Hey guys just wondering if you can help me out with my DL LTD.

I paid a princely sum of $450 for it so as expected its got a few quircks that I need to sort out!

When I first bought it and drove it home (about 20-25 min drive) It overheated, not insanely bad but enough for the coolant bottle to be hissing bubbling and spewing out coolant.

I also had the battery light on the dash coming on.

Its also on gas which isnt working, you flip it over and it just dies.

Ive just recently worked out that the main 100A and one of the 30A fuses in the engine bay was blown so Ive replaced them and its got the battery problem fixed, I was hoping it might have fixed the gas but it didnt, my thermos now seem to be on constantly (is this normal for an 8?)

But its running rough, really rough, which is weird because it was running pretty good even after it overheated, its only been since its been sitting for a month or so. Its also hard to start if its cold f you dont give it some juice and hold it for about 10-15 seconds it just dies but comes good and idles fine.

Im hoping its not the headgasket(s) but I have to be prepared for it.

This is my first V8 and not overly knowledgable about them.

What the signs of a headgasket going, and what am I looking at price wise to get this fixed?

Could it be something else entirely? Any help would be muchhhly appreciated

Last edited by Mickus on Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

i hope its not the heads I have just been through this painfull experience changed plugs dizzy leads oil filter mine ran only on gas petrol wouldnt work o2 sensors fuses so many things

to be told it was the heads 2 valves were gone
bought 2 new heads not cheap getting them serviced 380 and another 340 for the head gasket
found out bottom end was stuffed

bought second hand au motor while i rebuild old one

still not getting signal to fuel pump hopefully tomorow ill find it...

anyway moral of story check the simple things especially do a compresion test
you may find a dead valve

instead of forking out for every new part like i did
better still try and pull a fault code out by searching the forums on how to read them

Thanks for the reply mate, at this stage I dont think its the gasket as apparently its rare to have issues with them on the 5l.

Im thinking possibly a fuel issue or something like that as it backfires when under load and also almost sounds like it may be coming through the airbox as well.

I think I might need to take it to the mechanics to get it sorted and pray its not something bad

For the overheating, perhaps your radiator needs a flush in the event that it is blocked and I would replace the fuel filter immediately if you haven't done that already, which is something everyone should do when buying a used car. It may explain the rough running on petrol.

hey Vic thanks for that!

I think I got the overheating sorted when I replaced the fuses as the thermo fans werent coming on before. Theyre on constantly now so that should fix it, I guess I wont know until I take it for a drive.

As for the fuel filter Ill get one this weekend and replace it

I guess it could also be spark issues?

Is there any specific tests I can be doing to check?

Start with stimple cheap stuff mate,



my mate had a commie that would over heat heaps after 10 or so mins he spent money on new

radiators thermo's and heaps like that to find out A the radiator cap was stuffed and the belt tension

er was not griping the water pump so it was not spinning all the time, so he changed the cap and

tightened the belts up and it was all good,

But it does sound like the radiator needs a good flush, if the coolant is getting back to the reservoir hot then it means the water is cycling, but the core in the radiator might be clogged so its not getting enough cooling.

and with the running rough im not sure where to start as i dont know much about the 5L


good luck

Fuel filters usually go unchanged by many car owners, you know the saying ~ out of sight, out of mind.
Radiators can slowly block up after time and some folks have found that flushing it can cure overheating issues or if that didn't work, they may have had to replace the radiator.
In general, e-series windsors are fairly robust but some may have an issue with the original water pump after 100,000 km's, but not always.
Otherwise the usual suspects are the leads, plugs, vacuum hoses falling off etc etc...

Thanks for the replies guys, really appreciate it!

The fuel would make sense as its been getting progressively worse. It had been sitting for at the very least 3 months before I bought it and had been running on gas I believe, so I guess it could have been really bad old fuel clogging up the filter?

In regards to the rough idling, check the Idle Speed Controller and the Air Flow Sensor. I've just replaced both of these on my NL V8 and it's sooooooo much better. And yes, being on gas once and backfiring on petrol is common as mine was doing it too... To see if the Air Flow Sensor is working just pull the plug while its idling and that'll prove whether it works!
Also, the Idle Speed Controller, mine ran better when I left it disconnected But replacing it has helped too...

Hey mate, you wouldn't have a picture of the ISC because i'm not 100% on where it is and i'm keen to see if mine is working. 90% sure it's fine but seems to be a quick thing to check for!

Cheers.

The bit that is bolted on to this throttle body to the right.

Yep.. The pic shows exactly what the Idle Speed Controller looks like/is...