yeah, some more basic troubleshooting can be done, but it seems like it's a tune problem, from the symptoms presented here

Still... who lets spark plugs get into that condition on a performance car... you're just asking for trouble...

Did the car come with a tuning device?

Weird of owner to change out just one ? :-/

"Use octane booster" says the tuner invoice... WTF, I thought JEM were better than that...

Needs to see a toona to be on the safe side I think Phil? Bloody good score for that money though!

Yeah, it will get re-tuned at some stage. A bunch of money though, and I don't have an Xcal for it (to save the tunes on).

yeah, some more basic troubleshooting can be done, but it seems like it's a tune problem, from the symptoms presented here

Still... who lets spark plugs get into that condition on a performance car... you're just asking for trouble...

Yep, it will get new spark plugs ASAP. It was interesting how well the Dremel cleaned them up (compared to a bench grinder with a brush) but they've done about 36,000km. Time for new plugs - I'll see if I can get the same ones today.

Did the car come with a tuning device?

Nup, no Xcal. Would love to set it back to standard to see if that had any effect. Not having the Xcal is a big problem (I asked the auctioneer to check inside the car for it before I bought the car).

I've got the phone number for the guy who owned the car when the modifications were done - I've give him a call today and see if by chance he's got the Xcal at home somewhere. I'm assuming that he would have passed it on to the next owner, whose details I don't have.

I've been watching out for a decently priced secondhand Xcal since I bought the car. Mind you, my definition of "decently priced" is a tad low. Kicking myself now for not chasing harder after the unmarried Xcal 4 that was on Gumtree a while ago for $300.

"Use octane booster" says the tuner invoice... WTF, I thought JEM were better than that...

I'm guessing that the guy (girl?) who wrote the invoice was guessing on a couple of things, ie the Z9 oil filter (ie BA) instead of the Z516 that it should have been (BF).

Right now I'm damn pleased that I ended up getting the car freighted to me here in Perth, instead of the very tempting option of flying to Dubbo and trying to drive it back! I drove two LPG wagons from Sydney to Perth last year without any hesitation, but I had a bit of a gut feeling that this one should be freighted...

I'll go back out the front in a few minutes and check for diagnostic codes again. Seems odd that it drove so well for a few minutes last night, and then dropped back suddenly into limp-home mode.

Until then, last night's test drive was... interesting. When it runs properly, this car has got a hell of a lot of get-up-and-go...

Not impossible to fix the ecu but it's a right PITA. Herrods is your best bet

Its not the ecu. Multiple related faults scream electrical issues.

I have a solution for you Phil, drop it at my place and I'll give you a call and the invoice once it's fixed.

Sorry, I meant in bricking the ecu now he doesn't have the xcal married to the thing. That's a real f*ck about

Its not the ecu. Multiple related faults scream electrical issues.

I have a solution for you Phil, drop it at my place and I'll give you a call and the invoice once it's fixed.

Thought you'd never ask!

It's 2:45am now... can be at your place around 3:30am.

C'ya there.

Seriously, the minute you've got time and inclination to help me out with this thing just say when and where. Late afternoon onward on a Sunday would be ideal.

I know Falcon general mechanical stuff fairly well these days... from doing taxi stuff at stupid hours of the night. I know close to zero about turbo stuff (ie they make whooshing noises and go fast).

Current status: The thing actually drove for about 15-20 minutes tonight without going into limp-home mode. I can't see how fitting new NGK BKR7E spark plugs could be the solution (ie what I've done tonight), but I'll be ecstatic if it is...

Dammit... diff oil's been draining for a while now. Time to go back to work. Will take the laptop with me and do an updated check for diagnostic codes.

Update: I put new spark plugs in tonight (NGK BKR7E) and the car ran like it should. No hiccups, except for plenty of wheelspin and traction control kicking in.

Can't see how spark plugs could trigger TPS error codes and send car into limp-home mode.

Drove the car around for 15-20 minutes, including numerous hard acceleration runs. Car didn't drop back to limp-home mode, but the speedo drops out and stops working when accelerating hard. Speedo works again after engine is turned of and started up again.

The car did whisper to me that it would like to interact with Ralph Wiggum in the near future in regard to transmission flush and fitting of PWR heat exchanger.

Edited June 25, 201511 yr by PhilMeUp