justind

15k $205 inclding rotation balance and wheel alignment 30k $156 not including the wheel stuff 45k due next week expecting $350 as spark plugs etc are changed will let you know

I got the Pirelli P zero nero. Special sale price of 290 a corner. Unfourtunatly 1 week special only. I am very impressed with this tyre in the dry. I haven't had a decent rain yet to test them in the wet but I gave it a good fang up the mountains the other day and really tried to get them to slip. Very impressed with the handling far superior than the originals. I guess it depends on what you want from your tyres. RRP at the time I purchased them was 512 a corner. If you shop around you can get them much cheaper than that but I love them. Now that I have owned them I think I would have paid the 512 a corner for the better performance. I am still waiting on a good wet drive before my final evaluation. So far so good.

Depends on where it is leaking. I seem to remember something about the screws being to long or to wide on the numberplate causing water to enter into the boot. This is usually a dealer problem as they put on the numberplates for you when they register the car. AU series had the same fault with leaking boot from the same cause. I think the fix was to bog up the holes and make new ones with the correct sized screws, hence the need for a pannel shop.

I have an acid rush and have the same attraction from bees and wasps. It makes my daughter cry everytime we park the car near some plantlife. It doesn't seem to happen in the concrete jungle just out in the more rual areas. She still loves the car and why wouldn't she.

Prices in Melb are comaprable. You get variations suburb by suburb but generally they are the same if in close proximity of each other. After my previous comments and the comments of other I decided to give the optimax another try and guess what same old troubles. By the third fill a nice flat spot smooth but sluggish and even backfired while starting. Changed back to mobil 8000 and hey presto more power instantly. I still maintain that different fuels have different addatives etc and you should regularly mix them to get a balance of all advantages that the different fuels offer without noticably getting the disadvantages that some get. A good example would be that many say the Optimax fouls up the spark plugs if used continuously. If you only use it every third tank your spark plugs would either not foul as quick or the properties of the other fuel may even counteract this and remove some fouling due to it's cleaner burning off. Just my thoughts. The same has been recomended by leading hairdresses who say different shampoo's remove/replace different oils and nutrients and one should every three months or so change brands for a month to get the best strength shile out of your hair. If you are balding like me who cares and if you drive a 1971 corolla two speed auto again who cares. We drive a "T" so I think it's important

I'm in either day. I remember seeing BBQ facilities at the top of lake Mt. Not sure if you have to pay for them or not but there was something there the last time I went up there. 200 kms sounds about right from lilydale. The upper yarra dam also has facilties but I think they are wood BBQ's from memory. Probably too early for a BBQ at the dam.

Got a friend who will be picking up his "T" next week and is eager to join the site and also come along for this cruise. I think it is time for someone to make some decisions about this. I am happy to go along with whatever the majority decides.

I thought it was taken for granted that one would come back towards Melb via the black spur on this run hence haveing the best of all worlds. Possible meeting place Ringwood, Maccas nth croydon, lilydale. Ringwood might be the best for those who don't know this area because more people would recognise this name.

Found it hope it helps

Sorry my mistake I didn't fully understand you circumstances. From new you say? Gee that wouldn't make me too happy. Good luck and sorry I wasn't able to help

There are many places one could go. If you are after the twists then drive down to warburton past east warburton then onto the reefton spur. up lake mountain then back down to Marysville. Plenty of BBQ/Picnic options. There are BBQ's at the top of lake mountain and a good bakery in Marysville. Not sure of BBQ places but another good winding road is the road from Warragul to Coal Creek about 50kms of winding road unfortunatly the rest is pretty views but not as spirited in the driving. As for the great ocean road I agree that it probably would be frustrating being stuck behind caravans all day. There are plenty of other ideas that I'm sure I could come up with givin a few moments to search my memory banks but I want to participate not organise. So if you want any more ideas let me know but don't expect me to arrange anything other than maps for you to download.

I don't have a gauge but I have the same sensation as you. After much research I found two possible causes. 1. something sticking in the turbo.(some sort of spring thing I don't really know much about but it makes sense) and 2. OIL. Yep that simple. Oil aint Oil after 10000kms. The service intervals on a turbo motor should not really be so long. As the oil thins the performance does as well. I didn't believe it at first but I have tried it twice myself and found it to be true. After about 8,000km the car slowly get sluggish. Oil change and hey presto back to what I would have expected from it. I tried it twice and did no other work to it just the oil. It doesn't use any it just gets thin and doesn't like it much. I get the impression that many on this post regularly change thier own oil and I cannot recall any of them mentioning this fault.

There was a post on this last year sometime. Basically the upshot of it all was if you leave the A/C in the MAX position it will remember where you left it (on or off or not recirculating) for a short period of time. Kind of a driver's preference type thing. If the system is off for a longer period of time for arguments sake 4hrs it will revert to the setting it actually is on. Therefore if you leave it in the A/C MAX position every morning after the car hasn't been driven for almost 8 hours it will blast you with the maximun cold air it can muster. I hope this helps. I was also told that some of the new cars actually use the heater control as a thermostat for the A/C as well. I.e. you leave the A/C on and the symbol will be on the control screen but when you turn the heat up on the controls the compressor will actually start/stop to maintain that temp. I have not confirmed this to be the case for the BA Falcons but I know that this is the case in the Toyota and Magna without climate control sort of a claytons climate control. Can anyone confirm this?

I realise what you are saying but if I happen to get stuck behind a truck on a two lane highway slowing down to 8okmh, and I see a gap in the fast lane which is travelling at 100kmh... I should be able to bang my car into third without going into fourth so that I can comfortably and safely make this gap.... I have driven many a car b4 and never had to worry about whether it is safe or not for me to change lanes.. I would have looked at this a different way. You should not be in fifth at 80km/h. If you downshift to an appopriate gear, then the gear for the overtaking is only one gear away. Just a thought. Ben. The manual actually recomends for better driving tips that you use 5th at 70km. I personally disagree with this but it is in the manual.. Driving necessary according to driving conditions, vehicle load, road gradient, etc. Shift pattern Recommended shift speed 1st to 2nd 20 km/h 2nd to 3rd 35 km/h 3rd to 4th 55-60 km/h 4th to 5th 70-75 km/h page 133 so one could and should be doing 80kms in 5th gear and may need to change to 3rd on a short shift to overtake.

From my initional problem of the downshift from 5th to 3rd to my now woes of loose selectors and crunching into 5th at anything over 80km's I have had the gearbox removed and repaired/replaced 3 times already and it's going back again. Believe me they will try to claim anything to get around the "short shift" problem as the manufacturer states they are not made for this end. When I spoke to the manufacturer I pointed out that his comment was unrealistic as many manual drivers incorrectlly don't downshift at all and just use their brakes to slow down. This being the unfortunate truth there would be times that the so called average joe would need to change from 5th to 3rd or even 2nd depending on the traffic conditions. I personally don't agree with this practice but for overtaking on the hwys I am all for it. I also pointed out that if this is supposed to be a drivers car then it should be dummie proof to that end and not a specilist art to drive. He couldn't argue that point.

Thanks Craig, You said it the warentee is for us to use and factored in the price of the vehicle. It is not for Ford to extract extra profit from us. For your info the AU series vehicle cost Ford motor co. Approx $14,500. How much mark up is there. Before anyone asks I work in the Automotive industry and am often privy to shuch info from reliable sorces. I am unsure of the cost of a BA but when you look at the original list price of an AU base model there wasn't much difference compared to the base price BA.

I am from Victoria and I agree with Peter from APS BP ultimate is the worst. But again in my experience the Optimax although good does not perform well if used always. Synergy 8000 seems the most consistant.

I have owned many car and the 5th to 3rd change is an integral part of overtaking on the highways that do not have duel lanes. It is also much quicker than your suggestion if you gearbox is operating correctly. I hear what you are saying about the sharp edge but then why when my gearbox was replaced this issue disappeared even if I got new ones to deal with.

I had this downchange problem from 5th to 3rd and was told that gearboxes are not made to short shift live with it. I was actually being locked out of 3rd altogether on a downchange from 5th. After much pressure they sent out a rep from the gearbox makers and he said the same but eventually they replaced the box with the provision that if the new box had the same issue I would have to live with it. The new box worked fine but after 2,000km I started to get the dreaded cruch into 5th and every gear was loose and had freeplay of 15-20mm. I have had the syncro replaced and sent it back twice to get tightened up. I have to get it tightened again. Maybe I was better off being locked out of third???

I also am a motorcyclist and ave been told that the shell optimax detergents will clog up injectors and foul up the spark plugs on a bike. There are modifications available for the high performance bikes like the R1 that will allow you to run the optimax fuel. The first of wich are increased fuel delivery jets. I have tried using optimax in my T and found that after about 4 tanks the car starts to run sluggish. I admit it runs smoother but the power loss is noticable. I much prefer the Mobil Synergy 8000 also a 98 ron fuel and the same price difference. Second to that the Caltex Vortex then BP Premium not the ultimate again I find the ultimate to have similar effects to the optimax. I generally fill my T twice per week and the bike 3 times a week. I think changing fuels regularly keeps the car running at better performance. It's like different fuels have slightly different properties and different places that get clogged up. Changing regularly doesent allow the system to clog as easily and will assist in removing some of the previous fuels negative properties. Maybe I am wrong but doing in excess of 60,000kms a year for the last 12 years this is what has been my experience.

On the subject of the music/video industry, granted one should buy the original and to pirate them takes money from the artist and all associated people down the chain. However here in the great land of OZ they are over priced the same CD or DVD can be purchased elsewhere for almost half price. Why is this? Sony Australia is making a fourtune from us. If a Artist cd in the US is typically less than $15 AUD why do we pay $24 AUD where is the $9 odd dollars going? If the record companies want to stop the pirate industry how about they get honest and and look after the consumer. If all top 10 cd's were not so over priced compared to other contries people wouldn't bother downloading from the net and would purchase originals. I have actually purchased a DVD from the US and paid $2 more including the international shipping cost of $17. What does this mean. It means cd's are about $9 too expensive and DVD's about $15 too expensive. Don't bother saying it's related to shipping cost cause that's Bulls**t. Most cd's/dvd's are made in the cheaper labour countries like China. Shipping to the US from China or here what's the difference. Not much I would imagine. NYOPA if you think it is a fair price to pay $20-$30 for a cd more fool you. The price compared to other countries is insanely stupid. Locally produced cd's should even be cheaper. When record companies get wise and stop ripping off the consumer then the consumer will stop ripping off the record companies. And that's my $9-$15 worth

I was told by a dealer that the main reason for the CD compression option in the menu of the Prem sound system was to add an inbuilt compensation to quality of burnt CD's and this was one of the best additions made to the new sound system to make it more customer friendly. Of course a dealer will say anything to make a sale. The owners manual says a different story about increasing lower sound levels above the normal road noises on CD's. Again it does not specify CDR's

I have made mention of this in another post. I have found the DTE to be very inaccurate. I actually made a simple spreadsheet to calculate the real DTE and L/100km and found on average the figures were approx 1l/100km out and the DTE to be between 50 - 100km out. After many trails and questions what I have discovered is the DTE is apparently calculated on the last 3 tanks average L/100km. (from ford motor co.) When my wife takes the car to do the shopping, pick up the kids etc my average goes up to 17-18l/100km but when I take the car to work it take me 3 or 4 trips to get it to go down to approx 14l/100km. The actual is around 12.8-13.2l/100km calculated on long term usage using actual fill rates on the spreadsheet I mantioned before. Again I would like to say if it is on the car it should work correctly. As ktford mentioned he has done 40+km after DTE reads 0. Even then I believe he would have only filled 58-60l of fuel leaving 8 litlres left he probably could have done another 40+kms if he wanted to run it dry.(not recomended) My average displayed DTE is 470-495km depending on who drove the most. I often take my motorbike to work so my wife only does the short trips in it pulling down the average. Manual turbo.

I have heard of similar things in the turbo model. Fisrt place to look would be the coil pack or high tension leads. Sounds like it could be ignition related. The other possibility would be a slight blockage in the aircleaner or exhaust. Someone posted here problems with their catalytic converter. I'm not a mechanic but both these could effect what you describe. Ofcourse there could be a million other reasons that I am unaware of.

15000km service 173 in cluding rotation and balance 30000km service 158 no rotation or balance Tyers were too worn to be effective