Ford Fairmont Engine Problems

A misfire under load is often suggestive of an ignition or fuelling fault. You can check the performance of the fuel pump to see that it's delivering the volume of fuel it should, but don't ignore things like dirty fuel filters as a cause of poor fuel delivery.

That said, this engine is particularly susceptible to failures of the ignition coils. In fact, most mechanics who know their way around this engine will suspect faulty coils before anything else. It's not a terribly expensive fix even though there is a separate coil for each cylinder, but nine times out of ten, this will be the problem in a misfiring Falcon or Fairmont. The other piece of advice is to ensure you only use the genuine Ford ignition coils rather than a cheaper, knock-off coil.

Even though the car isn’t moving, putting it in gear, does place some load on the engine. The rule of thumb is that a miss under load will be ignition related. These engines are well known for failing coil-packs which, essentially, provide the spark for the engine. If these aren’t operating correctly, a miss can certainly be one symptom.

But a better approach would be to have the car scanned electronically. At that point, the car’s own computer will very possibly throw up the answer to what ails it. That will save you a lot of time and money changing parts that were not the problem in the first place.

The service refill capacity for your car is six litres.

It won’t be the distributor or the spark plugs. If it happens when you turn the key to the start position to crank the engine it could be the starter solenoid.

It sounds to me like the fuel is vaporising for some reason. Have you had any sign of the engine overheating? Check the cooling system to make sure all is well there and the engine is not getting too hot. Also check the fuel delivery system, the fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel lines and fuel return system. Consider putting some fuel system cleaner in the next time you fill up with fuel.

The battery is being drained, so you need to trace the cause to be able to fix it. You have done the most obvious checks without finding it, but keep looking. If ultimately you can't find it you could install an isolator switch to the battery, which effectively disconnects it and should stop the problem.

Those old Fords are renowned for failing body ECUs, but there would have to be an underlying problem to cause three failures in quick succession like that, so I would call in an auto electrician to sort it out.

I'd say the transmission cooler failed in the old radiator and allowed coolant into the transmission. Replacing the radiator has fixed the coolant leak, but it sounds like it's too late for the transmission. Try a transmission service, you might be lucky, if that doesn't do the trick you could be up for a transmission rebuild.

You should be getting around 13-14.0 l/100 km in town and 9-10.0 L/ 100 km on a trip, so clearly all is not well. The first thing to do is to ensure the spark plugs, leads, air filter, throttle body are all functioning correctly, and replace them if it's suspected they're not. Have the dealer check the exhaust back pressure, catalytic converter and oxygen sensors to make sure isn't running unduly rich or have a restricted exhaust. Look at your driving conditions, for instance, do you mainly do short runs around Ballarat that might not allow the engine to warm-up properly.

That’s a lot of water to lose. If it were a head gasket that had failed I would expect the engine to be running roughly, a spark plug to be showing evidence of water contamination, and coolant in the oil. If its running normally and there’s no sign of coolant in the oil than its fair to assume the mechanic was correct and its not a head gasket. Falcons of that vintage are renowned for failing the transmission oil cooler, which is in the radiator, and if that happened coolant leaks into the auto trans. Also check for external leaks, damage to the radiator etc.