Guest Post: BF Falcon Futura Update – April 2025
My last update on our BF MK2 Falcon Wagon, affectionately known as “Lister of Smeg”. was Oct 2023, with 383k on the odometer. Up until this time Lister had provided reliable and fuss free motoring. This all changed when the LPG converter failed, leaving me stranded after dropping my son off to school. Not knowing any better, the car was towed to Knox Ford, which was only five minutes down the road. A week later Ford had replaced the converter, all spark plugs and the rear discs as they were low. From this point onwards the engine didn’t run as smoothly as it had in the past, providing an occasional backfire on startup and a rough idle.
I understand why people move old cars on, as there’s a sense of frustration when you can’t get the car to perform as it should. I found a local LPG specialist (who still looks after a small LPG taxi fleet), they had a good look but couldn’t find anything wrong. Just over a year went passed and it was now Dec 2024, with 404k on odometer. I kept putting up with the loveable Lister, but thought it was now too hard to fix, given the LPG fleet is in steep decline, hence it’s hard to find an LPG specialist.
Finally, Naomi said, let’s just get this fixed, as she had been given a recommendation, AG Automotive in Lilydale. To put it in perspective, a trip to Lilydale was the same distance as driving to the CBD. As we had nothing to lose, we drove to Lilydale and dropped Lister off. After recounting our story, the words came back, “You didn’t take it to Ford, as they have no idea how to fix LPG vehicles”. Two days later AG Automotive called, communicating he was all fixed after replacing the stepper motor. The stepper motor accurately adjusts the flow of gas via the o2 sensor. Apparently, it’s common practice to replace the stepper motor when replacing the LPG converter.
From this point on Lister started to behave like he should have from new, now idling well, performance felt stronger, whilst fuel economy improved. I started to regain confidence in him again, but moving forward to Jan 2025, my confidence was again shattered, as he developed a rough idle, worse than before and started to stall at idle. The only mechanic I could get to, was the local specialist, who looked at the car previously and said everything was ok. This time he took it for a drive, and on return said there was something wrong, likely the stepper motor needed to be calibrated. He had the stepper motor out, calibrated and back in within 20 minutes and then disappeared around the block. To my surprise Lister was again back to normal, but I kept on thinking when is he going to break again.
It’s now April and surely a trip to Canberra will confirm if Lister is fixed. My confidence wasn’t great, but to my surprise he went like clockwork. One of the things I did notice on this trip was the removal of more LPG bowsers, at Tallarook & Holbrook and while in Canberra, the service station we normally go to, was out of LPG. The e-gas BF wagon has 116 litre capacity, and according to Ford provides for up to 900km of range, enough to get from Melbourne to Canberra. I topped up in Wodonga, given the price and availability of LPG prior to driving into NSW. While stopped at the APCO Service Station in Wodonga, we spotted a rare Hillman 16 on the back of flatbed truck.
Stopping at Holbrook for lunch, can highly recommend “The Ten Mile Café”. It has large indoor and outdoor sections. They provided excellent service, combined with quality produce and great coffee. What else can you ask, especially in a town the size of Holbrook.
On the way back, we stopped in Gundagai, as we love the Coffee Peddler Café. Opposite you can see the impressive Gundagai Theatre.
I’ve always loved the main street in Gundagai, this time we stretched our legs and went for a walk, and found a shop called Junque & Disorderly. I couldn’t help myself from purchasing a 1973 Mercedes W115 220D Ute, 1:43 scale for $12.
We did approx. 1424km within three days, averaging 13.7L/100 on the way up and 13.4L/100 on the way back. Since Oct 2023, Lister has averaged 15 cents per kilometre. Comparing to our i30N which requires 98, averages 19.4 cents per kilometre over a similar period.
Author: Nick Gruzevskis is a contributor to classicjalopy.com, and the custodian of a great collection of classic and modern cars. Links to some his other articles can be found here
