Belac

Yes spoke to FTG. They offered me the $8k for the car as it stands. I'm in Geelong, Vic. It is bad luck, especially since I have a wedding to pay for early next year! This was not in the budget!

Dealer came back with a price of between $8 and $9k to fit a new short motor. But it could be more once they get into it. I know for a fact the sump is stuffed and who knows if the head has been damaged. There's no way I'm going down this road. Been offered $8k for the car from a wrecker in Melb, not quite enough. He is advising me to fit a NA motor and still run the turbo, reckons drive in (well, tow in) drive out for $2k and would be fine with standard boost. I'm reluctant to take that route. I have a local mechanic chasing up a used long motor for me now, so see how that goes. There are complete conversions on ebay for $4.5k (engine, turbo, intercooler, ecu, looms, intake) so surely a used motor alone is worth less than that. I'll definitely get him to check the old motor once its out and see if he can see anything suss.

Thanks guys. It was taken to the dealer late monday afternoon. They have inspected it and told me it has a large hole in the side of the block (which I already knew). They have denied it could have been caused by any previous issues and advised me it is not covered by warranty. They are currently chasing a 2nd hand short motor to give me a better indication of the costs involved to repair it. Depending on this I might call FTG auto salvage and see how much its worth to them like it is. I've already called them for a price on an engine and they have none at the moment.

Hi, This morning my 118,000km stock BA XR6T threw a rod. Took off from the lights and it went crunch, smash, bang, bang, bang then proceeded to dump its oil on the side of the road. I give the car a bit of a kick in the guts every now and then but I certainly do not thrash it. I didn't flog it off the lights this morning. It's been on a hoist at a local mechanics and it has a nice hole in the side of the block, and the sump is destroyed. It's 2 months out of extended Ford warranty, I have been in touch with Ford Customer Relations Centre and they have requested the vehicle be towed to my dealer for assessment. Local mechanic called one of his engine suppliers (not sure who) and they quoted $4.5k for a used engine. Ford dealer has roughly quoted between $6 and $8k. 2 years ago the car had major overboosting problems. Ford dealer had it for over 3 weeks and replaced throttle body, plugs, leads, distributor, tps, cat, had the turbo checked and rebuilt, tried retarding the timing but it was still happening. It turned out the turbo had a slight twist and was leaking boost between itself and the wastegate. (I'm going from memory here so forgive me if its not mechanically correct). I am hoping I can attribute the thrown rod to damage that was caused at time of overboosting, or due to the work that was carried out so they will honour the 3yr/160k warranty that ran out in october. I have been advised this could only happen if it was overboosting or if it had no oil. I can assure you there was oil, as its currently everywhere! I have some questions; 1. Do you think the previous issues could of contribute to this happening? 2. If Ford deny the claim, where is the best place to get an engine? I'm in Victoria. 3. What is it worth as a wreck/project? It is black, leather, sunroof, premium sound, side airbags, towbar and in excellent condition. Thanks for any help in advance, and sorry for the long post.

I purchased an '03 Ex Telstra XR6T last month. (Black, sunroof, leather, premium sound, side air bags) Things to note.. 1) My center console has had a fair chunk cut out of the inside of it for a hands free-kit to be fitted. 2) My car (apparently all Telstra Fords) is fitted with auto-on headlights. The headlights are switched on automatically when the ignition is turned to the on position. This is a hard-wired modification that was done specifically for Telstra, and will cost around $80 to have removed. 3) I'm in the process of arguing with the dealer, as he told me the car had 12mths rego, but when the new sticker arrived it was only for 3 months. Apparently Telstra has a deal with Vic roads to register vehicles for 3mths at a time, and the re-registered it before they sent it to auctions. Other than that I'm pretty happy with my Ex Telstra T. Caleb.