FORDTECH

It's for the entire BA range from XT right through to LTD.

You dont need to remove the cylinder head to prove the gasket's not there.Just have a look directly below the thermostat housing where the head meets the block and you should see a metal tang hanging out.

Who said they don't.Only 2 left for the dealers.The rest were picked up in production.You could say it was "human error". These engines are ran and hot tested before they are shipped,but when your bench testing an engine with a larger cooling system volume than the actual vehicle's cooling system they simply dont overheat during testing.I think the most impressive thing is that the machining is so precise that they can run without a headgasket and not leak.I've seen them leaking with a gasket.

She was saving that for the Grammy's,but they gave her the flick.

The canister purge solenoid is part of the emission control system that deals with the fume's that are produced by the sealed fuel system of most modern vehicles.It's main function is to open when the vehicle is either above a certain speed or certain engine rpm.What happens is the purge solenoid is operating while you are driving along and happily venting the volitile fumes from the fuel system into the inlet manifold so they effectively become part of the air being drawn in(In the case of the T's,Forced in)and burnt in the combustion chamber.Unfortunately some vehicles have been either operating the purge solenoid at the wrong time or keeping the purge valve open all the time.This has been creating quite a few different problems(And a lot of you guys can testify to this)from vehicles starting rich and running rough when first started to vehicles "stalling" or "hunting" at idle.This is why you can normally start the vehicle almost straight after it has stalled or if it starts rough you simply turn it off and it restarts fine. In a nut shell, The PCM controls this little bugger and apparently the new cal's that are to be available soon rectifies this.(Along with 33 new cal's for various other things(and before you ask they're not all for BA's). For your reference the software level your dealer should have that includes all the new cal's is B29.3. If they're not using this and they have told you that they have updated your PCM then they're full of sh*t.

There were only 12 that left the factory without the head gasket.Only unlucky if you own one of them.

FORDTECH, the story I mentioned about the software program came from....wait for it, wait for it....YOUR DEALERSHIP! Told to me by YOUR DEALERSHIPS SERVICE MANAGER! And as we both know Matthew the dear boy did put the correct oil in my ute! Maybe it's just not the apprentices that are FU#KING USELESS, IT'S THE SERVICE MANAGERS AS WELL! Damn.The secrets out.Now everyone is going to know where all the incompetent apprentices go as soon as they qualify.Gonna have to speak to management about different ways of rorting the customers.

The canister purge is controlled by the PCM(Hence the need for different calibrations).Basically if it's not being controlled right they can replace the purge soleniod 100 times and it won't make any difference. Hope this makes sense.

At least all the diagnostics is left for the real techs(Sometimes even that's questionable too)

I would have thought that FMC required dealerships to maintain specific standards (floor space, signage, equipment, systems etc) and this would also include a certain ratio of qualified techs, and that incentives would be paid on the dealership maintaining these standards? Nowadays you are allowed to have 2 appy's per qualified tech.So even if your office guys are qualified you are entitled to have appy's for each of them as well.Therefore unsupervised appy's=sh*t happens.

Or you could buy her a bike. Geea .... or make her walk!!! Nah,F$ it,just tell her to stay in the kitchen

Ian, I couldn't agree more and that subject alone is a hot debate at my dealership.Bottom line=cheap labour=higher profits=more productivity bonus for the boffins in the office at the cost of poor workmanship.If you've got 7 apprentices and only 3 qualified techs in the workshop,sh*t is bound to happen.But do you think management listen??

Sorry Ken,but I'm afraid you've just voided your warranty by using the wrong oil (just kidding) There's nothing better than telling a dim witted apprentice to completely drain the engine oil out of a car after filling it with the wrong oil.(Yes unfortunately guys these are the people who service your cars and they cant even do that right).But quite right in what everyone is saying Ken,demand they drop the oil and change the filter even if they give you some cockin bull story about their invoicing software(Maybe Windows based). Also the only reason it's called Gas oil is that the dual fuel and dedicated LPG Fords use the same oil as the T's.

Redhawk, Being that it's a canister purge issue and your vehicle is fitted with the said device I would have to say Yes.

Hot off the press guy's.The latest WDS updated disc's "DON'T" contain the new calibrations to fix the idle/stalling problem.

If at any stage the vehicle requires a replacement diff assy or drive shaft assy's the drive train "HAS" to be rebalanced.If they have failed to do this it can cause damage to the original drive train components(eg transmission,driveshft,etc) Something easy to check for you guys though(and I know this sounds stupid,but hey it does cause vibrations through the car.This is from actual experiance) if your vehicle is fitted with a bonnet protector that is secured by 2 clips,remove it and drive the vehicle and see if the vibration is still there.If it is gone head to your dealer for a replacement revised protector.If the vibration is still there climb under the vehicle and look at the spare wheel well where it goes up behind the diff.Look closely and make sure that the body deadener that is sprayed at the top of the diff isn't toughing the rear diff mount damper(a big round saucer shaped thingy with a bolt in the middle of it).If it is simply cut the excess off so it no longer contacts the mount and go for a spin and see if that helped.Other than that it sounds like you all have the same driveline probs as a lot of people. Hope this helps

If you have a friendly contact at your dealer they can adjust the offset for the speedo so that the needle indication is the same as what you're seeing on the display.It's an industry standard that the actual speedo reads 3 to 4% more than actual speed.

I'm sorry to report that acording to my WDS unit, that "is" currently working with the latest calibrations, does not have an updated cal for any of the auto's and yours already has the later calibration for them. Sorry I couldn't be the bearer of better news.

OK guys,after speaking to the powers that be regarding the "new" cal's for your vehicles,it appears that the morons that have been installing the new calibration disc's hadn't actually been installing the previous system disc's and therefore causing their WDS units to sh*t the bed.What they have to do is back date their machines with all the earlier calibration disc's then install the earlier system disc's then install the new calibration disc followed by the latest system disc.Or alternatively wait for a patch disc to be made to repair the machine in 1 go. I'll leave it up to you guy's to figure out which alternative your dealer will take.

If you have a good look at the socket in your vehicle you will find it is actually a power socket and doesnt actually have the retaining tangs inside it that an ordinary lighter socket has.

Is that with or without the rapping on it?? They could have at least given u a reason. Maybe they dont know what a K&N air filter is. Just a thought!

YCL, That sounds pretty familia for an early level PCM "Glitch" that was overcome by the later level cal's at that time.Your original problem that was fixed by the reflash actually involved a more agressive self clean procedure for the OCV's(Oil Control Valves).However the stalling problem that is being experienced by most people at the moment are late production manuals built after May 2003 that have the second level PCM's fitted.If anyone wants to check what level PCM their vehicle is fitted with simply look at the label attached to the side of the PCM in the engine bay. Vehicles built after 13 May 2003: 3R23 12A650 AGA= XR6T Manual 3R23 12A650 AHA= XR6T Auto If your PCM has been updated then the last letter in the part number will be "B".

You've really got to wonder about the people that operate these machines dont you.We loaded our new WDS disc's the day we got them and I haven't had one problem with the new calibrations.I can inform you that it appears that the cal's are only applicable to XR6T and XR8 manuals only.To be honest I haven't actually had any auto's with the stalling problem.Would be interested to hear from anyone with an auto XR6T or XR8 to get an idea if there are any with the problem.

Trumpy, I've just read the posts from the link u provided and I must say I have never in my time on this forum read such a complete and utter load of crap regarding the functions provided by "Police Mode". These Police vehicles ,XT,XR6T and XR8,are governed by exactly the same limitations that every other BA in the entire Falcon range of vehicles are.

The WDS update discs are B29 Calibration disc and C2 System Calibration Disc.The first vehicle to be updated is due in on Tuesday next week so I'll let you all know the Cal number then. As for waiting a couple of weeks to install them,I figure the customers have been patient enough to wait as long as they have why should they wait any longer.If the reflash doesnt work you can always restore the original settings anyway.