The car thread

Just another Moderator
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Sounds like either way you jump you have quite an outlay. I'd be looking at what the resale value post all of the repairs is likely to be.

If you can get some money for them in their current condition you may find that you can get something better for the combined money from sale + what you would have spent on repairs.

I'm not one to talk though, I get attached to my car, and it would take a lot to stop me repairing. One of the aguments I use when asked why I don't buy a new (as in no more than 2 years old) car is that the cost of repairs for mine is actually less than the depreciation, so provided it's reliable enough I'm happy to spend a bit here and there.

It does sound like the camry is the better bet though. You could do the important stuff (struts/springs and seatbelts, and do the aircond later if you wanted to spread the cost.

The rust and the head gasket on the falcon could lead to much higher costs than you anticipate!

Tony.
 
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Yeah you hit the nail on the head there wintermute. But I already spent $2k on getting the camry/vienta, $1k on getting the falcon and I bought both expecting no problems, obviously the ford was going to be a problem with its paintjob but I was willing to deal with it at the time and I still am I just don't want to do it myself, I want to pay to get the paint fixed but now that the head gasket is gone and that I've priced a replacement horn/airbag its starting to look less appetizing. And with the camry I bought the car expecting the shocks/struts to not be stuffed, that was slipped by me by the seller. You generally pay a lot here in Newcastle compared to Sydney and I'm not one to go down to sydney to buy a car.

Check out this deal in gosford though:
Lexus LS400 1991 Amazing condition (#1771) | eBay

If I had the money I would jump on it. V8 Lexus in mint condition. It won't sell for $3k though.

The thing that the Camry has going for it is that I can make it look just the same as the lexus with a grille change. The paint is in mint shape, mine has the same two tone paintjob, some people think its lame, I don't.
 
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I'm trying to replace the heater blend door motor control on a 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis (Ford Crown Victoria) without removing the dash. :eek: I've made it far enough to get a visual on the offending assembly. but am having trouble with three fasteners attaching it to the air plenum.

:mad:
 
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Heh.

When I replaced the head unit in my Ford AU Falcon I had to tear it apart. The AU series is notorious for not wanting to let the stock factory head unit out of its resting place even when using release pins inserted into the front fascia. I actually had to tear in half one plastic fascia just to get the original stereo out of the car and then go and buy a replacement plastic fascia from the wreckers which also had the same problem but was done with more patience.

That plastic bit sitting on the center console is the front of the radio, I literally had to remove the front of the radio with a flat head screwdriver just so I could get to the metal pin release/locking mechanism to remove the dual din car stereo.

This is what was left after I was done removing the factory plastic fascia:
 

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And here is the job that I done replacing the oil pressure sensor:

It was a lot easier once I got the fuel rail and intake manifold off. The coil pack being underneath the intake manifold and fuel rail is just another silly design flaw by ford. Its virtually impossible to remove the coil pack from underneath the car or from the top because the intake manifold is so huge and you cannot get your hands in to do the job. Its a sort of job that if you were to do it without removing the intake manifold that you would need those ratcheting swiveling o ring spanners and get to it from underneath while its on a lift.
 

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Just another Moderator
Joined 2003
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Looks like yours suffered the same fault as mine! ie sprung a leak and pissed oil everywhere!

Similar drama's to do mine (if you think fords are bad try working on a French car ;) )

I've got it down pat now (having pulled the gearbox and the starter motor as well).

Battery box out.
grill off
headlight out
throttle piping off
Throttle body off
Inlet manifold off

Ah that's better!

I've learnt with the pug, if anything at all is making access difficult it is best just to remove it!

Oil pressure sender arrowed.

Tony.
 

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Disabled Account
Joined 2017
haha neat.

Though On mine you cannot remove completely the intake manifold which disappointed me somewhat because I wanted to clean it out and replace the gaskets, because the wiring assembly goes through one of the gaps. To remove the intake manifold I bet you would have to remove the entire wiring going all the way back to the gearbox, or cut a notch in the intake manifold where theres a bit of streghtening/stiffening metal that goes across between one intake plenum and another.

Thats why in the first picture the intake manifold isnt completely removed its just crocked up there on the side of the head.

You can see in the second picture where the wiring assembly goes through the gap between two of the intake plenums. You would think to yourself that you can simply feed the wiring loom through the gap or simply move it to the left, nope, because there is a huge connector that is on that wiring assembly and that connector doesn't fit through the gap. Goodness knows how they managed to get this thing together the way they did at the factory, I guess it was all made in combination with the intake manifold.

Anyway I cleaned the intake ports out as best as I could with some degreaser and a wire brush, replaced the oil pressure sensor and put it all back together.
 
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Just another Moderator
Joined 2003
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Mine comes off completely with the removal of a few vacuum hoses. The first time I pulled it off was at about 245,000KM it was really really gunked up inside! The crank case breather circuit puts quite a bit of oil vapour through it over that many KM!

Tony.
 
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I've decided. After going out for a thickshake this morning I'm going to keep the camry and do it up. It just turns heads that the Ford don't, I like that. Chicks at the drive through were more than impressed with the leather interior and didn't notice the missing stereo at all. ha ha ha.

Plus it impressed me with its safety and acceleration, first time it has in a long while. I would say that it is on-par with the heavy Falcon in terms of acceleration so it was very difficult to decide between them and took me some time. Both are quick off the mark, but the Falcon disappoints me long term with its small fuel tank, only 63 liters for a car that size. Ford could have easily put in a 80 liter tank like the old XF's had in their wagons but they decided to go with a smaller size that fits in both the sedan and wagon, bizarre choice there Ford.. So it means I have to fill up a lot more often with the Falcon which I don't appreciate.

Plus the camry has a lot more room for speaker sizes than the falcon does, a lot more depth. The falcon has about 1/2 an inch before a speaker magnet would contact the glass, from where the basket rim meets to the glass, the toyota doesn't have this and in fact it can easily handle a 70mm deep driver because it has plastic spacers before it meets the metal and then there is another half an inch behind THAT before it makes contact with the glass.

The depth and field of view in the Camry which is a concern that I currently have, I'm sure can be fixed with higher springs, 25mm higher ones. Right now my horizon is up near to where the rear view mirror is, not optimal. A combination of both my height and the sagging springs.

Another concern with me with the Camry is the heavy handling power steering, but that is easily remedied by simply turning harder, the power steering pump was replaced so was the high pressure hose a while ago so I'm sure its a factory fault, but I wonder if I cannot improve it somehow by removing a restriction... don't know, it doesn't concern me that much.

Plus the camry has cruise control which is great these days with speed traps.

If you add it all up, I would have to get a Ford Fairmont Ghia to match the Camry in style and then deal with the nervousness of having such a high powered engine under the bonnet, I've owned one before and I nearly wrapped it around a telegraph pole. So I won't be buying one again which leaves me with just one option left, keep the Camry.
 
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I can commiserate regarding sagging springs on soft Toyotas. I have found that the rubber spring boosters that fit between the coils to work quite well. By blocking out a single coil, Increasing the rate, and helping to damp the action somewhat.
These can be had in a couple thickness dimensions, which is handy.
I’ve used these on two corollas, a Soarer V8, a Tercel, and our 4Runner.