Found out yesterday when I locked my keys in the car 300km's from home that it takes about 3 minutes to break into the wagon.

By the way, anyone know how to disable the auto lock thing? My wagon seems to relock the doors if none are opened after unlocking (tailgate doesn't count) - so I opened the tailgate, put keys in there (we were fitting the dustdeflector), car autolocked and a mate didn't relise and shut the tailgate to see it.

Basically the plastic peice with the reverse lights and the number plate rips off easily enough (after the plastic mounts snap - i had just pained up a new one white so it was alright to break it) and then you just push the rod on the door locker and the cars unlocked.

Need to figure out how to stop theives from ebing able to do this.

Yep, open your tailgate - I'm betting your dome light won't come on like when the doors are opened - this will most likely be because the tailgate courtesy light switch has failed. The switch lives down on the lock - they're not designed to be repaired - they can, but it's fiddly (I've repaired an EF and my EL wagons) - the circuit tracks on the switch circuit board corrode, and eventually the switch doesn't make any more. I'd say this is due to that crook looking seal on the plastic piece with the reverse lights and the number plate. Water gets through onto the switch, being on the tailgate bottom. I've tried wreckers, but they're hard to find, and I'd say being similar age, are probably cactus as well. Only other option is to try Ford for a newbie - just stand by for the price I guess. Fixing the switch one way or another will solve the autolock issue, as the car won't autolock once the dome and courtesy lights are triggered by any of the doors or tailgate.
I'd say remove the key lock cylinder and the link rod, blank the plastic cover assy where the lock was - shouldn't be a rego issue, you can still use the key in driver or passenger door to get in (EF), or drivers door (EL). Normally there is a black dust cover over the lock assy, you could possibly use this as a template for a couple mm steel cover or whatever to replace it, make it cover the area where the link from the key lock went, so it's hard to get a screwdriver or pliers in, I suppose then the time to break in will be longer, due to getting the mounting nuts off . . .
Anyway, this should give you some ideas . . . . .

Ive taken the lock cylinder out of mine, and all attachments(they were rattling), still gotta bog up the whole, and paint the whole thing, but yeah. I don't have auto lock, so can't hep you with the first question.


Cheers

If you've got a spare door actuator, you can fit it to the tailgate lock bracket, and set it up to lock/unlock with the doors as in an EF or EL. Other than that that, you can fit an EF/L lock assy with actuator - it's a straight fit. You can also wire up your existing tailgate lock/unlock switch as an EF/L door lock/unlock. This is such a better system - particularly with a smartlock keyfob.

Heh, I've been wondering why the courtesy lights weren't coming on when I opened the tailgate and why the car would relock itself (which is a "feature" of the Smartlock system, its covered on like the first page of the owners handbook ) or let itself be relocked with the tailgate open. I had a feeling it may have been the switch. Will have to look into getting it repaired/replaced. Is there anything you can do to prevent it from happening again after you replace it?

I suppose you can only try to remove the cause - improve the seal that sits around the reversing lights, I'd say water will enter where the key lock is also.
The EA-EL wagons weren't changed much externally, apart from the obvious front end changes, door handles, etc, so there seems to be a few faults that come up after around 5yrs and more - the weatherstrips below the rear quarter windows will leak eventually, as the sealing rings around the clips deteriorate and crumble. Check behind the respective compartments near the tailgate for water ingress - the forward couple of mounting holes leak into the compartment in front of the rear wheels, as there's no drain, this area corrodes out.

i was looking at fuse box today in my wifes EF11 wagon and im sure i saw a fuse holder
that said CC/auto lock or somthing like that and the fuse was removed
i will have a look when my wife gets home

On the topic of autolock, why does it all of the sudden stop working on the EF's? My dad's EF had it for a few years, then it was gone. On my Fairmont, it isn't working either, how you get it going again?

Mine started doing a continuous cycle thing for a while, then worked fine. Queer. Thanks for the tips on the tailgate, I'll check it out when I get some more free time! Busy playing on my mates Valiant at the moment.

snap0964, you were right about the problem, cept when I cracked open my switch it was beyond repair, not only had the tracks corroded, but one of the metal peices that it slides on had flaked off and a wire disconnected.
Just gunna hit the wreckers, get another one (hopefully it'll work, if not I'll repair it).

Even though they look like a sealed item, they still corrode - I smeared a little silicon grease in the ones I repaired, any electrical compatible grease will suit. When you open them, cutting a side off seems to work best - use a sharp cutter when doing this, as you want to glue it back and have it fit properly when inserted, otherwise the switch sticks.
Having a working switch is essential to stop autolock, and if you have an alarm, for it to operate if the tailgate is opened. I actually opted to fibreglass and bolt the dustcover that covers the actuator and lock, plus added some extensions to protect from using a screwdriver to lever the interlinks and latch itself. I suppose they'll still be able to smash the fibreglass, but hopefully this will set off the alarm shock sensor, before they actually get the tailgate open. I've found adding a bead of silastic to the seal above the number plate, let it set, and using double sided tape on the adjoining sheetmetal (use solvent/metho, etc to remove stickiness), seems to make a better seal.
Hope you find another switch - most wreckers I visited were loath to separate them from the tailgate.

its worth noting the same switch is used in BA and Territory wagons and we still replace them under warranty.. u'd think theyd have fixed it hey...

With a bit of Fordmods Ingenuity we'll do okay . . . .