1985 Ford Falcon S-Pack review from Australia and New Zealand

Head Gasket.

Oil pump (Replaced with JP Performance HV $150)

Water pump (bought new one, $50)

Fuel pump (replaced with spare)

Battery (bought new Heavy Duty, $150)

Starter motor (after battery was replaced, $200)

Battery leads.

Ignition coil (replaced with spare)

Instrument cluster (replaced with digital GHIA)

Hand brake.

Carburettor float valve and float.

I paid $800 for the vehicle outright in the best of intentions of getting it on the road, I didn't expect anything of the sorts as described below from a trusty Ford XF Falcon as I have owned two of these vehicles before and consider them in general to be reliable and affordable, if a bit aged.

Most of the faults you see here were not evident when I inspected the vehicle and only presented themselves in the proceeding month after.

The head gasket was already blown before I purchased the vehicle, but they masked it up by advancing the ignition, messing with the emissions control systems and adding some additive to the fuel, consequently this resulted in destroying the fuel pump.

Oil pump died soon after I got the vehicle, make sure if you are going to buy an XF that you insist on taking the car for a 20min drive or at least 10km's, BEFORE YOU BUY THE VEHICLE and watch for signs of a lack of oil pressure.

To replace the oil pump it took me 2 weeks, a guy in hospital (from cutting his finger with a grinder, and then freaking out and hitting his head on the bathroom sink, 3 stitches in finger, 6 in forehead) and the car up on stands before I finally got the oil sump off, yes that's right, you have to take the oil sump off to replace the oil pump... most times it doesn't clear the frame of the engine and you have to grind some of the front frame off.

The fuel pump was clogged with melted plastic from the plastic fuel tank reacting badly to the additive that the previous owner had put in.

XF falcons DO NOT have an in-line fuel filter.

Ignition coil died gradually proceeding with first a lack of power, then hard starting, then one day a complete lack of spark, the condensor attached to the ignition coil was fine.

Someone decided to fix a fuel leak and over tightened the aluminium alloy carburettor fuel line thread which sent metal shavings into the carburettor, they were mostly caught by the wire mesh filter, but when I opened up the float chamber it had a whole pile of it in the basin.

Hand brake never really worked, but I tightened it up enough for it to prevent me from rolling backwards.

Instrument cluster died right after I got the vehicle, odo never worked during the time I owned the vehicle, so god knows how many km's it has.

In summary, I think the XF's are getting long in the teeth, its time for me to move onto the E-series.