kishy's 1985 Country Squire

[kishy]

Alright. So if I use the power lock to lock the tailgate, it doesn't lock. It gets alllllllmost locked, but doesn't pull just that tiny little bit more that it needs, and won't engage. I think if I were to flip the power lock and manual lock rod connections it would give the actuator more leverage and work better, but I haven't studied it too close. The key consistently locks it every time, it's just a linkage geometry issue.

Also, the window only occasionally works with the key, in either direction. Very irritating. I may apply power to the spare tailgate (I have a complete spare one) and see if it behaves better. I don't really want to put the mismatched tailgate on but having this work would be nice.

I received one of my packages from China, and am pleased with what it is enabling me to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzfY7e4UkCc

Not implemented in the car yet, but soooooooooon...

[gadget73]

That gate is indeed a complicated mess, everything has to be just so or it doesn't work right

[kishy]

Trans cooler has been trouble-free, and the O-rings in the factory disconnects seem to be holding up. This car does have a characteristic "hot oil" smell but I think that's the many engine oil leaks rather than ATF.

I decided today to dig into some of the tailgate woes. Those are:

1. The upper right latch does not latch.
2. The door handle still works after locking the tailgate.
3. The power lock actuator is dead (I disconnected the rod when I got the car).
4. The power window interlock is broken; it is possible to operate the window with the tailgate in positions that I believe are supposed to lock out the power window.

I quickly found that 1 and 2 are the same issue. There is a cam mechanism in the latch which depends on engagement of a second lever, and that second lever was stuck in the unlatched position, preventing the latch from grabbing the striker bolt and also preventing the lock from engaging with the mechanism. The design of the latch seems to be such that it is not possible to lock the tailgate while it is open, so the latch has to be engaged with the striker bolt and then the lock is able to act on it.

Soaked that in penetrating oil and exercised it by hand, it easily began working as it should again. 1 and 2 resolved.

However, after doing that, a new issue was revealed: when the tailgate is closed (the upper right latch is latched), the lock cylinder is no longer able to roll the window up, only down. Opening the tailgate restored this functionality.
I discovered that a worn piece of the latch - which is a very complicated assembly - was introducing slop. It's hard to describe but essentially it was causing parts of the mechanism not to hit their travel limit soon enough, which caused parts that acted on those parts to never reach the necessary positions to operate the power window switch.
The offending part is a small pin or peg in the latch assembly which is no longer mounted firmly; its "smushed rivet head" method of mounting has gotten sloppy and the peg doesn't firmly keep things where they belong anymore.
It can likely be repaired with a tiny tack weld, or perhaps rebuilt replacing the peg with a bolt. I installed a junkyard latch that I had on-hand, which has the same issue developing but isn't as bad yet. This still did not fix the problem until I altered the geometry of the lock rod system by bending it. I expect the problem will develop again over time.

Fixing #3 was easy; installed a new lock actuator. It now works as expected. I put heat shrink tubing on the manual lock knob rod so it would be quieter as it rattles around in there. I still do not have a good tailgate door card.

#4 is not easily repairable. I didn't get a good handle on how it actually works, but there is a normally closed button switch (D2AB-14743-AA) that mounts to the latch assembly. The switch body is broken causing it to dangle loosely. If the button is pushed in, the power window is inoperative. I don't see this being a priority to fix but it could be fixed with careful application of epoxy I think.

[DerekTheGreat]

Yeah, now I just tell them to leave 'em in. Part of what I do when I get them home. If I had compressed air and a lift, I think I would do it all myself.

[GM_Guy]

Sounds like a krown location that is doing it by just riding on the name. No matter who it is, I take out my own tail lights & housings. Pretty much most of these places use seasonal extra help, and the drill driver is their choice of screwdriver... Not exactly fragile plastic lens friendly. I take out my own taillights and housings out of the truck when I bring it in. Gets me a few strange looks every time except from the fulltime employees.

[gadget73]

These are "nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR)", which I had determined would probably be suitable before I bought the big kit of them.

The kit is the combination version of https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07B32WS9K
I used 5/16 x 1/16 O-rings for this job. I would maybe feel a tiny little bit better about a subtly thicker O-ring, but it's also possible this is the exactly correct size. The hardened ones that came out were not much of a reference point. I'm not sure if they were originally produced to be square-cut, but they sure look like it after 30 years.

The "H" is hydgogenated. Same thing, but apparently just a smidge more awesome than standard nitrile or something. Mine is the AC O-ring assortment from harbor freight, probably the same thing as that Amazon kit. They sure look the same.

[DerekTheGreat]

...As for Krown, I was happy with the product. I was happy with the first application. I was not happy with the second. Both done at Santing's OK Tire, but done by different guys. Both on the '91. Two years apart. First guy seemed invested and really wanted to get the whole car covered. Spent a fair bit of time on it, I'd guesstimate almost an hour. And this was an undercoated car as it was. Second guy just hit a couple quick touch up spots, maybe 15 mins tops. I don't like that I paid the same rate for both of those visits. As far as I'm concerned the stuff sprayed in concealed spots like drilled rocker holes is not going to go anywhere, so why should I pay for the professional service on a repeat? I can buy any number of off-the-shelf runny oilspray products that may work approximately the same for the areas I can get to myself...but, I decided I'd give OilGard a shot and this car will likely get redone there in the future. If it sees a lot of rainy weather, it may go again next year, or it may go in two...or maybe 3. The Ranger is definitely going there though, it's pretty far gone but I can at least try to keep it from getting too much worse.

Another reply will follow.

Sorry to hear about Santing's. I wasn't happy with my last applications. They busted my Town Car's taillight, well cracked it. And then it's as you noticed, you don't get what you pay for. I already went over my cars once I got them back but it's appalling with how much they missed. Have the same problem with the place I use in St. Clair, at least they sent me tons of free stuff. If you can get it, Fluid Film is pretty damn good. It's what I use for touch-ups and when going over areas that the applicators miss. Check out Repair Geek's videos on You Tube. He's got some good ones regarding a myriad of rust prevention products. Fluid film turns out to be one of the best IMO, doesn't rinse off easily and does a much better job sticking around and thwarting corrosion.

[kishy]

for what they are sealing I suspect plain black nitrile or green HNBR will work fine. I use the green ones for most things, purely because I have a kit of them and they will do anything a plain nitrile O ring will do.

These are "nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR)", which I had determined would probably be suitable before I bought the big kit of them.

The kit is the combination version of https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07B32WS9K
I used 5/16 x 1/16 O-rings for this job. I would maybe feel a tiny little bit better about a subtly thicker O-ring, but it's also possible this is the exactly correct size. The hardened ones that came out were not much of a reference point. I'm not sure if they were originally produced to be square-cut, but they sure look like it after 30 years.

[gadget73]

for what they are sealing I suspect plain black nitrile or green HNBR will work fine. I use the green ones for most things, purely because I have a kit of them and they will do anything a plain nitrile O ring will do.

[kishy]

Yesterday, a holiday (Victoria Day), I borrowed a friend's chainsaw and cut a bunch of limbs off the tree in the back yard. It's a red horse chestnut tree and flowers beautifully, but it is entirely too large for the back yard...at some point it will have to go, but for now I'll just keep trimming it so it's barely manageable. It is often starved for water and I think I can thank that problem for being why it produces almost no actual horse chestnuts.

I stuffed all the trimmed bits into the Ranger Trailer, and then today after work hauled the trailer with the wagon to the city's drop off point for yard waste. I had considered chipping them, and borrowed a friend's chipper, but then decided the time investment was just not something I was into considering I had no use in mind for the chips. The city will mulch them and then makes the mulch available to residents inexpensively, so that's something at least.



I am, of course, aware that the AOD will be happier with additional cooling. When I got home, I installed one of the coolers I bought a while back. I am aware the parallel-flow ones cool better, but I figured this is better than nothing. I didn't much care for the idea of using the zip-tie-style mounting thingies on the factory condenser so I made a mount with plumbing pipe hanger strap. I believe the holes I used will preclude me from properly mounting a factory power steering cooler, but that can just go somewhere else when the time comes.

I replaced the O-rings in each of the quick-connects. Kind of tedious but not too hard. Time will tell if I bought O-rings that last. No leaks yet though.







Where the lines run past the radiator, each is inside of an old section of heater hose to protect against damage.

[kishy]

The question about the filler neck rubber thingy came about from a strong fuel smell in the car after a right hand turn, only when the tank is full. I could not identify any external fuel leak (e.g. under the car), and still don't know exactly where it comes from. I will find the plastic bucket thing around the fuel cap is wet with gas after this happens, and it seems like it might even be the gas cap seal, but I also don't see how. The seal is intact and the cap seals tightlyish. It may be that there's a pinhole through the filler neck somewhere right under the lip at the top...need to pull it to inspect better. But anyway, that issue is what reminded me the seal is trashed. I don't think it will lessen the smell nor will it fix the problem, just came up because I was mentally exploding the diagram of that part of the car.

As for Krown, I was happy with the product. I was happy with the first application. I was not happy with the second. Both done at Santing's OK Tire, but done by different guys. Both on the '91. Two years apart. First guy seemed invested and really wanted to get the whole car covered. Spent a fair bit of time on it, I'd guesstimate almost an hour. And this was an undercoated car as it was. Second guy just hit a couple quick touch up spots, maybe 15 mins tops. I don't like that I paid the same rate for both of those visits. As far as I'm concerned the stuff sprayed in concealed spots like drilled rocker holes is not going to go anywhere, so why should I pay for the professional service on a repeat? I can buy any number of off-the-shelf runny oilspray products that may work approximately the same for the areas I can get to myself...but, I decided I'd give OilGard a shot and this car will likely get redone there in the future. If it sees a lot of rainy weather, it may go again next year, or it may go in two...or maybe 3. The Ranger is definitely going there though, it's pretty far gone but I can at least try to keep it from getting too much worse.

Another reply will follow.

[DerekTheGreat]

I stopped running my '88 TC in the winter ages ago, yet the Krown can still be seen under the car. I'm definitely happy it's there and I suspect it's doing a good job of keeping surface rust from setting in. I still like to peer in the wheel wells at times to take in the black frame rails...

[gadget73]

my books end at '89 so any supercedes after that point I don't know about. It shows that D1 part for 80-89 for every Panther car though. Fox stuff is different

[Tiggie]

D1AZ-9008-A Replaced by the F4ZZ you referenced. I need one in the 88 and probably the 90 as well. 88 leaked and caused the drivers side lower quarter to rot (again).

[kishy]

D1az-9008-a

Thank you sir!

If we trust these guys: https://www.fordpartsgiant.com/parts...az-9008-a.html

It looks like the F4 part superseded the D1 part, so with any luck it is actually equivalent.

Now to find one for cheap enough to go in a cheap car...