Ford Falcon BA BF Brake Hose Recall
May 28, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
Although Ford is not calling it a recall – we tend to look past the PR damage-control management tactics. Ford has launched what they like to call a service campaign to replace brake hoses in 200,000 Falcons made from September 2002 to March 2007.
The change will be made at owners’ next service (conducted at Ford customer relations centres or Ford dealers).
“0.5 per cent of the population (~1,000) of Falcon cars (BA to BF) have experienced this occurrence, when it does occur, there is a softening of the brake pedal. The car still operates within all of the ADR (Australian Design Rule) requirements, braking within the prescribed distances.” Ford Australia spokesman Edward Finn said.
You can see how Ford have managed to use a loophole in order to avoid an official recall. Surely whilst the cars might still comply with ADR requirements, given the change in brake feel, likelihood of an accident will undoubtedly increase.
“The rear brake hoses on certain sedan models are being replaced because in certain circumstances they wear excessively and the brakes lose their operating effectiveness,” Mr Finn said.
Don’t rush to your nearest service centre yet, the issue should be easily noticeable, and accompanied by a warning light in the instrument cluster.
Although this is not officially a recall, Ford are happy to replace any brake hoses for customers who feel their brakes fade, without having to wait till the next service. Ford denies that any accidents or injury have been caused by the issue.
Tags: Ford Falcon
It was most noticeable if the wheel is turned full lock either way and extended as well. This is just one of the known issues for years, including by dealership staff, but why Ford has suddenly seen fit to move on it is a mystery. Perhaps there’s been a couple of accidents where it has drawn attention to itself and they’re looking to avoid a costly damages claim?
I do not understand the recent remarks made about the
suspect Ford rear brake hose reports. Are the hoses leaking,are they swelling; what are they doing that only has the effect of reducing brake efficiency and not complete failure?
I have a 2005 Ford falcon bought on december 9 2005.
Just yesterday 9 June 2007 the brakes failed completely. The only lucky thing on my side was that i was travelling at low speed at the time and on flat but it was still extremely scary.
This is a passenger service vehicle and iam very disappointed that ford nz is concerned about damage control what about safety for drivers and other users of the road.
Iam extremely disappointed as i see that ford was aware of this for at least 2 weeks.
The ABS system did not kick in either.
I have a 2004 Ford Futura Mk2 bought new and first registered in 2005.Yesterday the DHS rear brake hose ruptured causing instant loss of system pressure and subsequent complete brake failure.
Fortunately I was travelling quite slow and the car only sustained superficial damage as I hit the kirb entering my driveway.
Surely the piles of complaints and testimonials demonstrate to Ford that a promt recall is required to prevent fatalities arrising from this issue.
I can absolutely guarantee that you cannot “brake within the prescribed distances” when you have ruptured a rear brake line. I couldn’t even stop promtly when I was only doing 25 km/h.
I own a 2004 Fairmont Ghia.My brakes competely failed without warning in the Sydney Harbour tunnel last year.They lost all pressure,and my handbrake hadn’t worked in 3 months.I was travelling at 80km/hr at the time,but fortunately it was at night so not much traffic around.
The car was towed to CityFord on Crown St.2 days later they rang to tell me that they couldn’t find a problem with the brakes!All they did was tell me to replace the brake fluid,and if the brakes failed again,to bring it back.They had the gall to charge me $165.00 to adjust the handbrake-which itself should have been a warranty item.At the time I told them the brakes felt a bit spongy.I replaced the fluid,but still the fading /spongy feeling.At my last service they when I complained of the fading etc,they tried to get me to pay them to pull the ABS apart and service it.
CityFord are thieves.
Approx 12 weeks ago the drivers side rear brake line on my 2005 BA Falcon ruptured rendering the vehicle unsafe to drive. The Mackay Ford dealership did not stock a replacement part so I had the local BrakeMart fabricate a replacement brake line and I had it fitted at my own expense. 2 days ago the passenger side rear brake line ruptured. RACQ towed the vehicle to a local garage where it is now waiting for a replacement part. Fortunately I was only travelling slowly when both failures occured.
There should be an immediate Recall to rectify this problem before innocent lives are lost.
^
Woah… one time I had a ruptured brake line by my own doing and I drove like 40kms and then when the car was parked, I realised. Mind you some of that 40kms were steep decents. LUCKY.
1 July driving a 2004 BA Falcon. I was travelling at 70km/hr in perfect conditions and could not stop the car within 5-6 car lengths and hit the back of a 4wd still doing close to 60-70km.The ABS did not appear to function either. The 4WD was still moving at the time. Airbags activated. My wife was injured from the safety belt. The car is close to a write off. The hoses were supposedly replaced the week before at a ford dealership. The brake pedal still felt firm after the accident. I have tried emergency stops with another BA, same model, and it stops within 2-3 car lengths under the same conditions every time. What the hell is going on FORD?
Yesterday the passengers side rear brake line on my 2003 BA Falcon ruptured rendering the vehicle unsafe to drive. Fortunately, I was travelling slowly on a fairly flat section of road, but only days before had been driving in very hilly country. There was no brake fade and absolutely no warning whatsoever. (The car had been fully serviced only 6 days before hand).
Please consider an immediate Recall to rectify this problem before innocent lives are lost.
I took my 2004 BA Falcon to be sericed this morning. The technician told me that he was going to replace the brake hoses, then proceded to tell me it was a safety recall. I had not noticed a change in my vehicle’s braking performance, however I decided to ‘Google’ this alleged recall. The date today is the 24th of July, almost two months after this article was written. I am upset to see that other drivers have had their brakes fail. Would it take a fatal accident for Ford to take our safety seriously? How may of the 200,000 other drivers are at risk? I do a lot of highway driving and the thought of my brakes failing at 110 kmh is truly frightening.
I see where it quotes in the article above that only “the rear brake hoses on certain sedan models are being replaced because in certain circumstances they wear excessively and the brakes lose their operating effectiveness”, but does anyone out there know if 2003 model BA Mk1 Futura wagons (or any BA wagon for that matter) are definitely immune to this potential brake failure problem?
I only ask, as my wife called our local Ford dealership yesterday after we read the above article and they told her that BA wagons don’t suffer from the same problem as the BA sedans and, therefore, don’t need their rear brake hoses replaced. As I don’t trust what they’re saying, I would love to hear from anyone that may have encountered brake failure issues with their BA wagons.
Deon Deszcz:
Your best bet is to give Ford Motor Company a buzz on 13 36 73 and ask them the question.
If you are still concerned, ask to have the information confirmed in writing, just in case anything arises in the future.
Hi everyone, Ive got a ba xr6 turbo, running around 12psi 320kws.
I was traveling on an unrestricted road (private) doing a test with a few new engine mods, sitting around 230km/h 240kmh leaned off throttle and went for brakes and had a heart stopping brake fail. No brake fail indicator lights nothing. Id have to say it was the longest brake and release on my handbrake and auto shift/lock down ever.
We rechecked fluid, lines, replaced rotors, pads checked calipers etc, found nothing.
Then on a recent trip to Brisbane leaving the 100 zone to an 80 zone it did it again, this time going down a hill.
Luckily it was a late night 2am and it didn’t mater that I ran a red light or two slowing down. I was so disgusted when i found out there was a recall after talking to ford originally about the problem and only just finding out of here a few months ago.
How many people could of died because of this I mean who cares if its bad pr i was!,… a heart in mouth ford supporter?
today August 17 my brake pedal went straight to the floor after driving in peak hour traffic. I was lucky because I had just got out of the main traffic stream. I had to use the hand brake to stop. there was no warning. i have young children in my car most of the time- what if this had happened in traffic with them in the car?
I knew nothing about this recall/service issue.
Ford should make it a priority to notify all owners now before somebody is seriously hurt or killed.
i am a true Ford fan but this issue could make me change.
NOT HAPPY FORD
I have the ABS and Skid warning light coming on. It goes off when the BA Ford Fairmont is switched off. The lights don’t come straight on?????
I had the vehicle services two weeks ago at Ford in Townsville, and I got the front brake pads replaced and disks are machined.
Can anyone help me with why the lights are coming on?
my partner was driving my 2003 ba yesterday (september 15th 2007) now it has under 60,000 ks on the clock absoltuely no warning and he was heading down hill luckily no one was in front of him at the time and the car had chance to pull up how many chances are ford going to take it should have been broadcast on the news to inform all ford owners dont they no it gives a bad reputation when they try to cover it up? its not fair to hide this considering we pay the money for a decent car!! next time someone may not b so lucky!!!!
I own a 2004 BA XT Wagon & it worries me to read about the brake problems plagueing the model. I have always been a Ford person but since Ford has seen it fit to not inform owners of the potential risk of brake failure, I will be reconsidering my purchase or my next car. WAKE UP FORD AND DO THE RIGHT THING BY YOUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS!!!!
Could everyone out there who has a BA Ford Ute XR8. who has had break problems please contact Ford as they say my case of Losing rear & front brakes is very unusual. I am luck to be alive as I lost all breaks travelling on princess hwy, with no warning lights, nothing. Tom Mason from ford Customer Liason Manager claims he has never heard of this happening to anyone. His no is 9359-8942. I did tell him to read car advise blogs page but he said, he has to have facts & in reality he needs proof so tomorrow I have to go to my machanic to get the break hoses he replaced and deliver to coffee ford dandenong who in the first place did not want to know. I though my life was more important than a bit of rubber hose. WHY would ford call a( Service campaign)for sedans and not utes, and shouldn’t this be a recall if peoples lives might be at risk
^^^
i would go straight over the top of your ford dealer and go straight to ford HQ
its sad how dealers dont know what the hell is going on sometimes
I’ve driven 02 BA Falcon since new…now on to my 5th dealer because the service has been pitiful. Just prior to this “service campaign” being launched my car experienced repeated brake fade & the ABS light staying on etc. !st dealer said it was my driving style! 2nd dealer didn’t even bother opening the hood! After it happened again (about 2 weeks later) I took it back and he said that there was something wrong with the “computer chip.” Why do these people talk to their customers as if they are fools and dumb everything down? And why do they never volunteer any information? My next car will NOT be a Ford. People need to vote with their wallets and go elsewhere.
kelly,
Where are you located?
Unfortunately this is common with first models in a lot of cars. We too experienced nothing but problems with out 2003 BAGT,have now upgraded too a new BF Cobra and it is delightful,5000ks in a little over 2 weeks and all is good!
Your bad service of course is a different kettle of fish….not good enough. Have you written any letters to Ford on the matter….are you taking it Ford owned dealerships or privatively owned dealerships,that can make a difference! Contact customer service at Ford and tell them your not happy and what are they going to do to help you. There waisting there time on advertising if they don’t look after their current customers……everyone has a mouth and 3 friends. I would start mentioning dealership names on the other Ford Forums in Australia too,see if the guys at the forums can help you,they have probably had a similar fault and can tell you whats wrong with it!
We also have experienced numerous bad dealerships here in the West……one dealership forgot to put oil back in the gearbox after fixing a noise 2nd gear. We went away for a long weekend in it and came home on a TOW Truck,even after reporting the noise after it had been so called fixed ,just drive it they said and bring it back when you return! It was towed to another dealer who was ok for a while till for the second time after starting it the valve train again let go! More bent push rods and cylinder heads repaired. The first time it broke a rocker! I think we are banned at around 3 dealerships now cause we mentioned their names on a Forum but FPV were great and gave us an extended warranty on the engine after the repair and after finally fixing around 28 faults in 4 years we sold it for the Cobra , much improved and much better finished off! Its off to a dealership tomorrow for its 5000 k checkup .
i have a ford dealership in sydney that now treats me like gold.
I have had numerous little issues with my ford and these guys get it right, if your in sydney i will give you there name as they always give me exceptional service and really care about you!
the worst thing is the dealerships charge an absolute arm and a leg for a service.
i just had mine in for a service and i got asked at the service counter if i had had it resprayed cause they hadnt seen my coulor before.
yes they offer good service (i mean they meet you at the driveway now to take the keys just like valet parking) but they are incompetant at what they do sometimes.
my service manager used to know me quite well and attended to my requests very well. it started with a towbar they fitted where the ball was only 40mm of the back of my car. yep 40mm between paint work isnt much.
he no longer manages it, instead the place is now full of new recruits that i swear i know more about their products than they do.
even when i was looking through the yard at new models the sales woman that approached me had a little bit of paper and i had to point out what the prices were. she couldnt correspond which model in the yard met the description of the one in the little booklet!!!
hey but if she wants to quote me the “XL” price for an XR6 then who am i to complain??
i consider myself good at my job because i actually thoroughly enjoy it. these people obviously just purely show up to make the staffing numbers with no interest in their job
I took my 2002 BA Falcon in for a 6 month service this morning and they told me they were going to change the rear brake hoses because they were too short. I’d never heard about it before, and if you don’t go to a ford dealer you never will. Owners should be contacted by Ford
sounds strange to me, if they were too short they wouldnt link or they would strech and break? sounds like you have been given the wrong info there….. ford would of fixed it and recalled if it was as serious as that.
I have had my falcon just over 1 year.Yes it is a used vehicle but no one should put up with this crap!. So far my car has been in for all it’s services but about another 10 times between these services. It seems nobody knows what to do to rectify problems with the falcon.
So Far
1.CLUNKING FROM FRONT END FELT THROUGH FRONT END OF CAR FROM TAKEOFF, DOES NOT ALWAYS HAPPEN BUT WHEN IT DOES IT IS REAL ANNOYING. CAN’T SEEM TO GET IT TO DO IT WHEN THE SERVICE GUY IS IN THE CAR. SO FAR THEY HAVE BLAMED IT ON FRONT END AND SAID BOLTS NEEDED TIGHTENING UP- WRONG! STILL DOING IT. THEN IT WAS THE ENGINE MOUNTS WERE LOOSE- WRONG! THEN THEY NEEDED REPLACEMENT- WRONG- THEN THEY BLAMED IT ON MY KING KOIL SPRINGS WRONG!(PURCHASED THESE AFTER I PURCHASED VEHICLE AND WAS DOING IT BEFORE THIS)(ROAD TEST GUY WAS GOOD TOLD ME THE FORD SPRING MAKE ALOT OF NOISE AND ARE A BIG PROBLEM THAT MINE ARE A GOOD SPRING) STILL TO THIS DAY IT HAS NOT BEEN RECTIFIED AND HAVE 2000KM BEFORE WARRANTY EXPIRES.(IM SURE THEY WILL FIND THE PROBLEM WHEN I NEED TO PAY FOR IT)
2.BRAKING WELL WHAT CAN I SAY WITH ONLY 65000 ON THE CLOCK WHEN I PURCHASED IT AND THEY HAD TO BE OVERHAULED BUT HEY AT LEAST THAT IS FIXED! THANKYOU FORD!
3.I ALSO HAD RATTLING NOISES IN FRONT END WHEN GOING OVER BUMPS- BRAKE CALLIPERS HAD TO BE REPLACED. FIXED THANKYOU FORD
4.IDOLING PROBLEMS SINCE DAY OF PURCHASE. IT SEEMS THE CAR IDOLS WELL WHEN WARM BUT WHEN COLD RUNS LIKE A BAG OF Sx!+. SO FAR TO FIX THESE PROBLEMS THEY HAVE DONE A THROTTLE BODY CLEAN- DID NOT WORK. ADVISED ME TO GET MY INJECTORS DONE, I DID AND PAYED FOR IT I MAY AS WELL HAVE GIVEN IT TO SOME HOMELESS PERSON AT LEAST IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WORTH IT(NO IT DID NOT WORK). THEN THEY REPLACED THE THROTTLE BODY UNDER WARRANTY- STILL DID NOT WORK. CURRENTLY STILL RUNNING LIKE CRAP FOR THE FIRST FEW MINUTES GOING BACK IN THIS MONDAY TO GET LOOKED AT AGAIN ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER UNRECTIFIED PROBLEMS.
5.PARK BRAKE HAS BEEN ADJUSTED OBVIOUSLY INCORRECTLY AS EVERY COUPLE OF THOUSAND KMS IT PULLS UP ABOUT 12 TIMES, SHOULD’NT IT BE ABOUT 4-6TIMES?
6.POWERSTEERING! HAS LEAKED HIGH PRESSURE HOSE BURST AND SWITCH WAS LEAKING ALSO, THANKFULLY FIXED UNDER WARRANTY
7.I WAS ON THE WAY TO WORK ONE DAY I WAS DOING AROUND 65KM AND PULLING UP TOWARDS A SET OF LIGHTS AND BRAKING AND MAN DID I BOG MYSELF! THE CAR JUST KEPT REVING EVEN THOUGH MY FOOT WAS NOT ON THE ACCELERATOR, ALL I COULD DO IS BRAKE HEAVY WHEN I CAME TO A STOP IT ALMOST FELT LIKE MY BACK WHEELS WERE ABOUT TO SPIN AND HAD A CAR IN FRONT OF ME WHICH I ALMOST WENT IN TO THE BACK OF WHEN I PULLED UP ONTO THE NATURESTRIP ONCE I HIT THE GRASS WHEELS STARTED SPINNING AND THATS WHEN I TURNED THE VEHICLE OFF. I TURNED IT BACK ON ALL WAS FINE AND HAS NEVER DONE IT SINCE GOT IT CHECKED OUT AND SUPPOSIDLY A FAULT READING WAS NOTICED. THEY SAID THE O2 SENSOR REQUIRED REPLACEMENT I CAN’T SEE HOW THAT CAN FIX THIS PROBLEM BUT HEY THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKIN ABOUT.
CAN I SAY THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAMILY A CAR LIKE THIS AS IF MY WIFE WAS DRIVING SHE WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN WHAT TO DO IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS AND PROBABLY WOULD HAVE GONE UP THE REAR END OF THE VEHICLE. FORTUNATELY MY KIDS AND WIFE WERE NOT IN THE CAR AT THE TIME OTHERWISE MY CAR WOULD BE INSIDE THE FRONT OF DEALERSHIP WINDOW!
WHAT ANNOYS ME ABOUT ALL THIS IS I HARDLY DRIVE THE VEHICLE ANYMORE AS I AM TO SCARED SOMETHING MIGHT HAPPEN AND WHAT HAPPENS TONIGHT MY BRAKES SPONGE STRAIGHT TO THE FLOOR STILL PULL ME UP THOUGH, I THINK IT IS POSSIBLY MY MASTER CYLINDER AS FLUID IS LEAKING I HAVE NOTICED BUT CAN’T SEE WHERE FROM.
THE CAR IS GOING IN MONDAY TO BE FIXED I HAVE 2000 KM LEFT BEFORE MY WARRANTY EXPIRES, I THINK FOR ALL THE TROUBLE I HAVE HAD TO GO THROUGH FORD SHOULD GIVE ME AN EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR FREE, BUT THAT AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN.
I AM NOT NAMING WHERE I HAVE MY CAR SERVICED AS I DON’T BELIEVE IN SLANDERING PEOPLE OR COMPANIES AS YOU DON’T GET ANYWHERE WITH THAT BUT WILL SAY IT IS IN BRISBANE. MY VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED FROM SOUTHSIDE FORD. SALESMAN WAS GREAT JUST A SHAME I BOUGHT A PIECE OF CRAP. AFTERSALES SERVICE HAS BEEN RELATIVLY GOOD UNTIL THE NEW NIGHT MANAGER STARTED A WHILE BACK HE JUST DONT GIVE TO HOOTS.
ANYONE OUT THERE CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME IDEAS ON WHAT I CAN DO IN MY SITUATION?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
I’ve had my BA XR6 Manual for over 12 months (purchased second hand) and have not had any problems with it at all. I must’ve got a monday build I think
Yesterday, driving my pregnant wife home from the markets, the brakes failed completely and without warning. We narrowly missed cars on the road. When it came to a stop, I discovered the FRONT passanger brake hose had ruptured, covering the tyre in fluid.
I own a 2003 Falcon BA.
Anton of Binks Ford Footscray “there is no factory fault”.
Then why the recall?
“There is no recall.” he said. “There is an ‘Advisory Campaign’ …but it is only back brakes. He also said they won’t pay for the tow to Ford either.
I made some calls and discovered many Fords have had front and back failure.
Contact me if you can help or if I can help:
rnashar@antonine.melb.catholic.edu.au
Have had 3 BA/BF’s and not a problem….. regarding Sharmilas brake failure….. why would the ABS fail to kick in if the wheels arent locked?? Or did you neglect to hit the brake pedal in hope the ABS would magically stop the vehicle??
Are you the same Monster that posted here a year ago?
I’ve told you a million times…don’t exaggerate :)
Seriously though, the front and rear braking sytems are independant. You would have to blow at least 2 hoses (one front & one rear)to have the complete brake failure that some are claiming. Also there are plenty of other forums to use to complain about dealer service.
PS: I have an 02 BA and the brakes were all fine when I changed them over @ 135,000 km.
Going back to my early car days in old cars, if you lost half your brakes (due to insufficient fliud in front or rear master cylinder, or a blown hose, or whatever…) you still had “some brakes” with a very hard pedal. I’ve never (and I doubt I will ever) experience TOTAL brake loss.
has anyone had problems with wagon brakes(have an august 05 xt wagon) and has anyone had hoses replaced by ford & has anyone had them replaced after warranty ran out thanks
Further to my July Comment. The Falcon in the accident was written off by the insurance company. I inspected the wreck afew days later and found that when I applied pressure on the brake pedal, it slowly disappeared to the floor. I tried in vain to get QLD Police to return a phone call to look into this matter further but to no avail, So I finaly gave up due to the car going to the wreckers.Now a warning to all, I have just been charged by the Police for driving \”without due care and attention\” for an incident I had no control over, how\’s that for the icing on the cake for someone who has never had an accident or speeding ticket in 31 years of driving! Thanks Ford.
Have just been told about the problems with the brakes by a friend with a BA XR6. I have a 2004 BA MK2 wqgon, has there been any problems noted with this model.
I own a 2002 ba wagon, since I have owned the car the Shockers on the rear are noisy when cold then they are ok when I’ve driven for a while any one else had the same prob and fixed it ? My Brake have been ok no prob there.
Martin,
if the motor isnt running you wont have brake pressure
IMPORTANT NEWS: This problem is not just limited to BA/BF Falcons, seems it extends to the Territory as well.
I own a Ford Territory 2004 model (Oct 04), mileage only 63,000Km.
* Last month I suffered complete Brake failure on 2 separate incidents within 3 weeks of each other.
*First incident- as I was driving out, the pedal upon braking went to the floor and had to use handbrake to stop. Upon inspection, saw left front brake hose assembly leaking profusely. The mechanic said its very rare to see worn front brake hose at such low km’s as mine.
*Three weeks later, another complete brake failure (lucky I was driving slow at a Woolworth carpark), this time, the front right brake hose leaked.
UNFORTUNATELY- Ford Australia refused to re-imburse for costs associated with replacement of hose incl labour at a Ford Dealership (approx $300), after the Dealership had informed that it would be a ‘formality’ seeing the nature of the problem & how it was a safety issue.
Reason for knockback, the vehicle’s warranty had expired some months ago.
* Upon contacting Ford Australia Customer Relations (person name- Joel), the official response: this is normal wear & tear and Ford will not reimburse costs as warranty has expired. Secondly, as this is not a BA/BF Falcon, it won’t qualify under the ‘Recall’ repair.
3x Cheers for FORD’s concern for Customer Safety & reliability of their vehicles that have just gone past their warranty period.
So much for “Wheels car of the Year”. I will definitely NOT buy another FORD, ever…
Andrew,
With respect, even without the motor running your brake pedal should not disapear to the floor when pushed firmly. this is an indication of a serious brake fault, please try it on your own car after its been sitting around for a while and you will see that your brake pedal depressess slightly but then becomes firm.
Hi Guys,
I own a 04 BA XT with about 160000. The day before yesterday (Sat12th) I drove from newcastle to sydney and during the course of the trip had to apply the brakes VERY HARD on two separate occassions to avoid collisions. The ABS kicked in – all worked well. The next day, on my return journey, i drove through sydney with no issues until i was on the freeway for about 10km. I attempted to use the brakes but the pedal travelled to the floor, and although I did appear to have some control over the speed, coming to a complete stop took several hundred meters. I pulled over and checked the fluid level and it was sitting on min. checked around each of the wheels and found the off drivers rear showed signs of wettness on the inside of the rim. Took the wheel off and sure enough the rubber brake line that leads from the body to the caliper was leaking near the crimped fitting near the body. It certainly appears the rubber length of breakline is not long enough to allow for flex during suspension travel. Due to the car being out of warranty I began the search of wreckers to find a replacement part. By chance I thought I’d phone the local ford dealer’s spare dept. Next thing you know I’d being offered free brakeline replacement. My question is this: why doesnt ford attempt to contact all owners of vehicles this could be an issue with or at least make a public announcement so people can get the problem fixed. This could have cost the lives of my wife, my 9 week old baby girl and myself. Surely the guys at ford have heard of a risk assessment….. I am a longtime ford fan and have owned many 1970-80’s falcon/fairmont/fairlane/LTD’s and utes’n'panelvans that have had their fairshare of problems but mainly age related. Incidents like this recent brake failure start to make you think how much cost-cutting is going on….. for the sake of an inch or so of rubber…..
I noticed the brake failure while doing 110kmh on a crowded freeway.
There was a well publisised recall to do with that within the last year Matt. They should’ve picked it up when you last got it serviced.
I should have read what article this was haha. Not a “recall” then, but it was advertised. And they still should have fixed it when it was serviced.
All fixed now by local ford dealership.
Just been onto ford cust.serv. (133673)
They have my details and will advise of recals – NOT “service campaigns”?????
I explained the severity of losing rear brakes at freeway speeds and asked them to clarify the threshold between deeming a fault either a recall or a campaign.
I await their correspondance.
Should have put a rocket up them.
Not good enough that Ford didn’t personally contact owners about this issue given the life and death nature of the fault.
Wake up Ford Australia!!!!!!!!
I would complain to the CEO and see what he has to say about putting your life at risk in this manner!
Ford What a bunch of low life dogs. This is my safe family car that I trust to keep my wife and 3 children safe in and my brakes are useless. My wife tells me that the brakes feel funny. I take it for slow a 500m drive around the block at low speed and was worried it wouldnt pull up at a corner. I got the RACV guy out and he tells me their was a recall. But looking at this website it wasnt an official recall. Lucky we werent trying to use these brakes at high speed when this fault occured. Who knows what would have happened. Ford you are a disgrace
I too own a Ford Territory,, December 2004,, a big black beauty my dream car.. given I have 4 kids to drive around, I was over the moon with my new vehicle. That was until the windows jammed,, half way up and half way down, This has happened twice now,, one fixed under warranty the other not. Ok a minor flaw for a new car,, or soooo i thought. Then the drivers door also jammed,, couldnt get in without climbing across the passenger seat,this was fixed under warranty. But then,, MY BRAKES have now failed 3 bloody times!@$!!3 different hoses have popped open on 3 seperate occasions. What is going on ??? 3 times is NOT A COINCIDENCE, I bought this car because it was a safe car to drive my kids around.I took out a loan to pay for it and have ended up with something i am now very nervous to drive long distances and at a reasonable speed. I still owe money on this vehicle.I am very dissapointed in Ford, Shame on you for not fixing this known problem,, no wonder your going under u smucks
I purchased a Ford Territory 2004 model 12 months ago. We have had numerous problems with it since.
rear view mirror replaced twice
unable to open bonnet unless there is two people present
boot door often has trouble closing
key lock doesn’t work and rear window doesn’t work (have just had part replaced for window at our cost)
Last week the brake line ruptured and my foot went to the floor. I was in a school zone picking up my children so was only doing 20-30kms. I used my handbrake to drive the 1km home.
This is a real safety issue.
It was towed to a Ford dealership and repaired. Ford Australia are refusing to pay for the part as it is no longer under warranty and due to ‘wear and tear’ not a mnaufacturing fault. The customer care centre say they are ‘doing the right thing’ as they are following the guidelines.
By reading some comments on this page, mine is obviously not an isolated incident. What can we do? This just should not happen on a four year old car with 64,00kms!
I see this article is still being spammed by fake stories.
There would be less than 10% genuine posts on this one, anyone believing most of this crap is a fool.
I tend to agree Bret, some genuine, most not. I know a lot of BA/BF owners and most had the hose replaced. I’ve asked around and none had these problems whether they replaced the hose or not. One complained of warped rotors, but the way he drives it didn’t surprise me.
HAHAHA, can’t bare a bad thing posted that rubbishs Ford can you Bret?
You would not know that any of those are fake, you are only guessing… which actually makes you the fool.
I haven’t has a single problem with any Ford I have ever owned, however, I certainly know a few people that have.
Visit any Ford forums mate, it’s all there including photos … but I guess their all fake too… cause nothing could ever go wrong with a Falcon…. could it?
Iam agreeing that GHISGT is correct. Only a fool denies that problems dont occur….fact is Ford gets a fair share to cause concern!
G_i_T & NM,
No-one is in denial except you tools.
Every brand/model has problems.
If you can\’t pick the pathetically obvious spamming of this article with fake stories then you are stupid.
And BTW did I not say that some were obviously genuine??
Why do I have a funny feeling about some of these posts?
Yes, seems like some PR work.
Man I was just about to go test drive an 04 BA Falcon this arvo at a Ford dealership for my dad and after reading this post, I will sure be asking them a lot of questions about the problematic hoses and other faults; will be reading up other reviews on this car before I head out – it seems this car is a death trap on wheels??!!
I own a Nissan Maxima myself – bought it used when still under new car warranty from a private dealer. Front passenger central locking solenoid didnt work after a year – have to manually unlock the door. I was thinking to book the car in to get that checked under warranty. I still dont know how Nissan Australia got my address (prolly from QLD Transport?) I received a letter from Nissan that week – not a recall notice but service campaign – “front central locking solenoid has a potential to fail due to lack of lubricant”. Known fault I thought – so booked the car in at a Nissan dealer (Westpoint at Indro) and they replaced solenoids on all 4 doors. They put a little red sticker on the inside door sill to indicate that the recall has been carried out (required by law). Asked them to tighten the park brake while they are at it – did not charge me a cent! 6 months ago got another letter to say that a wire in the alternator can become loose and may cause the low battery light in the dash to come on. My car didnt have this problem at all. Apparently the performance of car is not affected by this issue – just a false light – obviously not life threatening. Booked the car in – they replaced the alternator with a new one. The car was a year out of warranty at this stage!! They put another little sticker (got two stickers near the tyre placard on the drivers side door)
What I am trying to get to is that Nissan sent letters to owners for minor little things to get fixed free of cost and Ford apparently did not notify all owners of this dangerous brake failing fault to be rectified…obviously Nissan cares about its customers.
Does Ford puts these stickers as well? Any of the Falcon owners noticed this? Asking so that I can look for these on the car I am about to check out… am only interested in this car for its price it is listed….
ALL ABOUT MONEY WITH FORD NOT SAFETY GO TO HELL FORD
ALL ABOUT MONEY WITH FORD NOT SAFTY GO TO HELL FORD
Just drove an FG faalcon, simply brilliant!
Oops, I mean Falcon!!
anyone found an answer for the clunking in the rear of a ba falcon sedan when taking off at lights. been told by ford they are working on it
I have a 2004 Ford falcon BA XT which was a used car when I purchased it on Feb 20 2007.
Just last week 16 Oct. 2008 the brakes failed completely I was travelling on the flat section of road and it stopped within 5-6 car lengths under the same conditions 3 /4 times.
The car was towed to……., later they rang to tell me that they couldn’t find a problem with the brakes, I rechecked fluid, lines, replaced rotors, pads checked etc, found nothing.
The only lucky thing on my side was that I was travelling at 80 km/h at the time and on flat but it was still extremely scary.
Please consider an immediate Recall to rectify this problem before innocent lives are lost
I couldn’t beleive that there are persons out there calling the majority of these reported brake failures rubbish.For those of you interested in a followup on my incident whereby my Falcon had the brake failure which resulted in my BA becoming a write off and my wife breaking her shoulder. The Police charged me with driving without “due care and attention” 10 months later. The good news is that it was dismissed on the day of the court hearing due to a lack of evidence.The interesting part to this was a senior policeman admitted they had the same thing happen to one of their own cars which had also be involved in an accident, the cops in the car insisted their brakes failed also.
hey there,
just reading up on these brake problems to do with Ford. well i had my own experience to do with braking in my 2003 BA XR8 complete brake failure front drivers side brake lines ruptured . i was driving out of my street today on to a busy road and my brakes failed big time, no BRAKES at all it was extermly lucky as i had some where to pull over and not to much traffic around my main concern is i had my 18moth old and my niece the same age in the car with me at the time…….. A very frightning experience . WHY is there no recall lives are at RISK…………
Having read all the above, I can relate to most of them. My 2004 Territory has had all the problems – lock failure, windows jamming, car stalling for no reason, electrical problems, grinding noises. body trim falling off, and the list goes on and on BUT THE BRAKE FAILURES – TWO – have made me really mad!! The first a year ago occurred after just dropping my kids at school, the brakes softened and then went completely at an intersection – a very impressive handbrake stop ensued! The last one on the 12th October was really scary. The brakes failed completely WITH NO WARNING WHATSOEVER on a sharp left hand bend with a concrete wall. Thank goodness for the manual gear shift in the Territory – ironical really!! The worst part of it was that my 18yr old P Plate daughter had been driving the car just hours before!! She would never had had the experience to stop the car and with what consequences?
I demanded Ford remove the ruptured hose and the two remaining hoses under the extended warranty. Their customer service said they only replace faulty or recalled parts but strangely the dealership were given the okay to replace the other rear hose that, according to the photos I took, was not faulty!!! My investigations since have revealed that the brake hoses on the 2004 Territories were probably the same ones on the BA Falcon which were recalled. These hoses have since been modified……why?? One brake specialist I spoke to has had 3 2004 Territories with brake failure. I replaced the remaining front hose at my own expense and wrote to Ford airing my concerns for all the other 2004 Territory drivers out there and the safety concerns I have.
Their response, other people’s cars are none of my business and as long as my car is now fixed that is all they are concerned about!!!! THIS HAS MADE ME EVEN MADDER! I have endeavoured to get the media involved but get the impression that there is a wall of silence and no-one wants to talk about it!! I have also found a lot of people in the car or related industris are “gagged”. There is a lot more to this story but in a nutshell………..I have nothing personally to gain by being determined to get Ford to do something about this but at least I will know that other 2004 Territory owners are aware of the brake hose problems. That by puruing this extremely serious safety issue, I may prevent others going through what I and some of you have been through and that it may prevenT, god forbid, a fatality from
occurring.
Just a follow up on my ford territory brake hose failure. I pursued it through the Ford dealership where I purchased the car (as Ford Australia simply refused to reimburse me) and they reimbursed me for the brake hose stating in a letter that it was not an admission of liability but a goodwill gesture!
After getting the rear window fixed, 3 weeks later the front drivers window jammed! Again, we had to pay to get a different part for the front window. However the Ford dealership did do it at a reduced cost.
Note to Steph Wallace – I read your letter in the Herald Sun and I too, had written a letter to him but mine was not published. I’m just glad that yours was, although his reply was a bit ordinary.
I still think that Ford should replace all the brake hoses before a serious accident occurs. The service department where my hose was replaced all agreed that they were cheap hoses but can’t do anything about it.
To Carley
I have not seen the letter in the Herald Sun yet but from what I have heard, they have abridged it anyway. However, it is a start and hopefully more Territory owners who have had problems will start to make a stand and demand that these brake hoses are removed from all vehicles once and for all.
instant brake failure at 60klm, ba fairlane ghia , one ruptured front right hose . Rears were changed last service. ford must have forgot about front hoses. i hope no one dies, ford scumbags!
I will never buy a Ford again!
Those rotten B***ards. My wife was driving with our two young kids when the brakes failed. No accident thank god. How the hell can Ford not do a major recall when there is sufficient evidence of brake failure. Our car is a BA XT sedan, 2003 model. It has only 65,000kms on the clock. We have had nothing but problems with this car. The front disks have been machined twice because of the brake shudder. The power steering has leaked. The rear sway bar keeps coming loose and clunks ALL THE TIME. These cars are rubbish!!! Ford should be found liable and forced to do a major recall. I would love to see a class action against Ford.
It’s a disgrace that people have to search for an answer on a fault the Ford should have notified them on.
If you work for Ford and feel like being abused, get in touch with me and see how I feel about my wife and kids being put in danger. The sooner I get rid of the car the better.
I hope there are no innocent victims from this blatant Ford Negligence.
Cheers
Mick
Hey Carley, get fit and walk the kids from school. I mean really, quote “I used my handbrake to drive the 1km home.” 1km??? 1 tiny km!?! What is with these people? Also using the classic school run vehicle, the SUV, the kiddie killer!! Why not add bull bars, sorry, “ROO bars” forgot this is hillbilly australia, just to be sure the kid is dead.
Get a Life girl.
14th January 09 Another case of a blown brake hose on a BA Ford. Warning when you first notice loss of pressure on brake pedal stop the car because I drove 1 km more to my house and the master cylinder also had to be replaced. Total cost $547.00 for repair. First time in 45 years of owning Fords has a brake hose burst. Fords are usually famous for water pumps and electric window motors failing but this is the end when no recall was made about safety of life when brakes can fail. Will it take a death for Ford executives to behave responsibly.
Yeah good on ya Ford! I own a 2004 BA XT falcon, I have just had to replace, back brakes, (were not functioning at all) 3 out of 5 front brake cables were completley severed. My private mechanic advised me that there was a recall in 2005, and to call ford for reimbursement. Called ford today, apparantly because when I bought this car 2nd hand in 2006 from a dealership, and “I” failed to call ford direct and update any details, I didn’t receive a recall notice, and due to this fact, I took my car to my private mechanic, (didn’t want to pay an additional $600 for the exact same work, with ford dealer) It’s my fault, and I get stuck with the outlay. My whole family are Ford supporters, howz that, great reward for being loyal all these years. Ford you can stick that up ya jatz cracker!!!
One ruptured brake line cannot possibly cause complete brake failure as indicated by most of these posts. As others have already mentioned, theres a lot of spamming and Ford bashing going on here.
BTW, owned a coule of BA and BF Falcons without a single problem, great cars all of them.
To Zorro
I am beginning to wonder if you work for Ford! Believe me, a lot of these posts are extremely real. Having had two failures, I can categorically say that I had total brake failure the second time as there was no warning with a softening of the brakes as with the first incident. Graham Smith in the Herald Sun has also been printing a lot more letters about brake failures in Falcons and Territories……….it is happening to a lot more people than you realise. My local mechanic has had 4 territories with brake failure in the last two years. As these cars are out of warranty, many of them are not being repaired by Ford dealers so it would be interesting to know how many mechanics have dealt with this problem.
Owned Fords- Falcon, Cortina GT, several V8 Fairlanes, XY351 XDV8 for more than 40 yrs. Stuck up once at Ballarat with Cortina GT broken gear on distributor drive. Currently have 2003 BA Futura Wagon. Towed caravan to Nth Qld, Victoria, Central NSW with no problems. Most comfortable car I have ever had. Now done 80,000ks on original brake pads 1/2 worn. Original tyres changed at 75,000. Just about to head for SA with caravan. I am not planning on changing at this stage. A new work Camry I had suffered total brake failure when rear hose rubbed on LH rear rim!
Hi i have a ford territory that i have had for 4 years now and ive had a brake fail happen to me and it is some scary shit and to all u morons that think its not a serious problem have no idea lucky i was driving and not my wife and 2 young babies they would of been killed this is a serious problem esspecialy when towing a trailor with 750kg behind u and with no brakes what so ever people can get killed or could kill some one so i rang up fors to get the problem fix u know what there resonce was ur out of warranty buch of dick heads ill be taking it up with the presidant of fords and giving him a mouth full
Emmanuele, a brake hose failure will not cause a total loss in braking ability, unless you have 2 simultaneous brake hose failures, which obviously is extremely unlikely. Second, if it is the brake hose failure, then warranty or no warranty, Ford will fix it, as its been recalled. The only thing that might cause total brake failure is if your master cylinder ruptured severely and spontaneously. Don’t doubting your story, just giving you the mechanical facts. This recall, and whatever happened to your car, are not related.
Yesterday my son was picking up his sister from school in a 2005 Territory when the brakes failed front hose spilt fluid every where.He could not stop the car by pummping the brakes had to pull up with the hand brake quite a distance down the road lucky it was a 40km/hr zone and had gone past the school crossing.
I heard and read about the problem never thought would happen to us.
To say the least my anger is overwhelming,does someone have to die before this issue resolved.
I hope that ford recognizes the problem and rectifies this issue as they have with the falcons.
I also have read about the brake failure but thought that ford may recall vehicles. Today mine just ruptured a front brake hose, fortunately at only 10km/h. (Ford Territory 2004 GIA SX)
I am so PISSED OFF that Ford has not conducted a recall on such a potential safety issue. Are they waiting on for someone to die?
///Just off the phone from ford, they say it is a perisuable item and the car is just out of warranty
THEY DON”T GIVE A SH_T!!!!! (CLAYTON NORTH)
NEVER A FORD AGAIN…………….
Ive got a BA XR6 2003 with the awsome looking blueprint color and never had a problem with it. Brakes work fine on my car and i get it serviced at Rally Motors and no problems in anything on the car. Well done Ford to a classy looking and fast car. Its got 66,000kms on it and average fuel consumption is sitting on 12.5 litres per 100km.
I have had brake problems with my late 2002 BA since I bought it. Vibrating front brakes that require constant machining. Also had new front discs that they started to machine again after about 5000kms, rears machined as well and front pads. This was fine under warranty as they covered it up to 100,000kms apart from the inconvenience of being without the car seven or eight times (yes that is right). This was at dealers in Queensland and Tasmania. It is still not right with nearly 160,000km on the clock and I have replaced the front brakes with quality DBA slotted discs and Bendix titanium pads and it is still vibrating under braking, especially downhill. So there was an inherrent problem with the front end, and I suspect the suspension design. I had all manner of excuses from Ford, hots spots, you drive to hard, you don’t drive hard enough, anything it seems to get you out of the dealership.
And now this thing with the brake hoses, which I also picked up by the letters to the motor section of the Herald Sun. I never had any trouble with brake performance, but took it to the dealer anyway (even though I service elsewhere) and they replaced the rear hoses. It seems ironic that most people seem to move away from dealers after the bad experiences they have with service department bs, but it seems Ford were keeping it secret from all these ‘turncoats’ that service elsewhere and only rewarding those who still serviced their cars at Ford dealers. This is so petty and penny-pinching it is embarrasing.
I think the best advice is that everyone drops a line to the Department of Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs in their state, and this I am sure will force Ford to do a public recall instead of this sneaky behind the back stuff.
Ford seem to think if they had a recall it would cost them customers, but trying to hide the problem will cost them more. They’ve lost me.
Like many others, BA Falcon, ruptured rear brake hose resulting in total loss of brakes on busy street. Managed to pull over then drive home real slow using the hand brake. Ford dealership in Sth Aust said it was normal for the hose to go as we have had lots of them to replace.
I though someone had slashed the hose to kill us.
Turns out, the metal sleeve that connects to the hose as supplied has a sharp edge, resulting in a cut. The replacement hose came with a “bell flange” to avoid this happening.
How many people does a company need to kill before something is done. So what if it costs a packet of money, and little bad publicity. How many $$$$ do you value your family’s life?
Also just had the heater mixer rod break. A common design part fault that costs $50 and over $500 to get the dash out to replace it.
And also just paid a wad of cash to re-terminate the wiring connector between the HIM and BEM control modules. Once again a design fault that should never happen.
(fault causes the windows to stop, no aircon, no demister etc, but car radio, lights, engine etc ok).
DG (continued)
Speaking of dealers, I decided years ago when living in Sydney that I would always service away from Ford dealers after my car was out of warranty. Had a 98 AU XR6, which pulled ferociously to the left. Would have been off the road in 30 metres if you took hands off the wheel. The City Ford dealer at Mascot (no longer there) told me, ”that Falcons are setup like that in NSW because the camber of the road is different to anywhere else in Australia.” When I suggested that I new a little bit about cars, he still kept that line. What a crock!
Finally had the car fixed at Ocean Ford in Noosa. It turned out that a direcional tyre was on back the front from new (factory quality control was good) and the wheel alignment was way out of whack. Never went back there again to City Ford Mascot. You can say all you like about the AU ugly duckling, but at least the brakes worked properly, not like the life of my BA.
I had to ask the Ford dealership “How many more design faults are in my BA Falcon” – NO answer, I wonder why?
I said “Whats next, are the wheels going to fall off”.
Well heres the Next fault – had the front discs machined twice because of bad vibration most noticable down hill. Told it may be a hot spot on the disc, but reading this forum it is prob another design fault.
I like Fords and hate Holden.
I am a TV show producer, and I would love to put this to air, however Fords lawyers would get me for something.
I thank the creators of this forum. Although upsetting to read about Fords disregard for safety, at least I am not alone.
Month ago bought my son a 2nd hand BA XR6.
I was not aware of this forum before the purchase….or do I hate my son and wish he was…..well NO.
I will be having the car inspected (especially the hoses) long before the 3 month warranty runs out.
As Hinch would say “SHAME FORD SHAME”.
This arfternoon while moving my 2004 BA XR6 just around the front lawn and carport cause i was loading the boot with stuff cause im in the progress of moving, i noticed that the brakes felt a bit spongy then after a little bit the brake pedal keapted going flat to the floor, so i got out to have a look at the brakes and noticed that there was a lot of brake fluid all over the ground. After i googled BA XR6 Brake problems i am now aware that my passenger rear brake line has slit, now i wasn’t aware that there was a recall for this issue. Im just glad that 4 mths before my first child is born that i relised the problem on my front lawn and not up the back of a truck at 110KM moving to our new home.the only other issue ive had is bad shuttering in the steering when turning to park at supermarket etc;. Beside that ive had no other problems with the ford
P.S. I have had to re-tightin the front wheel nuts after coming loose, you’ll know there losse by hearing a grinding noise from the front. Thank You
We have a 2004 BA Falcon Sedan which was purchased new. It has done 45,000km. It is booked in on Monday for a bad shuttering in the steering when turning both right and left but more so on the right when parking. Like HerberSJames it has me bamboozed. I have had the problem for over a year but is coming more noticeable. Can anyone pinpoint the problem for us?
Recently a friend also blew her rear brake line. Coventry’s told her there was a problem and that Ford was aware of it but our local Ford Dearlership was not helpful.
After reading this forum we are also getting our brake lines replaced – hopefully?
We are leaving for a holiday next week and will be doing approx. 8,000km and have a fourteen month old daughter. It would be most distressing if we had an accident because Ford were thinking more about there wallet then the safety of the people who buy their products.
We are Ford nuts to the core. We own a 1969 XW Fairmont, 1970 GTHO Phase II Falcon and a 1978 Cobra. Never had any dramas. I will not be purchasing a new Ford ever again. PLEASE FORD GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS.
Ford Falcons are really good cars. If that ever happened it only happened to those Falcons which were driver really hard and abused. After all not many people take care of their cars, they treat them as rubbish. I own a BA XT it has 492000km and still like new and can quite easily match a brand new SV6 0-100km/h and lose it 120-200km/h with ease with 500000km on clock.
not to mention that a stock 4.0L BA XT makes 188-192kW on premium and 402Nm-405Nm depending on the weather. Interesting that’s just 7Nm short of FG on premium, yet still the same engine, like 98%.
What ever the problem do NOT go to City Ford. These fellas will do anthing to avoid working. The amount of bs explanations I’ve had from those guys is unbelievable.
Today in the middle of an intersection in front of a police car with my family in car the brakes failed on me with no warning, it turned out to be the rear left brake line split open. We have not long finished an 8000km trip around NSW and am glad it happened back home and only doing 20km per hour. This incident made me google to see if problem has happened and it is dissappointing being a die hard Ford falcon owner all my life to see that this is a common problem and no notification from Ford that this risk is there.
ps. my BA has the steering shudder too while turning the steering at low revs or stationary, any idea of problem?
Hi ,Ive got a 2003 ba and i have it booked into a Ford dealership to get the rear brake hoses replaced for free after i told them that i had heard reports of rear brake hose failure,luckily i havnt experienced any problems at all with brakes yet but im not waiting until i do,car has only done about 104 K kilometres .Thank goodness there are forums like this around,and that people take the time to send messages in to help others out there.Im NOT a mechanic but i feel that if the brake fluid reservoir had two compartments,front and rear brakes like the older cars then it would be impossible to have total brake failure if one hose burst.Dont worry if the ABS light doesnt come on,All ABS means is that wheels SHOULDNT lock up under braking,nothing to do with brake fluid .Also has any one had trouble with front brake hoses ,im wondering if i should tell fords to change them at the same time,THANKS.
I have owned a few FORD’s in my time and am on to my 2nd BA Series 1 vehicle – the first a BA Fairmont and now a BA Fairmont GHIA. Both cars have had 120,000 kms and have been problem free. Currently my Fairmont GHIA is starting to concern me; 1. the ABS and TRACTION CTRL indicator lights appear simultaneously occasionally – when the car is restarted the lights disappear, 2. At slow speeds (under 10km) I get an odd mechanical movement in the pedals and with the movement a weird sound. I’m unsure if it has to do with the “alleged” brake failure or the electronic pedal system. Has anybody experienced this before?? Although, it does cause concern after reading the posts on the site, I have no real issues and find the BA series to be a reliable car.
Richard,
Brake hose problems do not include ABS fitted cars.
Ford have replaced the rear brakes in our BA Falcon. The shuttering in the steering at low speeds turning corners is a common problem according to the mechanic at our local Ford dearlership. Apparently it is air in the power steering hose. As the car was under warranty we insisted that the power steering hose be replaced. This has been done and no more shuttering.
BA FALCONS,which have the rear brake hose problems ARE ALL ABS FITTED CARS .
Hi/ Has anyone fitted lpg to a standard Ba FALCON? and had any problems,im refering to non egas models.I am aware that ford has a dedicated factory e gas model/runs on lpg only,and apparently has the head set up for lpg,or a different type.I have spoken to mechanics and RAA who are non biased and a couple of lpg installers,and cylinder head reconditioners who have advised me against converting my standard petrol ba to dual fuel as they have all said that a lot have come back with expensive head repairs needed.Apparently head problems happen with non egas heads.Any thoughts if running a flash lube oil system might help,and i dont want to take my existing head off the car just yet to modify it for running lpg as there are no problems with it.
has anyone else heard the same thing?,or have some fitted lpg without any problems! and yes i am aware that dual fuel vehicles need some running time on petrol to give some lubrication.Any thoughts would be great,thanks.
Hi/I am a Ford mechanic and basically a non dedicated lpg BA-BF falcon has different conrods which are not made to resist bending if lpg backfires. In an LPG BA-BF Falcon there are tougher conrods If yo want to convert to LPG make sure your car is fitted with either a Vapour Injection or liquid injected Gas Conversion where there is no risk of backfiring.The cylinder heads on Dedicated Gas and Petrol engines are exactly the same as all the valves and valve seats are hardened. Falcons run beautifully on lpg and providing you get a reputibile lpg installer like Parnells or EZY Gas you wont have any drams. A flashlube bottle never does any harm so insist on its inclusion in the price.
hi chris,june 15 threply
thanks for your reply and information on ba lpg,it is greatly appreciated and has given me usefull information,cheers michael
Michael W;
I have a ULP Ba Xt 2003 sedan, purchased Dec 2006, had gas fitted the same month. Initialy, it was stalling and running roughly when I stopped, ie at traffic lights. I took it back twice and explained the problem to the people who fitted the Gas. They fiddled round with the mixture or somthing (i am NOT a mechanic), and said my car was a little more hungry for the gas than most they see. I said I dont care if it uses more gas, just get it right and fix it! They did fix it, and she runs like a dream ever since. Ive been from Victria to Wa and back, then up north coast Qld with her and I have not had any problems with the gas at all.
Im here as I found my faulty rear brake hose with receipt whilst cleaning out my Ba today.
In Aug 2007 my brakes failed, my rear brake hose split and leaked out, I was returning from the airport at the time, and so took my car into the nearest place I could find, as I had 130km to travel back home. It was a Jax quickfit center. They found the problem and replaced the hose promptly so i could continue my drive home with my 3 children in safety. It cost $257, and the guy there said to keep my receipt and damaged hose as he had heard ford were going to do a recal on them shortly.
I went to my local ford dealer today, he simply said, Bad Luck, you should have taken the car to a Ford service center, they may have repaired it for nothing.!
I was annoyed, but its typical ford bull,.. they are happy to charge like a wounded bull for repairs & servicing, but dont expect them to honor a repair for somthing that was there fault in the first place.
A Disgusted ford owner, considering jumping the fence and buying a Holden now ;-) lol
Richard i have a series 1 fairmont ghia and to start with my air bag light would come on took it to the dealer they could not find a fault but a week later my abs and traction control light started coming on as well the car has done over 200,000km so looks like i will have to get another fault fixed
Michael W ,
Hi Danielle,thanks for your feedback,its good to hear more positive feedback about ba cars on lpg,i have had lpg fitted to three of my previous cars/all diferent makes,and ofcourse i would like to put my ba on gas too and enjoy some fuel saving costs,and hope you dont have to jump the fence,HAPPY MOTORING !.
Hi
My name is Leonie and a loyal Ford owner.
I also am sick of the brakes and disc noise on my BA XT 03.
What can you do to stop this?
I am a my wits end at the moment due to never ending problems with the central locking and boot latch. I have had the boot latch replaced, a new thingy in the drivers side front door along with two new door clickers. It is booked in again for another boot latch as the one replaced was wrongly sent by Torque Ford saying that it would fit. It is costing me a fortune and no body knows how to fix it.
Has anyone out there had the same problems and if so what have you done to fix it?
Frustrated but loyal
I have also had my BA XT 03 fitted to gas and it was the best decision I made. Becareful with brands and installers though. Do your homework. The best here in Brisbane I think is Metropolitan Gas at Albion. All of our vehicles here at work are fitted and serviced through them aswell.
Had my 2003 BA wagon converted to Tartarini vapour gas injection 2 years ago, already saved enough on fuel to pay the extra it cost above normal systems. Runs like a dream and no problems. It’s dual fuel and the gas kicks in automatically when the engine reaches a certain temperature, usually after about 1 min, 2 in winter, so no chance of backfiring, and it never has. No brake problems, apart from the shuddering at high speeds due to soft discs. Yes, my bonnet latch carked it a month ago, but seems pretty good it lasted this long. No probs so far, but apparantly the auto transmission will cark it at about 150,000km, according to the nrma. Still have 25,000 km to go. Can’t wait!
2 Cars in 2 weeks, have had complete brake failure….. the first my Falcon Wagon (2004) while I was carrying other peoples children in the car, luckily traffic light, manage to keep control, but the Fairlane just this morning…. thinking myself very very lucky as just last night I was travelling from Melbourne to Ballarat (110kms). I immediately went straight to our local Ford Dealer, who basicaly tried to treat me like an idiot. With the wagon, another mechanic had told me that only sedans were recalled (so i paid full replacement costs), but our Ford Dealer today dismissed anything I was saying! This is disgusting, Shame on you FORD for not looking after your loyal customers. Imagine If I had to brake suddenly last night behind a truck with my children in the car!!! Probably looking to Holden for my next car
Hi Ayman,
I suffered a loss of pressureso I pumped the brakes till pressure came back, however it kept departing. The problem is the rear lines terminate in rubber reinforced type hoses and one decided to leak. I have now had them replaced with shielded metal hoses, which are guaranteed never to fail. I will replace the front with the same at the next service. Ford was unable to provide replacements as I assume so many are being replaced at this time. I will be sending this onto Fair Trading and ask for an investigation and perhaps a recall and those who have had repairs made to be compensated. My concern is had it ruptured we all may have been living with our maker as I tow a caravan and will be next week.
Regards,
Michael.
For those who are suffering form broken brake hose and need to replace it, you might want to take a look at this do-it-yourself site which teaches brake hose replacement.
ema> Thanks for the heads up! I contacted my local ford dealership and explained my sudden loss of brakes while driving, and they were very unhelpful! Did warn me it was likely i would have to pay for the repairs. Hmmm love the help page tho! :)
yesterday i was picking up the papers for my shop and when i drive off tried to slow down but the brakes pedal gone all the way to the floor, i was terrified and couldn’t stop the car, lucky it was early and no one yet at streets driving, i drove my car few streets until i was able to stop it in the parking using semi-automatic gear box to reduce speed and pushed it at a concrete step until it stopped.
i thought what if my wife and my son were in the car when this happened? as my wife was going in the same day to CRAIGIEBURN through the hwy. stupid ford.
Hi Ayman,
I suffered a similar problem, no pressure, I pumped the brakes till pressure came back, however it kept departing. The problem is the rear lines terminate in a rubber reinforced type hoses and this decided to leak. I have now had them replaced with shielded metal hoses, which are guaranteed never to fail. I will replace the front with the same at the next service. Ford was unable to provide replacements as I assume so many are being replaced at this time. I will be sending this onto Fair Trading and ask for an investigation and perhaps a recall and those who have had repairs made to be compensated. My concern is had it ruptured we all may have been living with our maker as I tow a caravan and will be next week.
Regards,
Michael.
I have owned a ford ba xr6 2003 since new the brakes have complety failed twice once in 2006 and again in 2010 both in the driveway at slow speed. I have never had this problem before with any other cars I have owned which have been mostly fords.THis is an on going safety problem but ford doesn’t seem to be taking it seriously and people will have to think twice before buying these cars.
Regards
Steve
Just checked back through the blogs to see when I had the rear brake line go – July 2007 and today, the front passenger side.
Still waiting to hear from the mechanic as to the cause – but to happen TWICE with a mechanically sound and regularly serviced vehicle – it just shouldn’t happen.
Once again, no warning – no dashboard lights, no brake fade beforehand, just a pedal to the floor and a handbrake and gear lever (auto) stop to avoid hitting anything.
What’s going on FORD?
My brake failure was also the front but it did cause an accident. After perhaps 100 stops in my BA Fairmont Ghia in very heavy traffic on January 13 the pedal went straight to the floor and I hit the car in front at 15kph. Nothing I could do. No warning. No brake fade. The front right brake line ruptured. The car had to be towed and the brake place said they had seen it happen before. I bought the car from the local Ford dealer and have always had it serviced there. Four days before they replaced the front right wheel bearings – coincidence? They didn’t want to know me when I took it back after the repair. Guess I’ll ring Ford Australia. Will anything happen?
Haven’t had any dramas with the brakes yet! but has anyone had any problems with the paint on their BA’s with flaking and peeling?
We have an 04 futura wagon, winter white. Some paint started peeling off during washing over a year ago on the tailgate and on the inside of the tailgate on the main body of the car. We had an extended warranty. We took it to the ford dealer and they sent it to their paint shop and told us that it must have been a respray coming off.
To their surprise the shop said that it was consistant to the same problem they are having with shockwave blue.
The dealer sent off the report and ford and they made contact back saying that the warranty did not include paint and that they couldn’t do anything for us.
Great! We have been chewing over it and refuse to just do a dodgy paint job to off load it to the next mug.
I can’t see how it is not fords problem regardless of warranty if it is a problem they know about.
Finally saw a BA on the hoist with a busted right rear brake line at my mechanics workshop. BTW the replacement line was a much better unit.
Lucky nobody died my mechanic said…
Last Saturday (13/2/10) I drove my BA Falcon on some last minute errands before leaving on the Sunday to tow my boat 200 ks to Yorke Peninsular. After one stop for a short time the next time I braked the pedal went nearly to the floor pressure could be pumped up but lost pressure rapidly. RAA called and diagnosed a ruptured r/h rear brake hose. Hose had split at the metal support. No warning at all. Could have been fatal with ton and a half of boat behind at 90kliks. Cost 300bucks to fix. Apparently fairly common. No warning from Ford to have hoses inspected or replaced. Hose apparently too short for the amount of movement of suspension. Good stuff Ford this is even worse than the engine cutting out leaving the driver without effective steering or brakes. I think a Jap car next time.
i have a 2002 BA XT wagon, recently completely converted to a BA-GT type of a car, it has new brakes, front 6 spot , rear 4 spot, new diff LSD with 4.11 ratios. It has a supercharged Boss 302 engine cammed, fully worked with 394rwkW.
Interior has been completely transplanted from a donor Cobra GT 2007 and the custom rear seats and rear end were done by specialists to make it look like front interior of the car.
The car now is the fastest wagon in Australia, with 468 flywheel kW and over 1400Nm of torque. , looks like a GT-P “BFII GT-P” , but its basically a wagon, custom car!
the only bad thing is the rear axle not being IRS, but its all good for 9.1s quarter mile and 3.8s 0-100km/h times! or 120km/h in 1st gear!
I own a Ford Futura 2003.
I had a similar problem with the brakes. Yesterday, after driving about 80km, I realised my brakes act funny. Initially I thought that the servo system died on the car (I don’t even know if there is a servo brake, I suppose there is), because the brake was very soft, but seems to work if I pressed the pedal close to the floor. After I stopped the car, I checked the brake fluid (level was ok, but fluid was very dirty). Under the front wheels (center of the car) there was some leakage, I think it was break fluid. The lights in the car didn’t warn of any problems with the brake system!
With the car stationary, I was able to press the brake pedal all the way to the floor. I returned after a few hours, and the pedal started working again. I was able to get home, but I was checking all the time if the brake system works fine.
I will contact Ford in Sydney, to see if the repair will be charged or not.
I find it incredulous that if what I’m reading is true, that Ford hasn’t had a class action taken against them. I’d be screaming in fury if my new car brakes failed. Are everybody wusses? I have had Fords non stop since 1967 and never had a brake leak.
Ralph Nader got Corvair closed down in the 70s because of their handling. Folks, You have to drive everybody mad to get results. maybe the great Australian apathy.
HI
I am having endless dramas with my BA 2003 current fault when slowing down form about 20 – 0klms there is an intermittent loud clunking noise a softening of the brake petal and it wants to turn the steering wheel right when it is really bad the ABS light will come on or even just driving it the abs light comes on. Any suggestions to what could be causing this???
HI I have the same issue with my 2003 BA XR8. I had it plugged in to the diagostic machine and its an ABS problem with the front left speed sensor on mine, it is getting extreemely bad now. just reversing down my drive way it plays up and goes into fault. Getting it serviced next week and sensonr replaced.Hopefully it will resolve it all,