Hey guys. I am looking at buying a 99 AU Fairmont. There are a few cosmetic issues, but no big, however what I am enquiring about is this. When idling or on take off engine shudders, for want of a better word. Seller says it would be fuel injectors, partner thinks fuel injectors and or dirty spark plugs or filters. I want to know what you all think. I have done the project car thing with my EF and she's sweet now, and don't want to do it again. I can't afford to anyhow. If it's just injectors or spark plugs no worries. Also, what are the symptoms of a blown head etc. Cheers.

Hi welcome to fordmods these guys sure do know what they're talkin bout lol . Ok head symptoms easier to check /confirm a blown head is water in the oil , will be a milky greyish colour can run rough also due to water getting into the cylinder. Lose of water is another factor if its loosing a bit (I mean a fair bit) it could be goingt hru the cylinder so WHITE SMOKE MAY BE PRESENT AND WATER NEARLY POURING OUT THE EXHAUST. With the white smoke if its only a little bit it may be nothing but if it bellowing out especially when you stick the boot in its very likely the head is cactus. You can check the plugs and look for rusty or highly polished plug/plugsbut the sure way to diagnose a blown head would be to give the motor a compression test which is a fairly simple procedure for beginners

Don't let this worry you too much as in my experience and from what I've heard about AU FORD motors they are early doing heads as opposed to ef/el Ford's due to the head gaskets used in the earlier model being of a cardboard like stuff whereas the au gasket is a multi layered gasket ALTHO I LOOKED AT A AU S3 RECENTLY AND IT LOOKED NICE WAS REASON LY CHEAP BUT BELLOWED OUT WITH WHITE SMOKE :/ :/ and I had to give it a miss
Hope this helps any questions you have in the future I'm certain these experts are nice enough to help cheers Jason