Service kits off Ebay - any good?

[webbiegareth]

Hi all,

My missus was given her mother's I6 AU Series 1 ('99), supposedly in good nick but the reality is that it wasn't well maintainted. I've posted other threads about it (coolant loss issues etc).

It was given new oil before it was given to us, so I've held off giving it a proper service. The car no longer uses much coolant at all, and doesn't seem to use any oil. Fuel consumption is pretty high though (waaaay higher than my VX commodore).

My commodore has been at the panel beaters for the past week (taxi rear ended me), so I borrowed the Ford to get me to work and back. Whereas I'd need to refuel once a week with the commodore, the Ford needed to be filled up twice. What the!

So I want to give it a major service and try to sort out the fuel consumption issue.

Normally I wait till the 20%-off sale from supercheap/repco, but I don't want to wait that long.

So I was thinking about a service kit like this:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ford-Falc...item3cbe5800cc

Does this represent good value, and is it worth the money for the proper Ford gear?

And then one of these:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FORD-FALC...item43ab30678e

(Note - the kit and the o2 sensor are from the same place, and near my work so I won't need to pay for postage).

Then I'll get an auto transmission service kit, and then have it all fitted by my mechanic (plus have the throttle body cleaned).

Does anyone use service kits like this off Ebay?

[FGII-XR6]

motorcraft and VDO, you can't go wrong

[Mr Hardware]

a few things here mate
if you drive a falcon like you drive a commodore you're going to get terrible economy. figure out the way to use the torque not the power, and it'll improve. or get gas.

And yeah, motorcraft, it'll be fine. Chuck it all in, it'll be good.
By the way, what sort of economy figures do you get out of the commodore and out of the falcon? Remember a falcon fuel tank is smaller than a commodore's.

[Day-mow]

that motocraft pack looks like decent value.

[rowan194]

Originally Posted by Day-mow

that motocraft pack looks like decent value.

My oath. Air, fuel and oil filters, sparks and leads for $120... if it really is all genuine (and not a cheap knockoff) then that is an excellent deal. Buying the individual aftermarket bits would cost more than this.

OP, just be aware that changing the leads is not an easy process, as the coil pack is very difficult to get to. Took me a while to figure out. This thread may help:

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11256369

I'm assuming you're doing the servicing yourself, any reason why you'd farm out the auto drain+new filter+fill service?

[Racecraft]

on a by note the AU coil pack cars needed different leads..... iirc the S1 has outie plugs on the coil but i'm 90% sure the leads weren't universal between models and series and the cost were heaps different...

[FGII-XR6]

Originally Posted by Racecraft

on a by note the AU coil pack cars needed different leads..... iirc the S1 has outie plugs on the coil but i'm 90% sure the leads weren't universal between models and series and the cost were heaps different...

thats correct the S1 had the same coil as the EF the S2/3 had "innie" connectors

[webbiegareth]

Hi again everyone - thanks for the advice, I'll grab those two bits of kit (I'll make sure he sends the correct leads though for the AU Series 1).

I have to admit I drive the commodore a bit hard, and I get a flat 10L/100km - I drive 30km's each way to work, half of that is country highway and the other half is suburban (with some stop/start in peak hour). I started driving the Ford a bit spiritedly, but I've since been babying it around and driving it a lot more calmy (and it's still not much better!).

I've driven it a fair bit more than just that week I drove it to work (including a trip to Geelong), and I'm definitely not happy with the consumption.

I'm guessing 14-15L/100km's with that same mixture of highway & stop start. The trip to Geelong (all highway) I estimated around 12L/100. I didn't realise the tank was smaller though, that's probably why it kept on needing to be filled.

The thing is though... the AU feels gutless, like it has a lot less power. It's not a Commodore vs Ford thing here, as my ex used to drive an XG ute and that thing was as smooth & quick as my commodore, so it's definitely this particular AU playing up.

I've checked the service history thoroughly now, the only other thing I can see is that a lot of the reports mention a small crack in the exhaust, and I can't see anywhere it's been fixed (probably why it sounds a bit louder than I'd expect!). No idea if this would cause the fuel consumption & power issue though. I'm guessing (hoping) it's just the old leads/sparks/dirty throttle body etc etc.

[FGII-XR6]

Originally Posted by webbiegareth

The thing is though... the AU feels gutless, like it has a lot less power. It's not a Commodore vs Ford thing here, as my ex used to drive an XG ute and that thing was as smooth & quick as my commodore, so it's definitely this particular AU playing up.

I have heard that many times but if you stack the 2 cars up side by side the AU is often quicker. the Ford I6 is a much smoother engine than the holden V6 (probably one of the worst V6 engines you will find) and with the smoother quieter engine it feels slower than it really is. when I first got my AU I had trouble sticking to the limit as it fellt like I was crawling along

[Dave_Obsession]

Originally Posted by webbiegareth

Normally I wait till the 20%-off sale from supercheap/repco, but I don't want to wait that long.

If it makes any difference, there is 20% off at Repco for the rest of November if you're an RACV / NRMA / RACQ etc member...

[webbiegareth]

AAAAAGH Dammit. I already just bought those two kits off ebay - and I'm an RACV member. Oh well! I'll use that to buy the oil for the service then (probably Penrite HPR10 I guess for for the AU?).

[Beer Baron]

Its the long 1st gear that makes them feel slow.

[Dave_Obsession]

Originally Posted by Beer Baron

Its the long 1st gear that makes them feel slow.

This....especially with a s3 3:08 diff argh the pain...if only I knew what I know now BEFORE I got my AU...

[GK]

Originally Posted by dave93761

This....especially with a s3 3:08 diff argh the pain...if only I knew what I know now BEFORE I got my AU...

It was like that for a lot of us! LOL!

Hindsight, the mother of all task masters.

GK

[Day-mow]

Originally Posted by dave93761

This....especially with a s3 3:08 diff argh the pain...if only I knew what I know now BEFORE I got my AU...

3.45's and a 5 spd FTW

[webbiegareth]

Guys, the AU is definitely slower than my Commy - it's not a perception thing. It feels like the engine labours trying to get up to speed. The engine idles mostly smoothly but every so often gives a bit of a "shake" like it's going to stall (but it doesn't). I'm hoping giving it a major service, new o2 sensor, throttle body clean, probably some Nulon petrol injector cleaner etc will sort out the performance/economy issues.

(it's a standard i6 with the 4 speed auto).

The missus mum lives out in the country, it was given a daily 40km return trip on the highway (to work and back), so it didn't have a hard life but it looks like they really skimped on the servicing side of it though.

It's got about 250,000km's on it and I want to give it a new breath of life, and once the economy / performance is back, convet it to gas (before the rebate ends in July '12).

For the engines, I know a lot of you guys are biased to the Fords but having owned both types (including the XG, it was originally mine before the ex took it - uuugh women!), I like both and found both to be pretty decent! The old ecotechs are pretty strong engines and can take a lot of punishment (can't comment on the newer ones though!). I was lucky and scored a commodore that's had zero issues (bought it near new with very low km's, driven it 260,000km's myself, only broke down once... and that was because I ran out of fuel LOL). It's still going strong.

It's actually a pain as I'm waiting for it to die because they're worth nothing for a trade-in with so many km's and I want an FG XR6 Turbo. :(

[Mr Hardware]

au3xr6 is correct - i bet the OP is actually accellerating far more rapidly in the AU compared to the commo. My sister has been learning to drive in my brother's commodore and my parents camry, and she was lamenting the lack of throttle response in the camry. I gave her a lesson in my falcon, and as she was taking off from the lights I asked her to tell me what she thought of my car. She said "it's pretty slow...WHAT? WE'RE AT 60 ALREADY?"

And thus endeth the lesson on actual speed and percieved speed.

[webbiegareth]

Oh and yes, I know the AU's are quicker than the VX's The only reason I bought a VXII back at the time was because I thought the AU's were f'n ugly

(Still do - hate the headlights! BA onwards though and it's a different story entirely)

[webbiegareth]

Hi guys, it does look like the legit gear. I've bought stuff from the guy before though (the proper GM gear for my other car), so I'm guessing he has contacts with some of the local Ford/Holden dealers.

I'm not doing the servicing myself this time, as we haven't had the car for long I want my mechanic to give the car a thorough looking over to make sure everything is running well.

For this one it'll be a thottle body clean, new o2 sensor, new oil + filter, fuel filter, sparks, leads, tranny service and check the brakes as well - the pedal feel is very bad (we had new rotors & pads installed already but you have to really push hard to stop the car). I can't do that last bit especially so he'll do the whole thing. Hopefully it's just something simple (maybe the fluid needs changing or something).

I know there are guides on here for doing most of that stuff though

Once I get it back I'll then fill up the tank and put in some Nulon petrol injector cleaner as well. HOPEFULLY all of that will fix the car right up.

However my mechanic is pretty good... he (ahem) lets me bring in my own parts, and for stuff like this just pay cash for the labour side of it (depending what's being done). I've used the guy for years and he's pretty honest and reliable with what needs to be done.

[5.0 ED]

I hope servicing fixes your economy up, if you do have an exhaust leak you need to get that looked at and fixed, otherwise it will have poor economy.

As many others have mentioned, the ford 6 is a far better performer then the commodore V6's, they however as also mentioned, got taller 1st gear in the transmission, and taller diff gears sometimes as well. So because of these differences in diff's and transmission gear ratio's they can seem like they are labouring more, however the poor excuse for springs and suspension that is used in the commodores, when you put your foot down the whole car rear drops down and shoots you at the sky giving you a feeling of a lot of acceleration, where as the ford's harder, 3times longer springs are a lot more stable and dont drop to rear so easily, and therefore feel a lot slower, when they are actually quicker.

[rowan194]

Originally Posted by 5.0 ED

I hope servicing fixes your economy up, if you do have an exhaust leak you need to get that looked at and fixed, otherwise it will have poor economy.

How do you go about diagnosing an exhaust leak? My engine is making a more pronounced sound lately, and it seems to be coming from the rear of the engine on the exhaust manifold side. I don't know if it's just that a cylinder in that vicinity isn't firing properly, so it's making a bit more noise, or it's the exhaust itself. Can't smell anything unusual...

[5.0 ED]

For most people it will be easier to just take the car to your local exhaust joint and get them to look, they will be able to put the car up on a 4 post hoist and start the car up and check over the exhaust with the engine running, a lot harder to do with the car on a jack and personally i dont like being under a running car sitting on a jack or stands.

[webbiegareth]

I should have said... that's also what I'll be getting my mechanic to check as well (the exhaust leak). The service records said pretty much each service (the history stops at around the 200,000km mark - I have no records after that) that the main muffler has a small crack.

I only had a quick look but couldn't see anything, and the mufflers look decent so maybe they've been replaced, but I'll find out this week.

I had planned to replace it later if needs be, and I kept reading on the forums about being able to pick up a 2.5" system for < $200. Seaching ebay, I found a bunch of EA - AU ones, but it appears they don't suit IRS and I think most AU's use IRS.

So I'm assuming I'll have to pay a heck of a lot more ($350 - $450) for a proper 2.5" catback system off ebay. I might just replace it with a standard setup in that case.

Actually - here's a question - how can I tell if the car has IRS or the live axle system? I really have no idea.

[5.0 ED]

Well what model is the car?

Basically XR8/XR6, fairmont ghia, fairlane, fairlane ghia, LTD had IRS, the rest didn't.

Fairmont and lower all got live axle.

I may have missed a model with the IRS part, but someone im sure will correct me.

[Dave_Obsession]

XR6's with the HP engine got Live Axle IIRC...just the XR6 VCT's that had IRS

[webbiegareth]

Oooh It's a falcon "Classic" I think.... in which case it's the older standard live axle setup from the sounds of it!

[rowan194]

Originally Posted by webbiegareth

Oooh It's a falcon "Classic" I think.... in which case it's the older standard live axle setup from the sounds of it!

Looking at my Gregory's - you should be able to spot if it's IRS because the front of the diff has metal fins on it (like a heatsink), and the rear plate of the diff is possibly lighter in colour (or unpainted?). IRS also has a couple of extra arms leading from the centre to the wheel, and I can see boots right against each wheel.

Standard/non IRS has a black diff rear with no fins, no extra arms, no boots.

[Mr Hardware]

it's not irs. simple as that.

[rowan194]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

it's not irs. simple as that.

Wasn't IRS an option for the lower spec models?

[webbiegareth]

Yep, which means I'll be able to get a cheaper 2.5" exhaust fitted if/when needed (finally some good news!).