Hi Everyone. I have a very strange problem with my Ford Falcon EF 96 that neither myself of my Mechanic at the moment know whats wrong with it.

For about 1 month now every morning when i start the car she seems to rattle and shake for a good 15 to 20seconds and if you put your foot on the gas she sounds like a beat up 1970 classic car with a roar but after the 15 to 20sec shes back to normal and nothing else occurs. PS: i have found that sometimes at night when the motor is still warm this can also occur but not all the time only sometimes and my car is parked up the driveway on a hill (i mention its on a hill because i think it has something to do with it)

3 weeks ago in the morning i start up my car to go to work to find it rattles which by now im used to but then i saw a big cloud of white steamy smoke in my mirrior and this lasted for about 5min and went away as i drove to work and didn't come back untill 6hours later after work when i started her up to come home there was that smoke again.

2 Week ago my car goes in for repair to get a power steering leak fixed and a set of new bront breaks and i tell my mechanic about the smoke and he asks me if the cars drinking alot of coolant and i said its still full and he asks me if my temp is getting high and i said no not even halfway. He did think it was the Head Gasket but was confused to find my coolant wasn't draining and the temp of my car wasn't rising and so while he repairs my power steering leak and does my new breaks he runs a series of tests and says theres no evidence of a blow head gasket or a head gasket being filled with water and he cant explain why it rattles and shakes for 15 to 20sec as he has never seen it in person doing this and i told him that it wont do it if my cars parked on a flat surface but it will do it if the cars been parked on the hill (my driveway) for some time.

Since then i have parked the car on a flat service and got no signs of rattle and i never saw the smoke come out from my exhust again untill 2 days later i came across a ticking noice that was coming from the engine and it would come and go and get louder the faster i traveld and by the next day it really got annoying so i spoke to my mechanic and he said it sounds like the tickers around the motor thats making the noise and he said they cost about $300.00 to replace or there is some oil that he can buy and put in my car to grease the tickers and stop the noise for $15 and so we went with that option and the can said it could take up to 14days to notice the difference but it was only about 3 days and its now completely gone never heard that noise again

Thursday October 2nd 2008 8am(Car is up the driveway on a hill again and has been for serveral days):: I start my car ready to go to work to find my car did not start on the 1st try but gave me that sound as if my battery was flat (battery is new btw only 3months old top of the range) so i tried again and she started up and she had that rattle sound again so i waited the 15seconds for it to go and once the rattle was gone there was that god damn cloud of smoke behind me again only it looks worse it was alot more so i got out of the drive way and start driving to work as theres no performance problems but the smoke was so annoying and embarrising i felt like Uncle Buck driving that black car of his that blows alot of smoke and back fires and so with that i went back home and checked the oil, coolant, power steering fluid and all was ok so i got back in the car and drove to work and 15min later the smoke went but took a long time compared to the 1st time this happend and i didn't see the smoke again till after work being 6hours later when the motor was cold when i needed to get home. On my way home i go and see my mechanic and he takes a quick look under the bonnet and doesn't see anything thats not normal and tells me to start the car and of a*** theres no white smoke to show him and the car wont rattle because the motor is warm and he says to leave the car overnight with him when i can so he can actually see whats causing this when the problem occurs.

I am now parking my car out the front of my house on a flat surfuce to see what happens over the next few days but i am worried this is a head gasket problem even tho its not doing what a head gasket problem should be doing exaclty but at the moment we dont know whats causing it and im afriad if the leave my car with my mechanic it wont smoke again it will only rattle or maybe not even rattle at all and the fault will be unknown.

Heres some Key knowledge of my car that might help.

Ford Falcon EF GLI 96 6c Auto (Fuel not Gas)

Doesn't seem to like being parked on a hill but has never always been like this.

Car drives fine and even drags off Subarus at the lights.

Sports Exhust was fitted from the cat back about 1yr ago so its meant to have a roar but nothing like a 1970 classic car that sounds like its about to die but as i said this only lasts 15 to 20sec a day and not all the time

New battery was put in 3months ago and is top of the range

Car does NOT drink alot of coolant at all it takes many months b4 it needs some more

Car oil leak was repaired about the same time as my exhust so 1yr ago

Power steering leak was fixed about 3 weeks ago

Oil is not milky in any way

Water is coming out from the exhust but its very very little like any other car

The white smoke has only appeared for 2 days a total of 4 times in 3 weeks or so and its a misty bad smell smoke like hot water and metal or oil together.

Head gasket has not blown yet and is not soaking water

Car does not go through alot of fuel thats noticable.

I basically wanted to post all this on the forum with every detail as i would like to hear back from every1 who has ideas because im out of ideas and ive only had my ford for 2yrs so if u know more about fords or have ideas of what the problem could be i would like to hear them all. If you need anymore information just let me know as ill be checking this daily. Thanks in advance: from CJ

sounds like what my el was doing. the smell was coolant burning as it come out the exhaust(probably cooks in the cat). was head gasket just starting to leak. water gallery near no 6 was weeping into the cylinder. diddnt look as if it was using water because it only leaked overnight a little. noticed it down after 3 weeks of steamy exhaust each day on start ups. i replaced the headgasket and have had no problems since.

well that was the bad news i've been waiting to hear but what you wrote does make alot of sense its just the fact that a gasket is like $800 and at the worst possible time when the rego of $360 is due in 3 weeks as well but i dont understand why the car rattles and shakes abit maybe because the car is on a deep hill the coolant is rolling back into the exhust system?

Thanks for your reply mate. If any1 else has more please reply

i did mine myself, cost around $350. shave head and pressure test,gaskets and bolts,coolant etc. i was quoted $600-$1200

hmm sounds good but im not that technical with cars only with computers so i wouldn't know where to start and all i know how to do is change a battery, change globes, had podfilters and how to flush out my radiator and and paint my car lol so im best off letting my mechanic do it.

Im still not 100% convinced its the Head Gasket yet as the next day i started the car i got abit of the ticking sound from my Flickers again after not hearing them for 3days and having that oil stuff in my car for now a week it came back but 1min later it was gone and haven't heard it since so i dont know if i have a broken lifter of if that stuff is actually working. Once again i see no signs of my coolant draining even after 3 weeks but i do know its 1 of these 2 problems now and could be both that occured at the same time.

oh well i guess youll have to find a mechanic with computer problems and do a trade. the ticking may dissapear after next oil change. ive never heard them called tickers either?? they are actually hydraulic lash adjusters or hla's for short, cost around $10 ea non genuine

hey stinger sorry to hear the bad news if u were near me id do it for ya done too many Head gaskets in my time

Thanks for your replies and support guys and for some strange reason i keep calling them tickers but they are called Lifters i guess i call them that because they do make a ticking sound like a engine with no oil or a fan on its way out.

I went to a pain skirmish event yesterday which was alot of fun but was a long drive for me car but you know what she ran so well and she still climbes 140ks on the highway with no signs of the temp getting higher and it was a very hot day on sat here on the gold coast so my next question would be if a headgasket is leaking what are the chances of it dying like would it ever happen eventually? or may it just continue to leak for awhile and actually give me a chance to save to get it fixed, i may be lucky enough hopefully

that ticking is the seals on the lifters, not a massive issue, but if you end up doing the headgasket wich i believe the issue is do the lifters at the same time as the rocker gear has to come off and saves paying for labour twice

thanks for that Brentos not a bad idea at all. My mechanic is having my car for 24hrs this week at no charge to conduct more tests and see the problems that occur for himself when the engine is cold.

well finally i got the answer i was expecting to hear and that i should of been told 1month ago now and that is i do need a new headgasket and all you guys were right but im just p****d off that my mechanic didn't pick the problem up last time when it was occuring and so 1month later i give him my car for 24hrs and yet 5hours later he then says you can pick up your car i have found its the headgasket and i could do it for about $900 with cheaper parts or $1000 to get it fixed.

So in the mean time while i save up that money my car still drives fine i just wont be doing long trips with it and will be cutting down the driving as well.

Yup my baby finally died: She worked fine sunday morning and come sunday evening that was it she died, now sounds like a car with a flat battery/ a car thats in D when trying to start her up, cant wait to get her fixed

Do yourself a favor and 'do not use' cheaper head gasket parts.

Sure a basic head gasket kit (vrs kit) is around $50 trade.

A Genuine Ford AU gasket is around the same price for just the gasket.

The AU one is pretty much a fix.

Now for the test, Im yet to find a competent mechanic that does what a customer asks. IE: "put in a genuine MLS AU gasket please" and they'll continue to put in a mono torque s**t,

meh, im having a rant, bad luck on the car :(