EF's are a good car, but they are all machines, and all have faults and quirks. I've got 295000 on mine now. At 230 the head went, and I opted to go for an AU motor (yes it can be done) as the motor was getting to the point of needing a freshen up. This cost $1800 with a new clutch. The radiators are another weak point if they are not looked after. Ford tended to leave a little bit of foundry sand in the blocks, and this slowly blocks up the radiators. The sign that your radiator is blocking up is that you are getting visible coolant flow in your top tank. The cure is to get your radiator core rodded and cleaned. The only other problems I've heard about, is high km diffs, (mines getting a bearing fitted as I type), and something about the A/C compressors in the ealy ones. The best thing you can do is go to a Ford (Holden,Toyota,etc) specialist wrecker in your area, and ask what parts they sell the most of on whatever model your looking for. They definitely know which parts they can make money on.

Ta JR

I know what u mean about radiator probs.
I have first hand experience with my EB now I'm paranoid about the
temp gauge and cooling system even after fitting a higher capacity radiator (definately worth the few extra bucks).

I pick up the EF next week after it gets a full flush tranny service
and the owner had the radiator flow tested not long ago
so fingers crossed all should be OK.

and yeah they are only machines that wear out and they certainly aint new
anymore.

A lot depends on what kind of a life its had since new and thats usually an unknown with a second/third/fourth hander. especially if one of the owners was a young bloke (It wasn't that long ago and I remember the caning my cars got).

cheers

i had a ef ghia.. I had the brake switch near the pedal go a few times..
tensioner pully gave up, fuel pump, and rear seal in the gearbox

only these things in 3 years,
The car had done 250,000 when i sold it, and i still miss it. It was a great car, and was still going hard.

I am the 2nd owner of my 1995 EF
I bought it at 30,000km in 1997 and it's now up to 225,000km

Overall, all things considered, given teh number of Kms driven it is a very reliable car.

I keep a detailed spreadsheet of what I do to it. Here's a "cut'n'paste" extract of the things that have been done over the past 7 years - I've deleted the obvious things that get done to all cars over time (plugs, filters, leads, flushes, etc);

Replace door actuators
Replace thermostat housing
Replace speedo transducer
Fuel injector service/sonic clean
Replace rocker cover gasket
Replace drive belt
Replace radiator cap
Replace thermostat
Replace front disc rotors - once with standard Ford, recently DBA slotted
Front suspension general tighten up
Replace Ignition Coil pack
Replace MAP Sensor
Replace Crank Angle Sensor
Replace Harmonic Balancer
Replace ECU
Replace air con compressor
Replace air con condensor
Replace air con receiver/dryer
Air con gas R134A
Cylinder head work
Head bolts
Valve seat guides/lifter kit
Head gasket
Brake light pedal switch
Replace radiator
Replace LPG Convertor
Replace Fuel Pump
Add transmission cooler
Front wheel bearings
Replace Fuel Pump control relay

Looks like a long list, but in 7 years and almost 200,000kms it aint bad

I was under the impression that they went back to dizzy, to save costs for the upcoming AU . And then AU got coil packs.

I would echo Rik_Biel comments.
I am the 2nd owner of my 1996 EF (Wife actually)
I bought it at 79,000km in 1998 and it's now up to 198,000km

Overall, all things considered, given teh number of Kms driven it is a very reliable car. I agree.

Replace thermostat housing (LPG mod to keep water flowing in LPG convertor at all times)
Fuel injector service/sonic clean (LPG related in my case, I should run on petrol more often to keep them in service)
Replace drive belt (last one lasted over 100000)
Replace radiator cap (twice)
Replace thermostat
Replace air con compressor (done out of warranty by ford,but for labour costs only)
Replace air con condensor (stone hit it, not EF's fault)
Replace air con receiver/dryer (usual with above)
Head gasket ( times 2, Monotorque lasted 25000, installed a genuine ford one the second time, no problems since)
Brake light pedal switch (I believe they have a tendency to fail if you brake hard, I put my failures down to towing, extra lights attached to the switch)
Replace radiator (failed recently for the first time, installed a heavy duty one and cooling working very well now)
Replace LPG Convertor (whole system actually with a tickford one, best move yet, previously a Impco setup)
Replace Fuel Pump (Noisy in my case,I think this is typical of LPG cars as they are at or near empty all the time, in my case the filter sock had perished combined with a dirty fuel load at some stage)
Add transmission cooler (standard if factory tow pack installed)

Most recently then Crank endplay issue, even with this major problem , if you can work with spanners then there a great and cheap car to run (LPG helps with day to day costs) and I would recommend them.

Cheers TW.

Well since we are on the topic of repair lists here is my rundown:
7/1997 EL Falcon with 186315kms on clock
I've deleted the obvious things that get done to all cars over time (plugs, filters, leads, flushes, brake pads, tyres and Injector Cleans etc);

Replace Drivers side mirror
Replace all shocks
Replace all dash bulbs and 1 gear selector bulb
Replace Standard Airfilter with K&N
Replace Radiator cap
Replace thermostat
Replace front disc rotors - with DBA slotted
Replace Driver side Idler arm and wheel bearing
Replace waterpump
Replace Serpentine drive belt
Twice have Air con re-gassed with R134A
Replace Coolant overflow tank
Replace 1 headlight, 1 brake light, 1 side indicator light
Replace all 3 Relays
Replace Distributor Cap and Rotor Button

Not bad aye. nothing major as you can see( touch wood)

Those lists look like standard fare for any car thats done that number of k's
The list for my EBII @ 220 000 looks very similar

cheers

yeah I read that too and there was some other things they deleted for the EL for same reason can't remember what though.

I was also reading that they changed coil suppliers for the AU due to the reliability problems in the EF coils.

Anyone know if new EF coils are made by new supplier or if AU coils will fit
an EF?

time to add my 2c.

Got it with 115k/km on it. (EF series 2)

Head/bolts/gasket
solenoid on gas tank
1x power window
brake discs/pads
wheel bearings
shocks
brake light switch
diff recon
tail shaft
rear axle
(last three most people generally shouldnt be faced with, but someone did bad things in this car)

These were the must do mechanical work and im now on 160,000km and the car runs better then ever.

I know its not an EF but i have an EL...so similar really...

ive done the following

inhibitor switch (my fault broke it)
Rear right hand side wheel bearings and axel seal (seal was the prob but in the EF/EL you need to replace bearings @ the same time due to the setup)
Radiator cap
few bulbs here and there in the dash
gearbox serviced
springs and shocks all around (guy before me must have towed a lot, they sagged) - replaced with king springs n munro gt's
windscreen (stone chips...cracked became a prob for rego)
radiator was done just before i bought the car
exhaust system had rusted out (car lived on the beach)
small rust patch about size of 10c piece removed from passenger rhs above the wheel.

And thats it. I have not owned it long, from the condition of the right hand side on the front i think it was hit (repaired brilliantly) but there is a defect in the mud guard, the spring in the front left was new, as was the tire in comparason to the rest of the car. I think thi could possibly be the cause of the radiator being replaced too however i am unsure.

I am about to get the following attended to in the next 6 months

Aircon repaired - hardly gets cold i think its up for a regas
recycled air vent arm broken, typical ef/el problem...full dash out job to fix...one day
drivers seat needs replacing (252,000kms)
resrpay (stone chipped to hell)
Tappet noise top of engin...only goes for 10 seconds in the mornings but its enough for me to know theres something up...normal non perfectionist people wouldnt even notice it prolly.