NOW FOR SALE $4k - Commando's BF - Business Class Frequent F

[Commando]

What can I say, I do a lot of driving! Driving to/from work is 700kms/week & on the weekends we usually rack up another 300kms minimum, so I'm doing 50k/yr. My gf drives it every chance she gets as well. She's driving it to work this week while I'm fap- err, slacking off at home.

I'll keep Car Tint Options in mind, it's not high on my to-do list and doing it locally would suit me better, but cheers for the info!

[M1CH437]

She's driving it to work this week while I'm fap- err, slacking off at home.

hahah Commando you funny bastard!

[josh_ef]

dave my mate is a quallified car tinter, he will look after ya.

he lives in the valley to, taralgon so its not far to travel, pm me if ya interested, he will do what ever darkness ya want and exellent quallity

[Commando]

Sweet as, Traralgon sounds good. Does he do weekends or after hours by any chance? I don't like my chances of leaving the car in t'gon during work hours.

I'm just after something similar to factory tint, to keep the car cool when parked in the sun (not that it's been a hot summer)

[Commando]

Bump. The car ticked over 200k today. Gas system still running perfectly, w00t!

[needfordspeed]

60,000kms in 14 months....you must be over driving by now haha.

[Commando]

Dual zone & grandpa seats make it ok :-p

It's looking a bit WRC spec after hiking this weekend. Needs a good clean! I kind of wish it would metamorphasise into a ute though, living on a farm & needing to haul shit everywhere doesn't work that well with a sedan. And the pegga diff hates life in the paddocks

[EFFalcon]

hahah, 60,000km's in that kinda time certainly makes you appreciate a falcon and LPG

[DJV8T5]

What kind of economy are you getting out of the gas now? Has it improved from what you were originally getting?

My crappy old XF did a trip to Sydney on Black Saturday weekend (Boronia-Wodonga-Sydney-Wodonga-Boronia) and ended up averaging 6.9l per 100km...I thought that was fairly impressive for the old car.

[Commando]

6.9l/100km out of an xf! Diesel conversion?

I'm still getting 11-13l/100km in mixed conditions on gas.

[Commando]

Bump.

300,000kms old tonight. Cliffnotes to date:

Interior is A-, essentially the same since purchase.
Exterior is C after clipping a roo.

Failures to date:
Rear suspension at around 240k (fixed 275k lol)
Intake manifold gasket at 275k.
Coils packed in at 275k. 275k seemed to be a cursed time...
Misc tyres uneven wear (I buy cheap used tyres that usually last 30k). Alignments don't help.
Brake shudder.
Fuel flap catch got stuck at 295k. Cheap fix = bend catch so it no longer locks
Lost a dollar under the centre console. Spewing.

The gas system is flawless though & the auto is still doing good. The Fairmont seats are so frikken comfy! I've lost count of how much $ I've saved on gas too. 400k should roll around by late 2014 assuming the car's still alive.

[NUT347]

Nice.

No rattly cat converter? Does your rear view mirror rattle?

[Commando]

Oh yeah, my gf got pinged by HWP in my car doing 117 & was given the option of fixing the exhaust (wubwubwubwub) or copping a speeding fine. She picked the exhaust & got it fixed up for $30.

No rear mirror vibration issues, even when I pump ABC FM.

[Nikk O'lass]

Nominated for Boostedfalcon COTY.

[Michael (HYPOEB)]

Good work! My coils went at 280k, part from that runs like a dream!

[GIFFO97]

Coils packed in at 275k. 275k seemed to be a cursed time...

Seems to be a common thing with the Falcons, We had an EL Fairmont back in the Day and it did 3 Coils in the space of 180,000 K's...

[nothin suss]

Nice one. Apart from normal stuff wearing its been a great car for you. Long live the mighty coon!

I wish my dedicated wagon got better mixed economy but approx 15.5l/100 is okay I suppose for an ancient system. How I wish they continued the wagon or done a ZF upgrade with a Fairmont option at the BF upgrade. Perfect car.

[[Sterling]]

Coils only sorta last 100thousand so they've done well

Sorry to hear about the lost dollar.

[Commando]

Seems to be a common thing with the Falcons

My past two E-Series didn't really have any coil issues (sold at 375k & 390k), plus they're completely different systems. Each Falcon of mine have had different issues, the EF 4.0 did the obligatory head gasket, the EB 5.0 had on/off cooling system problems, & for the BF its' been the brakes, tyre wear, rear suspension & coils. The BF hasn't left me on the side of the road though (yet) unlike the other two. Having the EF shit itself in Tassie whilst on holiday sucked balls, the Spirit of Tassie crew must've thought I was smuggling shit on the way back home when I frantically popped the bonnet once on the boat.

Danny - I agree with a ZF/Fairmont wagon as a last hurrah, would've been good to see.

[Commando]

Grinding noise at <25kph braking started last week. My Kramer run with my brake pads seems to have come to an end after...

Wait for it...

90,000kms

New pads to go in tomorrow.

[braad]

Nominated for Boostedfalcon COTY.

Should be in Elite. Most reliable falcon on boosted. Epic stamina

[Commando]

Elite is too mainstream for me. My factory-standard silver n/a automatic Fairmont is for irony only.

[Commando]

Bump. So I've just serviced the car at 335k (last serviced 320k). It's used 2L in that time lol.

I usually use something like shell helix 15w-40, the stuff that's good with gas engines. This time I cheaped out with some castrol magnatec 15w-40 because it was on special & came with free filters.

I think the engine sucked in a little dust after the previous service, as I reused the air filter. Probably didn't do it much good.

So I have a couple of questions:

1. Should I start using 20w-50? Or a semi/full synthetic?
2. Do higher-km B-Series 4.0s start to use a little oil?

Regardless I think I'll do the next service within 10k. At 345k the car will have done 200k on this awesome gas system (which itself was last serviced at 300k). Such save, wow.

[nothin suss]

Just top your oil up every 5,000

[Commando]

So a heavier weight oil or higher quality probs isn't the go. I'm happy to top up every 5k & stick with the cheap 15w-40 stuff. I've got two 600km day trips for work next week (scope or duration not defined yet, therefore no jsea or accomm arranged yet lol. I'm meant to be on site tomorrow evening. Love my job) so the next top-up will be coming around quickly.

Also BOO-URNS to the LPG price hike!! 76c up to 99c in a day, bullshit!

[Commando]

I'd be inclined to continue using a decent semi synthetic oil. And just check it regularly.
If it's not leaking it must be going out the tailpipe, it's had a pretty good run and will keep going as long as oil is kept to it.

[Commando]

Update time for the most boring car on Boosted.

Funnily enough it's not really dropping any oil now... 10,000kms since the last oil change and not only is it still sitting on Full, but the oil is still golden. Not sure why it's stopped burning oil.

Well the car's getting close to 350,000kms now, and I've done 200,000kms on this JTG system. All up i've saved roughly $12k gross (almost the purchase cost of the car!), $8k net since putting it on gas. As far as reliability goes, the BF shits all over the old EF Candywagon, particularly at this point where the EF's first motor was getting a bit sad. The only notable fails between 300k & ~345k are:

* Driver's electric window reg failed, I left the windows dead for about 10,000kms. Fixed for $70.
* Still chewing out tyres, particularly rears, but I'm getting >30,000kms per 2nd-hand set (rotated every 20,000). The rear end's a bit clunky again too.
* Brake shudder's been fixed with some kickass pads that have self-machined the rotors. Rotors might be getting a bit thin now lol
* I cooked the car in last week's heatwave, stuck in city traffic 300kms into a 600km trip. Original radiator probably needs flushing (hasn't been done for, err, 150k).
* There's another hole somewhere in the exhaust. Wubwubwubwubwub
* It's seemed a little down on power since 300k, but still averaging 11L/100kms on gas.

Interior is still A-, essentially the same since purchase. None of the brushed aluminium style plastics have peeled off, leather on steering wheel still in good condition, only the boot release button has had its symbol worn off, seats are still comfy with the only defects being minor ones (some runs and one clean hole) since purchase. I've thrown all kinds of shit in the car incl camping gear, concreting tools and cement bags, a petrol genny, potplants, the dog (RIP)...

Exterior is still C, currently filthy. Skittled a suicidal cat last night, so the front bumper needs a good hose.

Dual zone aircon/heater still both cold/hot respectively. The auto still doesn't have a bypass cooler (trans fluid/last service done at 200k). Original serp belt. Original diff oil.

I'm still on track to hit 400,000 by the end of the year. I got up to 390,000 in the Candywagon, but its 2nd motor had done a HG & it was fairly shagged after the 360k mark.

[DJV8T5]

I hate suicidal animals, collected a huge sulfur crested cockatoo in the XH...made a huge mess on the bullbar and down the passenger side. Apparently your wagon is only being outdone by taxi's in the kms department then. Seems to be getting some decent gas mileage too. Be wary of giving it a birthday, it might start having issues lol

[Commando]

The worst two things I've hit were in my first car - 1) a large dog, and 2) a rotten wombat. Yummeh...

The BF is a sedan, I really wish I had a wagon or ute instead!

As for gas economy, I can't recommend the JTG liquid injection system highly enough, it's been pretty much flawless.

[apoc]

Where did you get your system installed Dave? Thinking of getting the AU done with liquid, sounds like it would get better economy than petrol lol.

[Commando]

G'day Neil,

I went to these guys: http://www.autogasinjection.com.au

At the time they had a 3yr/100k warranty on the JTG setup. Are you still doing Sale-Churchill? With the AU, I've heard a lot of good things about the Emer SVI kit and AUs, and it's about a grand cheaper.

Emer has a 68(?)L tank, while JTG only has 45L. Either way you get a winning gas system that will overtake the savings of an older mixer setup after a couple of years. I highly doubt I'd be getting 11L/100kms on a mixer setup, or having coils last 270k & plugs last 100k without issues...

I've been meaning to catch you guys on a Thursday arvo at the pub, but I've either been away for work, stuck at the office, or on a tanker run with the CFA. Time poor...

[apoc]

Nice. Im tossing up between getting one of those just installed and forget about it, (~3k-$1000 rebate) OR chuck one of the impco systems in which I have here, see if its good, then just get a vapour injection under-bonnet kit and install and tune it myself (will cost about 500-800$).

We had a bit of a hiatus from Thursday beers due to people being on holidays, and Russell got married lol. Will be back on next week hopefully! Ill send you a text with times and locations

[Commando]

With the JTG setup I had 20,000km services which I think included checking "calibration" of the gas injectors, checking/replacement of filters, etc... it sucked driving up to Frankston 3-4 times a year though.

To stick to their 100k/3yr warranty I kept in line with the 20k services, but really the system's been so reliable that if I were to do it again I'd probs stretch services out to 50k after the 1000km service.

Phillis on here got SVI on his EF XR6 wagon - I may have missed the specific kit that he opted for, but here's a post in his thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7258&hilit=XR6+wagon+LPG&start=560#p364494

Might be worth getting one of those under-bonnet kits if you've already got an impco system it would take years to recoup the savings from a superior JTG system in this case.

I've forgotten the names of the other guys lol. Yeah shoot me a txt & I'll try to catch you guys again soon.

[private9]

You're getting a pretty nice run out of this so far! Any plans of replacement, or just keep going till issues start?

[Commando]

The ultimate plan is to drive it until it dies or until the gas system shits itself.

But I don't know what my work future is. There's a small chance of scoring a job in the Top End this year, and if that goes ahead Jen & I will trade both cars in (her Camry's nearing 300k) and getting a 3rd gen Prius to share between us. Yes, a Prius, I'm serious. They're friggen cheap to drive & I don't care what I drive now - why spend an extra few grand a year on fuel.

If I stay at my job/stay local & the car dies, I'll either drive Jen's camry, or will get a <10yo falcadore wagon or ute, on gas.

For now, the car's showing no signs of giving up :-)

[Commando]

Bump. At 1000kms/week I'm closing in on 400k (January 2015 - it's at 370k now). Car started making a noise last week that I can only describe as leaving a spanner on the shock tower, closing the bonnet, and going for a drive. So off to Pedders I went.

Typos aside, here's the damage:



Items fixed on the list:

* New nut on swaybar bracket. That is all lol.

Rest to stay as-is, except maybe the highlighted - the centre bearing was completely fubar. I might do the swaybar D bushes & bump stops myself. The 3 large diff bushes have been stuffed since around the 300k mark so I think the car can survive without new diff bushes. As for "Engine has oil leaks", that's probably just remnants from the last service where I spilt oil from the filter down the side of the block. Then again I haven't checked the dipstick for the last 5k & it's been 15k since the last service...

My plans to run this car into the ground are on schedule

Also, for Gippslanders on here, A+ To Ayres Automotive in Tgon (Pedders checks are part of their work - as for their business in general they kind of have a rockabilly/hotrod/motorbike thing going on there). http://www.ayresauto.com.au/

[NUT347]

I can't believe how well it's holding up mate.

Have you replaced any bushes? I would have thought a bigger list.

[nothin suss]

Yeah it's not too bad really for the klms.
Pity you're not close by. I've made a jig to remove IRS frames.
Should start drumming up some business. I'm sure dealerships would charge an arm and a leg for bush replacements in the rear?!?

[Commando]

Some of the rear bushes were done around the 280k mark, I can't remember which ones now. Rear shocks were replaced at 280k too. Everything else suspension-wise is standard/original.

lol "Pity you're not close by". I do 200kms/day to work & back, and I try to use my car for work use as often as possible, so kms & distance are never a factor for me. Work are tightasses, so if I have a meeting in Melbourne and am only allowed to claim on the cost of a V/Line ticket (despite that being a 500km day for me - and the additional time isn't chargeable! "It's not our problem where you choose to live"), I claim the equivalent "V/Line ticket $" kms through work and then claim the balance at tax time.

I've done a few stints for work in western Vic through the summer lugging concreting gear, toolboxes and a petrol genny from Gippsland to Dimboola which I'm owed about 1,500kms on. Yep, concreting gear in a sedan. I also carted sewer diagnostic gear down to Torquay back in June, although I was managing that job so I figured I'd charge the full kms. I took the BF down the GOR from Torquay to Apollo Bay one night after my work there & then up through the Otways back to Torquay. A suicidal Hiace van overtook me in the Otways after giving up on trying to get me to play touge with him. Two bends later and his tail lights were gooone. The GOR confirmed the Fairmont's suspension was getting sad lol.

What I'm getting at is if you want a guinea pig I'd be more than happy to haul my ass over to Geelong (with all the bushes req'd) if you'd like to document the process on my car & advertise. I was given an indicative timeframe of "12 hours / 2 days" for swapping out all rear suspension bushes, which I think equates to "I hate doing these so I need to make it worth my while", which is fair enough, I'd do the same.

One other thing - I've been running a (rough) spreadsheet that I update every 5,000kms or so on car running costs. I've saved approx $10,500, INCLUDING purchase/install costs (gross savings $14,200), since converting to JTG LiLPG. The car's nearly paid iteslf off.

[nothin suss]

Wow. You sure do cover some klms! You must chew thru some tax related logbooks.
I get all sleepy after my laborious 25klm trek home sometimes.

Have a chat to Ev. I think his boss is working on organising a company car. Might be a better option for you?!? Although tax time you'd be #winning with you're current BYO vehicle setup.

Yeah it's a good day/day and a half job by the sounds of it.
A workshop @ $110 ph would rape you hard. There would have to be someone in the eastern burbs that'd do a 'homer' and you could leave it with them overnight.

Failing that if you wanted to leave it with me for a friday evening/sat or sat/sun and have a dirty weekend away locally with the (BYO your own) Missus you could borrow my BF love boat.

I just Googled Stradbroke. You're actually a 7hr 500klm round trip away.