Stocker's 1985 LTD Crown Victoria

[sly]

Yeah... that screen under the PCV valve is overlooked rather often.

[Stocker]

Yeah, they replaced both the PCV valve and the crankcase breather.

[jaywish]

was the pcv filter changed?

[Stocker]

all of this is typical, especially the rotten frame rail. Have a look underneath at the frame just behind the passenger side lower control arm mount. Fair bet you'll find where the frame angles over just under the firewall its got a big hole in it. The AC drips there and the frames blow out.

Ah, that's what it was - a dime-sized hole at most though, which is why I missed it before.

I'm starting to wonder the shop even tried to fix anything beyond the A/C. I still smell it running rich from time to time, it still takes some throttle to start when warm, and idling in gear it still sounds like it wants to stall if it sits too long. 10 MPG on that tank when I filled it up; granted, I don't know how much time it spent idling while they were (maybe) trying to diagnose it.

It's leaking oil like never before though. I can't help but wonder if they intentionally sabotaged it.

I'll try to put a pair of valve cover gaskets in it soon, but if it isn't that...

[jaywish]

Even getting the typical rust spot on the frame repaired is doable.

[Tiggie]

Other than the frame, those *could* all be fairly easily/cheap fixes. I'd have the shop show you what they found.

[gadget73]

all of this is typical, especially the rotten frame rail. Have a look underneath at the frame just behind the passenger side lower control arm mount. Fair bet you'll find where the frame angles over just under the firewall its got a big hole in it. The AC drips there and the frames blow out.

[Stocker]

I have cold A/C again. But... the shop did an in-depth inspection too, which on the one hand is a nice perk, and on the other hand is things I may have been happier not knowing about.



Some of this I was aware of. The oil leaks didn't surprise me, but all of a sudden this thing is leaking oil far more than it ever used to. It left a trail up the driveway this afternoon. I can probably do the valve covers, and maybe the distributor seal without messing it up, but there's no guarantee any of that is actually the problem.

(I don't know what the "frame rail is rusted through" bit is about - the frame is perfectly solid. Maybe someone thought the rocker panel that came apart in storage over the winter was the frame.)

And, while I shudder to admit this after all the problems I've mentioned with this car, but they replaced a few things. The coolant temp sensor, which I checked when the drivability issues started and found it reading about where a 30K thermistor should read, was apparently just under 3Ω at any temp - i.e. shorted. The PCV valve was replaced and supposedly its hose was collapsed - odd because every time I checked it, it sucked like <insert suggestive comparison here>. I knew the fuel pressure dropped off to nothing almost immediately after shutting the engine off, and they found the same and replaced the regulator. Supposedly no vacuum leaks. It does sound like it runs better and it does seem to be more sprightly than before though. I guess the next full tank of gas will be the real test in terms of actual data.

[GM_Guy]

The trick is to take a short block of 2x4 and wedge it between the door pillar and the dash to get you the space you need. Face the plenum "down" and then rotate it back to proper orientation. It ain;t too bad.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

At least you got the job completed, even if it does sound incredibly unpleasant.

Two people are definitely useful for the heater core job even on the later cars. When I did my friend's '99, it took two people to properly finagle the dash down and to pop the plenum box off the firewall. Power to you for having gone at it solo.

[Stocker]

After removing the dash five times and the plenum three times (and thrice telling the car I hated it), this ordeal is finally over.

The replacement heater core had clearly been sitting in a warehouse for some time. Made in USA (apparently in Fort Worth), copper, and the tape holding the box closed had completely dried out. The GPD label on the box was applied on top of an APDI label.



The strip of foam that they expect you to use in place of part of the original seal had turned to dust.



This left as my only option modifying the original seal, which I think is preferable to cutting it apart anyway. I had to notch out the outboard ends of the top of the seal, because the top of the new core doesn't taper on the ends like the original and previous replacement did. I could've taken more material out, but it's compressible enough that I think it's fine.



The core is also about a half inch narrower, so I applied strips of foam window seal to the left side of the core to fill the gap.

Word of advice to anyone daring to do this: this is not a one-person job. If I'm ever crazy enough to do this again, I won't do it alone. Realistically, it takes one person to hold the dash up and back and another to maneuver the plenum into position. (Either that, or pull the dash entirely with the seats out so it can sit on the floor.) I thought I was going to break something trying to bludgeon everything into position.

I had to do that part a second time because I forgot about the plenum seal the first time. And then a third time because, after dropping two sockets behind the dash trying to bolt it back in, one of them slipped into the plenum because the screws from the previous hack job apparently didn't engage properly that time and the plenum wasn't firmly against the firewall. Gouged my driver's door panel somewhere in the process too.

But, with everything back in, I have heat that doesn't smell of coolant, and all the duct and blend doors seem to work. Only lost one or two dash panel screws (not sure how, they were all accounted for when removed) and nothing rattles.

The A/C that I had recharged last year now has only enough refrigerant for the compressor to occasionally engage though - no noticeable cooling. So, more work before it's back on the road. Another 90°F heat wave coming this week.

[Stocker]

Got the vent door taken care of today. I used two 1 1/2" hinges (National P/N N146-043) and attached them on either side of the door "arm".

Doing it the way I did has the benefit of being able to utilize two of the existing rivet holes, one on the door and one on the plenum, which helped with alignment. I had to omit a screw on the very bottom on the plenum side, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of force exerted on this so I don't think it'll be a problem. I filed away some material on the inside of the top half of the housing to accommodate the uppermost screw head, but overall this looks like it will work fine. Using 1" hinges might have been a better option though.



There is a gap at the top when the door is open, but it can't be any worse than having not fixed it.



I do wonder, however, how necessary this repair is, at least on a car with the manual HVAC and only the one door to be affected. There really isn't much room for the door to go anywhere besides where it's supposed to, so I'm not sure if the hinge breaking is [I]that[I] problematic. I never noticed any issues with air flow before. But, since I never want to have to pull this plenum out again, that isn't an experiment I want to run. This really wasn't that hard to do anyway (especially compared to the rest of the heater core job) which was a pleasant surprise.

We're in for a week or more of 85-100°F temperatures here and the A/C in my truck is only marginally passable, so getting this car back on the road has become a priority, even if it costs me more in fuel.

[Stocker]

I just went through the same ordeal on my car, right down to the copper heater core. Although my blend doors were still intact until I foolishly played around with them and snapped both hinges. What a cheap, flimsy design from Ford.

It's hard to really appreciate just how much space the HVAC ductwork takes up behind the dash until you've removed the heater plenum. Though if your car has manual temperature control you might at least be spared the further geometric agony of the temp blend door mounted to the top of the plenum.

Fortunately mine is a low-optioned base model - if that would've been on the top of the plenum, it'd've probably broke off during removal.

At least living in a warm/hot climate has this as a benefit. Between myself and my friend, we have 4 cars and only one (mine) has a working heater core. Are the other cars going to be repaired? Not in this lifetime! This is one major pain in the ass to do.

I thought this would be easier than most other cars because no part of the A/C system is affected and the dash theoretically doesn't need to come out. If it weren't for the broken door hinge in there I'd at least have it back together by now - I don't like the idea of having to drill out a couple dozen rivets to fix it but I can't see any other option.

Nice work getting in there. Doing it yourself is the only way of getting it done right at least in my opinion as this stuff is old and any old tech may not really care or know what is going on/how to do it. It is not fun but at least you are getting it done and not paying someone else to just mess it up.

Ive been in mine twice for heater cores. Not yet since I put the restrictor in place though!

That was part of my concern. It's one thing to have a tech being rough with suspension or steering parts, but the interior is something else entirely in that respect.

The new heater core has a flow restrictor already installed, the old one didn't. I'm hoping that helps keep this one intact for a good long time.

[87gtVIC]

Nice work getting in there. Doing it yourself is the only way of getting it done right at least in my opinion as this stuff is old and any old tech may not really care or know what is going on/how to do it. It is not fun but at least you are getting it done and not paying someone else to just mess it up.

Ive been in mine twice for heater cores. Not yet since I put the restrictor in place though!

[friskyfrankie]

At least living in a warm/hot climate has this as a benefit. Between myself and my friend, we have 4 cars and only one (mine) has a working heater core. Are the other cars going to be repaired? Not in this lifetime! This is one major pain in the ass to do.