LanceDickchops

This thread is as old as the hills but I thought I would say something about the EVAP process on a BA. In my opinion the system is 50% for show, just so they could say that they had one. OK, the system does what they claim, only it does it at the lowest possible degree of efficiency, and it only does it for part of the time & it's not very efficient when it does. Yes the EVAP in a BA draws fumes while you are driving but that Carbon Canister setup doesn't do much when your car is parked in the sun all day. Is it any wonder the Factory hid it way down the back of the vehicle above the exhaust, behind Heat shields & above part of the IRS. Then to top it off they have pushed it way up in a Gap between the chassis sub-frame & rear Cradle mounts which makes it is almost impossible to find. It's not impossible to remove, but it is a lay down on your back under the rear right axle with the IRS Cradle above your chest chore to remove. Squeezing the "Tricky" vent tube clamps is the hardest part because there is no room, if you don't have strong fingers then don't even attempt it, because you won't get them undone with the room you (don't) have. But when you do get it out, it has a huge 15mm diameter Tank vent hose, a small diameter vacuum operated purge line, and another 15mm diameter breather & vent hose combined that pokes into a hole on the sub-frame (for water & Dirt Protection). But it still vents lots of fumes straight to to the atmosphere out of that sub-frame vent hose while the vehicle is parked & not running, which is most of the time. I believe that they also put the vent hose in the same proximity of the exhaust pipe for a reason too, because the exhaust helps masks the fumes at startup, you know the old excuse "all cars smell a bit rich at start up". Well, on the BA most of that rich petrol smell at first start is fumes coming from the fuel tank that are venting through the EVAP canister & the activated carbon in it is probably stale. So, then I cracked open one of these BA Carbon canisters and I can tell you that it vents plenty of fumes to the atmosphere but it does it through two sponge filters & about a kilo of activated carbon. No working parts at all, but be assured that it is also a necessary ECU Controlled vacuum leak that only works properly if everything is sealed. I know of BA owners who have had a cactus Fuel cap that was causing a very rough idle when that purge valve started a tickin and pulling manifold vacuum. I had a very similar rough idle, but the cap was not my problem, my vehicle is supercharged & due to the custom manifold setup it was pulling way to much vacuum when the purge solenoid opened at idle, it nearly sucked it inside out. After much trial & error I connected my purge solenoid to ported vacuum source instead of straight manifold vacuum & it fixed that problem completely. In the BA when you turn the motor off the vacuum operated purge process stops too & from then on it just vents fumes to the atmosphere like it did back in the 70's & before, only today the process is a little cleaner due to the carbon canister. Its old fashioned but it works to a certain degree if the charcoal is fresh, the problem is that activated carbon does not last forever & 5 years is about its limit. You replace every other filter on your car multiple times and although carbon is long lasting it does eventually fill up with impurities. The best word to describe it would be "stale". No one cares & most workshops don't even know. When was the last time you were told your Carbon canister needed replacing, on any vehicle you have owned? It has never happened to me,,,, ever. It probably does happen from time to time but it would be rare.

Yep Freaky, I guess I did answer my own question. So thanks to me for that. Also the Ultimas have a 3 year 100,000k warranty period so I will give em a go at $105.00 each. I would hope that they will last for longer than I will have this vehicle so what have I got to loose?

wow,,,great write up, thanks for taking the time to document it all. Might have to get one of those tools. All of this time I have been doing it with a piece of endless threaded bolt & two nuts, about 6 pieces of different bore size galvanized pipe & many different size heavy duty washers. It does the job but it's clunky.

My brothers fg had this noise & his turned out to be one of the metal lines under the rear that ran through or close to the L suspension arm. Something like that anyway, but they told him that they just reshaped this tube a little & put a split piece of rubber hose over it that was held with a zip-tie as an insulator & the left turning noise went away. Now if MR Ford Service could only fix the other Gremlins that is in it he would be happy.

I have a ba xr6T which needs rear shocks. It has lowered Pedders Springs F&R but the Pedders rear shocks are rooted now. They always felt a bit soft & bouncy I thought. I am not going Koni, sachs or Bilstein because they are overpriced in Australia. Anyway, My choice is either kyb shocks or Ultima Short stroke shocks. I know the quality of kyb and if they made a short stroke shock for the ba I wouldn't even be asking this question. I know that Ultima are cheap entry level shocks but these big bore versions do have a shortened stroke which is what I need. I have run standard height shocks in lowered cars before but I didn't get much life out of them, so maybe I would be just wasting my money installing kyb standards in this vehicle. The Ultimas are about $120 bucks cheaper too. What do you guys think?

How did you guys get 18x9.0 under the front of a BA? Which offset? I tried 18x9.0 on the front of my lowered BA with the only two offsets that would allow a clean fit on the B series dodgy front end & the wheels & tyres both hung out from under the guards. To keep it legal I ended up having to go with 8.5 on the front & 9.5 on the rear, wish I could have got 18x9.0 on the front though because there is not enough dish with 8.5. In my opinion Lenso D1's any smaller than 9.0 look like crap, well that's what I think of my 8.5's anyway but the same wheel in a 9.0 & wider look magic.

Old Post I know,, but I just happened upon it by accident. Don't know what Ford are like now but just so u know,,, "Back in the day" my brother bought a brand spanking new ba xr6T in 2003 that came straight from the factory fitted with the lumpy xr8 bonnet, sunroof, xr8 18" wheels & it was fully optioned with everything else you could fit in it. Cost him a fortune. Wish it was still around now because it was a ripper of a car. In those days if you Pressured the salesman & paid them enough money,,, then they would pretty much give you anything you asked for, within reason....Ford don't advertise this fact.