Ford Falcon Gearbox & Transmission Problems

We'd like to think that our cars would last longer and not give us trouble, but the reality is quite different to that. The ZF 6-speed gearbox is a troublesome one that can fail, as yours appears to have done. But as Ford has pointed out to you your Territory is out of warranty, although that doesn't end Ford's responsibility to back the product. You could pursue a full payment for replacing the transmission from Ford, but I doubt you would have any success. Should you choose to do that contact your state Consumer Affairs people in Perth for advice and support. But in my view your best course of action would be to accept Ford's offer of part payment.

We have asked Ford for an outlook on the availability of your diff, but so far haven't had a reply. If the diff is being done under warranty then wait it out, but if it's not and you're going to be charged for the diff I would take the car to a diff specialist and have them fix it.

There have been changes made to the design of the oil cooler and claims that the problem has been fixed, but it’s an on-going issue that should have been properly addressed a long time ago. Recalls are made where the safety of a vehicle is affected; they aren’t done for design faults that don’t impact on a car’s safety. That said, Ford should have fixed the problem and updated cars, so owners don’t have to face expensive repair bills. Call Ford’s customer assistance people and lodge a claim with them for the repairs to be covered under a goodwill payment. You could also contact the consumer affairs people in the ACT to get their advice on what action you could take.

As you say this is a known and well-documented problem, one you would hope Ford takes responsibility for. I'm not aware of any class action being taken by owners against Ford over the matter, you are doing the right thing by going to fair trading/small claims for a resolution.

Ford has a column change available as a not-cost option on its ute, but none of its passenger cars.

It's probably a leaking seal, but you have to first determine where the leak is coming from. The best course is to locate the source of the leak and replace it, but there are additives available that claim to recondition seals and stop leaks. You should be able to find them at your local automotive store.

Talk to the dealer about recalibrating the transmission to avoid the problem. They should have a fix for it.

You've done the things that would normally be done when a car comes in with this sort of complaint, that is servicing the transmission and installing a new 2-3 shift solenoid. If that hasn't fixed it the next step would be to delve inside and rebuild it. It's unlikely to be a computer glitch, but perhaps the error code could help tell you what the issue is.

You would seem to have a good case for full compensation and should take it further. It seems there are still problems with the auto transmission cooler and we're now starting to hear more about it.

It was thought that the revised cooler design had fixed the problem, and that was backed up by a lack of reports of failed coolers for a long time, but more recently we have been getting reports of coolers failing and damaging the transmission. That would suggest the problem hasn't been fixed. It's worth considering fitting an external cooler.