troll

Well... you certainly explain things well. I understand all of that. They did say they bled the system after then hose was replaced. They also machined the fronts but didn't put new pads in. I would have thought new pads were a prerequisite after a machining?!? I'll let you know how I go tomorrow with them... I'm, like, assuming they will have the sense to keep the car a few days but you never know... Want to PM me your mobile number?

Guys - thank you for your help. ZAP_F6: I'll probably take you up on that if that's OK. The car is going in to Alto's tomorrow so if there's no change I'll PM you for a contact number and drive over to see you. I took the car to another dealership out west today and asked one of the workshop guys to "sit in my car, and have a feel of the brake pedal". He took all of two seconds to say "man there is something wrong here...". I'll let you know what Alto's say. I have to say though, I've been quite happy with the level of service I've been getting at Alto Service - after recently moving from Hills Ford which, unfortunately, has recently changed hands and I've been very unhappy with them. cobrav8: can you elaborate on what you mean by pressure drop at the master cylinder? I've been assured there are no leakes and my garage and work carspace floors are clean of any fluid leaks. But a friend commented that when I was pumping the brake pedal the master cylinder was moving back and forth "a lot more than he'd seen before".

Good point. I don't know. Calling all T owners.... Chatswood or Hornsby (NSW) areas? I'm going to drop by another dealer this arvo and sit in some second hand ones and try them out I think. Thanks for the feedback mate.

According to the dealer report, the hose had split near the metal end. The brakes still in my opinion are not right. I've owned several cars with ABS and none have been like this. First problem is that the pedal is very spongy. When sitting stopped, the pedal continues to sink as you apply pressure to it. Sitting on a nose-down (not much of an incline) incline like my driveway, to keep the car still, I have to hold my foot to the pedal and it goes all the way to the floor. That's right.... it's touching the firewall. The other problem I still have is that upon emergency, seriously full on braking, the ABS grind and vibrates viloently and the pedal just goes straight to the floor. Now... the serive guy says that "this is normal for ABS". None of my previous ABS-armed cars experienced this kind of normality. He also said in not so many words that 'perhaps I wasn't familiar with how ABS works'. He wasn't trying to be rude and is actually a great guy. Maybe he's right... so I'll ask you guys. So... can you guys tell me - for my own sanity (I'm not a mechanic) - how the brake pedal feels on your cars? 1. Spongy or firm? 2. Emergency braking: does ABS grind and vibrate every time - on dry, flat bitumen? 3. How far does your pedal go at stand still? A few inches or all the way to the floor?

Same thing happened to me mate but the other party denied everything. I was in the car at the time and heard the loud thunk. They tried everything to get out of it. Only had the car two days when it happened years ago (an EL Ghia). So after threatening to call the Police, they handed over the license. I took that as an admission... as did my insurance company. Think about it. In that situation, if yiou get the license details then the insurance comapany will put two and two together (like they do with premiums... 2+2 = $1790) and take it as the other party saying, "yes I'm at fault"). So if they give you grief, just put in in on insurance. You wont lose any of your NCB.. It will end up costing the guilt party more money so you can actually use that to coerce them into coughing up and saving everyone the hassles. Don't stress over it mate. I know how you feel. But at least tthe guy apologised. No doubt he was embarrassed. I'm sure it'll work out in time and your car will be good as new.

It's to disable the reverse sensors when reversing. Apart from it beeping constantly while reversing with a trailer, it aint going to cause you much drama. For my money, I'd do what you're doing and rig a relay to cut off the beepedy beep speaker when the trailer plug is in place.

What rotors did you have to start with (and are keeping on the back)? Premo or the std? What pads are you going to use?

I've had some issues with my brakes with a crunching feeling under the pedal since the car was new. I mentioned one such problem here. At other times the brakes have not been able to pull me up at a stop sign as I'd expect, without extra effort - just at normal suburban speeds. Each time I've brought it up at the dealer, I've got an "all clear". Now the latest: I got into the car the other day - my 12/03 XR6T - started her up only to find the pedal made a "crunch" and then sank to the floor. The rear right brake hose had burst near the join to the metal end with brake fluid sprayed all over (not the paint fortunately). Anyone else heard of brake lines bursting? Or know of any other threads relating to BA's having brake hoses rupture? FoMoCo has instructed the dealer to replace the hose. That one only. I think that's bloody ridiculous and a cost saving measure only. Prudence would surley suggest that all are replaced together considering they were made at the same time. A call to CRC got a "well if you have any more problems with the brakes, just call us". Yeah... like I hope I get to make the call and not the mortician.

The didn't pay whatsoever? Bloody marvelous. Yeah I see what you mean. A law unto themselves. Well it could be worse. I could be insured with NRMA. Then they would take a pic of the damage, send it to the repairer. He could quote from the photo and then fix the photo with photoshop! Oh. And the damage to my bonnet? It's a crease. Not unlike that in your avatar.

Hi chaps I was saying in another thread here I unfortunately had a low speed bump today and flattended the nose of the hood. This is the first at-fault I've ever had. Forunately minor and double as fortunate that I bumped the other car's rear mounted spare tyre (4WD) - so no damage whatsoever for them. My insurer - GIO (Syd) gives me a protected no claim for life. A friend said that the insurer may put my premium up. Is that right? Any experiences here?

What he said. Exact same problem. Dealer flashed it and no further trouble.

Ahhh fault codes, yes. Good point. And no, I haven't seen the ABS light come on. Blonk - thanks for the tip about the pedal dipping happening to you. Glad it's a feature not a bug. Look... it's probably nothing and just bad luck. My car has been spotless from day one so as you guys say, living in Sydney, it's gonna happen. And it did. I was a bit miffed but got over it quickly and figure there's more in life to worry about. At least a lick of paint will take away the stone chips. But as usual having the opinions of everyone here is the best info I can get. because even the dealers sometimes don't know what's common and what isn;t when it comes to problems on these cars.

Hi chaps I think I might have a problem with my XR6T (12/03) ABS. If so, then I've found out by having a minor crash today. In recent past I've noticed that while sitting at a set of lights the brake pedal will suddenly feed back to me a like "crunch" feeling and the pedal sinks about 2 cm. It's the strangest thing. Then today, I was in peak hour traffic, travelling about 2 car lengths behind a small 4WD when it braked really suddenly. I hit my brakes hard and the brakes just shuddered (not the famous brake shudder issue though) - like that ABS I can't help you at low speed business - and I just cruised straight into the 4WD. Honestly, this thing should have pulled up easily. And I was doing like 30K's when I hit the brakes and about 5kmh when I hit the car. sh*t. Luckily, all I hit was the rubber of the rear spare tyre and if flattened the nose of my bonnet, broke the perspex bonnet guard and cracked the plastic grille. Absolutely no damage to the 4WD to the point the woman didn't want my details and was really upset for me. Also - my traction control light has been coming on a fair bit with ordinary driving. So. Any ideas guys? The car has just had its 30k service and no mention of brake pads etc. But funny enough since the service I have been saying to myself that the car's braking has been very inadequate and thought to myself it was time to go for some decent pads. I don't drive hard (mostly peak hour Syd traffic) so unfortunately, if there is a problem, I've found out the hard way. Is there anything I can look for myself before I take it back to the dealer? And before you ask - no I'm not mechanically minded like a lot of you.

Hi guys Thanks a lot for the info and the welcome. I don't want to buy a new one only because I don't think there's anything really wrong with the one I've got. Well except to the rattle.

Hi guys My first post after trolling the forums for ages.... so I have the perfect nick. Like many here I have the dreaded exhaust heat shield rattle. The car is an XR6T about 18mo old and has had the rattle since pretty much day one. The useless dealer I bought it from and recently ditched failed to fix it or much else. Fortunately I have a great dealer now but they won't fix the exhaust rattle under warranty because the thing got a scraped on a driveway only a month or two ago. Just my luck but fairy nuf. So what are my chances of getting it removed and repaired / welded / anything and then strapped in several places to fix it. The scrape is very minor by the way and shouldn't be an issue or part of the rattle problem. Ford CRC tell me that removing it for good will put a lot more heat into the cabin. Has anyone removed theirs and left it off? What's your experience? I don't really want to buy a new third party exhaust (as sweet as they sound) and the dealer tells me a replacement heat shield (ready for new, more exciting rattles no doubt) will cost me a couple of hundred. Comments would be great. Thanks.