4th Oct 2001, 05:34

We bought a 1994 ED Falcon Wagon in 1996. It had only 61,000 K'S on the clock. Was a great car, towed our two boats (one at a time of course!) effortlessly.

At around 130,00o K's:

1: Head gasket

2: Shocks front/rear

3: Battery, 2 in a year (not Ford's fault). Radio? What the?

Other than that a bloody good car. Will keep it forever!

11th Nov 2001, 19:17

Bought 94? ED Futura Wagon ex Govt auction. had 38,000k approx.

Problems big and small to-date

- Replaced the head gasket under warranty (known design problem?)

- Radio face came loose, minor annoyance.

- Rear section of the exhaust rotted.. too many short trips.

- Chops front tyres out quickly - another known problem, upgraded the front suspension with after market kit, brand name forgotten.

- Driver's door does not seal/fit well, excessive wind noise. It was frozen shut in snow and I twisted the door or mounts when I pulled it open... Repair shop suggested another known problem area of this car... doors sag and twist

- Hand brake cable failed.

- Remote boot release sometimes fails. I hate intermitt electric problems.

- High bean relay failed... got water in it

- Replaced leaking tail shaft oil seal (yet another known design problem?)

- A driver's seat mount (1 of 4) failed (my big fat rear end my own personal design problem??)

- Idler pulley in the aircon drive belt failed... and

- Most recently blew something out in the auto gearbox. In the shop as I write. More $$. Goes OK in forward gears, in reverse oil spews out all over underside of car and hot exhaust.. big mess...but no rust.. mixed blessing? Made for an interesting 300klm drive home after a weekend away.

Having said all above it has pulled boats, over loaded box trailers and a caravan 1/2 way round Australia... now has 190,000 klm, has been cheap/simple to service and gives reasonable fuel use. Offers reasonable comfort, is reliable, even dull. An OK transport.

I do love the cruise control, will insist on CC in any future cars.

I don't understand how car makers keep building cars with simple design flaws.

7th May 2002, 00:14

Bought a '94 Model ED Falcon GLi, Brilliant vehicle so far lasted 8 years... touch wood with only very minor problems.

In the last 280,000 km only replaced;

Intermediate Muffler

ABS Module

Also had minor problems with remote central locking and service items...break pads filters etc

4.0 L six pulls large boats extremely well (we brought three tonnes worth of boat from Broome in far north WA to Sydney, only about 5000Km no worries.)

12th May 2002, 21:55

We have had the ED Falcon Futura since 1994, and as yet we have had no major problems with the car infact it would have to be the most reliable car we have ever owned.

The only problems we have had are that there is a lot of road noise after you hit 110km/h on the freeways, and that the "smart lock mechanism" rarely immobilises the engine.

Otherwise the car has a lot of power to back it up! also very comfortable!

Five stars ford well done.

13th May 2002, 19:10

Just bought my ED Futura, so far so good, definite improvement over the dirty old XF I had, 265,000 clicks and still runs like a new car.

Front brake caliper sticking, hopefully get that fixed this weekend.

But for NZ$7,500 very happy with it.

3rd Sep 2002, 09:11

I bought my ED GLi 5 speed manual sedan in November 2000 with 108,000km. Now has 175,000km and is still going strong.

Problems:

- Leaking extension housing seal - replaced

- Chewing front tyres - camber kit installed

- Worn bearing retainer at the front of the gearbox causing a very heavy clutch, in turn cracking the firewall, in turn snapping the clutch pedal pivot bolt - welded crack and pivot bolt and replaced bearing retainer

- hole in centre muffler - yet to be fixed

- worn shockies - replaced

- broken coil (don't know what happened there) - replaced

- power steering pulley noisy - replaced

- backlash in diff (due to my driving style) - still there.

Sounds like a lot, but I fixed it all myself so it cost very little. I'm very happy with it and it still gets 11.5L/km when I get stuck into it!

Nick.

7th Apr 2005, 03:57

ED 1994 Classic. Great car, but bolt holding the top timing gear on broke at 93000kms and ruined the engine. Replaced with 2nd hand engine done 120000kms no more problems and it was just a bit of bad luck. Have fitted extractors and 2 1/2 exhaust plus K&N filter this really makes car perform well.

8th Jul 2010, 12:54

I bought a Falcon 1993 EB S a week ago, 181300 KMs, it ran fine for a couple of days then started stalling. I checked it out today and the spark coils need replacement. 370 in the first week. Otherwise no shakes perfect condition. No shakes. The water sensor is broken, but the mechanic says it's not a big deal.

8th Aug 2010, 02:32

I bought a 94 ED Falcon Classic about two months ago with just over 130,000 original k's on it. It is like new inside and out and runs great. I just put it on gas; with the rebate it cost me $650. Only problem is the rear drivers side door lock doesn't operate, other than by pulling the inside door handle to open it. Tried taking the inside door trim off, but got all the screws out and still could get it off from the window part; must be a trick to it that I don't know.

8th Jan 2011, 06:00

Bought a 94 Fairmont ED 4.0 straight six. Have had it for two months now, and really pleased with it. Only a few problems here and there:

* Driver side window has a hard time going up. Sticky window problem I guess? Motor seems fine.

* Odometer stopped at 193,258kms. Not sure what caused it to stop.

* Smartlock is temperamental at times. When you unlock the car, the driver's door doesn't completely unlock, so have to key it in just to push the lock a bit higher.

Engine, gearbox and bodywork are in good nick. The engine has done 193 plus k's; as mentioned, the odometer reading stopped.

Otherwise a really good car. The engine I think is almost as reliable as the so popular Toyota Corolla, or even better because it has a nice snarly sound to it, almost as good as a V8 :)

21st Apr 2011, 02:02

On my ED Falcon so far these things have gone wrong since I have owned it, mind you it's done over 340,000 kms.

-Odometer stopped working at 340,000 kms.

-Radiator split down the side. I guess just from constant wear.

-Front control arm bushes disintegrated, again this is expected over a long time of driving.

-Drivers side window has a hard time going up.

Other than all that just general wear and tear - shocks, brakes, etc.

At the moment I find it fairly reliable with its latest problems fixed, but it sure is getting a bit old at 340,000 kms.

18th Jul 2011, 01:57

I had the same problem with randomly not starting when hot, so I put a switch directly from the battery to the starter solenoid. The bad news is that it will start when in gear, although I've only done this twice in two years.

23rd Sep 2011, 05:38

This is what I would call Ford tough, a small price to pay for the work it is doing.

15th Sep 2016, 08:23

I own a 93 ED Fairmont that I bought in 2011. Since I've owned it I've replaced the transmission and head gasket, all the power window motors, both tie rods, rear oil seal, and rebuilt rear brake calipers, upper and lower ball joints on both sides, new fuel injectors, and a new radiator.

It seems to go OK till I push it to 100kph and it backlashes. Not sure if it's the rear diff or trans, and sometimes it won't start so I have to tap under the hand brake so the smart lock will jump into action.

It's been really reliable; just the norm wear and tear.