Problem Or Feature ?

[mickbundy]

. Ford had to forgo some of the aerodynamics of the AU to create a style of car that the press wouldn't bag the sh!t outa.

And the public thought looked good Fuglyduckling the AU great car but BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[mickq]

- I get surging when I'm in 4th or 5th doing 2000rpm

- The fuel economy seems high compared to the AUIII.

- I had the car in to tighten some of the suspension as the car had a knock from the get go. As a result they installed the latest flash to fix overboost, the car now seems to be running hotter than it did before, with the radiator fan going full bore a fair amount of the time. The engine temp indicator sits close to 1/2 way, is this normal ?

- I have the 6-speed in this car and is a diff/gearbox clunk going from 2nd to 3rd, and 4th to 5th, even coming down hard from 4th to 2nd.

- Lastly the low fuel indicator seems to come on when it reports about 60k to go, I wait until it hits 10km to go and when I fill up there is still more than 10lt in the tank.

Ta, Dave.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

- The surging at 2k is due to the turbo spooling up. I notice it very occasionally. You can also notice it if you run the car up to 3000revs and then take your foot off the accelerator. As the engine slows down with the car, and you pass ~2000 revs you will feel a slight drop in power as the turbo "turns off" (note that's a laymans description!).

A proper fix could be done with a reflash if Ford produce the software, but its likely the fix would involve slowing down the ramp-up/down speed of the turbo. This will impact your acceleration from say 1800rpm up...the turbo will take longer to spool up. (Not good in a sports car...) . Must say I dont often hang around 2000rpm, so its not a major issue for me. Try changing to another gear...you will only have to be a few hundred revs above or below 2000 revs to avoid any surge.

- Fuel economy will definitely change as your engine is run in more. As will oil consumption. Both should decrease. Note that with a turbo car if you want economy you need to drive with a light foot, and dont apply too much throttle. If you do that, you can actually drive without the turbo ever really kicking in - regardless of how many revs you rev the car to. Load is the important thing. That will save you petrol (at the cost of performance....)

- The clunk can be "normal". You can also get rid of some of it with a gentle right foot. I recommend you dont do 4th->2nd changes, especially hard ones. Go through 3rd, even if you dont let the clutch out on the way down through third and then just whack it straight into 2nd and let the clutch out. Its much nicer on the gearbox. (And if you want to be nicer still, double clutch into 3rd then double clutch into second). A lot of people here who complain about the gearbox starting to grind/crunch into gear and making noises do the jumping from 5th->3rd, 4th->2nd type thing. Its not a good habit to get in to. Your syncros will eventually puke and cause grinding. Cars have multiple gears for a reason...use them all!

- The fuel indicator is only an indicator. That being said, it is highly dependent on your driving in the minutes leading up to when you read it. Fox example if driving sedately on a freeway, you car will think "Ok, 8L/100 km and there is 8L left so I estimate 100km to go". But plant the foot and your car will say "23L/100km, 8 litres left so I estimate 35km to go". Its better for it to say you have less km that you do....otherwise you will find yourself out of fuel with your car swearing you have anouther 5km to go...

[BLK6T]

Dave,

I too had a AU XR6 with no problems to a T and everything is normal. The radio is picked up through the rear window in the BA unlike the AU with the stupid thing going up and down. The surging is just the turbo, at 2000rpm is when it tends to start spooling so if your sitting on 2000rpm the turbos boost is going up and down. Turbos have bad fuel consumption when driven hard, can be worse than a v8. The more compressed air entering the engine needs to be matched by fuel. Never buy a turbo for economic reasons. Your furl indicator is just for warning, mine comes on at 80k's to go as I tend to drive hard and the car knows it. I have the tiptronic so I cant help ya on the clunking issue, but I heard its quite normal even in the Holdens.