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Prudence, my 87 Town Car

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    Sway bar?
    03 Marauder DPB, HS, 6disk, Organizer Mods> LED's in & Out, M&Z rear control arms, Oil deflector, U-Haul Trans Pan, Blue Fuzzy Dice
    02 SL500 Silver Arrow
    08 TC Signature Limited, HID's Mods>235/55-17 Z rated BFG G-Force Comp-2 A/S Plus, Addco 1" rear Sway, Posi Carrier, Compustar Remote Start, floor liners, trunk organizer, Two part Sun Visors, B&M Trans drain Plug, Winter=05 Mustang GT rims, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R-2 235/55-17
    12 Escape Limited V6 AWD, 225/65R17 Vredestein Quatrac Pro, Winter 235/70-16 Conti Viking Contact7 Mods>Beamtech LED headlight bulbs, Husky floor liners

    Comment


      The 87 Stars and Stripes I've worked on did not have a sway bar that I recall.
      86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
      5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

      91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

      1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

      Originally posted by phayzer5
      I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

      Comment


        I was not specific but was wondering if the trailer suspension included a sway bar
        03 Marauder DPB, HS, 6disk, Organizer Mods> LED's in & Out, M&Z rear control arms, Oil deflector, U-Haul Trans Pan, Blue Fuzzy Dice
        02 SL500 Silver Arrow
        08 TC Signature Limited, HID's Mods>235/55-17 Z rated BFG G-Force Comp-2 A/S Plus, Addco 1" rear Sway, Posi Carrier, Compustar Remote Start, floor liners, trunk organizer, Two part Sun Visors, B&M Trans drain Plug, Winter=05 Mustang GT rims, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R-2 235/55-17
        12 Escape Limited V6 AWD, 225/65R17 Vredestein Quatrac Pro, Winter 235/70-16 Conti Viking Contact7 Mods>Beamtech LED headlight bulbs, Husky floor liners

        Comment


          Based on my car, it does not.
          86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
          5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

          91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

          1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

          Originally posted by phayzer5
          I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

          Comment


            Alright, it's time for an update.
            Last I reported, the Town Car was in for a trans rebuild, which was heading in the direction of a wide band gear swap. This was also an opportunity to do the rear main seal, the last major oil leak on the car.

            I had expected the job would take about two weeks, which would still give me nearly a month of Texas driving before my wife finished her Army course and we were off to DC by mid December. Well the shop ran into a few issues: delays getting parts, a sticking governor that they wound up swapping out, etc. I didn't get the car back until the first weekend of December, seven days before I needed to drive it 1,600 miles.

            Over that weekend I put about a hundred miles on it. It had what felt like a miss in certain conditions, but the trans felt great. A little more pep at the start, and good shifts. The following Monday, however, I was coming home and pulling into a parking spot when I lost reverse. No amount of shifting in and out of gear could bring it back, until a few minutes later it decided to finally come around with a large clunk.

            So Monday evening I brought the car back to the shop and they immediately replicated what I had experienced. Knowing I had limited time, they worked overtime to troubleshoot, including pulling the trans back out and going over all the internals. On Friday afternoon they had everything back together for a test drive, but it was still acting up.

            This ultimately worked out better for my wife and I, as it meant we could travel together in her car and she didn't have to do any driving. Our daughter was already flying with her grandparents so we could drive uninterrupted. And true to its name, our Honda Fit could really carry a lot of stuff.

            This still meant I'd have to fly back to San Antonio and drive the Lincoln solo. We still had some stuff that will need to move back with the car, so shipping it isn't an option. But in the mean time, we've kept busy furnishing our new house, so the car's absence hasn't been too greatly felt.

            Just before Christmas, the shop manager called to say they believed they had fixed the issue and wanted to comp me the labor on changing the water pump and core plugs. I happened to have both parts in the trunk, so I gladly accepted. New freeze plugs would mean I no longer needed to pull the engine, nor buy a lift or engine mount.

            This week the shop called with another update. The water pump and plugs have all been replaced, and they were taking the car to get washed when they encountered the same delayed reverse problem again. Their assumption is that there's some internal defect that's invisible to the eye which is only showing up when the trans is fully up to temp. They said they're ordering a brand new core, which I believe is one of the only original parts remaining.

            According to the manager, they've done hundreds of AODs over the years and have never run into this problem before. And they've certainly sunk a lot of money into making this right. I paid $2200, which has apparently gotten me a brand new AOD with most of the internals from a 4R70W, a shift kit, a new rear main seal, and now new core plugs, thermostat, and water pump. I'll owe for the cost of new coolant, but the rest has all been covered by the shop's initial quote and warranty.

            At this point, the entire drivetrain and cooling system will be less than three years old. Yes, it's been a bit of a headache being down a car for the past three months, but I really feel like the silver lining outweighs any inconvenience. Knowing the core plugs alone have been done is a huge relief. Hopefully now that the shop will have been over the trans so many times, it'll be set for a long time.
            1987 Lincoln Town Car - Signature, "Prudence"

            Comment


              But you still dont have the car in your possession? I hope there are no more surprises.
              ~David~

              My 1987 Crown Victoria Coupe: The Brown Blob
              My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320:The Benz

              Originally posted by ootdega
              My life is a long series of "nevermind" and "I guess not."

              Originally posted by DerekTheGreat
              But, that's just coming from me, this site's biggest pessimist. Best of luck

              Originally posted by gadget73
              my car starts and it has AC. Yours doesn't start and it has no AC. Seems obvious to me.




              Comment


                And if you do have the car - it is perfect?
                What I Own: 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis GS
                What I Help Maintain: 1996 CV / 1988 CV / 1988 Tempo

                Comment


                  Right, the car is still in Texas and I am not. I'm more surprised that they've had it for this long and nothing else has broken.

                  The car will never be perfect, but I'll have at least checked off another major component, one which - along with the differential - I have no interest in personally working on.

                  When I bought this thing almost four years ago, I knew very little about cars. Through dozens of projects big and small, I've come to learn a lot, and there are few systems on it that remain a mystery. As such, my confidence in the vehicle has gone from solid (out of ignorance), to worrying about everything, to now creeping back up as I've gone over most of it at this point.
                  1987 Lincoln Town Car - Signature, "Prudence"

                  Comment


                    Rarely are any cars "perfect" but I should have been more clear - I was only referring to the transmission.
                    What I Own: 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis GS
                    What I Help Maintain: 1996 CV / 1988 CV / 1988 Tempo

                    Comment


                      Ah, right. Well I think there's a little funkiness inherent in combining the wide ratio gears to the AOD valve body which Sly might have mentioned in the past. I believe the shop has done their best to dial it in nicely and keep it still shifting like a Lincoln, but at the end of the day an AOD will never be as smooth as some modern 10 speed or whatever.

                      But mechanically it ought to be damn near perfect. I had no reason to doubt their workmanship the first time, but now that they've had it back and so many people have been checking and double checking everything, the odds of some additional defect or error slipping through seems remote.

                      Then again, you never know.
                      1987 Lincoln Town Car - Signature, "Prudence"

                      Comment


                        Well, here it's nearly Easter and I'm still without the Town Car. But the end is hopefully in sight.

                        Somewhere around the middle of March the transmission shop finally called to say the car was in good shape and they were ready to get it back to me. I was originally thinking that the amount of stuff I still had to move from Texas to Maryland precluded shipping the car, but after weighing what we had left behind we decided the majority of it could probably fit in the trunk. The shop generously offered to ship the car on their dime, all I had to do was pick a company.

                        I used Shiply to solicit bids, and went with a broker who had decent reviews and a good price. They had the job for about a week without finding a carrier, so I canned them and started over. The second broker has been more successful, though not without a few hiccups. On Thursday they lined up a trucker to pick up the car. The guys at the shop said he looked pretty shady, but the whole car transport industry has given me that impression, and who was I to second guess the broker, so off he went with the Lincoln. He claimed he'd have the car to me by Saturday, which would be 1,600 miles in a little over two days. I was skeptical of that claim - even more so when he dropped the car off at the shop the following morning claiming the order had been cancelled. This was news to everyone, including the shipping broker, who have been unable to get in touch with the driver since then. To their credit, though, they did line up a backup carrier within a few hours. This new outfit has so far exceeded the low level of professionalism from the previous carrier, and if all goes according to plan they'll collect the car on Monday morning.
                        1987 Lincoln Town Car - Signature, "Prudence"

                        Comment


                          I'd be losing sleep over that... yikes. At least the whereabouts of the car are known. Shipping cars give me the heebie-jeebies.
                          1990 Country Squire - weekend cruiser, next project
                          1988 Crown Vic LTD Wagon - waiting in the wings

                          GMN Box Panther History
                          Box Panther Horsepower and Torque Ratings
                          Box Panther Production Numbers

                          Comment


                            If you still have transportation issues, I have had great success with "Sherpa Auto Transport" 1-877-850-1231.
                            What I Own: 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis GS
                            What I Help Maintain: 1996 CV / 1988 CV / 1988 Tempo

                            Comment


                              Four months to the day after we arrived in Maryland, the Town Car has joined us.



                              The car was collected midday Monday in San Antonio and the driver told me he'd drop it off at noon on Wednesday. I thought that was a little optimistic, since Google pegs the trip at 1,600 miles/24 hours and I believe truck drivers are limited to 11 hours on the road per day. Nonetheless, the carrier arrived right around 6:30 pm. He called to say he couldn't deliver to our home address as the roads were narrow and he was worried about branches scratching the other cars on his trailer. I told him I didn't have a car and couldn't travel too far to meet him. So instead he unloaded just outside our neighborhood and drove the car in. Our neighbor generously offered to drive him back to his truck, which saved me the trouble.

                              So far I've only had the chance to drive the car up the driveway, look it over, and unload the trunk, but I've made a couple of observations:

                              1) The power steering whine is quite loud. The shop had mentioned this in passing awhile back, but I thought nothing of it as the pumps always whine. But this whine is something else. I don't know yet whether it's a fluid level issue or not, but either way it's disappointing as I'd just replaced the pump a little over a year ago.

                              2) Some stuff in the trunk was wet. This wasn't a problem in the desert, but both San Antonio and Maryland are less arid than the Mojave, so I'll have to figure this out sooner rather than later. My guess is water's passing through the holes for the belt molding at the base of the vinyl top due to dried out butyl sealant.

                              3) The odometer sits at (1)92,016 and a broken tenths digit. My paperwork from when the shop first released the car shows 91,376 miles, so they put over 600 miles on in the course of completing the warranty work. I'm amazed more didn't break in that time than the power steering noise.

                              4) The underside of the engine looks drier and cleaner than I've ever seen it before. The shop did say the oil pan gasket is a little out of place and leaking. Just how much it leaks will determine how much I care. But with a new rear main seal and freeze plugs all around, the engine should be much more buttoned up than when I dropped it off.
                              1987 Lincoln Town Car - Signature, "Prudence"

                              Comment


                                I’ve read that using synthetic power steering fluid is supposed to quiet the pump down. I’ve tried type f and the regular stuff and neither worked for me. That’s my next step.

                                Comment

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