Overview of the Ford Courier
Ford used its relationship with Mazda to rebadge a B-series ute as the Courier in the early 1970s, with the model reaching Australia in 1978. The two utes, while moving from Japanese to Thailand production, have been twinned ever since - including when the Courier became the Ford Ranger in 2007.
FORD COURIER GENERATIONS (SINCE 1998)
1998-2006
RUNNING COSTS
Fuel Consumption
4.0L V6: 13.4 to 13.9 litres per 100km
2.5L 4-cylinder turbo diesel: 9.7 to 10.6 litres per 100km
2.6L 4-cylinder: 11.6 to 13.4 litres per 100km
= Highly economical.
= Good economy.
= Average fuel use.
= Heavy consumption.
Servicing
The Courier is too old to be included in Ford's Service Price Promise program. Contact your nearest Ford dealer. Ford Courier parts and accessories can be found on Gumtree.
SIMILAR MODELS TO FORD COURIER
Holden Rodeo
Mitsubishi Triton
Nissan Navara
Toyota HiLux
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR: FORD COURIER (1998 TO 2006)
This model Courier is a great example of a car that worked overseas but didn't have enough local development. Not that it was a bad car to drive, but the cooling system was, in Australian conditions, marginal.
So, the first check of any second-hand Courier is to make sure that neither the head gasket nor the cylinder head have been damaged by a previous overheating episode.
The best way to do that is with what's called a TK test, which is a product that is placed in the radiator and chemically detects if this damage has occurred. Any workshop should be able to carry this out.
Beyond that, the best advice is to keep the Courier's cooling system absolutely up to scratch. In many cases, overheating has been caused by dust, mud and leaves becoming trapped between the radiator and the air-conditioning condenser (which looks like a second radiator).
Sometimes, blowing this rubbish out with compressed air will do the trick.
Even then, the Courtier is not a vehicle we'd recommend for towing anything heavy across the Nullarbor in high summer.
