Hi New here. EF Falcon running bad

jordandalley · 03-07-2006, 10:00 PM

Hi There,

Just wondering if any of you could perhaps help me to determine a few problems I have with my EF II Falcon. I am a new Ford owner, never had one before so it's all new to me.

Mods so far include a full exhaust and K&N pod filter on my I6 4L SOHC.

Problem #1: When the car has first been started, and no matter how long I let it warm up, it surges to start off with. I put my foot down and it has absolutely no power what so ever then all of a sudden it kicks in a goes for it! I'm just wondering what would be causing this. I have already changed the spark plugs. I was thinking maybe leads next?? Any ideas?

Problem #2: There is plenty of ample power all the way up to 3,500 rpm, after this point the engine sounds like it's going to blow up (the harmonics are shocking) and power is quite substantially lost after this point in the rev range. Is this typical of a SOHC Ford I6? I have seen some 1/4 mile times in the 15's for SOHC I6's and i'm telling you now, mine wouldnt even be an 18 or 19 second 1/4. The car is slow as. Also the car starts blowing smoke after 4000 rpm. Somethings not right here and I am wondering what would make it run better.

Problem #3: The oil in the car is also brand new and it seems to drink oil like nobody's business. I have heard that Ford I6's drink a bit of oil, but roughly a Litre a month shouldnt be right, should it?

Problem #4: Sometimes (on occasion) my auto tranny doesnt change gears properly. It seems to get stuck between two gears and makes a grinding noise.. kinda like a piece of plastic being shoved through a fan. I have had the transmission looked at and serviced and it has made it run a lot better, however it still does this on occasion. Usually when it's either chopping down a gear under acceleration, or in reverse. Any ideas?

I hope someone can answer my questions. I have been in a Ford EF Fairmont I6 before which was absolutely bone stock and it had far more power than my Falcon. I don't know what to expect from a car thats done over 300,000km's, but it seems ok enough. Just needs a little TLC.

Cheers guys,
Jordan.

EF_Frmnt · 03-07-2006, 10:05 PM

Sounds like your rings are a possibility.. smoke and bad noises dont mix.

crannersEL · 03-07-2006, 10:07 PM

hey mate welcome to the club, my EL Falcon does the same thing when its first going even after its warmed up. Sudden flat spots is what i get. I do find if i take it easy at first and not push the car too much after about 5 mins warm up and 5 mins on the road she is running smooth as.

Cranners

EF302 · 03-07-2006, 10:09 PM

could be a leaky head gasket, maybe get it pressure tested.

jordandalley · 03-07-2006, 10:11 PM

thanks.. head gasket has just been done.

Joes_meat · 03-07-2006, 10:48 PM

A new O2 sensor fixed my surging. Could be an idea.

EF302 · 03-07-2006, 10:49 PM

when the head gasket was done, did the head get put in the oven?
being alloy they tend to warp

jordandalley · 04-07-2006, 07:20 AM

I'm not sure, as the head gasket was replaced by the previous owner before i bought the car. He said "Replaced", but really, who knows. Might also be worth checking out..

Thanks for the responses so far guys. I will definitely try out a new O2 sensor. They're easy enough to replace...

So.. off to start the process of elimination.... wish me luck.

jordandalley · 05-07-2006, 09:18 PM

Hi All,

Just a follow up on fixing my ford up. Thanks for the advice by Joes_Meat - I replaced the O2 sensor and the car has now come back to life. Doesn't surge anymore and even revs all the way out. Ford Parts quoted me $212 for the O2 sensor. I went to a wreckers yard, pulled one out of a newer car (A Forte) and the O2 sensor looked clean enough so I took it for $20 (Seemed better than blowing $212 on a "maybe fix").

The O2 sensor looked mostly the same. The Forte O2 sensor had Four wires instead of the EF falcons three. Two white wires, a Black wire and a Grey Wire. Since all the wires were all still wired to the same pins and the connector was the same (with some minor modifications) I decided to try it out and it goes well. I'm assuming the extra grey wire on the Forte must measure something extra with newer updated engine management on the forte's.

Anyways,
Thanks for everyone's help.
Cheers guys.

8pAc · 05-07-2006, 09:21 PM

For Q#3 keep an eye on the oil usage, i had an ED and i never used any noticable amount of oil between 5K changes.

jordandalley · 05-07-2006, 09:32 PM

I'll watch it, thanks mate. I'm hoping it's all part of the same thing with this O2 sensor. I topped her back up this morning before I put the new sensor in. I'll watch it over the next week for any changes. Other than this, just recently the Oil pressure sensor was leaking and had to be replaced. That wasn't too expensive.

Apart from this, what is the best value for money mod you can do to the Ford powerplant? I was thinking cams maybe, but i'm not sure how many benefits it would produce. My exhaust and intake have already been done. The intake believe it or not made more gains than the exhaust did. The stock intake on EF falcons is the whoriest thing I've ever seen. I'm surprised it breathes at all. Another mod would be extractors/headers.. what are the gains like with these?

Most importantly.. how do you get more top-end power. I feel the engine has great low-down torque but up high it tends to lose a great deal of power -- even though it is a SOHC.

Joes_meat · 05-07-2006, 11:54 PM

Never go to Ford for parts.

I got a new Bosche O2 sensor for $64 at Sprint Auto Parts last week. Keep that in mind if your second hand O2 stuffs up or you need other parts.

Joes_meat · 06-07-2006, 12:01 AM

Remember the Ford I6 is designed for low-down torque. It's a big oversquare engine. But you should still have plenty of power in high-revs - just don't expect the engine to build torque with revs like most of the DOHC engines.

If your car is struggling to rev out properly - you may have a clogged cat-converter. Especially likley because your O2 sensor was stuffed and your car was presumably running rich.

I'm not sure how you would determine whether the cat is cactus or not - but a quick rev in neutral should show the car very easily reving out to red-line. If not - the converter may be stuffed.

BABOSS · 06-07-2006, 01:40 AM

If you want to find out where your car is loosing power than book it in for a dyno. If it pulls around 100rwkw+ (stock) or 108RWKW+ with those mods then you will know that there is nothing wrong with it. With the dyno it will also indicate the air fuel ratios which will determine if you are running lean or rich mixtures. If your car is running under the said rear wheel kwattage and it's not a lean/rich fuel issue the guys should be able to pinpoint where you are loosing power, eg. collapsed cat, head gasket failure etc.

My dyno run cost $90 and took less than one hour but i was getting tuned for LPG which is a different story to petrol because the mixtures are not ECU controlled.

jordandalley · 06-07-2006, 09:18 AM

Thanks for the responses guys. Back to the post about the $64 O2 sensor. I've never heard of sprint auto. Would say Supercheap, Repco or Autobarn have any of these things?

The DYNO isn't a bad idea. The car revs out to redline fine now with the new O2, in neutral.

The car has done about 309,000km's. It definitely isnt a new engine.

I was thinking of taking out the injectors and having a look at them as well. Make sure theyre clean and maybe even get a new fuel filter. No doubt its never been done.. most people neglect fuel filters, and after 309,000km's i'm sure it's clogged as

Thanks guys.

Joes_meat · 07-07-2006, 04:59 PM

Fuel filter is definately a good idea. Pretty cheap too.

Sprint auto may be a south Aussie thing. But try a few auto joints like the ones you suggested.

finnyman · 07-07-2006, 06:22 PM

sounds like u id cut my losses and buy a new falcon.....a half decent one lol

BOOSTDEF · 07-07-2006, 06:38 PM

Problem 4.

This same thing happened with mine until i replaced the Stall Converter. The funny thing is, my stall converter bolts were loose, so maybe take the plate off(2 or 3 bolts), and take a look.

Other than that, it sounds internal which may require bands to be retightened.

@Finnyman, what fun is owning a Falcon if you dont have work to do on it??