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  Transmission problems seem to plague EA to EL Falcons, the electronic four speed box is definately lacking when compared to it’s three-speed brother. Why that is I’m not sure, but I would like to tell you of one gearbox I found interesting.

  Anyway to get on with the problem, we have a 1997 EL Falcon with the lovely shitty electronic 4 speed Automatic transmission. I have never been a fan of these gearboxes, especially after doing a 4 week stint with a Taxi company. I was ready to let fly if I was asked to pull another one out! So the EL was having an issue with not changing out of third gear when hot. 10-15 minutes of driving and everything worked fine. Drive long enough and the transmission would select third gear and stay there, no shifting up and no shifting down.

  As the owner had replaced the battery recently, my first thought was that the computer needs resetting. Removed the negative terminal for about 10 mins, re-connected it, pushed the accelerator to the floor twice, once with A/C on and once without, jiggled my left ear twice, held my left leg at 15 degrees for 4 seconds, nah just kidding! Went through the steps for resetting the computer and took it for a long drive. Still got stuck in third after warming up. Next idea.

  Have you seen the way to check the transmission oil in EF and onwards Falcon’s? They don’t have a dipstick like every other ‘normal’ transmission. No they have a 13mm filler plug type arrangement. So to check the fluid level you have to jack the vehicle up both ends to make it level and remove this plug. When they said “Let’s get rid of the dipstick” I think they meant the guy that designed the AU Falcon, not the transmission dipstick!!

  So checking the fluid level was out of the question for me, not that I thought it had anything to do with the problem we were having though. I booked it in for a check-over at our local Auto Trans. specialist to see what they thought. They did a check for fault codes that may have been logged into the computer. No problems there, so off with the transmission pan and out with the old fluid and filter.

  They found pieces of the transmission cooler in the pan, which is never a good sign. The cooler is the standard ‘in the radiator’ type set-up which often starts to fall apart internally and sends small pieces of copper back into the transmission with the returning fluid. That in itself is enough to warrant a new transmission and around $2000.00, but I was still curious as to the cause of our problem.

  It seems like low fluid level will cause these transmissions to play up when hot. In my limited experiences with Auto transmissions it has been the exact opposite, when the fluid level is low they slip and carry on but as the fluid heats and expands the problems go away. At least I can say that I learnt something new today! Even though the transmission is still up for a reconditioning, it will at least drive around for a while with all forward gears functioning.

  If you have found this post because of transmission drama’s, do yourself a favour and have the transmission serviced or at least the level checked before deciding which child to sell on the black market! And if you own an EF and onwards Falcon, don’t go looking for the dipstick because it simply ain’t there!

Take care and be safe on the roads.

Craig

I would like to tell you of a car that we had in our workshop, going back around 3 years ago. The anti-christ was a 1990 Toyota Camry fitted with a 3S-FE engine, essentially a 2.0 litre, 4 cylinder engine fitted with electronic fuel injection.

  The car came in on a tow truck with the owner telling me that for some reason it kept ‘flooding’ itself. It had been to a handful of workshops before coming to us and needless to say the owner was ready to solve the problem with a box of matches and a can of fuel!

  The last mechanic to look at it had replaced the fuel pressure regulator and it behaved itself for about a week before this latest dummy-spit. Numerous litres of fuel had worked their way past the piston rings and into the sump, so the first thing to do was drain the oil and change the filter.

  With that taken care of it was time to go hunting. It was first necessary to figure out whether it was a fuel pressure issue or perhaps leaking injectors (unlikely due to all cylinders being over-fuelled and the amount of fuel present in the sump.) or an issue that was causing the injectors to stay open.

  Fuel pressure was hard to guage as the engine would only run for a few seconds! From what we could see the fuel pressure was within specifications, a tad low if anything, not likely to cause over-fueling on this scale. I had discounted the leaking injector theory based on the reasons stated above. So the only logical theory left was the injectors staying open for some reason.

  Testing the electrical controls of the injectors is a simple procedure. On one side of the connector we have constant power. On the other side the computer provides an earth that is controlled by the computer. Signals from various sensors around the engine combine to dictate when the injector is opened and for how long.

  Out with the test light and with the ignition switched ‘on’ we found we had the constant power and by reversing the polarity of the test light ( clipping the lead onto the positive terminal of the battery instead of the negative ) we found we had a constant earth supply as well. Not good! Even with the engine running the earth would show as a ‘pulsing’ of the test light and with the engine stopped we had a constant glowing test light.

  The first thing that came to mind was a faulty computer. A call to a friend of mine who is a master-mind with electronics revealed that the Toyota computers are on of the most reliable around and it was unlikely to be the cause. Time for a head scratch and a finger and thumb rub of the chin. They make thinking so much easier! Just like having your tongue half out when doing something difficult!

  Things were starting to get confusing. I couldn’t help wonder why the fuel regulator had been replaced, was I missing something? After a longer than usual head scratch we decided the only logical next step was to check the wiring from the connector to the computer. Easier said than done when the it twists it’s way in and around the engine…..

  Then the penny dropped, the wiring was quite tight going around a sharp corner of the cylinder head. Funny enough it was close enough to the fuel pressure regulator to be moved around a bit when replacing the regulator! So we connected the test light again in reverse polarity and while probing the negative side of the connector we wiggled the wiring harness around where it contacted the cylinder head and surprise, surprise the earth dropped in and out. Four hours just to find a short to earth!!

 I spent the next couple of hours repairing and re-insulating the wire that had it’s insulation rubbed through and beefed it up with a piece of bike tube and plenty of insulating tape. Kicked it over and what do you know, ran like a champion! We replaced the fouled-up spark plugs and the car hasn’t missed a beat to this day. The previous mechanic probably thought he’d hit the jackpot with replacing the fuel pressure regulator and for a week or so he did!

  I thought I would share this story to highlight how the smallest things can turn into big headaches for us mechanics, and how diagnosis can sometimes be the most expensive part of the job. If you get charged what you think is an un-realistic amount for tracking a problem down, please think of this story and the amount of hours it took to find such a silly little problem.

Take care and be safe on the roads.

Craig

  After recieving several questions on Autofix.com.au regarding this issue, today we are going to look at the best way to flush your power steering system. There are several different ways to do this and I believe the way I am going to show you is the only way to completely flush the system of old fluid. Once again please read and understand all the steps outlined before starting the job.

  The first thing you need to remember is that the front wheels of the car MUST be off the ground to do this, damage will be done to the pump and steering rack if this is not done.

  The second requirement is that you know which hose is the return hose to the pump or reservoir and which hose is the high pressure from the pump. Generally the return hose will be all rubber with hose clamps at either end and the high pressure hose may contain a length of steel pipe with crimped-on fittings at either end. It may also be all rubber, but with the same crimped-on fittings. Another way to tell is by the size of the fittings on to the steering rack itself, the high pressure hose allways has larger fittings than the low pressure return hose. The vehicle we are doing this job on is a VT Commodore and has two rubber hoses connected to the reservoir, the larger of the two is the pump feed and the other comes from a small cooller fitted at the front of the vehicle. Our return hose in this instance is the smaller of the two.

  Once you have a grip on which hose is which it’s time to jack the car up so both front wheels are off the ground, place a catch-tray underneath the car and remove the return hose from the pump/reservoir. The next step requires a very technical piece of equipment, a small length of hose with a bolt stuck in the end of it! Yeah I know it’s crude but it’s very effective believe me! The idea is to place the small piece of hose over the outlet where you removed the return hose from effectively sealing the pump/reservoir again.

  Next we take the return hose and place the loose end into the catch-tray under the car. You may need a piece of hose to make an extension for the return hose so it reaches the catch-tray.

  The next step requires two people. One to start the car and move the steering wheel from lock to lock and the other to keep fluid in the reservoir. The fluid level drops very quickly and to avoid damaging the pump or rack, the fluid needs to be kept up to it. Two to three complete turns is all that is needed to flush it completely. Switch the car off as soon as you have finished turning the steering wheel.

  The final step is to remove the blocking-off hose, refit the return hose to the pump/reservoir, top up the fluid level and once again start the car and move the steering wheel from lock to lock, ensuring that there is sufficient fluid in the pump/reservoir to prevent any damage being done. Don’t be surprised to hear some whining or gurgling sounds coming from the pump, it takes a while to rid the system of all the air present. I once had a car that took a day of off and on driving to expel all of the air! I wasn’t happy because I thought my apprentice hadn’t been careful enough with keeping the fluid level topped up even though he swore black and blue that he did. Once everything is operating normally and the fluid level has been checked, time to jack the car down and take it for a drive. I normally check the fluid level again after the car has been sitting for a few hours, just to be sure.

  And that’s about it for flushing your power steering. If you do this as per your manufacturers handbook the system should give you years of problem-free steering!

Take care and be safe on the roads.

Craig