Au 111 2001

[Dan Diver]

Can somebody help with this fault.

It is....

Coughing on take off. Once revs exceed 1k runs well. Does all the good stuff.

Idles well. 600 to 700.

Strange fast vibration when in D idle. Faint shudder.

With very careful and slow take off, fault can be overcome.

With fast take off, it's like the old days of slipping bands, until mobile.

Machenic feels sure it's a motor fault, but can't find problem.

We have:
Changed plugs and leads.

Replaced coil pack twice.

Cleaned ICV unit.

This car sits on the beach front. Could it be electrical?
Salt air is constant problem with window switches. Maybe an extension of that environmental impact.
Any ideas would be highly appreciated.

Dan

[russellw]

It has to be throwing error codes so what comes up with a scan tool?

[Dan Diver]

Good question...I'll check tomorrow.

Dan

[PG2]

Have you checked the inlet manifold gasket? These are very common to leak.

[Dan Diver]

Thanks for that tip PG2.
I'll follow that one up.

Would you consider that suggested fault would appear across the rev range?

Once the motor gets past initial acceleration at take off, the fault disappears.
But it can be quite violent at start, where it sounds like it's kicking back on the starter.

[Dan Diver]

Originally Posted by Dan Diver

Good question...I'll check tomorrow.

Dan

Returning on this question:

Checked with machenic on this, he says it was indicating slightly rich fuel set, but didn't consider that a problem.
Failing that, no error codes appeared.

He suspects leaking injector maybe.

[Dan Diver]

To PG2

Originally Posted by PG2

Have you checked the inlet manifold gasket? These are very common to leak.

Have you had experience with the leaking gasket theory.
I'd be interested in comparing them to this fault.

I've been around two stroke outboards, and they play up in the strangest ways with air leaks, but never in my years with vehicles, have I had that as a cause of a fault.

My mechanic deals generally with vehicles. Probably a ford garage may be more tuned in to a problem specific to the AU. Problem is the one fifty klm round trip etc.

I've really got to deal with this locally. It's a mysterious fault.

Dan

[PG2]

Originally Posted by Dan Diver

To PG2



Have you had experience with the leaking gasket theory.
I'd be interested in comparing them to this fault.

I've been around two stroke outboards, and they play up in the strangest ways with air leaks, but never in my years with vehicles, have I had that as a cause of a fault.

My mechanic deals generally with vehicles. Probably a ford garage may be more tuned in to a problem specific to the AU. Problem is the one fifty klm round trip etc.

I've really got to deal with this locally. It's a mysterious fault.

Dan

Very common fault with AU Falcons that cause the same problems as you describe.

It is that common and cheap to fix (if you do it yourself) that it is one of the first things that I check when the car is playing up.

[Beastie]

Possibly an engine mount?

[Dan Diver]

Originally Posted by Beastie

Possibly an engine mount?

Thanks beastie.

It certainly has similarities. That might explain the noticeable shuddering when backed-off and coasting to a stop from 50kph.

I had that fault in a past vehicle. And it is very similar, with the exception of the spluttering, which sounds like one cylinder misfiring.

It's getting progressively worse. I think the end result will be, it'll drop one cylinder out.

The motor has only done 150k. Once to speed it performs perfectly. No power loss at top end. Gear changes good. No vibrations.

Dan.

[Dan Diver]

Originally Posted by PG2

Very common fault with AU Falcons that cause the same problems as you describe.

It is that common and cheap to fix (if you do it yourself) that it is one of the first things that I check when the car is playing up.

Thanks again PG2.
Appreciate entirely, your thoughts.
Gone are the days when I could do these things myself though, because of the situation where I am.

I can easily understand technically, how this simplicity could produce the results im dealing with.

I spoke to the machenic on this possibility after reading your response.
He said he checked for that fault. But didn't say how.
And how would you know, and with what check. Do you have any idea on that aspect?

Dan

[PG2]

Originally Posted by Dan Diver

Thanks again PG2.
Appreciate entirely, your thoughts.
Gone are the days when I could do these things myself though, because of the situation where I am.

I can easily understand technically, how this simplicity could produce the results im dealing with.

I spoke to the machenic on this possibility after reading your response.
He said he checked for that fault. But didn't say how.
And how would you know, and with what check. Do you have any idea on that aspect?

Dan

At least get the mechanic to check that the inlet manifold bolts are tight (but not too tight).

If the mechanic says that he has checked for air leaks then all I can say is to take his word for it.

[11ford11]

Check harmonic balancer hasn’t moved or is hitting sensor

[Dan Diver]

*...quote:

Old 03-07-2016, 09:19 AM #1
clevocortina
Regular Member

Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 46
Achievements
10 Year Award
Default Series 2 au.. Idle getting low and flat spot
Hey gents...

My partners Au has developed a problem where the idle speed is slowly getting Lower and lower to the point you either have to knock it into neutral at the lights or two foot it.

Also it's stumbles on the transition from idle or coast to accelerate.. Like this

Bbbbb then it's smooth... Car has good power and does a skid ect but just this flat spot when a decent amount of throttle is added...

It's like a Carby when the accelerator pump is stuffed...

I have removed the injectors and had them sonically cleaned..

I have also replaced the coil and leads... Plugs arnt that old

One of the posts on the old coil was completely gone just a pile of dust but amazingly that didn't seem to make a difference....

I was thinking about swapping ecu for my one as my car runs perfect....

Any suggestions would be appreciated...*

..XXXXXXXXX GDAY PG2 and POSTER RE HARMONIC BAL.,XXXXXXXX

thanks for sticking with me on this one.

Above is a copy of a post I located on this thread which matches the exact fault.
There is a top reference to the date etc at the top. He solved the problem by replacing the inlet gasket and fuel pump. But did them simultaneousl, thus which particular unit was the problem is unclear.

But I've made some progress. Having noted variously that the inlet manifold bolts loosening is common, out came the ten mm spanner and bingo, they sure were. Some had nearly half a turn to tighten.

The advice re above wasto observe any changes to performance, and subsequently replace gasket.

Well it improved the fault by at least fifty percent, (not fixed), but it's highly encouraging).

It's removed the spluttering part from the fault, leaving it with a slight instability on initial take off.

It's interesting, because this fault mimics so many other unit failures which the aboveposter, like myself, was taken down the same fruitless road.

I'm booking it in this week to have gasket replaced. Fingers crossed.

I'll repost when done.

Thanks heaps for your input and this brilliant site.

Dan

[Dan Diver]

Originally Posted by 11ford11

Check harmonic balancer hasn’t moved or is hitting sensor

I've copied this so you get an email alert to the thread.
I've posted some progress.

Thanks Dan

[Dan Diver]

Originally Posted by PG2

At least get the mechanic to check that the inlet manifold bolts are tight (but not too tight).

If the mechanic says that he has checked for air leaks then all I can say is to take his word for it.

I've posted this for your email alert. Some progress made re my post.

Regards Dan

[Dan Diver]

FYI:

Fixed.

Problem as outlined is fixed.
Thanks for the invaluable tips from forum members which led me to the solution.

Inlet manifold gasket replaced.
Very lose bolts. Most at least quarter turn and some more.
Tightening bolts improved situation, but gasket needed replacing to remedy completely the fault.

Regards Dan.

[Uncle_Ken]

Got to love the AU forum
UK
And well done

[Bill M]

Good to see the problem was sorted and you posted the results. Golden Spanner award to PG2!

[Venomous1]

This forum is invaluable! awesome result.

[fordomatic]

Unfortunately Facebook groups have taken over and we are losing lots of resources as no way to search issues through there. It's obvious how quiet this forum is now with posting but im sure people are using it as a resource now more than ever.

I really dislike Facebook