hey,

I've recently been told by some people that my car (EBII Fairmont, recently had head gasket /studs replaced) is blowing white/grey smoke when under load (ie full throttle).

I've seen it puffing a bit of white smoke while stopped/idling.. after giving it a few revs so i could see what it was like there was some water on the ground behind the exhaust. The water had some black "stuff" in it.

Is there any common problems that would seem to fit my problem? I've been slack and can't really tell if its been going through oil as i haven't checked it for a while :\

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On another note: are the ford ECU's (EEV-IV) prone to dieing? After i had my head gasket replaced my car seemed to run like a bag of doodoo and seemingly went through a lot of fuel. After my mechanic checked some sensors we put in an ECU from an ED falcon because apparently wanky ecu's is common (even though it was fine before they worked on it??).

When they swapped the ECU i saw them and nothing else was touched so :\

How much am i looking at if i have to buy this ECU? After ~$700 on headgasket/studs i'm being a a*** and im worried about the cost of this ECU which doesnt offer me any advantages ie thermofans or any of those handy things.


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How much work is involved in putting ef/el thermo fans into an ebII? Fans, ECU, some wiring? or is there a tutorial someones put together?


Thanks guys.

in your case... sounds like the head gasket? have you checked the oil? is it watery and runny? Maybe yoru mechanic didn't do the head gasket properly... or the rings have gone? im not sure..

automatic ecu's are cheap as piss. Get them for around 40 bucks.
I don't understand what you mean when you talk about your ECU. I have never seen an ECU stuff up before...
You say you put a new ECU in, but then you asking us how much a new ECU costs? I dont understand you there sorry mate! Did you buy one or what? IM confused.
But putting an ED computer in wont give you much of an advantage.

hehe sorry mate..

Nah my car was running dodgy (loss of power, increased fuel consumption) so mechanic swapped the ecu out for an ED ECU to see if it made a difference. It seemingly fixed the loss of power and i had better consumption.

I haven't coughed up for the ECU yet cause the mechanic had another one and just swapped it. So you say ~$40 thats good. I was expecting like $200+ or something so thats a relief


But yeah i've just had the head gasket done so i'd be hoping its not that. The cars only done 142,000km so i'm kinda hoping its not rings or something. I'm hoping for a fix that doesn't involve removing the head

The black stuff is most likely just soot out of the exhaust system.

White/grey smoke can be either steam (head gasket leaking into combustion chamber) or fuel (running too rich).

Does you fuel consumption seem high?
Does the white smoke go away after a long drive?
Are you loosing any coolant that you can't put down to a leak?


EF/EL thermofans can be added to EB. You need the new style radiator which has to captive nuts located in the top of each tank.
The easiest way to wire them up is with a Davis Craig style thermo-switch.

i thought black smoke was indicating the car is too rich..
and i never heard of people replacing there radiators to fit EF/EL thermofans??

Your right, depends on how rich, very rich very black

you say that the head gasket cost you $700, if this is true then are you sure it was done properly. ie - skim the head, replace gaskets and head bolts with new ones. the only reason i ask is that my head cost me $500 all trade price parts also this does not cover labour as i done all the work myself.

$700 sounds quite believable too me.
My headgasket was replaced by a mechanic/mate i know and trust (rare I know) it cost me just over $700, new bolts, genuine gaskets head was inspected & machined by All Head Services with their warranty and also included new valve stems seals.
He charges me trade prices, and this price did include labour, cause at the time I was too busy/couldn't be bothered to do it myself.

If fuel consumption is hi check vacuum lines to map senser? Or any leaks there..Low vacuum the map runs engine rich...I guess oil & filter was changed??How old are leads cap and plugs?The ecu hardly never fails....
Check inlet temp senser also....