Ford Technical Service Bulletins TSB's

[Taswegian]

Can anyone point me to where Ford Australia TSB's are available, i can find the US and UK ones online but have not been able to locate Australian ones, local dealer shrugged shoulders when i asked.
Particularly i am interested in a TSB issued for Ford Mondeo 1998 HC for whats described as Heater Resistor Pack replacement.
This causes a rancid smell from operating the A/C and the fan blower only operates on setting 4 i think, also the wiring for the resister pack burns out and the TSB is for resistor replacement and small wiring loom change.
From what i read online it is a common fault with a few Fords.
Any pointers appreciated.

[NAFairlane]

either from a dealer or if you have a good mate that works in a ford service department i dont have access anymore :S

[Taswegian]

Thanks why are TSB's so secret squirrell in Australia - is it a way of dealers trying to protect their service revenues

[russellw]

Nothing along those lines released in Australia for Mondeo since 1998.

Cheers
Russ

[Taswegian]

Thanks for that info, i reference this UK site and a comment from it in my quest to get the australian information
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=3363

BigAl

There is a Ford Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) for this.
Reference Number: 191/1997
Dated: 1.10.1998
Hope this will jog your dealers memory.

Charles

[Taswegian]

Sorry multiple posts but in addition seeing this is the exact fault with my mondeo i gather i would not be alone and i see that many others fords had the same issue

[NAFairlane]

Originally Posted by Taswegian

Sorry multiple posts but in addition seeing this is the exact fault with my mondeo i gather i would not be alone and i see that many others fords had the same issue

Well they often detail recalls and similar information which is something they dont like to broadcast too much. This is the sort of information they dont want other dealers having either because then there would be no reason to take your car to the dealer.

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by NAFairlane

Well they often detail recalls and similar information which is something they dont like to broadcast too much. This is the sort of information they dont want other dealers having either because then there would be no reason to take your car to the dealer.

Really the Commonwealth should pass legislation to force all manufacturers to release TSB's on a public database. This keeping it a secret is a very dodgy and unethical practice.

Its not legal to force customers to use manufacturer service now for servicing, so really Ford use this as a back door to getting around that and saving bucks on what should be a recall (Terri balljoints spring to mind) and make people use the dealer network for servicing. Not ethical behavior in my opinion, as you shouldn't be dependent on a Ford dealer or Ford service to know if there is a potential safety or durability issue with your car. That should be something available to you as a Ford customer who purchased one of their products. You can the decide if you want Ford service to look at it. If they are good, you would presume they would get the bulk of the work anyway. Maybe thats the problem, they wouldn't!

In the end I'm not sure it does them any favours anyway. How is it better to discover the problems as an owner when something breaks, rusts or fails, then if you got a letter from Ford lettting you know there is a potential problem in your model of car and to go and get it looked at.

Dan

[aussiblue]

I believe the legislation already exists previously Part 74F or the Trade Practices Act 1974 and now I think in Schedule 2 Clause 58 in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

However, they only have to make such parts "... reasonably available for a reasonable period... " . This may well mean that they might only be available for the production life of the vehicles concerned and perhaps at $100 or more per bulletin. And of course they are required to advertise their availability or precise of contents.

I suspect they are listed in Fords online parts catalogue like the workshop manuals and your parts counter should be able to provide a list of bulletin numbers and prices (if not you could threaten them with the ACCC). I have previously gone down this path under the old WA Consumer protection Act to get a VCR service manual from a company but never tried it with Ford (and never needed to).

The definition of parts in that legislation included service and parts manuals but I haven't yet found in the overly long omnibus Competition and Consumer Act 2010. searching the Act for "parts" just turns up 1001 references to parts of the Act so I lost interest. See http://www.comlaw.gov.au/comlaw/comlaw.nsf/sh/homepage or http://www.austlii.edu.au/ to search the legislation yourself or perhaps email the ACCC http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/142 with the question.