davway

thought anyone that may be buying a series1 AU may be interested in the following.
bought the car in 2001 (1 year old 41000km)
all this was covered with warranty at the time:
front windsreen seal cracked
drivers side seat belt frayed 3/4 way through
lost reverse at about 55000km (new box wahoo!!!)
blew right rear shock driving to Bendigo (just lowered 3 weeks earlier)
passenger side arm rest has lost its colour (not warranty)
new front discs at about 60000km (not warranty)
second 6 stacker installed (first didnt skip songs)
rattle in dash
DTE bulb blew
radiator fins re-angled
dash air vents replace as they wouldnt stay in place
brake pads every 10-15000km
electric windows failed
passenger side door rubber wore through (drivers is starting but out of warranty)
both front guard blinker lense wet (been resealed every service)
oh and had rust cut out of the top of the rear doors on the inside
probably some other stuff too that i cant think of at the moment
will post when i do
dave

JamesA

Yep, sounds familiar:

Here my AUII experience, purchased brand new Falcon Forte in August 2000:

* After picking up (with 26km, 2nd day), noticed engine temperature moving into red. Returned to dealer and replaced faulty thermostat.

* At 96km, noticed lose of engine power, checked oil and noticed creamy/white colour. Returned to dealer - diagnosis: blown engine gasket, white coloured substance was water mixed with oil. The engine was virtually over-hauled, replaced gasket, checked cyclinders and heads to make sure no damage was caused. Cause was put down to a combination of lose engine head nuts, and thermostat fault which caused some over-heating - was a production fault in in July 2000.

* At 900km, transmission went into 'limp home mode'. Returned to dealer and found transducer was loose. This was re-fastened.

* At 1500km, transmission went into 'limp home mode' again. Returned to dealer, again fault with transducer. This time replaced transducer as connections were deemed faulty.

* At 12,000km, noticed a 'clicking' sound when releasing brake (ie..from stationary). Have returned to dealer several times, no problems withbrakes could be found. Eventually took it to a different dealer, and found the ball-joint to be faulty. Replaced ball-joint.

* At 41,000km, 'clicking' returned to brakes. Couldn't be bothered returning to dealer for problem. Doesn't seem to affect braking for safety performance, now I just 'live' with the problem.

* Sqeak/rattle from under dash located in central console behind air-conditioning. This actually started from around 400km. Have had the delaer look at this several times during servicing, but could not find anything. Again, couldn't be bothered bringing this subject up at future servicing as no-one in the service departments seems to take these things seriously, again now I just 'live' with the problem.

If I could put up a bet, I would wager that my car was probably built late on a Friday afternoon...

My 'experience with the AU is that it was a total piece of S^%&it.

Are these problems common ? is this normal with new cars ?

I hope my future experience with a BAII is better !

Noddy

Sorry to hear that your Au has been so problematic, it would be good to hear some more real life responces in regards to the AU Falcon.

Is the AU FALCON as bad as the reputation that it's name has in the car industry?????????????

__________________
Two T3's are better than one.

davway

well everyone reckons they are the worst car ever made and they are a total piece of crap. i was intending on buying a VT till i seen this car. i think AU's are better than people think....comfy, powerfull, plenty of room and fun to drive.....got to expect something wrong the first feqw years...thats why theres a warranty :)

TS50

Well lets se, mine is a series III (T3)
my problems
Broken Windscreen seal
Broken Clutch Spring
Side repeaters are always wet inside
Flat Battery 3 times (If i leave it parked for 3 days, flat battery), still cant find the fault
that is in 27,000kms

__________________
2002 Narooma Blue Manual TS50
Sunroof

Noddy

I have heard of the windscreen seal prob before. What were the symptoms?? Was it leaking or just wind noise?

__________________
Two T3's are better than one.

davway

neither it was just a crack running from the roof to the glass over the rubber...didnt affect anything but i aint payin $24k for cracked rubber!

FalKeen

had my AU series 1 (98) for a year now (second hand, 62k on the clock when i got it, 75k now) only thing i have had to replace/repair was the air con compressor, wasnt actual problem with compressor (to start with), but the connection of the actual switch thing that shuts it down when low on gas, hence it ripping itself to bits as it didnt know to stop!
was a dodgey fix up of the connector with some electrical tape by the previous owner, can see why they did it, couldnt get just the connector bit new you had to get the entire piping - $400, so i went to a wreckers and got the connector for $5! just a shame it had to rip itself to bits before i found the problem

all other replacements/costs have not been necessary other than to make it go harder and look better :s6:

__________________

taximan

series 1 AU has now clocked 465,000ks,never had a warrenty claim.Have replaced 2 electric fan motors and 1 alternater and am on my second set of rotors.The AU is the best Falcon built mechanically,my only complaint is the plastic on the door trims is wearing away and it has rust in the boot area which Ford refuse to cover,so much for the 5year warrenty on rust.Almost forgot lower ball joints and sway bar bushes were done a couple of weeks ago.

__________________
AU series1 Futura Duel Fuel,ceramic coated Pacemaker Headers,Hi-Flow cat.2.5in. exhaust,T-series snorkel,K&N panel filter,D.B.A.Slotted Rotors

Bearman

AU1 XR6 ('98) - Bought it in Feb 02 at 116,000kms has now done 157,000kms. Car has been great!!!

Brake light switch is the only fault I've had. All else has been just routine maintenance items.

Next service due at 160,000km. Routine stuff but the coolant reservoir needs replacement so will give cooling system a flush out and new coolant put in as well.

Car gets serviced every 10,000km with synthetic oil. Auto trans serviced every May and coolant change will be an annual thing as well.

__________________
BA XR6 NA Mercury Silver (daily drive)
XC Fairmont Coupe (sunday cruiser)
www.fordcoupeclub.org.au