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Age Old EA problems in Summer/hot weather

7K views 43 replies 23 participants last post by  rfs365 
#1 · (Edited)
I know this subject has been covered but without any real answers being given. We have had many theories about fuel, coils etc but not one of these single things seem to be the answer.

Here is what happened to me on my trip down to Bathurst over the weekend that made a 3hr trip into an 8hr one :fraz:

I left home at about 11am in 30odd degree heat. I had already done over 50k's before I left to go into town,so the engine was warm when I left. About 30k's down the road the tacho started to jump a little but there was no noticable difrence in the revs of the engine so I dropped my speed to 90/100k's (open road limits up here) and kept an eye on everything.

After travelling another 100k's the tacho was jumping more & more and there was a distinctive lack of power up hills (these were big hills I will add).The temp gauge was a little higher than where it normally sits ie: on the bottom line of the normal section, but was still under half way. After about another 30k's there was a huge backfire (read like a cannon going off). and a surge started to happen every 15-30 seconds. This surge wasnt a huge one but enough that my passenger then realised something was amiss.

I slowed to about 80k's and being in the middle of nowhere I kept on going slowly. The backfiring gradually got worse as did the surging. These got to the point that I could only travel at about 40k's and it was basically the forward surge that kept me moving. If I took my foot of the accelerator it would stall so I kept my foot just barely touching it to keep going.

The temp of the day would have been about 35 degrees by this stage & the whole car felt hot even though the temp gauge was still only reading just under half & I knew there was still water in it. The fuel pump was a lot louder than normal as well so I thought that was the problem.

It got to the point that I had to stop and got towed into the next town. When we got to the mechanics the car had cooled as I parked under a tree. The mechanic took her for a drive & there seemed to be no problem at all :fraz:

He used a computer to check the leads and there was nothing amiss there & he suggested that the filter in the fuel tank was the problem & it must have cleaned out on the back of the tow truck.

I slowly got to Bathurst by stopping at all the towns on the way & letting her cool down.

I started realising this wasnt just a fuel problem when I left the last town I stopped in at about 6pm......The air was a lot cooler outside and the surges were getting less and less just as they had started getting more & more .....

The closer to Bathurst I got the better she ran......

I only drove her once over the weekend and had another guy come to see what she would do as the afternoon was warming. When cool she was great ...... as soon as the temp gauge moved over the bottom line of normal the tacho started again........so did the backfire

On my way home yesterday the weather was cool & the needle never moved and the fuel pump sounded like normal. Lets say the trip home was vastly faster than on the way there.

I have so far replaced the front fuel filter, air filter and used injector cleaner to no avail....... all I seem to need is cool weather......... not good when our summers here can get to 40odd degrees :AAHHH:

So my question is ........... What is it that is being affected by the heat ..... is it only the fuel pump, the electrics ...... or some other thing that we will never know & have to not use our cars during summer

Ohhhhhh for those who dont know ..... shes a 1988 EA Spac CFI 3.9


:fairy
 
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#3 ·
I would say something ignition related too. The tacho jumping could mean the TFI is stuffed, or the hall effect sensor in the dizzy. If you fiddle with it, change both at the same time. Coil is a further down the chain but still worth swapping if you can get out of it cheaply.

Good luck finding it!!

Jase
 
#5 ·
Ive got a similar problem. Not heat related more 100% of the time. At idle she shudders and under 5-10% throttle it sounds like LOUD pinging/shuddering, but as soon as the revs get above 2000 or the throttle over 25% its smooth as. I think its either my rotor cap or coil.
 
#6 ·
Plugs, Leads, Distributor Cap, TFI and coil, after that if there is still a problem, then it gets tricky, but heat is a cause, so check head bolt torque, and the distributer, also the manifolds, you may a vacuum leak causing the problem as well.

You have to start some where, and replacing external parts is the best place to start.

Coil first and check inlet and exhaust are done up tight, distributer cap second, then go from there

Good luck :0)

Dellboy999
 
#9 ·
My mpfi EA will idle high and the engine and sometimes the revs will rise and fall and eventually stall. This only happens when the outside temp is above about 30 degrees. Has nothing to do with how hot my car gets.

I have tested and replaced a lot of sensors and stuff, but i havent tried the ACT sensor yet. I doubt a faulty sensor would cause problems like backfiring and loss of power though.
 
#10 ·
OK guys ..... coil changed ...... not much difference :(

There is a notable gain in power and the surging isnt as bad but the tacho needle is still going ballistic even if the temp gauge is barely over the lower end of the normal section ........

What next ...... the coil cost me $96 fitted :(

:fairy
 
#11 ·
check battery earths, engine earth strap etc
these can cause systems to go haywire (like the doors open display on fairmontghia/ fairlanes)

although reading all of your first post i was saying to myself coil coil, as this happened to me on my seccond ever cruise (in my XF ute). once it cooled down, the car ran fine, when warm boom boom stop
 
#12 ·
A very similar thing happened to me in my eb2 xr6 just the other day, driving along the motorway, started surging a little then a lot (it became undrivable) pulled over, let it cool down a bit and then it drove ok, then started chuggin it's guts out again.I hopped it to an auto elec nearby and $440 later they changed the dizzy and no problem anymore (seems it was believed to be the crank angle sensor).

Dunno if this applies to EA cfi but it may ?

Cheers
Nath
 
#14 ·
It was from the exhaust ....... the sound was almost deafening sometimes & always sounded like it was comming from the rear of the car. ...........

It really didnt seem to be in the front end at all

:fairy
 
#15 ·
okies, that narrows it down a bit. an engine backfires thru the inlet when it runs lean.

an engine will backfire thru the exhaust when the ignition timing strays. a few common reasons on the falcon engines are 1)distributor cap is cracked - it's easy to check on a cfi as the distributor is easily accessible. take the cap off and flip it up so u can see inside it. look for really fine hairline lines running from the terminals to the centre post or to other terminals. if they are there, it's cracked. 2)the high tension leads are crossfiring. have a look at the leads mainly where they are bunched together. if they crossfire they will leave a pale greyish chalky residue at the point of arcing. the i6 engine is notorous for leads crossfiring or earthing into the rocker cover.

the only other problem which can cause a i6 to backfire thru the exhaust is the module/pickup assembly in and on the side of the distributor. the procedure for testing these is quite extensive and u use a multimeter with a diode tester. if u need to know, gimme a shout and i'll type it all out, how i do it anyway

hope that helps
 
#16 ·
Try borrowing somebody's dizzy, that ought to fix it - and if not, you're not out of pocket! :)
 
#18 ·
My bet would be to replace the dizzy, they are around $180 new, the fact that your tacho is jumping around is a sign that its coming from the distributor, the TFI modules are very sensitive to heat. And i have had this problem before on an EL i owned.

Also checking earth connections doesn't hurt the pocket it only takes your time to go over them.
 
#19 ·
EA Turbo Clone ......... Where are you getting your prices from ????? I was quoted about $300 for the dizzy :(

I think I may have stumbled across one cheaper ..... but it is second hand ......


:fairy
 
#20 ·
Aviod second hand MN as they will have the exact same problem.

I just finished speaking to a mate who's parents had a similar problem to you with their EB... they had the dizzy+coil replaced and the problem is fixed.
The auto elec said he's doing 10 EA-ED's a week with this problem!
 
#21 ·
well i actually paid $80 for my dizzy brand new, but auto elec in kyneton called DRC auto elecs told me $180, it was just luck for me to pick one up for $80. DRC's phone no. is 54222211 they are also called kyneton autosound.

I think more to the point, who did you get that price off? Shopping around for car bits is the best way to go.
 
#22 ·
s/h dizzies are not always bad, pity you're not in WA as I have 5 good s/h dizzies on the shelf I could've lent ya!
Isn't there anyone near you from the club who'd be willing to help you out by lending you theires for a few minutes?
 
#26 ·
Well guys an update ........

Im really not sure if my problem is twofold or just the same thing :(

Over the Xmas period is has been extreemly hot up here ........the 'I'm not going to start in the heat' crap has started again ..... in conjunction with the tacho going ballistic & trying to stall ..........

I was talking to a young fella at a xmas party & he told me about a E Series car he had that did the same thing ........

He came to the conclusion that due to where the fuel lines run & the position of the manifold the fuel evaporates in the heat .........

I will admit to being sceptical .... this guy seems not to be too far outta nappies :p

When I parked the car I did so in the shade ..... that didnt work ........ So I then parked her in the shade & lifted the bonnet to allow max air around the engine ........ She started with no probs at all ..........

I did notice when i lifted the bonnet even after only a small trip the engine bay seemed overly hot .,...... even though there was water in her & there was no rise in the temp gauge ........

What do you guys think ????????


:fairy
 
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