Hey I'm pretty new to the website...been reading everyone elses posts for a few weeks thought i would contribute by asking what the f**k is wrong with my falcon...In Advance please excuse my lack of shall i saw advanced mechanical knowledge, I love my cars I'm just in the process of working out how they work

Now, where to start...

Ummm its a 1990 EA CFI (I think thats right got a carby type thing on top then when you screw the top off it has two injection points) sedan with 153 on the clock..If anyone else has had similar problems or knows what may be wrong i would really appreciate it.

First, the battery light has been coming on and off (sometimes just flicks on other times stays on for a couple of minutes) every now and then for about a month and a half, it doesnt seem to effect anything that I would think it would such as the lights or the stereo.. What could this be from?

Umm second my power steering is having a little trouble doing its job. It works when the engine is revving but gets hard if your driving slowly and coasting, I have checked the fluid and from what i can see the belt isnt slipping so what could this be from?

And third when driving my lights play up a bit. Low beams are fine however after leaving the high beams on for 30 seconds or so they start to ... flick on and off, not a flutter but slowly on and off. Then when I turn the low beams on they go fine. I was told this could be a relay, is that right??

And thats it, aside from that I love my falcon, if anyone has any idea how i could get the old girl a little more shall i say road worthy i would really appreciate it.

Thanks Heaps Mitch

To answer your first and third problem, it sounds like your alternator is on the way out. Which means it's not keeping your battery charged constanly (so occasionally your battery charge light will come on) and it is overloaded with the extra output for high beam (usually only a problem when you add spotties). My thoughts is look around for a 2nd hand one, maybe off a newer model - EF/L.

Your second problem is simple... your pump is stuffed. I had mine go recently with the same problem. I let it go till I had no power steering what so ever, which was a mistake because it caused minor incident for me. Go to Ford to get a genuine one... aftermarket ones from Repco are way more expensive.

Yeah thats what i thought, I had only had the car a few days before the power steering went while i wasnt doin loops, oh well im gettin the old girl serviced in a couple of hundred k's so they can look at it then... *shakes fist*

your lights can also flick if your running 90/100w lights. if thats the case you will need a higher amp cct breaker. after that problems solved you will start melting the headlight connector cause of the heat.

As per the previous post, your pump is screwed, its ok at high revs as your forcing the veins in the rotor to spin harder, but truth is, they dont want to, you quite possibly can be causing more damage than you think.

When you force them to spin like that(when they dont want to) your shaving away at the cam ring inside the pump, this will cause shavings which will in turn get pumped through you system.

Once they hit your rack, your up for more $$$ as the shavings will eat away at the seals in the rack, then you have screwed pump and sever leaking rack and will need to flush hose's thoroughly to get the rest of the s**t out.

Dont go to Fraud or Repco either, they are rip off merchants and 9 times out of 10, they don't come with the pulley, so you have to pay extra (most times) to get either your old pulley or a new one put on, so come to me

I sell mine for $75 + post all ready to bolt on and with 12 month warranty. Oh and thats outright, not changeover.

As for you other problems, battery terminals maybe?? and the headlights, I would agree with a higher amp cct breaker and wait for the melted plastic.


Pm if intrested with the pump.

ok cool as... what is a new and second hand power steering pump worth for the EA.. lol excuse my noobness

It may not be teh alternator. mine had the same problem. my solution was a new regulator on the back of teh alternator. they have 2 little magnetic brushes on and mine were worn like crazy. its not hard to check. disc. battery and unplug and from memory theyre only about 55 dollars. that should fix your lights and battery light problem. when the batt flicks on, it usually means its lost contact or something along those lines.
check it out before you go buy a new alternator though.

well, it all depends on how well you know who your buying from, wether it be the wreckers or the steering or even the ford dealership.

My guess, if you don't know anyone and just walked in off the street, you would be lookin at.....


New - $100 or more (usually no pulley will come with, so you will have to pay extra to changeover pulley)

2nd Hand (Wreckers) - $50 or more, usually 30 day warranty, but will always last 32 days, unless you got good luck lol)

2nd Hand (fordmods.com member) if they have one, prolly $30 - $40??

Full reco (from myself) $75 with 12 month(1 year) warranty.