Ba Mkii 4.0l Fairmont - Servicing

[JimmyXR6T04]

g'day all,

been a while since I've posted much on here since selling the XR6T!! Anyway, just wondering if anyone can shed some light on some stuff for me. I bought a fairmont last november, and I've done about 10,000kms since then. It's time for a service, so I thought I'd do most things just so I know it's been done. Although the car has a full history, I don't have much faith in the fleet servicing regime!!

Car now has about 83k on the clock, and it had a service at 72k from ford. I was going to get my mechanic to do the basic service, plus plugs, trans oil change, and engine oil flush. Reason for engine oil flush, is that when I left the car sitting in the garage for a week, it was hard to start and blew a bit of grey smoke. Another mechanic mate suggested the valves might be sticking due to dirty gluggy oil. Since that one incident it's been running beautifully (it's driven most days).

Going through the service book, I noticed that it's had a carbon flush at 60,000kms. What exactly is a carbon flush?? And why would it be needed? Is it common?

Is there anything else I should look at doing? I also thought of doing a cooling system flush, but it seems to be going well. Figured I'd leave the coolant stuff until it reaches summer. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated!

[JimmyXR6T04]

anyone?

[XRPete]

I think its when they put an addtiive in your engine/fuel (not real sure) and take it for a spin and its supposed to blow out all the carbon deposits.

Had it done on mine without me even knowing til I saw the invoice. Don't think it made a noticable difference. Might help in the long run though.

[RHR]

I know of an engine oil flush that Nulon make but its done at every service

[JimmyXR6T04]

cool, cheers guys. I'll look into it some more and discuss with my mechanic. Just wanted a general idea before speaking to him!

[seventytwo]

the only thing I could find on the net is a post in the MX6 forums

  Quote

An AXII is a 1993 626 for anyone who aint an aussie, but my engine's oil wasn't changed for a while (3 years) but it only went 15000 in the time, so not to nasty . That said my mechanic told me the engine was carboned up and dirty as s$#t, so he recommended a carbon flush, (open the bonnet, plug the fuel hose into a tank of this detergent stuff, and the engine actually runs on it for an hour), does anyone think this is really worth doing? its like $165 australian, so if its not really gonna do anything I wont bother. cheers for your advice

and a dodgy manila web site.

http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2006/06/11/MTR...6061166396.html

[JimmyXR6T04]

  seventytwo said:

the only thing I could find on the net is a post in the MX6 forums

and a dodgy manila web site.

http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2006/06/11/MTR...6061166396.html

cheers mate, that's the only article I found too. There isn't much info out there on it, makes me nervous

[ratter]

This is a system that we use. It is not a preventative maintenace item like the ones that get done every service, it is a service that is recommended to be done approx 80,000 klms and actually provides great results. We have fixed injector miss fires by using this system and even solved fuel pressure regulator problems using it.

  Quote

CarbonClean Fuel System Service Center… Providing Solutions For Cleaning Internal Combustion Engines From Intake To Exhaust. MotorVac provides a complete service that softens and removes undesirable soft carbon that clogs and chokes your gasoline or diesel engine. Professionally trained technicians use the exclusive MotorVac CarbonClean equipment to diagnose and clean the inside of an entire engine, from intake through to exhaust, with MotorVac's specially formulated, concentrated cleaning detergent.

Provides Improved Performance and Emissions

In an easy three step process, MotorVac will perform a diagnosis of a fuel system and clean all parts of a vehicle's air intake, fuel and exhaust system from the inside out, from throttle plate to catalytic converter. The service RESTORES NEW VEHICLE PERFORMANCE, FUEL ECONOMY, AND WILL HELP CARS AND TRUCKS MEET STRINGENT EPA EMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS.

A MotorVac CarbonClean System is a complete fuel system service and diagnostic center. This systematic, turnkey workstation connects to an engine in as little as 5 minutes using OEM-quality adapters. Once connected it enables the technician to diagnose and completely clean the fuel delivery system of any gas or diesel engine in approximately 1 Hour. The MotorVac System surpasses standard injector cleaning and tune-ups, by systematically removing dirt, varnish, wax, gum and carbon from the engine. The proprietary cleaning detergent is completely safe for all types of fuel systems and will not harm any engine components.

CARBONCLEAN™ "The Tune-up of the 90's"

The gasoline system equipment is a 12-volt powered 2-line cleaning system, which connects to the engine through vehicle specific adapters for all types of carburetor and fuel-injected engines. The equipment passes a detergent and gas mixture through the components of the fuel system. With the engine off, the system removes both organic and inorganic fuel deposits that build up in the fuel rail, injector screens, and pressure regulator areas while filtering the contaminants through the on-board filtering system. With the engine idling, the solution passes through the injectors or carburetor jets and into the engine’s combustion chambers. Carbon, gum and varnishes built up in these areas are softened and passed harmlessly out the exhaust, or are removed by the unit's on-board filter.

For more information…

[JimmyXR6T04]

cheers ratter,

The log book says it had a carbon flush at 60,000kms, so I'm guessing it was something similar to what you're using? I might get the injectors cleaned/serviced too while I'm at it, god knows what condition they might be in. Looks like I'll be up for a bit this service But once it's done, then I'll know where I stand with it. Considering I plan on keeping this car for a while, even when I get another XR (I'm hoping the missus will accept the hand me down) :smilecouncil: