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pic of my ute's switches. one is of the switch, the other is from a distance so u can see the dash and get an idea of how they look

ok all you melbourne guys & girls. I finally got around to doing my ute, so I will post you some pics tonight. Am waiting until it gets dark. Just so you know I went about it slightly different to what I had seen in this forum. I basically soldered a resistor to each led & mounted 2 per switch on the pcb using all smd components. They are powered from the supply the switches run off so are on when ever the switches are active. I dont see a problem as leds last for probably longer than the car will! Also during the day you dont even see them, at night they are good, will take some pics to show you guys. only did drivers door, but passenger door will be easier & can use one resitor for to leds. anyways anyone interested let me know, I have to work out how much I want to do this job, it took a little longer than expected

I was going to do mine this weekend but unfortuneatly I have just found out I have to go to a christening so I probably wont get around to it. But I promise I will be doing it for sure, most likely one night next week or the weekend after next. Will let you know how I go, have done similar mods/repairs many times before, o I will probably tackle it in my spare time at work before the weekend anyways, will let you know how I go & provide some pics also.

for you melbourne people out ther I am in melbourne & own an xrt ute & am going to fit blue leds to mine in the next weeks or so(when I get time) The reason for my post is I have had some apart already & am not thinking I am going to have too much difficulty & will be happy to help you guys in the future. especially since I will use mine to experiment on. After that if I am successful I will be happy to helo any of you guys. I should also point out I am a qualified auto electrician. The main reason for my post, is I am wondering if I should buy extra leds & resistors? let me know if u guys are still interested

people like the paint doctor, chipmasters or other such repairers to an excellent job repairing chips, bumps & scratches. there are heaps of them in the yellow pages & most will give you a no obligation opinion on the results they expect, well worth the time to try first I think

is definately not temp or fuel related. I optimax 99% of the time but sometimes use bp ultimate when I have to. doesnt matter whether it is day, night, hot or cold, just has good & bad days. As far as taking it to an auto elec, I am one by trade, was just hoping for a head start before I dive in, just ahvent got around to it yet

there have been quite a few posts about this but it is not only turbos that have the problem. lots of the fords I service have broken caps, mostly after ef I notice it

I have what I think is an odd problme with my t. It is stock with no mods but sometimes she just doesnt perform like she uaually does. Definately has its good & bad days. Is not temp related but it feels like sometimes the turbo just isnt winding up the pressure where as sometimes you can realy feel the boost. No missing or anything like that, just sometimes lacks that boost/surge when the revs get up a little. Was thinking along the lines of a leaking from a BOV or wastgate, but coulnt imagine this happeneing intermittently. was hoping someone has some ideas, havent had a chance to speak to a dealer, but it has pretty much done it since new & I have done nearly 20,000km, car is also an auto

my ute also has a diff whine at about 80-100kmh. It seems worse at light load, when I accel, it sorta goes away & when I throttle if it goes away a little too. something that is wierd though, there is a particualr patch of road on the freeway I go down that is made of different material & the whine gets a lot worse there which would normally indicate to me that tyre noise was the fault, but I dont think this is the case. Sounds very much like a diff when load is a factor. Also, you guys should have a look in the manual, do you know that if driven at constant hihgh speed driving, oyu need to change your diff oil every 7,500km! what a load of crap that is! Also should be noted that the SAF-XA spec oil is aroun 20 bucks a litre & the sturaco additive they recomend is not available though ford dealers-service department can get it but spares cant! Something wierd there me thinks. and on a final note, does this fault seem to be specific to utes or are there sedans that get it as well. If it is a ute problem, I would assume the diffs are the same for sedans, maybe its juts a lack of deadening in our trays & that's why we hear it more? just a thought

another idea guys, take a digital photo of the sticker while it is in good shape, makes a suspicious buyer slightly more likely to believe you especiallt if the date & stuff is on the photo. I know easy to sam this, but I am goona do it just in case

I have fitted a few reverse sensors through my work, but noe to a BA ute yet. They do work fin & I see no problmes with fitting any of the universal types, however, had a quick look under mine the other day & doesnt seem to be a lot of room behind the rear bar, will havea better look soon & will probably install them on my own car when I get around to it.

I recently heard about some portable satnav systems, they are small unit(the size of a palm pilot or something) that you can mount in your car & function as a full sat nav system. They are transferable so you can use them in a few cars. What I want to know is if anyone would be interested in them, I was thinking of buying some to sell but is a fairly large initial investment so I want to guage people's interest. There is even one that runs of an exsisting bluetooth enabled palm pilot. I know of the esitmated retail prices that have been recomended but will not include them at this point incase the mods dont like it. This is a simple to use alternative to playing with the ICC & works basically them same if not better.

we get ours from a snap on truck that visits my shop once per week, if you call snap on they will arrange a truck to visit although lots of the drivers are reluctant to go off theor run for a small sale. The other alternative is to go to the snap on website & order online

yep you are right, clean phantom always looks good. Its just you can never keep it clean!

he goes in the other car!! has been in the T a few times, but I dont let him in there often

hey, XRDREAMING, what is your rego? Is it sfp 033? if so I saw you driving down plenty road the other night, I live just off there.

it is quite easy to wire in an after market window raiser module, even though I know that's not what you guys are talking about specifically. The auto winder module can be set up to wind up all windows when the doors are locked. It could also be wired in to do the oppsite-open them when unlocked, but would be a pain when raining. Mine is set up so if the doors are locked & the key is not in the ignition position the windows lock, so it is auto window up by remote or key lock.

I have a DEC '03 ute with nearly 13,000km on it, no sign of brake shudder. I have hear that we got the newer desgined calipers, but am not certain, all I know is I have no shudder & hope it stays that way, 'cos to me, machining discs is not a fix, it is a quick patch that will cost us money in the long run.

I actually heard the opposite, that it would be manual only. I was looknig to buy one if I could turn over for a reasonable amount, but wasnt really interested if it was manual only.

I have to say, a dog's enviroment & nature in combination are the main factor. My boy bronson is a big dog, part staffy, blue healer & something or other, I dont know he is a real mutt. I big fella too at nearl 50 kg & a head like a pit bull, he scares many people with the way he looks. With that in mind he is the biggest softy. We have let our nephew play with him since he was old enough to walk. The nephew used to pull his ears, hop on his back for a ride & many other things you probably should not do to a dog, yet brons didn't mind. On the other hand I have seen him be provocted by another dog(a young rotty) and bronson nearly tore him to shreads, but I must stress the other dog was annoying the sh*t out of him by biting him & it took a few goes to piss brons off enough to fire him up. He actually used to share his kennel with a cat when he was younger and even during this time would still chase cats, but I never saw him catch one. He can be scary & aggressive but by nature is the nicest dog I have ever known, to the point people actually tell me if I ever dont want him they would love to have him. The point of the story is different situation bring different responses in both people & animals. The way they ar borught up is a big factor & I think people that deliberately try to get the pets to be agro are stupid, they are missing the point of having a pet. It is always the ownwer responsibilty to control their pet, but the cats & dogs fight has & will continue forever. Would you put your cat down for killing someone's pet budgie? I dont think so, it is not a violent act by the cat, is it natural instinct that can be affected but not changed. what I think is more an issue is how did the dog get out, once it is out, it is all excited & the cat was just unlucky, while I am sorry to hear what happened to your cat, it is a long way away from attacking a child. I trust my dog completely with children that play with him but I know he would attack someone that entered my backyard through the back gate, bt that's why I have a dog, protects my back yard. I know this is longwinded & will get a few replies that do not agree but I love my dog & have brought him up well.

they are just standard plugs that you can but from autobarn, k-mart, etc. I think Narva make 'em

just in regards to the post about sikaflexing it in there: be careful if you use adhesives around the engine bay. Any silicone based product(mote than you would think) can damage the O2 sensor. Even the fumes can be harmful, so keep them out of the engine bay, this includes many silastics & adhesive unless marke oxygen sensor safe.

another important thing to mention: when the ICC comes out, the plugs at the back sort of release. Make sure they are fully released & open before you refit the ICC or they will get broken when you push it back & then you car wont go!! one question though, why pull out the ICC, the plugs for the mobile phone kit are behind the fuse box!

is actually pretty easy, remove the top cover where the fairmont has clock. you do this by clipping it up from the very front of the panel then you remove the side panels so you can get the part out where the tissues are. the ICC has about 6 8mm head bolts that hold it in, then it just pulls straight back. IMPORTANT NOTE! do not tip ICC over or upside down or it will fall apart inside! if you need further details, let me know & I will type a more detailed explanation

dont stress about removing the covers & making the wheel fuse on. At my shop, we often find alloy wheels stuck to the hub. I think it is mainly because of the disimilar metals & rust developing. Anti-sieze definately helps, we just emery thu hubs a little before the go back on, ubt quite often, even with anti sieze they are stuck on again during next service. Another problme, is the open styl wheels. Mechanics dont have to take wheels of to check pads anymore, so often the wheels stick on because they dont get removed as often. One thing to note though: we were working on a new porsche the other day that had pretty big wheels-I think 18 or 19s. very open styl wheel & one thing that really stood out was that the brake bleeder was really exposed through the wheels, would be easy to open the bleeder & cause dramas without even taking the wheel off, the black covers would prevent this. anyway, just my 2 cents worth.