

You’ve probably already figured out that the two codes mean you potentially have two separate problems, but either one of them could cause your car to switch to limp home mode. In any case, they both need to be fixed.

So, let’s start with the PO118 code. This suggests you have a faulty engine coolant temperature sensor. When this fails, the computer isn’t getting the information it needs to know whether the engine is cold or warmed up. As a result, the fuel-air mixture will be all over the place and the vehicle will possibly use more fuel and run poorly as well as being hard to start in the morning.

The other fault code you’re seeing, PO489, is to do with the engine’s exhaust gas recirculation valve. This valve channels some of the engine’s exhaust back through the combustion chambers to reduce tailpipe emissions by burning the same gasses twice. Your car’s computer will be constantly opening and closing this valve, but it’s an electrical signal (from a sensor) that tells it when to do so. If this sensor has failed, that information won’t be getting sent to the computer and the check-engine light will come on.

Both of these faults will probably be fixed by replacing the sensors in question, but until they are replaced, the car will continue to throw fault codes and switch to limp home mode.