I am going up to Noosa on Sunday to look at a V8 NFII Fairlane Ghia. Its done about 176,000km.

I was wondering what kinda stuff I would be looking at to make sure its a good buy as I have never dealt with a Ford V8 before.

Cheers

Dylan

Engine itself should be right as rain. Check condition of oil to get a feel for servicing.

Check cooling sysem, as per any e-series falcon.

Check the engine at idle for misfires or vibrations that may suggest something not right.

Condition of the auto is something you should be able to judge, having had a bit of experience with these falcons.

Check normal things for any car. Drive it, listen for any abnormalities. Feel it.. Brakes, engine, tyres, steering.

Ok here is the pic of the engien bay.

How does it look to you guys?

Also with is the thing in the highlighted circle?

 

 

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Looks stock
Hard to tell from just a bay pic, looks pretty clean.
Dog turd is just a resonator for the intake, like the big box that sits on top of the rocker cover with EFs.

So its pretyt much means nothing???

Yeah aftera nice little stocker.

Checking out a $3800 V8 95 model Fairalen today.

I have owned NFII Fairlane in the past and here are some of the headache I had.

- noises coming from steering / front end suspension.
- whining noises when you put the transmission into Drive. (stationary).
- strut holder on the boot became loose.
- overheating due to clogged radiator. later found out two fan relays are dodgy causing the fan to only operate in low speed.
- self leveling suspension had air leak causing the compressor to go nuts.

Enginewise, never had any problem. I had used it to tow a boat up the Brown Mountain and I can say it straight - Ford had done a very good job in bulletproofing this V8 engines. I had done 270,000Km on the clock and still takes off like a hungry falcon.

So the Fairlane seemed alright.

Firstly its only 5k, I know its not gonna be perfect.

Interior a bit dirty. No worries there, I have mates who detail cars so thats an easy fix. New Tbar know needed and new wipers needed. Easy fix.

Exterior seems really good nick. Car was really straight, the boot was losing its clear coat but no issues there.

Engine seemed ok. Took a sec or two to start ie holding the key before she ticked over. Tiny bits of rust lining the part where the bonnet sits along the sides.

Now for the issue.

He said the power steering pump was broken and leaking oil. Dunno if that makes sense. Said it might not start sometimes every now and then said it needed an electrians touch to check it over.

If the power steering pump is broken then is it possible to drive hte car back from Noosa to the Gold Coast (about 200km)?

It has 176k on the clock, purrs nicely.

Definitely considering buying it if the bank loan comes through.

id imagine it would be possible, will just be a b**ch to drive at low speeds, hell we drove our commonwhore for about 2 week before holden fix it!

When warm, check the auto trans fluid when running. Shouldn't smell burnt or look too dark. When stationary, engine running, brakes on, run the gear selector through RND321 a few times. A delay means trouble. Also try reversing/ forward up the steepest grade you can find to check for trans slippage. These boxes are over $2000 to replace.

Diff clunks? Do a few tight U turns- this will bring out any noises in the LSD centre.

Check all power windows, A/C (does the air change from floor to face to screen?), fan speed work on all levels?

Brake shudder/ pulling to the side?

Engine- check for noisy rocker gear, blue smoke when starting from cold. Check inside oil cap and around the breather pipe for excessive piston blow-by. Hold your hand over the open oil filler tube when engine running. Too much fuming coming out means trouble.

Service history? It sounds a littl neglected, but apart from trans and dodgy electrics, the NF/ EFs where pretty honest.

Mike