RED-JET - BFII Fairmont Ghia Turbo

[RED-JET]

Hi all

This is my 08 BFII ghia. It started life as a stock NA car. I got a cat back about 8 months ago which was good for a little bit but I couldnt stand how rough the noise was. So it went back for hif flow cat and extractors. Now I was happy with the note but it didn't have the go to match. And I had an engine light from the extractors. So instead of getting a chip and tune I went down the forced induction path





The pics above are the completed original motor, the run in to canberra and back and with the new larger turbo fitted to it.

So far so good. Unfortunately the transmission just dosent want to play at all resulting in a motor good for over 400kw that dosent go anywhere. When we ran it to canberra and back the car was making 270rwkw and the drive was a nightmare. The box was stuttering from 1k to 2.8k rpm then was okay but taking up to 10 seconds to shift gears. At the moment the mechanic and I are blueing like cat and dog because I want the zf 6spd and he tells me im better off with a btr 4spd because its not electronically controlled or something. Either way it still needs a hardened gearbox better diff and a good tune.

Id like to know if there is any difference between a factory na ecu and a turbo one as far as tuning them goes becauee ive been told that tearing the ems out and tuning the factory ecu will solve the gearbox problems for now. When driving its stutters and wont change gear properly in manual mode. At the moment its running a rough tune and making around the 350rwkw mark.

If I sound a little less than well informed its because I am. I made the critical mistake of not knowing enough about the car and what was being done with it. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated because its been nearly 6 months and no result and I just want the car on the road

Thanks

[NUT347]

Hey mate, car looks awesome.

First thing, rip the Ems out and go back to standard ECU flash tuned.

Don't swap to a BTR, they are a slush box compared to a ZF and still electronic.

What's done to the engine? Sounds like its a good tuner away from 400kw.

The box should be ok that level, might want an input shaft upgrade though.

Also, just fit a turbo diff.

[falcon4life]

This right here is a perfect modern falcon...

[RED-JET]

Thanks for the replies guys. One thing I am definitely happy with is that from the outside it looks exactly the way it did when it went in. The only difference is from behind because we've put some 275 wide kuhmo semis on the back

As for whats in there we've got
Block - bored 40thou honed and decked.
Head decked to fit block.
JE dish top forged 40thou o'size pistons
Scat rods
ACL race bearings and studs all through it.

Head - Cometic 1.5mm 3plate metal head gasket.
Factory cams.
Ports have been machined smooth and polished up. Standard springs

Intake & Fuel - Bosch 1000cc injectors
Aeroflow fuel rail
New fuel lines and fittings
Walbro 400l (?) Fuel pump
Rising rate regulator.
Standard bbm manifold butterflies removed

Exhaust & Turbo - Stainless steel exhaust manifold
KLS GT45R Turbo (originally was a T70(?))
60mm KLS Wastegate
3.5 inch dump to a 3 inch exhaust
5inch body 100cpsi cat
One straight through hurricane turbo muffler
Turbosmart boost controller
3 inch intercooler piping from turbo to intake through an intercooler I dont know much about tbh but it does the job

Other Bits - New radiator thats twice the size of the older one.
EMS ecu
Coil packs dont know what particular type but apparently they are tip top.
Kuhmo 275/45 semis on the rear. Pirelli P7 on front 235/45

Factory diff and box. Both of those I knew from the start would need to be upgraded just what exactly we do is the sticking bit. I wont have the btr at all its a dud compared to the 6spd and the diff I was looking at a harrop true trac . The mechanic favours a shortened 9in and 4 link setup for diff and the btr box.

I originally planned to keep it totally under wraps until it was done but with problems we are having I figured the best place to go was where plenty of others have gone down the same or very similar track. At the moment our most immediate problem is the box making the car nearly undriveable and a blown transmission cooler which is putting tranny fluid into the coolant

If anything ive put on there dosent make sense im just quoting down what ive been told.

[RED-JET]

Heres some more pics of the car










So thats the original motor just before being taken out, the motor painted and ready to go in, (note that wastegate has been moved and upgraded), the block with head gasket and studs ready to go and the whole car on the hoist just before its first trip to the tuner to get ecu and run in done

[ClassicAU]

blown transmission cooler which is putting tranny fluid into the coolant

That right there is bad news my friend! I believe it is referred to as the "milkshake" problem, and has most likely killed your ZF. Same thing happened to me on my previous car, stock standard BF 3V V8. This will be the cause of your issues, as I experienced the same symptoms with my ZF. If you are lucky and the mechatronics unit is still ok, the trans itself will need to be rebuilt. My quotes were anywhere from $3.5k to $6k! Hopefully you can get away with a flush, but I also suggest running the factory ECU with a flash tune, and get an external trans cooler bypassing the factory heat exchanger STAT!

Oh, and awesome car too by the way!! BFII Ghia is one of my favorite modern Falcons! I'd go a blown V8 though, because I like to sound faster than I'm going!!

[RED-JET]

Ahh that is bad news then. Yeah the next step was to totally flush the motor and restock it with coolant and probably get a bigger transmission cooler as well. What causes the tranny cooler to die though? Reason I ask is that im convinced that the biggest problem with this build is the ecu not getting along with any of the factory electrics. It still has the factory ecu in there as well which ive been told is running everything but fuel and spark which the ems is looking after.

Haha yeah theres nothing quite like the v8 rumble but this one has a pretty good sound on its own. Reminds me of when I was working next to the airport when she spools up

[ClassicAU]

I believe its the seals that are supposed to separate the coolant and trans fluid. It's a horrible design on Ford Australia's behalf that causes the failures. This is a common problem with the early ZF equipped cars. As I mentioned, the workaround is to fit an external trans cooler. Good luck mate, hopefully you can get away with an easy fix!

[TUFED6]

Yer if I was you I'd fk off the EMS, repair/rebuild the ZF and get it tuned by a pro using the factory ECU.

They should be able to change the parameters in the ECU to protect the box.

Does anyone know if the NA ZF is weaker than the turbine one? I'd guess it has different clutches/etc.

[EFFalcon]

Yeah, pretty certain its not as strong.

[RED-JET]

Ive been told by a bloke who's been doing fords longer than ive been alive and rebuilds and toughens the zf that the na box has 5 clutch packs compared to the turbo which has 6. Also the input shaft in the turbo models is longer which makes the box stronger. But even still the na box is good for at least 270 or 280 at rears.

So next question is where do I source a good external teans cooler and does anyone recommend a particular model or brand that works well for them?

Once we get over that hurdle im going to another tuner who specializes in fords to tear out the ems rewire it to factory spec then flash tune it. That'll show whether theres any life left in the box or if its going back into the shed for another month or two.

[Sunboost]

PWR make a decent replacement heat exchanger unit for these I'm pretty sure.

Sounds like you kicked off the build without the proper knowledge of these cars. The gearbox issue is common and as others have said, if it's in it's early stages you may be able to salvage it by doing full flush of both coolant and trans fluid and replacing the heat exchanger. From the symptoms you've had I'd say that it's been on it's way for a while, the gearbox won't play around like that just because you put a turbo on the engine it'll act normal for a little while then start to die - depending how much shit you throw at it.

If the valve body / mechatronics unit can be salvaged, my advice would be to replace the box with a turbo model box (I have one for sale ) and swap the mechatronics unit in to the new box - and it will just be a plug and play deal. And as others have said I'd also fk off the EMS and flash tune the original ECU or get a turbo ECU (unsure if that will work with the ZF :-/)

[Bipolar]

Good advice above.

The only advice I can give is get is sorted ASAP because this needs to be seen in public

[DJV8T5]

I love the colour, and BFII Ghia's, they just look awesome. So much stealth til it spools. Good luck with getting it fixed.

Agree with Bipolar too...this needs to be out and about

[RED-JET]

I cant wait to have it out there the 2 times ive driven it in the last 6 months ive had to be pretty much cut out of the drivers chair with a gas axe. Ill be hunting down an external trans cooler this week coming and getting that milkshake problem sorted. After that goodbye ems and fingers crossed we can tune her up and get it running even at minimal power.

Thanks all for your advice and suggestions its greatly appreciated