[SYD] EB Fairmont V8 advice

[Gee]

Hello Guys,

New to Ford Forums, usually on the GM side of the fence (have an HQ coupe) but had an XD when I was a younger bloke and have also had a Mustang in recent times. Hell I just like cars, not brands really.

Have recently picked up an EB Fairmont V8 wagon for daily duties - have to say I love it. She's a tick over 70K on the clock, white, blue/grey velour interior, power everything, climate air and basically bog standard except for a stereo upgrade and someone has slipped on a set of "Auscar" wheels which I'm pretty keen to flick once I find something better (or at least a set of caps with a Ford logo).

Anyway to the point, after running very well when we first picked it up and putting a fair few good kays on it service time is now approaching and the engine is starting to run just a little ragged, to the point of pinging under load.

Would ordinarily go off to my usual mechanic, but the guy himself admits to never having had an example of an injected Windsor in the shop.

So, Sydney Eseries V8 owners, any advice on where to take the car to guys who have a track record?? I'm off to read through the sponsors forums to see if that helps at all.

Sorry for the long post ... have to say this is one of the great smilies of all time :MrT_anim:

Cheers, Gee

[Allen]

I would say covering the basic things will get it to run a little bit happier.

Oil, oil filter, plugs, leads, oxygen sensors and fuel filter.

Cleaning out the crap from the idle air valve, MAF and throttle body will help too.

With only 70,000k's on it, the engine should be healthy, unless its been thrashed for its whole life.

IF you change the basic things I mentioned, it should be pretty happy unless there is something seriously wrong with it. So do those, and see how it goes.

And welcome to the forum

EDIT - The grade of fuel is important too... it might not be a high compression engine, but they definatly run better on premium fuel.

[Gee]

Thanks for the welcome

Yeah, nice low mileage on it. It was owned by friends actually so while I'm sure they occasionally gave it some stick, I was more concerned about it not getting enough of a work over during the years.

You're right, I should go and run through those things myself before looking for a mechanic to do it for me. Might need to invest in some metric tools - HQ owner remember!

[sam12h]

Also change the Fuel filter, clean the injectors, clean the EGR valve & check the base ignition timing.

It is quite a common problem on HO V8's & everyone solves it a different way. Lean mixtures, poor flow from EGR, too much ignition advance & carbon build up all conspire to cause these motors to ping. I'd say the combination of causes is why they seem to be solved in different ways. It is actually a multi faceted solution

I must admit though, I solved this problem by switching to LPG. Much higher knock resistance. It is worse than ever on petrol now though. Probably the lowered quality of fuel combined with the injectors lack of use (time to go straight gas methinks).