Pete A

That's why I've added the 3rd garage and extended the garages by an extra 1 meter. in length.

When the problem happens DON'T TURN THE CAR OFF, turn the AC off from the ICC, does the air flow from the vents increase? . Also if you turn the whole lot off from the ICC and manually increase just the fan speed, does the air flow happen? If the airflow stops yet you can hear the fan going, then it appears to be a ventilation problem. When the problem happens and while air is flowing is the air still cold? Becasue you seem to be getting inaccurate ICC readings, you certainly have a problem, but if you can hear the fan going and there is no air coming out, then it muct be some sort of vent issue as anything that the AC does does not block the airflow unless the vents are blocked or closed.

Thanks guys. I thought it was tyres for a while, but you can certainly hear a mechanical noise when it's cold. I'll get Ford to check and change it at the next service. If it's $180 + fitting, it's probably not worth the effort on my part. Cheers

My FG's done about 70K now and I've started noticing metalic noise from the front left when cold (just rolling) and louder noise when turning a RH corner slowly. At first though it was a tyre, but now thinking it's sounding like a noisy bearling. Doesn't happen all the time. Front end drives fine and tyre ware is good. Has anyone out there had bearing problems and how much to fix? Can they be repacked with grease? I haven't had to replace a wheel bearing in decades!. Cheers.

Sounds Turbo? You should hear it when it spools up while stand-still. Maybe worse under load.

We've just signed up. Nothing but good reports about MJ Homes. So far they've been really good to deal with. Start buulding about early May.

Absolutely no further discussion needed. This was the fact that has been sidestepped by the people wanting to blame Ford, GM, Toyota and the government. We cannot compete on a global scale. Let the emotion slide and deal with the plain simple financial facts. We cannot have a viable car industry with those figures considering the cost of manufacture vs the sell price people will pay. When you add that people don't want to buy them anyway, where's the problem with the decisions. Would any of the workers at these plants accept a 30-40% salary decrease to keep their industry alive? Maybe some would, but the majority wouldn't. The problem started during the "boom" age when Expensive Daewoo and Ford were scaling their plants to fit demand and Expensive Daewoo or Ford were on the shopping list of most Australian families. Life was good! But this change started a long time ago, and Govt subsidies of the local industry started a long time ago. But if there is no light at the end of the tunnel - you don't go into it. No ecconomy can afford to continually prop up businesses with no light at the end of the tunnel. Despite all the banter in the end the problem is that the Australian public has gone away from the Aussie Icon. Ford and Expensive Daewoo has not built the right cars here and the ones that are popular now are made overseas anyway. I can't understand why this is so hard to understand. I've been Ford man all my life and probably still will be after the Falcon goes. I still like Ford's irrespetive of where they are made. Mustang in the garage next year for sure. RIP Falcon and Commodore.... We'll remember you fondly.

Over it! It is everyone's fault who hasn't bought a locally made Ford or Holden. No-one elses fault but there's. Even then the writing was on the wall years ago and that would have not stopped what was inevitable. I feel sorry for the workers off course, but this has been coming for years. Governnments cannot continue to bail out businesses that cannot support themselves. I don't care what part of the manufacturing or any other business sector they are.

GT is GGGGOOOONNNNEEE

Maybe drive shaft. If it does it forward and backward. If you have an auto. Stall the car up in R and D to about 2000 RPM and you may hear the noise.

The fault finding procedure is to monitor the standbye drain current from the battery. To do this is very simple, you connect an in line ammeter (should be milliamps)and measure the drain when the car is shut down. Simple maths will then tell you the potential standby time for the battery to reach a point where it won't start. I don't know what that current should be but cars should stand for probably over 8 weeks or more before you could get problems with starting. If the current is high in standby, then start popping fuses until you find which is causing the problem. Most of the stuff that's on all the time (alarm, computer and stuff) draw very small power when in standby. An Auto electrician should be able to find the problem. Don't discount the potential that you have excessive start drain when you start the car. Also don't discount that you have a faulty battery even though it appears OK. Remember to disconnect the ammeter before you try and start the ca, or open doors or anything else that draws current - otherwise BANG!goes your meter. A faulty or weak battery in a BA/F/G causes all sorts of strange things to happen. The BA abd FG falcons have a timeout on the interior and boot light. If htey are accidentally left on they turn off automatically after a while. So it won't be that. Power drain like this can be caused by faulty looms. If you've had the car worked on or damage repair then it's possible some damage to cabling may be happened. That can be hard to find.

Wife ended up with a Focus Titanium after looking at all this SUV stuff. I finally convinced her that if you want an SUV for what they are built for then get one. If not then don't get one. We looked at the ST. Bad seats for big people (like me) If you are listening out there Ford, they should have an option of the Titanium (or non Recaro) seats in the ST and they would have a winner. Or make a Titanium with the ST running gear. Car I would have bought her is the A250 Merc. Just a bit over our budget but what a very nice package. A45 is a real contender to the Mustang I have put my name down for. If you have kids or need lots of interior space then SUV is the way to go for sure. I would get the one that's nice to look at and that you will enjoy keeping it looking good. Probably rules out most of the Korean brands, but each to their own. You don't buy an SUV to do hot laps, unless your way above the budget you've mentioned in this group.

I've put my name down for a V8 Mustang already. I will look at the XR8 when it's released and make a judgement. It would need to be significantly differnet to the FG to interest me. I seriously considered an F6 as they will probably become a bit of a collectors item and hold their resale well. But I don't need a 5 seater anymore and the Mustang just sounds so appealing. I hope the XR8 is a great success.

I've told my dealer I want to be one of the first. I'll order it as soon as he can confirm pricing, options etc. Done deal. I would say for a nice optioned V8 hardtop about $55K. Drop top would be about 10K more at a guess. Haven't decided on hard or drop top yet. Depend on pricing and delivery. Rumour the drop top will be later than the hard top. How much later will be the issue for me. BTW, People have deserted the Ford badge? Rubbish!

Theroetically, if we have no local production of a product then import tarrif is zero. It is for most other imported goods where there is no local manufacture. But the governments have slowly been reducing import duty on everything for years. I don't know how much there is on cars to be honest, but we should be up for only GST. Plus off course the RIP-OFF Luxury Car tax. For a start they could have removed any LCT from Australian made cars. But that makes sense, but probably wouldn't have made any difference in the end................................

Hi all, This topic is now fast taking over the air-waves and maybe this forum is a bit early given no "official" announcement yet, but it seems obvious to most Expensive Daewoo backing out of the Australian market was inevitable and was predicted by supposed experts to happen in 2016 at around the same time that Ford goes. Funny about that! Now there will be emotional outcry about this and this is totally understanable as if it does happen it will certainly spell the end of the Australian motor manufacturing industry. Toyota won't take long to follow I would also suggest. There will be thousands of people affected either directly or indirectly and for them I think everyone shares the sympathy of what the future holds for them. But the stark reality is that the Australian manufacturing industry (not just motor) is in turmoil because of firstly our cost base and secondly we are a country of only 22 - 23 Million people expecting to compete against the major manufacturing powers in Asia for example. I'm led to beleive that even Europe has a lower cost base. But that aside this has been coming for years and many have swept it under the carpet for that time saying it cannot and should not happen. Given the inevitable, it remains to be seen how much "local Holden" talent will be retained in Australia after the event. Similar to what Ford has done in retaining the "talent" to focus on global platforms one would expect. Let's at least hope for that. The motor industry world wide and particularly the US is in turmoil with governments propping up these industries on a regular basis. It's simple, any govt assistance for any industry someone has to pay for it, and guess who that is? More govt assitance will make no difference to the end result I fear and that is being borne out in comments so far. It's a shame, but it is now an ever increasing fact of life. If companies like Expensive Daewoo and Ford cannot make money in their own right, why should they demoand others foot the bill to keep them in business? This coming at the same time as the current Qantas debate just highlights how our cost case is out of control. Is this the price we pay for living in the Lucky Country?

Big Mouth was about $125 and the Herrod cost about $480 I think. Good sound.

SS Inductions Attached pix

I did a lot of research and chose Herrod. Easy to fit. Looks professional and no extra for insurance because it's air intake only. I have herrod and Big mouth fitted.

Leather does not wear as good as most people think it should. Both cars I had leather the front seat lumbar (where you slide in and out of the seat) wore quickly because of friction and the seat belt and became ugly. Maybe it's the quality but it is what it is. I've had both and prefer cloth now. I had leather in the AU II8 and the BA II 8 and I'd prefer to spend the premium for leather on other go quick stuff or other options. Use cloth protection every 3 months or so and it will look good for ages. Leather is definately good if you have young kids. No argue there.

Idle should be 500-550, not 650. And smooth as. Without mods. I can't see oil causing an idle problem so obvious as you describe. Should make no difference at all. If you have a varying idle Sometimes 500 or so and sometimes 650, it could be the vacuum switch on the power steering playing up. That does not necessarily explain the lumpy idle though.

This is a serious contender for my next car. Already talking to a dealer. Expect to drive one when he finally gets one in. Have seen one in Europe recently and it is the dogs bollocks. Bit small rear space (hatch model) but OK for what I want. If it goes like they say it will then break 5 secs with ease. IF there is a black edition I hope they don't spoil it. Ride qual on the blacks is too harsh. Interested to see what they will give me for my 6T as a trade to get me in to one.

Sorry FG 6T late 2008

Guys, My outside air temp is now reading at least 5 Deg lower than it should. Just started doing it. Ford want $130 to fix it. Has anyone done it themselves and how hard can it be? Cheers

Guys. Had my KU 31 19 's for 20,000 K's now and while I am very happy with the grip on these things, the noise is becoming really obnoxious particularly on some surfaces. When they are cold they are even worse going round corners, clear audible tyre noise on the road. At 20K's the wear appears "average" and I might get 30K out of them, but I'm wondering if anyone else thinks these tyres are just shocking with road noise. Aligned and balanced twice since new, still the same. Tyre wear is even.