2006 Fpv Tornado F6 Ute - Cleanup & Resurrection

[FiftyOne]

Nice one phily. FYI, the gauge on many f6's is faulty. It's a cal issue in he gauge itself. I did a post about it a short time ago. I actually work with the guy that did the electricals, in the schematics, the gauge isn't even shown. Marketing wanted something tact on last minute. Can't remember what the exact issue is, but dig up that thread & see what I said

[PhilMeUp]

Nice one phily. FYI, the gauge on many f6's is faulty. It's a cal issue in he gauge itself. I did a post about it a short time ago. I actually work with the guy that did the electricals, in the schematics, the gauge isn't even shown. Marketing wanted something tact on last minute. Can't remember what the exact issue is, but dig up that thread & see what I said

Since that night I have started to develop a need to fit aftermarket gauges to the replacement green Tornado. Goody, another mini-project to start obsessing about (sarcasm).

As the green Tornado has a different intercooler setup, it's likely that the turbo gauge for that car isn't working because there's no pressure sender. I should grab the gauges from the green Tornado and try them out in the blue one.

Any idea if/where there's a fuse for that gauge?

[Tocchi]

Just run a Wifi HUD for the gauges / telemetry

[turboknapp]

All that time buffing sh*t, could do 2 washers?.

[Tocchi]

Oh didn't see that at first -- Phil pull it all off again and clean those washers as terminals being sparkling won't make jack difference if there is corrosion on the washers

[Ralph Wiggum]

Phil,

Get a couple of blocks of wood to run the car up so the jack clears.

Also with the gauge you have started at the wrong end of the diagnosis tree. Check the gauge end first. The power/light to the gauge are separate circuits so the gauges lighting up doesn't mean it's actually connected.

Get a DMM and check the voltage at the gauge connector. You should be able to see voltage when you stall up the car in drive as it will make boost. Also swap the wiring between the oil pressure and boost gauge. If the boost gauge functions and the oil pressure doesn't you have a wiring/sender issue further down stream.

You'll also need to check for voltage at the sender. Once side with have the signal voltage supply and the other will either have continuity to back to the gauge or to earth depending on how the gauge is wired up.

[PhilMeUp]

(Note: These are photos from last year, which I forgot to post.)

 

Monday, 8th June, 2015

 

When I originally bought the Tornado the driver’s door handle was hanging loose from the door trim.  

 

This also meant that the car wouldn’t pass a licencing inspection, so I bought a very well used door trim from a taxi wreck at a wrecking yard.

 

The handle itself wasn’t in great condition, so I’ve been looking around ever since for a door trim with a suitable handle.  I’ve come up blank, so figured I might as well transfer the ex-taxi door handle over to the FPV trim.

 

Here’s the original FPV door trim, which has been sitting inside the house for months.

 

 

The ex-taxi door trim that has been on the door since I got the car licenced.  Not the prettiest thing around.

 

 

I started by removing the ex-taxi door trim from the door.

 

 

The inside of the ex-taxi door trim.  I need to remove the window switch first.  The door handle is attached to the door trim with melted plastic, but attaches to the actual door in two places for when the driver pulls the door shut.  In the bottom of the photo is where one of the screws goes through and into the door.

 

 

At the other end of the door handle, this is the other point that gets attached to the door with a screw.

 

 

The inside of the door trim.  There’s not much to it - just a few bits of plastic stuck together.  

 

 

The door handle is attached to the door trim with a series of plastic stalks, with plastic melted on the end of each stalk.  I used a Dremel and cutting disc to cut away the end of each stalk.

 

 

After I had cut off the end of one of the plastic stalks.

 

 

After cutting off most of the end, I had to grind the stalk down a bit more so that it could come away from the door trim.

 

 

A photo showing how I was using the Dremel to cut away the end of each connecting plastic stalk.

 

 

After I had cut away the ends of the two stalks at the upper end of the door handle.  That end of the door handle was now disconnected from the door trim.

 

 

Cutting off the ends of the plastic stalks at the lower end of the door handle.

 

 

It didn’t take long to remove the door handle from the door trim.  I used a Dremel 4000, but the plastic was easy to cut through.  It would be possible to use a normal drill and small cutting disc to do this.  Or, a drill and large drill bit to grind away the end of the plastic stalk.  

 

 

I transferred the mirror adjuster switch from the ex-taxi door trim to the FPV one.

 

 

Although the door handle had completely broken loose from the door trim, there were still bits of plastic stalk left in the FPV trim.  I used the Dremel to cut those away.

 

 

Some plastic bits pushed out easily without tools.

 

 

The plastic ends that didn’t come loose easily were removed with needle-nose pliers.

 

 

The door handle in place on the FPV door trim.  

 

 

On the door handle, the ends of some of the plastic stalks were too wide to fit into the holes in the FPV door trim.  I used the cutting disc to grind away the outer edges of some of the stalks.

 

 

The upper end of the door handle.  You can see on the plastic stalk on the right where I’ve ground away the outer edges of that stalk.  

 

 

The upper end of the handle in place.  The plastic stalks have lined up with the holes as they should.  

 

 

I then used some screws and washers to attach the door handle to the door trim.

 

 

Another one of the plastic stalks.  Each stalk is hollow, which meant that I just just screw the screws in.  

 

 

Putting the two screws in at the upper end of the door handle.  I put a washer on each screw.

 

 

The interior side of the upper end of the door handle.   It attached well.

 

 

Then it was time to attach the lower end of the door handle.  I used one screw to attach it, but wasn’t confident with using screws on the other two stalks.  Instead, I drilled holes through the door trim and used a couple of small diameter bolts and lock nuts.  As with the upper end of the door handle, I used washers to ensure that nothing would pull through the door trim later.

 

 

The interior side of the lower end of the door handle.  You can see where I drilled the two holes.  The bolt ends will be hidden by the plastic that will clip in place later.  

 

 

The completed job, with a total of three screws and two bolts attaching the handle to the door trim.  

 

 

The completed door trim, ready to go back into the ute.  

 

 

Finally, time to put the FPV door trim on the door of my FPV ute.  

 

 

The completed job, with the old ex-taxi door trim.  

 

 

The inside of the old ex-taxi door trim before I threw it in the bin.  As you can see, they’re not difficult to dismantle.  There are three sections - the top green one, the middle white one and the main grey section.  Any of these can be mixed and matched with other door trims easily enough.  

 

 

The ute, back in one piece.  And, finally with the original FPV door trim instead the very well used ex-taxi one.  

 

[PhilMeUp]

Thursday, 18th June, 2015

 

(Note: These are photos from last year, which I forgot to post.)

 

Nothing special here - just a few photos taken on a rainy night.

 

The FPV dashboard at night.  The blue lighting looks good.

 

 

 

 

[PhilMeUp]

(Note: These are photos from last year, which I forgot to post.)

 

Monday, 16th November, 2015

 

Time for an oil change.  

 

 

For oil changes I normally use wheel ramps but this time I used a trolley jack and axle stands.  I can’t remember why (I’m writing this months later, but I was probably checking the brake pads).  

 

 

When I first got the Tornado home there was grime everywhere underneath the engine, which I then cleaned thoroughly with my pressure washer.  I was pretty miffed to see that there was an ongoing leak in the sump area.  

 

This is common with BF Falcons, and to replace the sump gasket involves removing that large cross member near the top of the photo.  Because of this, replacing the sump gasket is at least half a day on a hoist, which isn’t going to happen.  

 

I later took the car to a taxi mechanic, who loosened the bolts and forced some sealant in between the sump and engine block, before tightening up the sump bolts.  

 

Although engine oil is weeping out and on to the bottom of the sump, no oil was actually dropping down on to the ground.  

 

On Falcons I use Motorcraft FL-820S filters.

 

For loosening and tightening the Motorcraft oil filters I use an Ampro T70411 Oil Filter Wrench, which is 93mm in diameter and has 36 flutes.  You see it on the end of the oil filter.  It has a hole in it for a 3/8” ratchet, but I use a 3/8” to 1/4” adaptor and then use a 1/4” drive ratchet with it.  

 

 

I left it to drain for a while, before climbing back under to put the new oil filter on.

 

 

For removing oil filters I use a disposable glove to insulate a bit between the hot oil filter (ie after running the engine for a while) and my finger tips.  

 

The spout on the drain pan makes it easy to pour the old oil into bottles.  

 

 

After removing the old oil filter the sealing ring stayed behind.

 

I’ve been caught out by this before, and now know to check before putting the new oil filter on.

 

 

The FPV F6 engines have a small oil cooler that goes between the oil filter and engine block.

 

 

The new oil filter in place.  

 

 

I always seem to spill oil when doing an oil change, and really made a mess of it this time.  I poured the old oil into old oil bottles.  Whenever I’ve got a bunch of full oil bottles I take them to a nearby council waste transfer station, where I pour the old oil into a tank there and keep the bottles to use again.  

 

 

I’m using Gulf Western Syn-X 3000 these days, which is a semi-synthetic oil.  

 

 

I had a look around the engine bay and made sure that everything was in order before calling it a night.  

 

[PhilMeUp]

Wednesday, 23rd March, 2016

 

In June last year the engine in my taxi started making major bottom end noises.  Although the car had done a bit under 500,000km, it was very unusual for a Barra motor to expire.  

 

With Falcon wrecks, the one thing that doesn’t sell is the motor.  Taxi workshops have stacks of them.  So, I wasn’t too happy that my motor had expired.

 

I spent $1,000 on getting a replacement low km engine fitted at a workshop, but had them put the old one in the back of my ute.  I have no experience with engine internals, so I figured I’d find someone that would supervise me taking it apart and then help to identify what failed, and why. 

 

This didn’t eventuate.  I ran an advert on Gumtree for a while and got various responses, but no-one actually came through.

 

As I’d had enough of having this extra weight in the back of the car I figured I’d pull the sump off and have a look.   

 

 

It took me a bit of mucking around to get the sump off.   That’s where the crowbar came in handy - if the sump wouldn’t come loose then it meant that I’d missed a bolt on the sump.  There were a couple at the flywheel end that I didn’t initially see. 

 

 

I set aside the old coils and oil filler cap (bottom right of photo).  I keep stuff like this as spares for my taxis.  Those were the original coils - almost 500,000km on them.  I found that I had to replace the spark plugs every 12-18 months, but never had to replace the coils.  Even the rubbers on those coils were still in reasonably good condition.  

 

 

Once the sump was off I had to remove another cover so that I could see the crankshaft.  

 

 

 

You can see in the middle of the crank shaft where it was scored.  The journal is well scored (ie scratched), but the other two in the photo (ie on the left) are ok.  

 

 

 

On this cover one of the bolts was different to the others (ie in the middle).  I have no idea why.  Anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I’d concluded that the motor was doomed to die no matter what I did, I left it in pieces and knocked off for the night.  

 

That was the useful part of doing this in the back of the ute - once I’d finished I could just go to a scrap metal place and get rid of the engine block.  

 

 

The next day I rang some scrap metal yards.  Rather than the usual SIMS Metal, I tried to find a smaller, locally owned one.  I drove the Tornado to one place and watched nervously as the old engine block was removed from the back of the ute.  

 

He was perfectly precise, and within seconds the old engine was gone.   

 

 

Although I don’t know much about the internals of an engine, it was obvious why it was making a bottom end knocking sound.  One of the bearing shells had worn through until it broke into two pieces, and the other shell was also worn to paper thin.  

 

These two bearing shells were on the crank journal that was worn.  

 

 

There were score marks on the inside of each shell.  

 

 

The end of each shell had been worn thin, and metal pushed out to the side.  

 

 

The other shells were ok.  They’ve corroded since they were removed on left on my desk for the last month.