B-Series Problems and Fixes

by **Revengelane** » May 15th, 2012, 11:09 am

Hey Guys,

I recently purchased a new car (BA XR6 Turbo to be exact) after selling my Subaru WRX. Now I am a member of the xr6turbo forum, but I get the feeling that most of the guys on the forum owned Hondas most of their life before deciding to buy turbo falcons, so they know fark all and seem to be willing to rely purely on rubbish mechanics and Ford dealerships.

What I would like to achieve is a collection of problems and fixes to help fellow members because as time goes by and B-series become more and more affordable people are going to purchase them due to the appeal of a factory turbo falcon.

Now I understand B-series in general are renowned for many problems, so I thought I would start a thread and also include some of my own current experiences.

Admin can you please let me know if this is the appropriate area.

Cheers

Matt

by **TUFED6** » May 15th, 2012, 11:22 am

I get that impression from those forums too. 95/5% mix of muppets/checkbook racers. :-(

Wheel bearings - replace them
Front brakes on BA's require constant replacement - Upgrade to BF
Clutch CSC's collapse - Replace factory plastic item with holden alloy item
ICCs pack up - Replace
Interior plastics are EA S1 rattle spec - find & seal them up with silicon/sikaflex
XR6T sluggish boost problems - clean/blow out the solenoid with WD40/carb cleaner
Unstable idle - clean throttle body with carb cleaner every service
Break down/misfire problems - check coil packs & replace
Noisy steering rack - undo and retorque rack mount

Thats about all I can think of right now

by **needfordspeed** » May 15th, 2012, 11:26 am

Also make sure you check the exhaust manifold/dump pump/turbo flange/turbo core to rear housing bolts every service as well as they tend to come loose.

And another +1 about that impression from those forums :drinks2:

by **Revengelane** » May 15th, 2012, 11:56 am

My problems at the moment are: (car is 100% stock)

Idle issues, have replaced coil packs and spark plugs, not totally fixed but a lot better. Spark plugs are .8 normal plugs not iridium crap.

Missing rough under light acceleration intermittent problem only, have cleaned throttle body, intercooler and pipework. Can also happen at 1500-2000rpm light throttle, TPS issue?

Replaced fuel filter and air filter.

Over boosting issue, have cleaned boost solenoid. Interesting though when I take off the boost line and connect it directly with the actuator (front housing to actuator only) the boost builds very slowly the opposite when connected.

1st and 2nd gear connected 9-9.5psi
1st and 2nd gear not connected 6-7psi
3rd connected 11-12psi boost cut at 3-4000rpm
3rd not connected 9psi boost cut at 4-5000rpm

Another thought after the boost cut the car has a rough idle, could this be valve float?

Can may need latest PCM update?

Any help appreciated

Matt

by **AaronEF8** » May 15th, 2012, 12:36 pm

The front bush on the front lower wishbones are hydraulic (fluid filled). To test them, get someone to watch a front wheel while you creep the car forward, then hit the brakes hard. If the wheel moves back in the wheel arch, they're stuffed.

Nolathane and Super-Pro sell replacements that won't **** out.

by **Mr_4.0** » May 15th, 2012, 12:38 pm

I could write a book on this stuff. Since I've had mine I've had everything from ICC packing up, to turbo rebuild, to ecu coil driver faults. When I'm not on my phone I'll write some stuff. I've found having my xcal3 to datalog and read faults has saved me lots of cash many times!!!

by **TUFED6** » May 15th, 2012, 12:51 pm

The other big one is the turbo oil filter. Not many people know its there and if it clogs up bye bye CHRA.

by **Mr_4.0** » May 15th, 2012, 1:15 pm

Yup. Anyone buying a xr6 turbo should convert to an inline earls style filter.

As these cars are getting older it's becoming much more common for coil drivers and injector drivers in ecu to burn out. It's causing many people a headache as its hard to diagnose if you don't have a way to marry a new ecu to the car to test.

Rear centre diff bush is common as all hell to chew out. Also control arm bushes are very common.

Door lock actuators snap all the time. Plastic crap.

Bonnet release cables are snapping more and more.

by **Rollin** » May 15th, 2012, 2:29 pm

Stretched bonnet release cables can also be the cause of a broken fuse box, because people keep pulling on them even when the cable is past shagged and then it breaks off part of the fuse panel, so you either have to bodge it up E-series spec or replace the fuse box.

by **Mr_4.0** » May 15th, 2012, 2:58 pm

SAGGY BUMPRERS!!!!!!!!

by **iCER** » May 15th, 2012, 3:03 pm

+1 ^^^^^^^^^^

ive had 3 different bumpers (1st was original) and they ALL have sagged lol.

common problems, spark plugs and coil packs

Id love to give more advice....but you know.

realistically, you may get none of the common problems, but all the uncommon problems. Welcome to the XR6T! lol

by **Revengelane** » May 15th, 2012, 3:16 pm

This is really starting to piss me off considering I have a 19 year old EB GLi at home, mind you that I am currently driving (due to the missing idle bullshit) and it has no problems at all with 250XXXkm/s + on it.

If I keep on going like this replacing stuff in the end it might cost me around $1500-$2000. I have already spent $1100

:banghead:

FML

by **AaronEF8** » May 15th, 2012, 3:41 pm

You gotta expect that with a relatively cheap 10 year old performance car though.

by **Revengelane** » May 15th, 2012, 5:16 pm

AaronEF8 wrote:You gotta expect that with a relatively cheap 10 year old performance car though.

Yeah I get that good buying still. I will keep everyone posted on the outcome tho.

by **Mr_4.0** » May 15th, 2012, 5:32 pm

I bought my car, had turbo blow, gearbox blow, needed xcal3 and retune, new diff, been through 2 sets of coil packs. 3 sets of plugs. replaced ecu, did centre diff bush, fix sagging front bumper, broken Cv's.

All in 15,000 km

by **Mr_4.0** » May 15th, 2012, 5:35 pm

And tps on throttle body died haha

by **Bipolar** » May 15th, 2012, 6:09 pm

Don't turn the throttle body butterfly manually or jam a screwdriver in to hold it open. Get someone to sit in the car and use the pedal.

Know a few people who couldn't crank theirs over because the throttle position was no longer where it was supposed to be.

Can't remember rhe reset but it's fairly simple.

by **Mr_4.0** » May 15th, 2012, 6:13 pm

Yer do not move that idle bolt!!!!

And if changing the tps, make sure engine bay is hot. So loctite on the screws is warm, or the screws snap!

by **Rollin** » May 15th, 2012, 9:40 pm : **89.SVO Likes this post**

Gloria is getting more attractive to me the more I read...

by **apoc** » May 15th, 2012, 10:28 pm

^^ definitely Rollin! My eb is solid as, and I get to mod the crap out of it.

I've been driving a ba ghia for a few weeks while my dash is out, and I wouldn't buy one. Would prefer an au.

I dunno if ford took a big dump on the btr in the ba, but it sucks balls compared to the au one I had

by **apoc** » May 15th, 2012, 10:29 pm

And the bloody blend door rod -.- don't get me started

by **NUT347** » May 15th, 2012, 11:51 pm

Lol.... Brb writing a book.

Anyway, serious note.

Carefull on the overboosting man, the boost cut flutter bends BA rods quite easily. If it still boost to 6-7 with the controller disconnected id say it's stuffed. Get a hold of an xcal3, they can do fault codes.

Problems I had with mine:

Over boosted and threw a rod
Clutch slip
Diff bushes
Rear lower control arm bushes
Turbo bolts coming loose :banghead:

Warping front discs- replaced with DBA items.
Noisy turbo- noticed early and replaced with aftermarket oil feed.

That's about it lol....

by **Mr_4.0** » May 15th, 2012, 11:51 pm

Apoc huh?

by **Mr. CVE** » May 15th, 2012, 11:55 pm

Yet I had a BA Ghia V8 for years, never had any real issues that I didn't cause !
Rear bush, that is normal. yet mine never clunked.
Being turbo V8 it still made a reasonble amount of power as well.
Mind you I owned mine from almost new ( demonstrator ) and was always looked after well. :drinks2:

by **apoc** » May 16th, 2012, 12:42 am

Mr_4.0 wrote:Apoc huh?

Eh?

by **Ef_frmnt** » May 16th, 2012, 12:59 am

The blend door shaft breaks, and you lose the heater. Dash out job to replace. Not too bad once you've done a few

by **Mr_4.0** » May 16th, 2012, 7:07 am

Ahhhh yeh that's common!!

by **Revengelane** » May 21st, 2012, 1:53 pm

Update time.

- Replaced throttle body which had the new re-designed BF TPS
- Re-torqued turbo bolts (3 bolts hand tight **** workshops)
- Cleaned MAP sensor
- Cleaned cam sensors
- Cleaned temp sensor

The major problem I found was a sensor located on the exhaust side at the back of the engine. The wires had completely melted away. This sensor is just one of the cam sensors which from what I can work out "talk" to the front cam sensors located under the plastic cover, please correct me if I am wrong.

Repairing this has made a massive difference in performance, although I can't exclude the above cleaning/ replacing of other parts to confirm what actual fixed the problem.

Overboost is still an issue I have a newish actuator which I will replace sometime soon, but this problem is easily controlled with throttle. The car now is much nicer to drive and the more driving I do the more the ECU learns.

by **Sunboost** » May 21st, 2012, 2:48 pm

I've owned probably 15-16 turbo B-Series including 3 XR6T's and a
Force 6, and also a G6ET. I'll look over any book that anyone writes and make sure it's accurate. I've probably done 60-100,000km in these cars by now.

by **EFFalcon** » May 21st, 2012, 3:01 pm

Sundeep wrote:I've owned probably 15-16 turbo B-Series including 3 XR6T's and a
Force 6, and also a G6ET. I'll look over any book that anyone writes and make sure it's accurate. I've probably done 60-100,000km in these cars by now.

You'll just have to skip those chapters on N/A 6's and V8's

by **TUFED6** » May 21st, 2012, 4:40 pm

Sundeep wrote:I've owned probably 15-16 turbo B-Series including 3 XR6T's and a
Force 6, and also a G6ET. I'll look over any book that anyone writes and make sure it's accurate. I've probably done 60-100,000km in these cars by now.

Lol you're out of control. I've done twice that in one BA 6T. :grin:

by **bng** » May 21st, 2012, 5:25 pm

Is there any major differences in buying a ex highway patrol bf xr6t to a normal bf xr6t?

by **Sunboost** » May 21st, 2012, 5:31 pm

EFFalcon wrote:
Sundeep wrote:I've owned probably 15-16 turbo B-Series including 3 XR6T's and a
Force 6, and also a G6ET. I'll look over any book that anyone writes and make sure it's accurate. I've probably done 60-100,000km in these cars by now.

You'll just have to skip those chapters on N/A 6's and V8's

I've had an N/A 6 too

No one would read the chapter on V8's anyways, we all know they're shit.

^^ As for ex-Hwy I saw an Octane BF2 on the weekend which was missing upper b-pillar grommets, mis-fitted rubber seals, had worn / flat seat cushions and trims up front, horns screwed on in the wrong place behind front bar, holes all over the console. I didn't go for a drive, but I'm sure there would have been surprises. If you watch Highway Patrol you'd see how these things get treated. Bulky radar guns get thrown around, scratching shit up, they get thrashed at every op, and driven over gutters without a second thought.

by **nothin suss** » May 21st, 2012, 6:13 pm

But it's an Ex-Chaser!!
What a croc. Why people but them I don't know.
I'd steer clear of a patrol car from what i've seen in person. I'd suppose detective cars etc may be a better buy.

by **bng** » May 21st, 2012, 6:23 pm

Sundeep wrote:^^ As for ex-Hwy I saw an Octane BF2 on the weekend which was missing upper b-pillar grommets, mis-fitted rubber seals, had worn / flat seat cushions and trims up front, horns screwed on in the wrong place behind front bar, holes all over the console. I didn't go for a drive, but I'm sure there would have been surprises. If you watch Highway Patrol you'd see how these things get treated. Bulky radar guns get thrown around, scratching shit up, they get thrashed at every op, and driven over gutters without a second thought.

Yea that's what I was thinking. As I know all highway cars are trashed. Just didn't know how what they changed mechanicly

Might need to fly up to Sydney and get you to look at the car haha

by **nothin suss** » May 21st, 2012, 7:04 pm

Mechanically they have some more wiring and fuses in them to support the add-ons.
'Police mode' would be activated in the cluster for more precise digital speedo readings.
As for performance additions?? I'd take a stab at zero?

by **someLS1** » May 21st, 2012, 7:08 pm

Sundeep wrote:I've owned probably 15-16 turbo B-Series including 3 XR6T's and a
Force 6, and also a G6ET. I'll look over any book that anyone writes and make sure it's accurate. I've probably done 60-100,000km in these cars by now.

Would you have owned one long enough to experience any problems with them though??

Reading all these problems i mustve been lucky with my ba only problems i had was the wheel bearings i hear they go alot, and the heater was cactus just kind of lived with that couldnt be bothered taking the dash out. Not bad for one that had fairly high kms!

Im looking at a ba xr6t ute atm it lists as link rods needs doing on the RWC to do items... ive drawn a blank wtf are link rods? all i can think of is sway bar link rods might need bushes? am i on the right track, also lists a rear tailshaft seal? is this the diff seal or is there some other seal there? keen to fix things myself if i get em as the quote on this blokes rwc list is almost 1k

by **someLS1** » May 21st, 2012, 7:13 pm

xr6t forums might have alot of muppets on there but i found alot more information i needed on there for my ute. Most of the things TUFED6 listed above are covered with pics and tutorials how to do... which is handy for someone who has never looked into an xr6t engine bay before

by **Sunboost** » May 21st, 2012, 7:43 pm

someLS1 wrote:
Sundeep wrote:I've owned probably 15-16 turbo B-Series including 3 XR6T's and a
Force 6, and also a G6ET. I'll look over any book that anyone writes and make sure it's accurate. I've probably done 60-100,000km in these cars by now.

Would you have owned one long enough to experience any problems with them though??

Reading all these problems i mustve been lucky with my ba only problems i had was the wheel bearings i hear they go alot, and the heater was cactus just kind of lived with that couldnt be bothered taking the dash out. Not bad for one that had fairly high kms!

Im looking at a ba xr6t ute atm it lists as link rods needs doing on the RWC to do items... ive drawn a blank wtf are link rods? all i can think of is sway bar link rods might need bushes? am i on the right track, also lists a rear tailshaft seal? is this the diff seal or is there some other seal there? keen to fix things myself if i get em as the quote on this blokes rwc list is almost 1k

The law of averages applies Max.

I did 10,000km in my 1st F6, that's not far off Mr_4.0's 15,000. Your doubt is appreciated.

by **bng** » May 21st, 2012, 7:55 pm

nothin suss wrote:Mechanically they have some more wiring and fuses in them to support the add-ons.
'Police mode' would be activated in the cluster for more precise digital speedo readings.
As for performance additions?? I'd take a stab at zero?

Yea i thought so. So nothing to major apart from them be hammered every chance they got. I had a look at the photos and can't see anything major. But photos lie. Might still go look at it and see. Can't hurt

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