I recently bought this 88 3.9L EA Fairmont Ghia for $400, it has about 300,000kms on the clock, it has rust in every panel, It rattles, whines, creaks and squeaks from everywhere, it has so many problems, there is loud ticking and knocking noises from the middle and rear of engine, where the cat joins to the headers rattles loud, when first started in the mornings the gearbox whines, the first time i drove it i planted the accelerator in first gear, massive cloud of black smoke and no power got to about 50 kmph after 5 seconds.. so as soon as i got the car home i serviced it, changed the plugs, flushed the oil, new oil and filter, then i checked out the air filter and air intake tubing, i found in the tube that was attached to the throttlebody was black oil,so i chucked out that tube and air intake and put a new pipe on with a pod on the end, used some dry lube on the belts to stop from squealing, started my car up again no black smoke now but still a belt was squealing and after i turned off the car their was white smoking coming from the front and back join on the cat. i dont know what that could be. after i inspected the belts i found that the belt for the AC was frayed underneath and was rubbing so i just cut it off because the AC didn't work and didn't have any gas in the system anyway.. so basically the only problems it has now is this really bad whine from gearbox when the engine is turned on when its cold, this white smoke coming from the cat, the right side windscreen wiper doesn't actually wipe the windscreen, and i am getting really terrible mileage out of it..could it be running rich? also all the rust in the panels, and the boot doesn't close even when u slam it down hard, u have to kick it hard and the headlining is sagging really bad and there is no aerial, so im just wondering what you think of the car and the problems that it has, and what i can do to make it more... respectable

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Throw it away and buy a better car would work as far as making it respectable.

i just want to know what is causing the problems and what i can do to stop it or at least minimise the damage so can i run it till it dies

honeslty man, id just do a huge huge burnout in it, becuase theres no point spending heaps of money on the thing until it dies and you wasted all the money. thats my best advice also record it:)

Its the age old argument of whether to fix or replace.

Unfortunately for you it would be to replace. Lets face it, you could pick up a reasonable (rust free at least) falcon for $500 or so even cheaper if you are good at bargaining (a mate of mine just bought an EL sedan with four months rego for $150!! all it needed was a new bonnet).

Although this isn't alot of money for most, I understand it can be for some.
If you can only spend a bit at a time, It would be wise to start with the mechanicals (get it reliable) Have a mechanic check it over and give you a list of anything that needs attention. Then fix it doing as much as you can yourself. No good having a sweet looking ride but breaking down every second day.

good luck pal.

thanks guys, im not going to be spending big amounts of money on it, just need something to get about in,it has rego for a couple of months and im just going to run it till it dies

i will suggest what my previous post said in your other thread, clean the throttle body as it will be full of muck and guck and s**t, replace air filter if you havent, and leads if they look really old and crappy, clean the distributor cap and check the rotor button, if you have a timing light check the timing as id say its set wrong, also service the gearbox, if its only got 4 months rego on it and you dont expect it to pass rego again, maybe just do free stuff like check the timing and clean the throttle body, and drive it til it dies, no point spending another 400 on it servicing everything for you to get 4 months out of it and scrap it, also how far away is batemans bay from newcastle? if its just down the coast a little i can come down and have a fiddle with it and i have some tools you may not like a timing light etc... and a enough basic knowledge/ commonsence to get it running a little better and i like a challenge, got my brothers ed from not being able to physically do single pegger burnouts (no power at all) to do little wheelies round right hand corners (homemade dyno for a boxcar )

newcastle is about 6 hours away mate, thanks for the offer maybe when i get a different car, i want an XA/XB/XC something old