Ok so if this doesnt make much sense at the moment ive had a few drinks - BUT - Im dying to find the answer to the following lol:


So yesterday and today was working on my car (95 EF Fairmont 5.0lt 320,xxxkms) getting it ready for RW. I replaced the thermostat and pulled off the water pump to see if it was in good nick (all good). Also flushed the block and radiator and checked all hoses - I have an overheating prob and thought these things may fix it. Those who helped me out earlier this year (fairlane6970 and wildeb come to mind) might remember the problems Ive had with this car regarding overheating. So I went to re-presurise the cooling system as the Ford manual told me, after everything + a new drive belt was back on all to spec, and revving @ 2000rpm for 10mins the car starts to get fairly hot again. Nowhere near as bad as before but still too hot for my liking. Anyway after I did that I was looking around the Engine bay for any leaks ect and noticed that directly behind the water pump, there was a little puddle of water, from washing spilled coolant, that had bubbles coming from the block, I assume. My question is, and ill put pics and video up tomorrow, does this mean I have a cracked block and need a new heart for the tired old girl or is it something less sinister? I realise it may be a bit hard to tell me without seeing what Im talking about but maybe someone has seen this before?

Oh and its not from the actual water pump - its from behind that - so its not my dodgy work not fitting gaskets properly lol - was all sealed up nicley

Heres a link to my OLD thread regarding the original overheating issue if it may be some kind of referance for anything or something

ford-v8-f2/95-ef-fairmont-wont-start-all-out-of-ideas-t88731.html

Thanks guys will post pics n vid tomorrow . . .

sounds like the timing cover gasket to me.

Yeah that would be a pain in the a** . . . I would rather put a 200kw Au Windsor in than redo the timing chain gasket . . . will post pics n vid soon - just gotta wait for kid to go to sleep.

Would a timing gasket be reason for it to overheat?

Mine was overheating when the bleeder hoses were blocked.
Could be a head gasket also.

Yeah I've thought of head gasket - was hopeing it may have been something else before I decide to start pulling heads off ect. Looks like I may just be on the hunt for a new powerplant for it . . . Which AU 5.0 fits with little to no mods (AU I, II or III?) Will I have to change the ecu?

lol it may have been me who helped you. lol.
have you checked the radiator? it may be blocked. now what i do is remove the fans, run it to temp and then CAREFULLY place your hand on the radiator. now if the whole core of the radiator is hot it's not blocked. but if even only a quarter (or more) of the core is cold enough to touch it's blocked (no hot coolant flow) and those 5L are a hot running engine so even f**k all of it blocked will make a difference

Haven't tryed that yet - mainly coz I didn't know how to do it lol I did flush it out with the hose and flow seemed ok - no s**t came out of it but ill check the core later today - I have to run it into town for a wash and test run so ill see how it goes . . . It only got hot while stationary revving @ 2k for 10mins so no air flow could be in part to it too - it only got to the "o" on the "normal" which is f**k all compared to what it was but I still diidnt like it that hot hahaha ill see what happens on the hwy today . . .

it is a bit higher than normal but still not that bad. you have changed the thermostat haven't you?

Yeah twice now - I think i was retarded last time and had the f**k thing in backwards lol Im 100% sure its in the right way this time

Oh and this is a new one - not the backwards one turned around . . . .hahaha

lol. good one

Yeah dunno what I was thinking - last time I did it, it was my first time changing one over, and I took the original one out, then went into town to buy a new one so by the time I got back I had forgotten which way it went in so I think I just stuck it in and didnt think twice about it till now lol. Bout to take it for a run in about halfa or so anyway so when/ if I get back ill post an update . . .

We'll just took it for a drive into town - half hr there and half back. It got half way on the temp gauge on the way up. Then stopped to wash it at the car wash. Then on my way back I just about got home when it started beeping at me - "f**k IM HOT!!!" it was saying :/ anyway I had to have the heater on to get any coolant circulation and its like 30c here today - the good thing is it doesn't work very well so wasn't too bad . . . But I still have the same problem . . .

Oh and I forgot to say I didn't take the thermo fans off but I had a quick feel of the radiator and it seemed quite cool so perhaps it is blocked - so along with all that my timing gasket is shot so f**k this s**t to f**k high heaven . . . Gimme an AU weezer . . . Lol

If you use an AU 5.0L and use your wiring loom you should have no issues with ECU. Early AU were 185KW, Then 200KW and AUIII was 220KW.

Power Outputs for the entire AU XR range were as follows: (from factory)

AU Series I, Sedan and Ute: 185kw
AU Series I, NON XR Sedan and Ute: 175kW

AU Series II, Sedan: 200kw (late April onwards 220kw)
AU Series II, Ute: 185kw (after introduction of Pursuit model, 200kw)
AU Series II, NON XR Sedan and Ute: 175kW

AU Series III, Sedan: 220kw
AU Series III, Ute: 200kw
AU Series III, NON XR Sedan and Ute: 175kW

The exception to this is that the AUII onwards V8 LTD models did have 185kw, with the difference being made up primarily from a twin system exhaust fitted to that model.