Prudence, my 87 Town Car

[sly]

I use dex/merc when I can find it, otherwise I use Mercon V. The clear "power steering fluid" is too thin and will make the pump scream.

[DerekTheGreat]

Car looks good, needs turbines or lacy spokes though.

I've never had good luck quieting one of those C-II pumps down. My advice would be to skip the remans and go straight for a junkyard unit. I ended up putting two remans on an F-150 only to still have noise. Stabbed a 300k mile unit in that truck from a Taurus and it was quiet as can be. Just look for a donor full of dark fluid, a good indicator it doesn't leak and wasn't run dry. Passenger cars are typically a good bet as they're less likely to be beat on.

[gadget73]

Type F is what it calls for

I have a reman napa pump on mine, not noisy at all. The Continental has one from the Uhaul reman depot when they were dumping old inventory a few years ago. Also no noise.

The one I rebuilt myself is quietest of all. It doesn't work, but damn does that make for a silent pump

[87gtVIC]

Glad you have your car back. Looking great in that driveway of yours!

[sly]

I can't get type F any more in this area except at prices higher than Merc V... so yeah... nope. By the quart only and usually not much in stock if any.

[Lutrova]

Turns out the pump was so loud because the reservoir was empty. Leak looks to be where one of the lines go into the steering box. I'll top it up tomorrow and see what happens.

I might also have a refrigerant leak, judging from the pattern of greasy dirt on the accumulator. This could be the summer I learn how to do AC work.

Car looks good, needs turbines or lacy spokes though....

I have been coming around to this idea myself over the past year. The '70s Lincoln wheel covers are kind of a poor man's turbines, and they look a lot better from every angle except straight on. But there's no substitute for a set of turbines or lacy spokes. Unfortunately, I didn't have this epiphany until after I left the junkyards of Southern California. At this point I'm hoping I find a good set for sale.

[Lutrova]

Topping up the power steering reservoir took care of the whine completely, or near enough to where I can't hear it while driving. I used Mercon V to top up, whereas it was filled with Type F before. Both fluids were about the same at the parts store, but the trans uses Mercon V now, so I went with the one that could pull double duty.

I've put a few miles on the car now, and the new transmission is shifting great. Shifts feel firm but not harsh, and it goes into overdrive right around 42 mph. I'm pleased with the work the shop did, though the true test will be how many years it lasts.

A few little things cropped up while it was sitting the last few months. The flasher went out, which was a quick fix. One of the vacuum lines shifted onto the exhaust and melted away. That's still on the to-do list. The speedometer cable is pretty noisy, at least until it 'warms up' a bit. Aftermarket radio isn't turning on, though my phone will still charge through its USB port. And there's still a small exhaust leak under the passenger floor, probably where the cats meet the H-pipe. I've been chasing that leak for awhile now and I'm wondering whether I should use some copper RTV at the flange.

The car had a decent vibration above 50-55 mph. It was getting better the more I drove, but just to be sure I took it in for a wheel balance. And the tire shop I found was a real hole in the wall, tucked in behind a 7-Eleven. No uniforms. Good old boys sitting around passing the time. Five bucks per wheel for a balance, fifteen to mount and balance. Cash. You pull up in front and they hand you an air gun, or you can pay a little more to have them take the wheels off for you. The guy who helped me identified the tires with the biggest flat spots, and I left with no vibration.

My biggest annoyance now is the erratic digital fuel gauge. It's been getting a little better over the years as I've fiddled with it, but a gauge that isn't right all the time isn't very useful. Usually the average fuel economy tracker is fairly close, and combined with the distance driven and some math I have a good idea of where I'm at. But the most recent visit to the gas station was 11.75 gallons after 243.7 miles, or 20.7 mpg. I'm skeptical of that number, and the car estimated 16.2 mpg, which would be more inaccurate than usual. I'll keep averaging the mileage out across the next couple tanks and see where things actually stand.

[DerekTheGreat]

Turns out the pump was so loud because the reservoir was empty. Leak looks to be where one of the lines go into the steering box. I'll top it up tomorrow and see what happens.

I might also have a refrigerant leak, judging from the pattern of greasy dirt on the accumulator. This could be the summer I learn how to do AC work.



I have been coming around to this idea myself over the past year. The '70s Lincoln wheel covers are kind of a poor man's turbines, and they look a lot better from every angle except straight on. But there's no substitute for a set of turbines or lacy spokes. Unfortunately, I didn't have this epiphany until after I left the junkyards of Southern California. At this point I'm hoping I find a good set for sale.

I've never learned how to do A/C work short of adding a can of schmoo here and there...

Reminds me when I bought my 2011 Colorado. It came with alloy wheels that I had the dealer swap for the steelies. A choice I liked initially, but later regretted. With cars, there is always something to do or something you could do.

I guess now that I'm older and lazier I'm glad my car doesn't have the digital instrumentation, given your toils with it.

[kishy]

Speedometer cable noise can be helped a lot by simply lubing it. I had figured from the noises mine was making (84 TC) that it must have been fraying and beyond hope, but I pulled it out (the inner cable out of the sheath) and found it was in good shape.

I cleaned mine with brake cleaner then lubed it with white lithium grease, as well as shot some of the spray-type white lithium grease into the sheath. No clue what would be a better option, that's just what I could put my hands on, and it seemed to work.

An exhaust leak between two flanges (like the cat to h-pipe transition) is indeed an RTV-able problem, if you can get everything separated and pulled apart enough. Maybe not a permanent fix (depends on the condition of the surfaces, if a gasket is present, and which RTV is used) but if you get a year out of it and the effort to get it apart wasn't too bad, no big deal.

[DerekTheGreat]

To pull the cable, did you simply remove the instrument cluster and then pull the inner cable out to clean & lube it? Or did you remove the entire cable assembly? I've noticed my cable makes noise now too, since I barely drive the car any more.

[kishy]

To pull the cable, did you simply remove the instrument cluster and then pull the inner cable out to clean & lube it? Or did you remove the entire cable assembly? I've noticed my cable makes noise now too, since I barely drive the car any more.

That's how I did mine, yes. Cluster out, then pull the cable out of its sheath with some pliers.

[gadget73]

just make sure you mind the lay of the cable. if you put it in there backwards it will want to push any oil that gets in it up to the cluster where it will drip on the floor.

[Lutrova]

The speedometer cable will still make a little noise, but it's quieted down significantly with regular driving. AC is staying cold, too. It's not working at hard, I'm sure, as when it was in the Mojave, but it is doing a lot more dehumidifying. The accumulator charge port hasn't noticably leaked any more refrigerant in the past month.

Last Friday I had some time with the car, which was an opportunity to fix a few vacuum leaks. The line from the intake manifold to some of the emissions stuff on the fender had made contact with the exhaust manifold and melted. I'm pretty sure the EGR is still throwing a code and is therefore inoperable, but at least the leak is fixed.

I also spent some time cleaning the exterior and looking over the paint. The car was repainted at some point, and most of the trim has overspray. I've started removing one piece at a time and hitting it with 0000 steel wool. All the anodized aluminum pieces are pretty cloudy, so I doubt I'm hurting it, but it is enough to get the paint off. The rest of the body has plenty of scratches, chips, and a lot of orange peel. I have half a mind to wet sand the orange peel this summer. There's probably a decent amount of depth as I doubt they knocked down the original paint before respraying. First, though, I'll have to touch up all the chips.



***

Two mechanical issues have really frustrated me lately: a misfire and a rattle.

There's a light metallic rattle that seems to come from the front right wheel/suspension when going over bumps. I'm not 100% sure, but it sounds like it gets louder the longer I drive the car. Starting out it's like a washer rattling around, but eventually it sounds more like a chain getting jostled. I've looked all over that side of the engine bay for loose hardware or any obvious culprits, but nothing looks out of place.

The misfire has been present to some degree since last fall, but recently has gotten worse. It used to be limited to a slight fluttering feeling when accelerating uphill or a jerk when letting off the gas to coast. Now in the past week or two it's becoming a lot more pronounced.

I'm not too sure how to go about diagnosing the miss. I suppose the first step would be to check for codes and maybe do a cylinder balance test. I don't currently own a compression tester, but the jerking on decel makes me hopeful it's ignition related. The entire ignition system is less than four years old except for the TFI module, so on the one hand I'd like to think it's above suspicion. On the other hand, I have a set of copper plugs ready to go if I feel like throwing parts at it. We'll see what happens.

[friskyfrankie]

Pull the spark plugs to check for condition and go from there. Check battery and alternator as well. As said, I'd start with plugs, spark plug wires, distributor cap, rotor and see where you are at. Start simple and cheap and work your way up until you find the issue. The rattle, if coming form the suspension, may be a bad bushing or worn suspension part. You could spray down all the rubber parts with something like AT-205 and see if it helps! Make sure something simple like a loose part is not causing the rattle.

[DerekTheGreat]

Careful about the paint. They most likely sprayed basecoat then clearcoat, which looks dangerously thin, so you really can't sand much before you hit the basecoat. You do that, you're hosed, as no amount of compound & buffing will make that glossy again. I've got the same issue with my car in spots, I've left it alone.

As for the misfire, check the wires, namely the boots. I had that problem with my truck. Started as a simple fish bite occasionally and then got progressively worse. Turns out one of the wires at the boot had a break in it and wasn't seating properly on the cap's terminal. It could also be that your car is fouling plug 8 or 4. It's most typically # 8. The valve's stem seal goes bad, it dribbles oil over the plug annnd misfire. Had an '89 that did that.

Suspension rattle? For my car, it was the sway bar links. Have you popped either of the front wheel covers off to ensure nothing is rattling around inside them?