2003 Sportivo V6 Questions

[Spudz27]

Hey guys. New to the forum, really just joined up to ask some questions about my 03 V6 Sportivo. I am a Ford man at heart, but for the first time 3yrs ago I sold a ford and bought the Camry. I have since bought another Ford and the Camry is my partners car now, but I still use it and it is up to me to maintain it lol. However the camry has been great car. A Little underpowered and still the interior is designed for the elderly lol, but in 3yrs I have done nothing more than service it, even the coolant is the same bright pink it was the day I got it, and the stock stereo is way better than my 07 Fairmont. So although a Ford man I am more than happy to say whilst a bit boring, the camry has been and is great. Now onto the questions.

Firstly does anyone know the process for programming new keypads? I don't want to pay the dealer to do it, nor do I want the dealer near my car, long story, but 3yrs ago when I got the Camry in the first week of owning it the dealer had to fix, fog light, drivers door decided not to open from the inside and the clips fell off the aircon vents. The next week the auto was funny, but they fobbed me off and then said I should be gratefull for what they did for free the week before. In the end they paid me $360 for an auto flush which needed 32ltrs of oil to come clean and the brake discs skimmed, because I had a detailed report from another mechanic. So they were never again going to see my car.

Secondly, the trans holds second gear for ages when the car is cold, once it warms up it is fine, but first up in the morning it will hold second until almost 4000rpm before it will let go, again as stated it is fine after warming up. Another about the trans, does anybody else find you can feel it change to first sometimes before the car is stopped? Like you may be rolling at 20 and you will feel it go down into first.

Lastly the engine and fuel economy. Does anyone else here find on normal 91ron it pings under load? And is the fuel economy on these V6's usually poor. I get 430km to a tank around town and about 680 on highway. After a year of driving the avg fuel is on 13l/100km is this normal? My 07 Fairmont is better than this (although it is run on 98), it gets more than 150km more per tank.

Oh one more thing, hard stiff, loud suspension. I am guessing it is normal, no mechanic has ever said it is damaged or needs replacing, but it is soooo stiff and noisy.

[Andrew357]

1) - I think this is what you're after?

3) I used to fill with 91 all the time (God help me) and had no running issues at all. Economy used to be around the 500km city mark but slowly deteriorated to about 15L/100km. Putting in 95/98 octane gave me marginal gains.

I found with mine:

1) Fitting a modified exhaust system (custom headers, 2.25" catback, Lukey muffler) put the mileage back to around the 12.7-13.2L/100km mark

2) Replacing the fuel filter + on-vehicle injector clean (Lube Mobile) gave me about 40-80km a tank.

4) I never had issues with the suspension, I found the ride to be spot on however I have a soft spot for a stiffer ride. I never found it too be loud though. Reading reviews on the Sportivo they seem to say it is too stiff.

[Spudz27]

Thanks for that link mate. I was mucking around with the horn beep programming this morning and said to my partner, I bet this is how you reprogram the keys and keypad. Local dealer wanted $25. As for mods. I was going to mod it in the beginning (had always modded my falcons), but I felt a bit stupid, being that I am a ford man and usually laughed at camry mods lol. I may still put a K&N filter in it and I want to put blue globes in (can't figure out how to get to lights), but as it is my finace's car now and she usually has kids, it won't be modded with exhausts etc. My fairmont will get that treatment.

Edited January 7, 2012 by Spudz27

[Andrew357]

Thanks for that link mate. I was mucking around with the horn beep programming this morning and said to my partner, I bet this is how you reprogram the keys and keypad. Local dealer wanted $25. As for mods. I was going to mod it in the beginning (had always modded my falcons), but I felt a bit stupid, being that I am a ford man and usually laughed at camry mods lol. I may still put a K&N filter in it and I want to put blue globes in (can't figure out how to get to lights), but as it is my finace's car now and she usually has kids, it won't be modded with exhausts etc. My fairmont will get that treatment.

- If you can get your hands on a set of springs from an Altise/Azura/Ateva that will reduce the 'harshness' of the ride a little.

- Lights are very easy to access

Good choice in terms of modding. Nothing really available off the shelf so it's damned expensive

[STYLSH]

It is normal to hold gears until 4k when cold. This only last like a few minutes though. You will find that if you go fast enough, it will hold itself in 3rd and not let you into 4th too when cold. The other thing it does when cold is even if you floor it, it will shift waaaay before redline.

[Spudz27]

O.K guys been a while since on here. I just got my car back from the mechanic and he said that coolant is leaking from the valley. Is this going to be costly????? I am about to sell the car, he can't tell me without looking into it properly. It was just in for a quick service today. The car is about to be leant to inlaws who had theirs smashed and prob driven a good 1000km or more in the next 2-3 weeks. I don't want this to be a new engine jobo.