kishy's 1991 Grand Marquis

[Tiggie]

Definitely less rusty than my 88. Did you install that transmission pan?

[Toploader]

I suppose I'm the usual oddity in that I like safety inspections. I don't give a shit about other people, I'm just enough of a selfish prick that I don't want their garbage cars with bald tires and no brakes to run into me.

NJ did away with them probably 10 years ago and the heaps of shit on the road that I see on a regular basis scare me.

One of the funniest things I have read in some time;-)

[kishy]

Definitely less rusty than my 88. Did you install that transmission pan?

Yes - 2014 September 13, it would appear.

One of the funniest things I have read in some time;-)

Pleased to see you posting; hopefully your more recent login issue has been resolved?

The topic of safety inspections is one where I wish a moderate approach would be used, but it always seems to be one of those polarizing "strict inspection" or "no inspection" things. I'm totally in favour of the government (which has a duty to try to inform and preserve the safety of its people) mandating that cars are verified to be safe, but my threshold for safe is pretty minimal compared to a lot of the requirements that make it into an inspection manual.

Tight suspension, working brakes, seatbelts that exist, seat and belt mount points on the floor that are structurally sound (not even necessarily the rest of the floor), and glass that isn't broken into pointy shards. I'm even OK with windshield cracks that don't create angular points. But nobody in our oddly safety-obsessed modern day culture who is pro-inspections would accept something so minimal, and nobody who is anti-inspection would accept this as a concession, so we end up with an intensely in-depth inspection that has specifications for how big of a mark on the floor a particular type of fluid leak can create within a specified number of hours.

[gadget73]

The old NJ inspection was a function check on all lights, horn, wipers, and brakes. They would jack the front end up and give the wheels a shake to make sure it wasn't horribly floppy, and confirm tread depth on the tires was above the wear bars. Windshield couldn't be cracked in the driver's line of vision, rear window couldn't be obstructed or missing. They also made sure there were no big rust holes into the cabin but those could be "fixed" with tape and they would pass it. Oh, they also wanted a functional shift indicator. Failed for that once on the Towncar.

The brake function test was this skid plate thing, drive on it about 10mph and hit the brakes when the light came on. It had four fluid columns that would go up to indicate whether or not the brakes were doing anything.

The whole process took about 15 minutes, and honestly it was enough inspection to keep the actively dangerous junk off the road without it being a massive PITA. It was also at state facilities that didn't cost for the inspection and they did no repairs so there wasn't any incentive to tell you something was broken just to make money.

I can see the liability argument for either nothing at all, or a super intense inspection. If a car passes a quickie and then breaks in half causing an accident there is a possibility to sue since it was deemed "safe" by virtue of passing inspection.

[jaywish]

Not bad at all down there.

[Toploader]

Yes - 2014 September 13, it would appear.







Pleased to see you posting; hopefully your more recent login issue has been resolved?

The topic of safety inspections is one where I wish a moderate approach would be used, but it always seems to be one of those polarizing "strict inspection" or "no inspection" things. I'm totally in favour of the government (which has a duty to try to inform and preserve the safety of its people) mandating that cars are verified to be safe, but my threshold for safe is pretty minimal compared to a lot of the requirements that make it into an inspection manual.

Tight suspension, working brakes, seatbelts that exist, seat and belt mount points on the floor that are structurally sound (not even necessarily the rest of the floor), and glass that isn't broken into pointy shards. I'm even OK with windshield cracks that don't create angular points. But nobody in our oddly safety-obsessed modern day culture who is pro-inspections would accept something so minimal, and nobody who is anti-inspection would accept this as a concession, so we end up with an intensely in-depth inspection that has specifications for how big of a mark on the floor a particular type of fluid leak can create within a specified number of hours.

Kevin, not 100%, still does not "resolve" as it did previously:-(................we have to have our late night tech chats!!

[kishy]

The problem with this car is that I had a very long to-do list in my head for it, and the longer I stare at it, the more of that comes back to me.

I really don't know that I ever made this point here, because this car was just entering its hiatus from road duty as I was becoming more active here, but this car was my first and it was a car I liked very much. I parked it to try to hit the pause button on it degrading further, but time can be just as mean as mileage.

Today, enjoying the day off, I spent a little wrench time on this one again.

I've replaced and bled the front left brake line. I replaced this line previously on 2012-11-18. I used the green-coated steel, and it has lasted acceptably. I had purchased a pre-made line. The line I purchased was 3/16", with 3/8" flare nuts and inverted flares. The problem with this is that the 3/8" flare nut is correct for where the line goes into the flex hose, but the master cylinder on a 91 is M10 bubble flare. I didn't know any better, and the neighbour who was guiding me through it didn't catch it either. It sealed just fine and never did leak, but as soon as I realized the newer style master is bubble flare (years later, when I did the big brakes on this), I realized what I'd done. But I left it alone because it wasn't leaking, and having damaged the seat inside the master cylinder, I wasn't sure the correct flare would seal anymore either.

Since I have new MCs on the shelf, I figured I'd give it a go. Nickel-copper tubing, and stainless M10 flare nuts. Made a couple of acceptable flares, bent it up pretty nicely, and got it put back together. I did briefly light the car on fire, but fortunately that was over quickly and did no damage. Standing on the pedal seems to suggest it's not leaking, so that's good.













The power steering leak seemed like a sensible next step. I removed the power steering pump and its bracket, to be replaced with a junkyard-sourced-but-very-fresh-looking-reman unit I picked up a while ago (out of a Bronco II, which had a 302 in it with the Panther accessory setup). While trying to undo the lines, which themselves were new 2015-04-19, I unthreaded the big valve-looking thingy out of the pump, and the whole plastic reservoir came off. Good thing I had a pan under it.

I could have sworn there's a spring that belongs somewhere inside there, but I don't seem to have dropped it so I dunno.

I paused about reassembling all that immediately, weighing the decision of maybe doing the timing set (never changed) while I'm here specifically because there's some coolant leakage in the area of the timing cover that I don't know the exact source of. I did the water pump on 2014-01-12, and it does not appear to leak nor does my gasket sealing job. Intake gaskets were done in 2013. I do recall that I had a hard time getting the thermostat housing to seal nicely on this one, so it could be that.





Maybe the answer is to bolt it back together and deal with that separately.

Also, note the DIY oil pressure sender relocation piping. I am now aware of the location of 3 of the Ford factory ones in my garage, so I intend to swap that out. No real need to, it works fine, but it's just one of those things. And it'll never be easier than when the p/s pump bracket is removed.

Kevin, not 100%, still does not "resolve" as it did previously:-(................we have to have our late night tech chats!!

Certainly. I'm in and out of the house a lot with the weather becoming more favourable but I'm trying to find you some time.

[gadget73]

I broke two pipe nipples on mine before I got the proper oil pressure thing, so I'd advise doing it. I was using brass though, steel might hold up better.

There is a spring under the large fitting on the pump. Its for the relief valve, no spring, no pressure.

[kishy]

I broke two pipe nipples on mine before I got the proper oil pressure thing, so I'd advise doing it. I was using brass though, steel might hold up better.

There is a spring under the large fitting on the pump. Its for the relief valve, no spring, no pressure.

This thing was made out of (I believe) iron gas pipe fittings. It's certainly not showing any signs of failure, but it is ugly, and I have the correct part, so since I'm here anyway, I might as well swap it.

This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i51rFtDunGc confirms that there is no spring directly under that fitting, but there is a spring further inside under the next piece, which I'm sure is what you meant as I know you've had this stuff apart as well. I seem to be missing no parts.

--

I did return to the car to try to knock out a little more progress.





I swapped the oil pressure sender tube in. I think I have it positioned/angled acceptably, but will need to see once the p/s pump goes back on. I cleaned a bit around the timing cover and front of the block to get rid of some of the grossness, in hopes it will help me identify the leak(s) better when I next run the engine. I'm fairly sure 91 was factory built with a double roller chain which means even if it's stretched a bit, I don't think I'm particularly bothered by it unless it does still have a nylon-toothed cam gear. If anyone knows what's inside, please let me know.

I moved on to the battery cables. This escalated from a simple "maybe I should swap the terminals" to a wholesale replacement of most of the related cabling and deleting the air injection pump. The new solution is similar to what's on at least one of the other cars, which causes the battery to have to be installed backwards, but I can deal with that.





4ga battery negative to block with a pigtail going to the ECM ground. 4ga ground back from the same point on the block to the original battery ground spot on the fender.
4ga positive terminal cable to the relay. Pre-existing 4ga alternator charge wire from the relay. 4ga positive cable to the starter, also from the relay.
Reused the original starter "switch wire" but used one of those pigtails that come with new starters to get rid of some crusty wiring at the starter end.
In doing all this, the rather corroded terminal on the solenoid on the starter that feeds power into the motor broke off.
This is a lifetime warranty starter that I bought in 2013 and I have been able to put my hands on the receipt, so I'm going to try my luck on that maybe tomorrow.

[gadget73]

yeah the spring sits under the piston thing that sits below the threaded fitting. Just so long as thats still present.

[kishy]

This is a lifetime warranty starter that I bought in 2013 and I have been able to put my hands on the receipt, so I'm going to try my luck on that maybe tomorrow.

The part store did agree to warranty it, but did not have one on the shelf. I should be able to collect the new one tomorrow.

I was feeling adventurous so I decided to re-seal the existing power steering pump rather than simply swap on the junkyard-sourced reman. Once I dug into it, I realized: these things are ridiculously simple! This is an extremely DIY-able part to service at home with relatively basic tools that the seasoned home mechanic has.

I did reference the following two videos, but didn't need to watch them all the way through:
Teardown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPgLokFLEaQ
Rebuild https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HqtGTbOLxk

I opted not to replace my shaft bushing as it was still very snug. All the O-rings and the front seal were hard as rock and that certainly had something to do with the leakage.

















Looking forward to tossing this on the car and seeing the results of my efforts. Certainly feeling a little silly for not doing this sooner. I bought the seal kit in 2016, for this car, because of how leaky it already was back then.

And truthfully, I thought that reservoir was made of black plastic. Grimey.

[gadget73]

I rebuilt one once. Wasn't hard, but it also never worked again. No idea what happened but it moved no fluid at all. Took it back apart and very closely looked at everything but I found no issues. Gave up on it and swapped in the spare reman I had on the shelf. best guess is the fins that make up the pump got stuck or just wouldn't prime for some reason. But you're right, there isn't a whole lot going on inside of these things.

[kishy]

I rebuilt one once. Wasn't hard, but it also never worked again. No idea what happened but it moved no fluid at all. Took it back apart and very closely looked at everything but I found no issues. Gave up on it and swapped in the spare reman I had on the shelf. best guess is the fins that make up the pump got stuck or just wouldn't prime for some reason. But you're right, there isn't a whole lot going on inside of these things.

I think it's possible to orient a couple of the bits inside 180-degrees out from correct, which possibly either prevents the pump picking up fluid or doesn't allow it to output, or both...I followed what the video said when I got to the bits that were reversible, but I don't know exactly what goes wrong if you put them backwards.

[DerekTheGreat]

I rebuilt one once. Wasn't hard, but it also never worked again. No idea what happened but it moved no fluid at all. Took it back apart and very closely looked at everything but I found no issues. Gave up on it and swapped in the spare reman I had on the shelf. best guess is the fins that make up the pump got stuck or just wouldn't prime for some reason. But you're right, there isn't a whole lot going on inside of these things.

This in addition to the two remanufactured units I tried being duds is why I went to a treasure yard to source a donor. If only I had done that right from the start, I'd have been much further ahead time and effort wise. I imagine the supply of used CII pumps is drying out though.

[87gtVIC]

Thanks for sharing

Sorry if I missed this mentioned in one of your other threads but what do you use a cleaner inside your parts washer?