harrier warranty and DIY..+car runnin wierd

[blackers10]

Hey guys
I have another question(had alot recently LOL)

I have the harrier warranty that ford gives ya free with purchase of a 2nd hand car..

the thing is.. im a firm believer in DIY servicing.. and obviously its MUCH MUCH cheaper..
i am wondering what i can do DIY that wont screw with my warranty..

i need to change my brake pads soon as they are running low(ford rekons 8000k left on em when i had my service on thursday)
i dont wanna pay them $180 odd to do 2x front pads.. when i can do all 4 for less..

now 2nd question my 99 au fairlane has been running wierd under acceleration.. and its worse when the out side temp is cold(late at night in winter for instance as it is currently.. car is upto temp tho)..
it feels as tho the engine sorta cuts out.. like a severe missfire..
but it ONLY does it under hard acceleration from 0-60(off traffic lights usually)..
the more i accelerate the worse it feels..

do ya think its a missfire(dead sparkplug or lead) .. i am on a different tank of fuel to when it started doin it..
and it doesnt do it at idle.. or have a sign of a miss at idle or highway cruisin speed or when im sittin on a constant speed..
any ideas please give them

thanks fellas

[LOWAU]

About you warranty gettin void, I would call the place that you got the car from.

I also recomend changing you leads, spark plugs, air filter if dirty, clean the throtle body and maybe check your transmission fluid to check if it needs changing or topping up.

This should take up a few hours of your weekend, :voldar02:

[JC]

Sounds like a similar problem I had in my EF, which turned out to be the O2 (HEGO) sensor in the exhaust. If it's only under WOT, then it is either the O2 sensor, or it could be a loose no6 plug lead. Why No 6? I have found on the AU Xr6 and the AU2 wagon, that this is the lead that most often works it's way loose.

So...check the plug lead first, then the O2 sensor.

To check if it's the sensor, disconnect the wiring to the sensor and drive the car. If it still accelerates badly, then you know that you have the problem both with and without the sensor connected, which would lead you to assume that the sensor is stuffed.

[blackers10]

loose plug lead!!
gave em all a good wigglin and pushed em in etc etc.. i think it was no3 or 4 that was loose in the end!!

thanks anyway guys..

now just need Qs bout the harrier warranty answered(cant stand askin them on the fone coz yeah its just annoying.. nad im usually at work when they are open.. etc etc

cheers guys

[b2tf]

I'm a bit lost as to what "harrier warranty" is. Ive never heard of it before?

The only thing I can think of is the compulsory warranty they give on some cars. If the car is less than 10yrs old and has less than 160,000 on the clock (i think thats how it is anyway), they are required to warrant the car for a period (but stuffed if i can remember what that period is). Basically I think it says something along the lines of if anything goes wrong, they have to be given first oppotunity to fix it. So it's worth asking about the servicing, because they may have tied it in with that too.

[blackers10]

yeah its the 3 year 100k kay dealer warranty..

[OldManGhia]

I had one of those warranties that the local Ford dealer gave when you bought a used car from them. It its basic form it only covered things that rarely break down like gearbox case that sort of thing. In return the car had yo be serviced by them or the warranty is void. As far as I was concerned it wasnt worth it so my warranty is now void. The warranty they have to put on cars over $10000 (3 months or 5000ks) covers everything. Make sure you dont get caught like I did. The ks on the puchase contract werent the ks on the vehicle at the time of purchase. They had the car for a couple of months before I bought it and it had done a couple of thousand ks in that time. When I took it back it was over the 5000ks and they wouldnt honour the warranty. Needless to say I wont deal with them again.

These warranties are evrywhere nowdays & are for 1 real reson, to lock you into using the vehicle dealership workshop for the compulsory 6 month services! You save money if you chuck the warranty out after the 3 month statutory warranty expires & get a good workshop to do the things that you are unable to do yourself.