V6 Too Powerful

[Guest Chipmunk]

I have recently upgraded my 1997 2.8 Ultima to a 2001 2.8 Auto Ghia. Lovely car and clearly has a much more powerful engine than the previous model however I find it very difficult to pull away without leaving rubber on the tarmac. The throttle seems overly responsive when pulling away. Once the car is moving it's fine but pulling out into traffic quickly can be embarrassing if you are not very gentle on the accelerator.

 

Has anyone else with a 2.8 experienced this?

 

Chris :)

[Guest VR6!]

Are you sure it's a ghia? as ghia's are supposed to come with traction control and ESP as standard with the 2.8! do any lights (yellow) illuminate on the dash when you stick the power down?

[MrT]

Same car (assuming you got a MK2 and not an old stock MK1) and it never wheel spins, in a straight line the traction control works with a horrible juddering feeling (like ABS working - as did the Mk1) and if the wheel is slightly turned the ESP comes on with the warning light and power drops away. The bottom switch in your centre console is the ESP switch and the dashboard ESP light should be out when driving, if the light is on that means ESP is disabled. Try the switch and see if the ESP light comes on and off, if it does not come on at all there is a problem.

 

Even then in a straight line unless the surface is slippery (gravel, oil or ice) it always grips and the traction/ESP is not activated, and I have a heavy right foot. On a slippery surface the ESP can cut in without you feeling it and only the warning light shows this.

 

Sometimes when you floor it turning out of a junction on a slippery surface and the ESP activates it feels like the engine has died, which is scary the first time it happens when nipping out in front of a rapidly approaching lorry.

[seatkid]

Methinks he maybe talking about a Scorpio :wacko:

[RADIOTWO]

I have recently upgraded my 1997 2.8 Ultima to a 2001 2.8 Auto Ghia. Lovely car and clearly has a much more powerful engine than the previous model however I find it very difficult to pull away without leaving rubber on the tarmac. The throttle seems overly responsive when pulling away. Once the car is moving it's fine but pulling out into traffic quickly can be embarrassing if you are not very gentle on the accelerator.

 

Has anyone else with a 2.8 experienced this?

 

Chris :wacko:

Try setting off in second instead of first

 

Radiotwo

[Guest HairyPlateEater]

2001 2.8 Auto Ghia.

Try setting off in second instead of first

 

Radiotwo

 

?? :wacko:

[Guest gooner52]

i gonna change gear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

be back in a second or two

scroll down

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thats better it works with jeans and a t-shirt on :wacko: :D :D

[RADIOTWO]

2001 2.8 Auto Ghia.

Try setting off in second instead of first

 

Radiotwo

 

?? :wacko:

 

As in P:R:1:2:3:D

 

Select 2

[dipsomaniac]

have you driven an auto?

[greg_68]

Gotta say I could never have accused my V6 of being too powerful. (Don't think mine had traction control and it was a Ghia.)

 

Dipso according to his sig he has an Auto.

 

R2 when you select 1, 2 or 3 on an auto it doesn't go straight into that gear, it means it will not go any higher than the gear selected.

 

i.e if you select 2 it will go into 1st and then 2nd as normal but no higher.

 

 

p.s R2 have you swapped your Galaxy for a Land Cruiser?

[RADIOTWO]

Gotta say I could never have accused my V6 of being too powerful. (Don't think mine had traction control and it was a Ghia.)

 

Dipso according to his sig he has an Auto.

 

R2 when you select 1, 2 or 3 on an auto it doesn't go straight into that gear, it means it will not go any higher than the gear selected.

 

i.e if you select 2 it will go into 1st and then 2nd as normal but no higher.

 

 

p.s R2 have you swapped your Galaxy for a Land Cruiser?

 

 

Never heard of "2nd Start" ?

 

(have you ever driven a Automatic)

 

Radiotwo

[Guest Chipmunk]

Thanks for all your comments folks.

 

I am also keen to know how to start my auto in 2nd. It would certainly sort my problems out :lol:

 

My ESP light never comes on - not even if I press the button - so maybe that the problem. I'll get it checked out at my local friendly Ford dealer.

 

Chris

[dipsomaniac]

are you winding us up r2 or is there an autobox that allows you to pull off in 2nd.

[Guest HairyPlateEater]

are you winding us up r2 or is there an autobox that allows you to pull off in 2nd.

 

yep, intreagued to hear about this too!

[seatkid]

are you winding us up r2 or is there an autobox that allows you to pull off in 2nd.

Yes a lot of auto's do this when "winter mode" is selected

[MrT]

What is the point of advising Galaxy owners to use "second start" when it does not have this feature?

[Joey]

Even though the galaxy doesn't have a 2nd gear start option my old rover 600 had one and it's purpose was to stop wheel spin in slippery conditions i.e. snow, ice, gravel etc. I think though that it's because it's a VW box as my mothers polo was an auto and didn't have the 2nd gear start also.

[tim-spam]

That's all very well, but the the VR6 is supposed to have traction control and / or ESP (at least on the Ghia / later versions), so winter mode or 2nd gear start should be completely irrelevant. The best thing to do is to get it fixed, assuming, of course, it has traction control and / or ESP. If it doesn't, just learn to use less pressure on the accelerator.

[MrT]

I seem to remember something about the traction control/ESP/ABS having a minimum speed it works at, but I may be wrong on this.

[RADIOTWO]

are you winding us up r2 or is there an autobox that allows you to pull off in 2nd.

 

Hi All

 

No not winding you up, mine has a 2nd start, and also got a (in my case) a Power button, but may be known as a "sport mode" which holds it in each gear longer, and I think stops it going into 5th.

 

and just to mention My dad had a omega, and that had the same, I just assumed the ford box had cought up

 

Radiotwo

[MrT]

The Ford has some kind of analysis on the way you are driving and automatically adjusts the gearbox between sports and economy modes to suit. I am sure someone here can give a more detailed description.

 

You also have the tiptronic way of changing gear on the Ford autobox if you want.

[Guest Chipmunk]

I also read in the manual that the auto box can switch between sport and normal mode - apparently dependent on how far you push the accelerator down.

 

I assumed that they were just referring to the fact that the box would naturally stay in gear for longer if you applied more power.

 

If anyone knows otherwise I'd be interested in finding out how it works.

 

C

[theinsider]

I have recently upgraded my 1997 2.8 Ultima to a 2001 2.8 Auto Ghia. Lovely car and clearly has a much more powerful engine than the previous model however I find it very difficult to pull away without leaving rubber on the tarmac. The throttle seems overly responsive when pulling away. Once the car is moving it's fine but pulling out into traffic quickly can be embarrassing if you are not very gentle on the accelerator.

 

Has anyone else with a 2.8 experienced this?

 

Chris :rolleyes:

i've also got a 2001 2.8 ghia auto. Neither the ESP light on the switch (i assume there should be one) or any symbol light on the dash comes on at any time (not even on start up). How can i tell if ESP is on? or if the bulb has gone in the dash? seems a coincidence that theres no light in the switch either? Cant see any reference to a fuse for this system in the handbook. Is there a module somewhere which controls all this? anybody know where?

 

did you take yours to the friendly dealer Chipmunk? what wws the outcome?

 

I'm getting harsh gear changes - could these be related?