Attn: Those installing new head units...

[Ozfords]

G'day e-series riders, heres a tale, a tale of woe. But just before we start I'm not bad mouthing this auto electrician, who we'll call Ian from Goulburn.

I work on the weekends for a large auto-parts store which is Cheap and has a Super range, a couple of weekends ago I picked up an ace looking Sony head unit complete with detacheable face, remote, aux in, sub out and a face cover. Mind you this was ex-display with nothing more than a single scratch on the display, its biggest feature is that the screen changes colour on demand. The saving was so massive it was a must buy.

Here I'm stuck with this top-notch Sony unit and with no time to install it, I go to College in Goulburn and I don't work in Goulburn and I don't come from there so it narrows it down to what I do during the week.

So I shop around in Goulburn and find a nice little place run by Ian in Goulburn and I ask whether he can install this fine head unit. He says yeah and I also get him to bung in a ace manual antenna to replace the POS electric antenna. I leave the car on Wednesday and come back the next day...

Half an hour from close I rock up and they break the devestating news, she won't start. The head units in, but she cranks but doesn't want to fire up. The crew expected some sort of hidden kill switch or a fancy way of starting it, I throw up my hands, "She was fine yesterday now... I have no idea."
At closer inspection the Smart-Lock jewel is not flashing, eureka. I explain this to the crew but they continue prodding probing, ripping out fuses, leads, checking battery power, I direct them to call Ford, one call later a mechanic is on his way after knocking off and we listen for a click in the engine bay.

Mr Ford comes, but to no avail, the electrics are fine after a touch n go with a wild accusation that the coil packed it in, this is coming from Ford: "These cars are notorious for packing it in after something as simple as a oil change".

I leave empty handed, we have to wait till tomorrow to pick up the Monty. Ford will come back with a Smart-Lock computer.

Day 3: I get a call from Ian, THE SMART-LOCK LEAD WAS PULLED OUT DURING THE STEREO INSTALLATION. So if your beloved E-Series won't start after a the installation of a head-unit, tell them to make sure all the leads are plugged in. This will save alot of worry and stress, plus get them to make sure all the leads are properly installed so the speakers all work. The front ones were dead as even with full bias towards them...


As I said I'm not bad mouthing Ian and his Goulburn shop, s*** happens and it happened to happen to me. This is a post to tell all ye faithful about my adventure so we can all be more wiser.

Plus apparently a mechanic told me the BTR 4 Speeds need their oil changed every 18,000kms plus a new gasket and filter. My bad boy hasn't been changed since it rolled out of Broadmeadows in 1993.