Common Problems with the AU??

[Professor Farnsworth]

yeah all good just sharing my experience ;)

my dads BA XT (manual) had the rotors machined three times in 110,000KM and to give you an idea how he drives, he was still on the original pads at that odometer reading.

[red_hotxr6]

Maybe it has to do with the brakes and the rotors being exposed as compared to the EL ghia,s having that shielding on them..

[Professor Farnsworth]

i had three EL Ghias, they all had warped brakes with the splash guards still on

my AU had them too, but the wheels are more open on mine so not the same really

my FG only had them on the back due to the front rotor size from memory

[red_hotxr6]

See here we go again, i have had my el ghia for 2 1/2 years, 280,000 and no problems there at all, and the rwc said the brakes were at 88% when i bought it and still have them on..could it be the weather, like i am in qld???

[Professor Farnsworth]

i think you're just exceedingly lucky - but the rotors may have been changed on on your EL before you bought it

[red_hotxr6]

True could have been too..

[Professor Farnsworth]

either way, AUs are great cars so you should have minimal issues - if it has IRS and you have a knock in the rear it may need upper shock mounts, they're notorious in AUs with IRS too

[red_hotxr6]

from what i hear they are very good..and i will bear that in mind, get them checked any way..the rwc, didnt come up with that as a problem

[Professor Farnsworth]

Neither did mine but they were dangerously stuffed

[24NDR]

Hey Guys,

Just wondering if anyone knows a fix for the horn sticking. I have a 2001 AUII XR6. At the moment I have taken the horn fuse out, but when it is in the horn will go off by itself.
I did have a dodge alternator at the time, would this have affected it?

Thanks in advance.

[Spurious]

Minor rust can develop under the rubber on the A pillar next to windscreen. Leaves etc... can fall on to roof, move to the gutter & get stuck on the way down.

Also having just removed my tailights I found a fair amount of hardened crap stuck under the top outer edge of the unit along with more of the same under the unit on the body with a trail between the 2.

Also when I repainted my car I removed the mud spats. In doing so I found a whole heap of dried up mud etc...jammed up in the sill behind the spat (behind the plastic sheath on the wheel arch). I left the spats off after repaint so I can regularly Karcher these areas.

The vent in the boot (left hand side quart panel behind plastic panel) had let in a whole heap of road dust.
With age the rubber flaps in the vent don't seal properly. So I wrapped the unit in some cloth (toweling).
I also found some open holes in the boot floor pan. Don't know why or what went through them but I blocked them up with liquid nails & some small squares of plastic.

[Dinoquad]

Well. I fixed it!
I mean, joining the dots afterwards is so much easier isn't it?
You would think that a simple blown top radiator could be just that hey?
Patch up and correct* fluid top up, on the side of the road, 10 kilometre easy run into a nearby town, pick up new hose, and coolant, fit it and everything would be good, wouldn't it?
* trickle the water in with the motor running. Yes, I have seen some destroyed motors before….
When it got hot, it developed a miss, but the miss was down low and intermittent, and I still had another 700 km before I got home, so I put up with it, and the devastating fuel consumption.
No oil in the radiator, no water in the sump, coolant wasn't getting lost, just #3 cylinder not firing and the occasional random miss from #4 & #5 cylinder, so, it could be worse.....

And the miss became angry by the time we got home. It would shake the doors at idle sometimes, but still overtake with ease. When I got back, I decided to replace the plug leads because they were old and that would be the obvious thing to do. $62 later,,,,,
Still missing. Same cylinders……Running better though.
Do a compression check. All good, real good in fact. Get a set of codes out of the computer. $14 is a bargain from Supacheap. Clear the cache and get the current issues. Coil pack. $72 Replace it. Rotten job it is too.
Still missing. Same cylinders….. Although it is running even better.
Hit the forums. Hmm?
Re-check the BIG book….
Ring a friend……
Talk to the dealer……..
Talk to another one……
This could confuse a genius, let alone a guy who has had as many head knocks as me!
And the guestimates is more than what the old ute is worth…..
They are obsessed with electronics and sensors and I am a bit challenged that way.
Stop and think!
This Ute ran well in winter, last summer it played up a little, the winter before it was good. The summer before I got it and gave it some TLC, but ran out of time and money concurrently.
A service fixed the roughness each time, but it wasn't as smooth as in the cooler months.
Heat related maybe? Possibly….
It has always been a bit sluggish and shy of torque quite low in the rev range, but rocketed in the mid and higher rev range when needed. Consumption around town wasn't impressive and on the highway it was reasonable but not exceptional. Others did better.
And sometimes it would idle would be a bit high, and sometimes the air con wouldn't blow where needed……
Maybe a intermittent vacumn leak would explain all that….
So I get a pot of water, start her up and start pouring water over vacumn hoses.
Nothing under the bonnet anyway.
And the ones behind the dash are a no go zone unless I am desperate.
So I start @ the inlet manifold gasket.
And there you go! Leaking at #3, 4 and 5!
New intake manifold gasket. $22. About 2 hours to fit. Made the coil pack look easy!
I have a diploma in being poor, and am working on my masters in poverty, but for less than two tanks of fuel, ($172 in total) the old girl is crisp, responsive and leaps at a wriggle of the big toe on the throttle.
But it is fixed!

[red_hotxr6]

Amazing what a little bit of persevering can do, and, you did it..lol/..

[TRAU BLAU]

Nice one Dinoquad!Did it take long to change the inlet manifold gasket?Did you have to take much off?

[Dinoquad]

Originally Posted by TRAU BLAU

Nice one Dinoquad!Did it take long to change the inlet manifold gasket?Did you have to take much off?

Just the air tube from the air cleaner box to the throttle body, unclipped the spark plug leads from the 4 plastic holders on the tappet cover and then the 12 bolts on the actual inlet manifold. Oh, and the front bolt at the top shared the fastening for the front engine lift bracket with the thermostat housing rear bolt.

Both the head and inlet faces were very clean and the old gasket fell off in pieces, so I was fortunate. Two hours all up from getting the ramps out to packing them up.

Ratchet ring spanners and insensitivity to bleeding knuckles is required.

[Spurious]

Been there, done that. A little more seriously though!
The 3 lower rear bolts on the inlet are the worst. Unbolting the coil pack & shoving it towards the shock tower helped clear some space, & ratcheting ring spanners are a blessing.

[jauser]

Same as you dinoquad.Me au2 started to miss and wobble on take off,idled fine ,ran fine but put into gear it would play up.Changed the usual suspects,plugs,leads.coil,well the local experienced mechanics did.Then they were saying maybe dirty injectors ,maybe fuel reg.I asked did they check the inlet manifold.All good they said. So I rang the ford wreckers to recommend me a good ford mechanic.Anywho new gasket and it runs like new. took 3 mechanics.3 days without car to get something that turned out fairly simple to fix

[TRAU BLAU]

Fantastic videos FlivverFord.Like you say with the head-bolts having good tools is a big part of the job.Pity they're so expensive.I get my tools from Supercheap which is why I won't tackle anything too big.How many k's had the AU done when you over-hauled the motor?Your lucky you've got a broad-minded Mum for an assistant & doesn't mind you swearing!

[markscottefxr8]

just got a NOS genuine ford AU2 manual pedal box.. OMG no wonder they break, im surprised its lasted as long as it has.. all thats holding the clutch pivot point in are two tack welds. got it for a hell good price as mine is beyond repair but im going to have to remove the paint and at least weld the pin properly and probably put a steal plate either side of it to make sure i never have to deal with clutch pedal issues again.. while im there i might tack another bit of steel to the penetration in the firewall although the firewall issue doesnt seem to be so bad in the series 2s like the e series and series 1 au's.

[Arthurtj]

I have an au11 with instriment cluster problems, already replaced the cluster once but now this second one has gone down the same path, by what I can make out this is a common problem, how do I remedy this problem.
cheers Arthurtj.

[dopeydazza]

Just rolled over to 440,000 in my AU2, getting old, but goes well.
As per usual, blown another bloody headlight globe, those clips are a bastard to put in with the battery box in the way.
Tyres are needing a change, they 1/2 down in 40,000 km or 2 years. does this sound excessive? they are Blue Streak, a generic brand.
Definitely getting a shudder in front when over 80 kph, found a tyre weight on driveway fell off, so leaving till replace tyres next few months when finances are better.
Do have an option on a 2003 BA, checking tomorrow.

[TRAU BLAU]

How long have you had the AU2 dopeydazza?I've had my AU3Wagon for over 4 years with same tyres.

[dopeydazza]

Had the car for 4 years now, bought it when it was 350,500 in November 2010.
Now it is 440,900 as of today.
Bought tyres 2 years ago ah June 2012 or thereabouts.
Already had 2 patches as forever running over crap on the roads causing slow leaks, right front and rear left.
Had a flat June 2012, bought the 4 new tyres (Blue Streak), 2 days later had another flat from a pothole, so new tyre patched.
Not much luck in tyres lately.

[TRAU BLAU]

Wow,that's alot of flat tyres.Years ago vehicles used to get alot of flats but I don't think I've had one for at least 10 years.Bob Jane's seem to do a good deal on tyres & when the Goodyear taranzas need replacing I'll go there.

[2002au]

Just thought I'd make a list of the things that have gone wrong with my xr6..

Owned it for 5 years in June. Had 110,000 on it now around 175.

Albeit some of there are naturally maintenance.

New clutch,
New clutch cables x2
Leaking speedo o ring
Repaired firewall
Clutch spring-snapped
Radiator-leaking
Intake manifold-causing miss
Coil pack,leads & plugs-miss again
Rusted out exhaust
Aerial not working
Belt tensioner-worn bearings

And over the last month replaced the head gasket.
And about to put another radiator as its leaking around plastic tanks again,

And finally the alternator died shortly after I got it running after replacing the head gasket.

[19jacobob93]

Originally Posted by 2002au

Just thought I'd make a list of the things that have gone wrong with my xr6..

Owned it for 5 years in June. Had 110,000 on it now around 175.

Albeit some of there are naturally maintenance.

New clutch,
New clutch cables x2
Leaking speedo o ring
Repaired firewall
Clutch spring-snapped
Radiator-leaking
Intake manifold-causing miss
Coil pack,leads & plugs-miss again
Rusted out exhaust
Aerial not working
Belt tensioner-worn bearings

And over the last month replaced the head gasket.
And about to put another radiator as its leaking around plastic tanks again,

And finally the alternator died shortly after I got it running after replacing the head gasket.

If you manage to pop a head gasket in an AU 6 you are doing something very wrong! Can't rule out the odd lemon though mate.
I've had mine 3 years and 100k and all I've had is that tensioner pulley replaced

[TRAU BLAU]

Originally Posted by TRAU BLAU

Wow,that's alot of flat tyres.Years ago vehicles used to get alot of flats but I don't think I've had one for at least 10 years.Bob Jane's seem to do a good deal on tyres & when the Goodyear taranzas need replacing I'll go there.

Quoting on myself!But not long after saying that I hadn't had a flat for ages I got one.The rear tyre went down fast at 80kph with a piece of fence-wire(prob.my own off-cut)which lacerated the inside of the tyre like confetti.

[pulpist]

Got a headlight, high/low beam on the drivers side of my AU XR6 fading.

Is it a sealed beam , or can I just change the globe/s?

[Maka]

Originally Posted by pulpist

Got a headlight, high/low beam on the drivers side of my AU XR6 fading.

Is it a sealed beam , or can I just change the globe/s?

Yes you can (from my manual) -

1. From the bulb disconnect the dipped beam terminal by depressing the two locking tabs and withdrawing it from its bulb assembly.
2. Disconnect the positive & negative terminals from the parking bulbs.
3. Remove the sealing cap, then release the bulb retainer.
4. Remove bulb from retainer then replace bulb with one with the same wattage.
5. Install socket, dust cap then reconnect electrical terminals & dipped beam terminal.
6. Check operation of light assembly.

Hope this helps, good luck!

cheer's, Maka

[pulpist]

Thanks mate