good effort there mate. at least you sorted it out relatively on the cheap

Same as EF/EL. The correct urethane to use is Sikaflex 255 Extra.

Thanks mate. I'm pretty sure I have a couple of those in the back paddock.


Thats the stuff, getting it today from Blackwoods, at trade price.

New rear window all fitted and hunky-dory!

The rear panel/cover is just clipped on, no bolts, screws, or rubber seal. Very simple to remove and refit.


Now I just have to wire up the rear demister, fit a switch, etc. I'll worry about that later.

I got some nice dark grey/black carpet for the rear panel inside the cabin, and have started to fit it. I'll get some pics, etc, once it's done.

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The ute has started running a bit rough, especially on a cold start. It also seems down on power, almost like its being choked. It struggles to rev over 4k, and seems to have no power down low.
I noticed it a week or so agao, and it's slowly getting worse. It seems to start on 5 cylinders, when it's cold, and clears up and idles fine after 10-20 seconds. Once it clears, it doesnt happen again, until the next cold start. It doesnt appear to be using any water, so I'm hoping the head gasket is OK. The plugs/leads/cap/rotor/fuel filter are all about 12 months old, so I might have to do those again. I removed the K&N air filter last night and cleaned and re-oiled it, but it has made no difference. It was pretty clean anyway.
The exhaust has developed a rattle, sounds like the cat failing. I wonder if it could be blocking the system, causing back pressure? I am looking for another system to replace this one, so we'll see if that fixes the problem. I'm a bit skint at the moment, so I'll have to do a bit at a time and see how it goes. Hopefully I can get an exhaust cheap (read "free") and make it fit OK.
Any thoughts? Have I missed something obvious?

Theres no way you need to replace leads, cap and rotor every year.

I'd do plugs though, cheap enough. Fuel filter too.

Sounds like the cat maybe dead.

I was thinking the same thing. The leads/cap/rotor should still be fine, I would be lucky to have done 9k in the last 12 months. I will throw a set of plugs and a fuel filter at it this weekend, and I have another exhaust sorted. It even has a ute tailpipe! First time I've has one of those in about 4 years! I'll let you all know how it goes.

Update:
I replaced the plugs in the ute a couple of weeks ago, that seemed to fix the rough idle and miss issues. Number one plug was a bit damaged, the porcelain was cracked, some was missing, and the electrode was brown, almost rusty. Me thinks a bit of water has been getting in where it's not 'sposed to be. Oh well, the rest of the plugs looked fine, and it drives a lot nicer now. I will need to do the oil and filter in a week or two, and I will replace the fuel filter at the same time.

Yesterday was a big day. I removed the exhaust from an XF ute wreck we had, as the exhaust wasnt very old, and survived the accident fine. I then removed my exhaust, from the extractors back, and with a bit of cutting, grinding, welding and bending, I now have a full exhaust system, including a tailpipe (for the first time in 3-4 years) and a free flowing cat. Or an empty cat. (Should that be a cat skin? ) Anyways, it sounds a lot quieter, more like a stock 4.0 now, and has lost a bit of the burble and pop on overrun, but it has lost the drone, and overly loud exhaust note when I get up it. It'll do for now, and as it was a freeby, i'm happy with the price.

Cheers.

You have inspired a bit of movement from me here Grant.
I shall be looking into getting a heated rear window for ours and doing the cab extension before too long.
Can you PM me the pirce for your hurst shifter setup? Trying to decide which way to go with ours.
You wouldnt happen to have a stereo surround and ashtray kicking around up there for one would you? I want to take the s**t a*** UHF out of ours and put an ashtray back into it.

Hi Mate,
I must hook up that heated rear window one day - it would be nice at this time of year....

Sorry, I don't have any dash spares at the moment - are XF bits the same? I might have something if it is....

PM sent.

Cheers,

Keep an eye out at Pick N Payless, they do come up (albeit not too often), in the utes there, but you need to get to them when they are recently put out.
I think I may have used mine once or twice in 10 yrs - I think that plastic outside surround might somehow reduce the misting on the rear screen. Used the power antenna switch above it more times . . . .
They can be used - later XH's get the EL style ashtray - these are either grey or black.

OK, not much going on with the ute lately, just driving it and all has been well. Until tonight. I left work at a bit after 5, all started fine, lights worked, no probs. Stopped at the p o box, got back in, started fine, lights on, then a minute or so later, as I'm getting back on the road, all of the instruments drop to zero, odometer goes out, all the red warning lights come on, and the headlight warning light, (the one that comes on to say you left the headlights on) starts flashing on and off. WTF! I topped at the next servo, shut it off, popped the bonnet, but everything looked ok. Battery terminals are tight and clean, the fuses near the battery all look ok, the wiring to the alternator looks ok. It was too dark to look at the fuses under the dash, so i tried to start it again. It started fine, and now everything is working! Cool. I went to drive off, and all the gauges died again. I had no tools or a torch, and it felt like it was running OK, all the outside lights worked, and I was only 5 k's from home, so I decided to try and get it home. It drove fine, but i discovered when i had the brakes on, that the gauges, etc, all started working again. After i get off the brakes, it all dies again. As the trip continued, the same thing kept happenning, but after i get off the brake pedal, the guages were staying alive a bit longer each time. By the time I got home, the guages were staying on for maybe 10 seconds after each brake use, before dying again. When all the guages were working, all looked fine, except the voltmeter was reading 16 volts, and the battery light was still on, even when the rest went out.
I looked in the gregory's book i have, but has no warning light references. Any thoughts? I will check all the fuses and stuff in the morning, but some advice on this would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Grant.

Sounds like a bad earth. Check the dash earths as it could be earthing through the brake light globe when you apply the brake.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I'll check it out this morning and see what I can find.
Cheers,
Grant.

OK, I started checking fuses and earths, but still no joy. Here's what I found / did.

I checked all the fuses (visually) under the dash, but they all look OK.

I removed the LH kick panel, and removed the earth wires on the ECU bracket. They looked OK, so I cleaned the contact points with sand paper to get metal contact. The screw was a bit loose, so I replaced it with a larger one, refitted the wires and tightened in all up.

Next i removed the earth wires from the lh lower dash mount, cleaned them up, and refitted them.

Then I disconnected the battery, removed it and checked the wires around the area. They all looked OK, and I removed the battery to body earth wire, cleaned the contact points, and refitted it.

Next i checked the earth wires near the brake booster, The screw seemed loose, and when I tried to tighten it, it stripped. I removed it, cleaned the contacts and fitted a larger screw and tightened it back up.

I then refitted the battery, started the car, but the problem is still there.

Next, I disconnected the battery, thern removed and disconnected the BCM. I dissasembled it, blew out 1/2 kilo of dirt, reassembled it and refitted it to the car. I reconnected the battery and started the car, but still no joy.

While I was under the dash, I checked all the connectors I could find, but they are all connected fine.

I'm running out of things to check. The last time I had it running, I tried turning the headlights on, and they still work, but it made no difference to the problem. I left them on when I turned the engine off, and the warning light came on, as usual, but no alarm! Maybe I'm getting somewhere? When the parkers or headlights are turned on, without the engine running, there is a loud beeping alarm, but now there is nothing. Maybe a relay, or the light switch? Any thoughts?

Just to add to the history, about a month or so ago, all the controls on the wheel stopped working, (horn and cruise control), the indicators and wipers still work, but nothing on the wheel. I checked everything, and figure it was the clock spring in the column. I keep meaning to look for one in my parts bin, but havent got around to it yet. Could this be related?

Also, the indicator flasher relay is dying. It has been getting slow, or just staying on, for a month or so. Could this be related?

I'm not sure where else to look for earth wires, and every fuse I've seen looks fine.

Now what? This is giving me the sh!tty wah wah's.

Please help!