i fitted a new battery to my ford xg. it started ran fine but when i release the handbrake the dash goes all funny dimms right out and the ute stalls. it seems a smart lock issue. can someone pls help?

check the earth strap or earth from the battery, seems to me your lacking a circuit.

yeah what Krytox said...

Your handbrake earths that wire out when its on... So when its on all your dash is using that wire as its earth... When you take the hand brake off that earth disappears and your loosing power...

The ED's have a main dash earth under the panel on the top of the dash that covers the tweeters... There is about 4 or 5 earth wires in the one lug... check that and make sure its tight and hasn't come off, make sure no wires are broken off...

If it occured when you changed the battery, then sounds like you've missed bolting an earth onto the negative terminal of the battery... Double and triple check there...

Cheers,
Tim

thanks fellas loose earth from the battery to the chassi at the chassi
cheers
david