cmdwedge

No unfortunately, I have another iPod mini though (my partner's) which I will try out. I have actually had a 3.5mm cable running from the Aux jack for 14 months now (since the day I bought it) without removing it ever - so I don't know how I would have worn the jack out! My dealer is now calling Ford to confirm that it's a stereo input on the Aux connector.. oh man! Had a last sort of resort possibility - that the iPod was clipping sound at extreme volume levels, so I just plugged it into a pair of little powered PC desktop speakers, wound the iPod up to full, and played the song. And sure enough, the guitar was there in the right hand channel. There's no question that it's something to do with the Aux jack, the wiring between the Aux and ICC, or the ICC itself (as the original CD's play fine - it's not the speakers). And they're screwing me around on the phone over a $5 part!

Hi all, Just took my car to Ford again this morning for a handful of little issues. The main one was picked up on the way from Melbourne to Canberra. I was listening to Powderfinger's 'Vulture Street' through the iPod into the Ford Aux connector (all factory fitted). And a few tracks sounded weird.. particularly track 7 'Stumblin' (you might know the song from the ad with the AU Falcon slamming into a car if you're in Vic). Anyway, in the first 30 seconds of the song, there is a big guitar riff which is only from the right hand channel. Playing it on the ICC, I was thinking 'this sounds weird.. isn't there a guitar there?'. So I unplugged the iPod, and plugged in my earphones.. sure enough, guitar through the right hand channel. Back into the ICC, no guitar (just drums from the left channel). Weird! This weekend, I popped in the original CD of Vulture Street, played track 7, and the guitar is there. So I took it to Ford this morning, they ring back and say 'oh, to use an iPod through the Aux connector, you need to set your iPod to mono'. Problem 1: bullsh*t, this isn't the 70's and I'm not using mono sound. Problem 2: there is no mono setting on the iPod. So now I'm stuck.. off to do my own research to find out what's wrong. I changed over the 3.5mm cable between the iPod and the Aux jack (the one I've had under the tissue box has been working fine for a year), but exactly the same sound comes out (no guitar in the right channel). I'm at a bit of a loss! 13FORD were no help, the girl said that they were not technical in any way and I would have to go through the dealer. Surprise. Anyone had any issues with sound running from an iPod (aside from the usual need to crack the iPod to maximum!!). Thanks guys! wedge

I have a mate with a VY SS ute too and he has only had the one problem with it - steering knock like the Fords get. Oh, and one other problem he has - he keeps getting booked for speeding. Another mate has a VX SS sedan and has had nothing but trouble - has had it for six months or so and it has been in the workshop (140km away from his home) at least half it's life - NOT a happy camper. I don't know what dealer in Canberra you have been using - have you tried MS700's place of employ? They were doing a good job of working through Cro's problems with his previous T - and there were plenty of 'em! Alternatively if you are willing to drive to the eastern suburbs of Canberra I can introduce you personally to my service guys. It may be a 145 km drive but, just getting to drive up and down the Clyde makes it worthwhile, and if you can get some of your probs fixed that a bonus eh <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Do you know who MS700 works for? Perhaps PM the details if we cannot say in the thread. And by 'Canberra's Eastern suburbs' do you mean Bateman's Bay? I would seriously be happy to drive down the Clyde early one weekday morning if it meant that I would have a working car again!

Dare I say it - my mate has a VY SS ute, and I love it. I'm not a Ford-guy or Holden-guy. But he never has anything to complain about with it, it just starts and goes like it should each and every day; and he really boots it around sometimes (I treat my car with a lot of due care!). Is there a decent service department near Canberra? I don't know of one within the borders. I may need to drive out to Sydney one day maybe.

Hi Rota.. On point one - I can see where you're coming from. However, for the first 6 months of owning the car, I kept telling my mates and girlfriend that it was just 'new car blues' and everything would eventually get sorted out. My brother hopped in the car the other day and immediately said 'diff sounds loud again'. Ford service agrees. I actually said, upon hearing that it would be 8-10 weeks to replace, that 'at least the car's still drivable'. Then the service manager said 'yeah, but it's going to get worse until it gets replaced'. I'm not a whinger, honestly. I try to save up a bunch of problems before taking it in for warranty work, rather than for one thing each time. The steering really has been shuddering for 9-12 months. Everyone who hops into my car can feel it when we park the car. This coming diff will be #3 - Ford wouldn't have replaced the 1st one if I was just being pedantic. It was really genuinely noisy (many other forum members have the same problem). The handbrake could be heard from a mile away when it started scraping away, and it's now backed off to the point that if I put the car on even a slight incline, put it in park, pull on the handbrake to the full extent that I can, then drop it back into neutral, the car will roll. I'm really believing that the warranty work just isn't paying for their supper and that my car is always last priority. In the last two days, they have replaced the handbrake cover and little all else, despite having it for approx 16 working hours. Grr.

Looks like I forgot to mention that the quoted turnaround for a new diff (#3) is 8-10 weeks. Beauty. I guess I can just keep inching the volume on the stereo up each day to drown out the sound. What number does it go up to? I figure that that's the number of days I have before the new diff arrives (or my eardrums explode). There are only 2 dealers in Canberra, and 4 service places. I'm taking it to the one recommended by a certain old-time FXR6T.com board member, he swears by them. And it's hopeless. Best service I ever got was in Frankston, Victoria. When I drove down to see the family and the handbrake shat itself down there. Took 3 hours and fixed the problem for 4500km (best record ever).

Hi all, Well I've had my T for about 13 months now. I will try and give you a quick rundown of the problems I've had. Handbrake scraping (6 times). Backed off to the point that it now doesn't hold the car much at all. At least it stopped scraping. Diff whine at 95km/h. I'm on my 2nd diff now, just got told by my dealer last week that I will need another one again (about 6 months later). It's now whining from 30km/h to 75km/h, and gets louder each day. Wind noise - dealer adjusted doors 4 times before conceding defeat (each time, doors were out of alignment by 3/4 of an inch). Had to take it to their panel shop, and it was fixed. Radiator died somewhere in the last 4000km. During the warranty work last week, dealer reported that the radiator had spat a load of coolant out. No damage to radiator though, replaced under warranty. Shuddering steering at low speed. Reported it about 6 times, never fixed. Still ongoing. Steering clunk going from lock to lock, across the centrepoint (where the wheels sit straight again). Air bubble in the gearshift surround. Replaced last week, then took a chunk out of the scuff plate with a screwdriver on the driver's side. (Replaced under warranty). Overboost, fixed with reflash. Metallic 'jingling' sound in engine bay from day one. I suspect a dodgy alternator, but I'm no mechanic (hell, neither is my dealer). Sounds like it's from that area. And it just goes on. Last week, dealer had my car 3/5 days. Asked them to fix metallic jingling sound, air bubble in gearshift surround, rattling heat shield, steering shudder. Got it back on Friday, rattle still there, though they replaced a pulley and my radiator. Scuff plate damaged. Since pulley replacement, on cold mornings, car sounds like a 1980 Corolla with a bad fan belt, but after 20 minutes that sound goes away. This week, they're going for 4/4 (just rang them, they need it for another day). They replaced my scuff plate on Tuesday, and for some reason, when replacing the centre console gearshift surround, the handbrake popped out of the centre console. I can see the guts of the console quite easily, brake lowered or raised. Dealer agreed on Friday that it was rooted, so I brought it in on Tuesday. Picked up Tuesday night. 'We fixed it'. Hopped into car, and it was basically untouched. Walked back in, Service Manager comes out, says 'we tried everything', hops into my car and says 'yeah, that's not right'. We look at a bunch of other BA's, they're all OK (handbrake cover sits INSIDE console, no gap). Agrees to fix on Wednesday, I say 'keep it till Thursday so you can fire it up first thing in the morning while it's cold'. I rang them today, they had tried a new handbrake cover, didn't work. That's about it. In 2 days, they replaced my handbrake cover and not much else. I'm over it. This car is a lemon, it'll never be fixed. I'm tired of Canberra dealers and I'm tired of Canberra Ford service. I've put up with this piece of crap for long enough. Unfortunately, a 3 year lease means that I'm stuck with it. Let's pray that it's stolen or some grandma writes it off for me. I hate this car.

Raced my mate's VY SS ute (manual) against my XR6 Turbo (automagic). He couldn't keep the rear end down, it started fishtailing like crazy, and then the boost kicked in on the XR and the race was over. Had a P plater in a little Colt race up to wave to me, and give me the thumbs up, which was very cool.

My heart leaped into my throat when I saw that pick. My HgAg beast is in a carpark right now (parked away from all the other cars, of course). It was in Woden? I haven't been to Woden in about 2 months, so it wasn't me. Whew!

Dear god, no. I think we need to see it in the context of the whole car though, not just a close up.