FTO AUSTRALIA

Hi everyone.

I'm a new member, but have been checking in since we bought the FTO 6 months ago for my wife's daily driver (from an Impreza - starting to regret it now).

The car's been great until now. The only problems have been:

- Immobiliser stuffed up 2 months ago, would arm but not dis-arm. Replaced batt's in remote - no effect. Haven't had it checked out, looks like generic remote so worried it isn't factory. The flashing light is to the right of the steering wheel, on dash. Anyway, no big deal, just have to use the key in door to get in, and don't use remote. Any ideas on how to fix?

- A (not very bad) ticking sound has developed, which I understand is normal.

BUT a problem arose today, which basically made me say "we're getting rid of it". The wife was driving along a busy road (up here in Townsville, so not Brisbane busy, but still busy) and stopped at some lights. She said it died, and wouldn't start for 5 mins. She was pretty upset, and no-one stopped to help her. Eventually it started. I took it for a drive later, and when I parked and let it idle, it died. It started easy enough. After searching this site, I believe it could be the stepper motor. I'm about to go out and reset computer and clean stepper (if it's not too complicated).

But when idling, occasionally there was a (in my opinion, very very bad) not nice noise coming from the engine. A kind of mechanical 'clank' which I can only describe as something knocking in the engine. But it seemed to coincide with the engine going rough and wanting to cut out, so I'm hoping it's the stepper motor making the noise.

Am I on the ball here, or can it be worse? My missus loves this car, and so do I, but if it costs a fortune to fix I don't think I can keep it. Any help would be appreciated!

Rick & Tania
(Nth QLD)

Sorry guys, meant to say it's a '95 FTO GPX, auto.

Rock_Doctor wrote: - Immobiliser stuffed up 2 months ago, would arm but not dis-arm. Replaced batt's in remote - no effect. Haven't had it checked out, looks like generic remote so worried it isn't factory. The flashing light is to the right of the steering wheel, on dash. Anyway, no big deal, just have to use the key in door to get in, and don't use remote. Any ideas on how to fix?

I suggest you take to either an auto electrician or an alarm specialist, it sounds like your alarm main unit is faulty.

Rock_Doctor wrote: - A (not very bad) ticking sound has developed, which I understand is normal.

Your tappet, so make sure you are using the correct weight engine oil & you the tappet adjust by a mechanic who knows about FTO.

Rock_Doctor wrote: BUT a problem arose today, which basically made me say "we're getting rid of it". The wife was driving along a busy road (up here in Townsville, so not Brisbane busy, but still busy) and stopped at some lights. She said it died, and wouldn't start for 5 mins. She was pretty upset, and no-one stopped to help her. Eventually it started. I took it for a drive later, and when I parked and let it idle, it died. It started easy enough. After searching this site, I believe it could be the stepper motor. I'm about to go out and reset computer and clean stepper (if it's not too complicated).

Yes i'm 99% sure its your stepper motor.

Rock_Doctor wrote: But when idling, occasionally there was a (in my opinion, very very bad) not nice noise coming from the engine. A kind of mechanical 'clank' which I can only describe as something knocking in the engine. But it seemed to coincide with the engine going rough and wanting to cut out, so I'm hoping it's the stepper motor making the noise.[

Again i think this is your tappet, so same answer as before

Rock_Doctor wrote: Am I on the ball here, or can it be worse? My missus loves this car, and so do I, but if it costs a fortune to fix I don't think I can keep it. Any help would be appreciated!

Rick & Tania
(Nth QLD)

Yes you on the ball, & its only a minor problem, which you get on most car anyway. So i wouldn't worry about it Ohhh the stepper motor should be cheap to replace, & oil won't cost you much. The only thing i'm not sure of is adjusting tappet, because every mechanic charge differently, but in Vic, the famous "Lee" charge $250 or $200 to adjust it.

FTO338 wrote:

Rock_Doctor wrote: - Immobiliser stuffed up 2 months ago, would arm but not dis-arm. Replaced batt's in remote - no effect. Haven't had it checked out, looks like generic remote so worried it isn't factory. The flashing light is to the right of the steering wheel, on dash. Anyway, no big deal, just have to use the key in door to get in, and don't use remote. Any ideas on how to fix?

I suggest you take to either an auto electrician or an alarm specialist, it sounds like your alarm main unit is faulty.

Rock_Doctor wrote: - A (not very bad) ticking sound has developed, which I understand is normal.

Your tappet, so make sure you are using the correct weight engine oil & you the tappet adjust by a mechanic who knows about FTO.

Rock_Doctor wrote: BUT a problem arose today, which basically made me say "we're getting rid of it". The wife was driving along a busy road (up here in Townsville, so not Brisbane busy, but still busy) and stopped at some lights. She said it died, and wouldn't start for 5 mins. She was pretty upset, and no-one stopped to help her. Eventually it started. I took it for a drive later, and when I parked and let it idle, it died. It started easy enough. After searching this site, I believe it could be the stepper motor. I'm about to go out and reset computer and clean stepper (if it's not too complicated).

Yes i'm 99% sure its your stepper motor.

Rock_Doctor wrote: But when idling, occasionally there was a (in my opinion, very very bad) not nice noise coming from the engine. A kind of mechanical 'clank' which I can only describe as something knocking in the engine. But it seemed to coincide with the engine going rough and wanting to cut out, so I'm hoping it's the stepper motor making the noise.[

Again i think this is your tappet, so same answer as before

That.... Im thinking it would definatly be a clank if its a different noise to a ticking.... so id be praying it wasnt the gear box... but youd feel that in the steering...

hey dude.... how many k's has your missus car done?

Glad u like it.... im starting to think my car used to be written off.... i dont think it has a straight panel on it! gotta love em shes still lookin good

Yep, stepper motor is the cause of your woes mate The engine sounds bad before cutting out because it's idling much lower then it should be and really struggling to keep firing.

In regards to the immobiliser i'm going to assume the remote is a small black square with two yellow buttons is it not? There's a high likelyhood that it's a brant 2 point immobilser (almost a standard on most imported FTO's). While Brant is a bloody good brand they have notoriously sh*t range and pickup of the remote signal. Brant brush this aside saying it's a "feature" to restrict capture of the signal by, for lack of a better word, enemy recievers.

Two things to do, and one question to answer
a) clean and reattach the battery leads/terminals
b) stand about a foot away from the car on the drivers side, point the keyfob in the general direction of the side indicator and click away, see if she unlocks then

Now the question, just to clarify, does the remote work to lock the door fine but not unlock them? Or did you mean that the system automatically arms itself and the remote doesn't work at all?

If the remote works fine for locking the doors but not unlocking them then you're going to need to have the system checked out.

Also, get your tappets adjusted at your next service, this will stop that troublesome ticking. Ignore the suggestion about the oil and such, that's only for GR models.

Since this question is asked twice in the same section I am going to lock this thread to try and help avoid confusion

Post your answers and help for the Rock Doctor in this thread:

http://www.ftoaustralia.com/modules.php ... pic&t=7152