Hi all, new here.

I bought my wife a EF Fairmont last November [2006].

Approx 1 month after we got the car the gearbox [auto] started to have a minor problem, then changed to a major problem. So we took it to the guy that did my Skyline auto trans, he did a great job on that so we thought this shouldn't be any different.

Was all good when we got the car back but I noticed the next day or so that the engine started to have small fits, would rev to 2500 rpm but not more, manually dropping a gear in to 3rd then into 2nd, rpm then when up to 3500 or so then was all good, only did that for the first 5 mins in the morning and If I took the car to work same in the afternoon [not being driven for at least 6 hrs or so].

Any other time as long as the engine and trans is warmish, no problem.

Now it's doing it pretty much all the time on both economy & power & also doesn't matter what gear is selected manually, this is a problem as my wife needs the car for work and to run our 2 kids to and from kindy, shopping and to get us around in the weekends.

Our mechanic has tried to disable the valve on the dual runners, made the car gutless but thats it, swapped the ECU, totally disabled the air-con, and some other stuff that escapes my memory.


As far as the trip computer is concerned fuel usage was a resonable 13.5L / 100Km before the auto trans was rebuilt, since then it's mostly 14.7 - 15L / 100Km, and now uses too much fuel.
A tank used to last at least 1 1/2 weeks, now barely a week.


To date we have had ...

- The auto trans & torque converter fully rebuilt
- Speedo transducer replaced
- Head gasket replaced
- Head repaired
- Heap bolts replaced
- Timing chain replaced
- Timing chain guideds replaced
- Cam sensor replaced
- All rubber hoses under bonnet replaced
- Reco alternator
- Fuel injection system cleaned
- Exhaust replaced [getting too far too noisy]
- Harmonic balancer replaced
- Thermostat replaced
- Front sway bar rubbers and bolts replaced
- Front and rear pads replaced
- Front and rear brake calipers replaced
- Rear rotors replaced
- Front discs machined
- Power steering pump replaced
- Oil pressure switch
- ECU replaced


All up so far $7000 and it still not the way it should be, and I have lost faith in our mechanic.


Any idea's, suggestions or anything?

Go to a differnet mechanic!

A few suggestions
Remove the catalytic convertor and ensure it hasn't collapsed. The engine may not rev if it's blocked.

Could be fuel pump / fuel pressure regulator
Dirty air filter (well, you haven't listed it lol)
Is the trans fluid at the right level? If it was underfilled it might slip and let the engine rev really high but I don't really know what happens when it's overfull.

What happens when it hits 2500rpm? Does it start to have a fit and jump all over the place, or does it just feel like that's naturally where it should be stopping?

This is all very general. Any more information you could give on the problem would really help

Get the ECU downloaded.

There is obviosley a sensor problem somewhere.
Fords rarely break on the mechanical front. Its normally sensor / eletrical.

Thanks for the replies.


Was thinking of going to the local FPV guys so they can put it on the dyno and see what they think.

Transmission fluids are ok.

When it gets to 2500 rpm it feels like any other rev limiter, stalls then starts again at 2000 rpm.

But if you drop from D to 3 then to 2 naturally changes to higher rpm then all good, till next time your under 2500 rpm again.

Sometimes it's intermittent and drives normally, most times it's all the time.

Tried it with both an almost empty tank [80km or less to empty] and full tank [68L], no difference.



If I hadn't spent so much money on this car I would have dumped it [and gone back to a Skyline], but I want to my money's worth from it and keep it for at least 5 years.

Would love to do that, but apparently Ford use proprietry software and not willing to share with the general public.

Unless there is another way to do it.

by local mechanic do u mean a ford dealer, or joe blows dodgy workshop in a hidden alley? seems like they are throwing parts at it without diagnosing s**t

Ford Dealer. Its Not Expensive.

Put the cluster into diagnostic mode (there is a how to in the Technical Documents section)

Put it to the screen that tells you what gear you are in

Cycle through all the gears and make sure the value displayed by the cluster is correct

I'm thinking it might be the inhibitor switch / gear position sensor. I know the falcons at work (granted they are a different model) are rev limited to 3k in neutral.

My EL revvs to 6500 in Netural

yeah mine does too, it can rev as high as i want it too lol

Yeah they are BF2 e-gas and they won't rev past 3k i neutral. Doesn't have tickford gas by any chance?

I run PULP and Ethanol

The 3000rpm limiter in neutral is a B-series thing.

Just a quick update ....

The mechanic removed, rebuilt & reinstalled the gearbox again.
The problem has now dissapeared.

I personally think that he let one of the appentices rebuild the auto the first time and it wasn't done properly, hence the problems we experienced.

The car is now up for sale as our family is expanding and we need a larger car.

If you know of anyone selling a 2004 BA series or later wagon [with or without the 2 rear child seats] in the Brisbane area, please pass my details on from my signature.