Hello from Southern California

[next24]

Hello everyone. I just bought my first project car, a 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS with the Ford 302 engine. It drives perfectly fine and the previous owner kept on top of the maintenance quite well. The paint and interior are in pretty poor condition, but since it runs fine already I plan to enjoy driving it while I fix it up over time.

I'm struggling to figure out what I should try to tackle first.

• The old vinyl top needs to be removed
• the whole car needs to be repainted
• the radio doesn't work
• I'm missing a side marker
• The headliner is gone and the old foam is turning to dust
• turn signals blink abnormally slow
• missing hood ornament
• interior trim on the B pillars is crumbling to dust
• driver's side window motor is going bad
• some dashboard lights, including the turn signal lights, are burnt out
• AC has no refrigerant
• interior fans won't blow
• plenty of other small issues

Any recommendations on what I should try to fix first? I'm leaning towards fixing or replacing the radio so I can at least listen to some music when I go for a drive.

[Arquemann]

Welcome to the forum! Excellent choice in vehicle, i'm definitely not biased .

Sounds like making it a good driver first is the best way to go at it. Blower fan, AC, radio and such to make it enjoyable to drive and worry 'bout the cosmetics later.

Recommendations in no particular order:
- Slow indicators might be more of a feature than a problem, you can replace the flasher relay to "fix" it. Burnt out gauge cluster bulbs might affect it too, not sure.
- Inop. blower fan might be the resistor or the fan itself, relatively easy to replace.
- Is the window motor struggling or is the window trying to move in odd directions? Window guide bushings are cheaply available.
- Unrelated, but do your door strikers still have plastic bushings left? If not, new ones will make the doors shut way nicer.
- Radio may or may not be easier to replace and rewire, depends if you have a factory amplifier system (located by the left trunk hinge).

I'm sure someone on this site will help you get the parts you need if you can't source them easily yourself.

[next24]

Welcome to the forum! Excellent choice in vehicle, i'm definitely not biased .

Sounds like making it a good driver first is the best way to go at it. Blower fan, AC, radio and such to make it enjoyable to drive and worry 'bout the cosmetics later.

Recommendations in no particular order:
- Slow indicators might be more of a feature than a problem, you can replace the flasher relay to "fix" it. Burnt out gauge cluster bulbs might affect it too, not sure.
- Inop. blower fan might be the resistor or the fan itself, relatively easy to replace.
- Is the window motor struggling or is the window trying to move in odd directions? Window guide bushings are cheaply available.
- Unrelated, but do your door strikers still have plastic bushings left? If not, new ones will make the doors shut way nicer.
- Radio may or may not be easier to replace and rewire, depends if you have a factory amplifier system (located by the left trunk hinge).

I'm sure someone on this site will help you get the parts you need if you can't source them easily yourself.

Thank you!
I don't mind the slow indicators too much, but I heard it could be a symptom of a tired relay and wanted to get it back to factory condition. But that's maybe not as important as the other things.

Do you know how to get to the blower fan? I have a Haynes manual in the trunk which I haven't checked yet but I don't know if getting to this part would be covered in the manual.

The window rolls up and down at a decent speed but it shakes and wobbles a lot, so you're saying maybe it's not the motor?

My doors don't have the strikers anymore, I'm pretty sure. They close with a metallic clanging sound.

I will check if I have a factory amp system when I have daylight again. What I do know is that the radio says "premium sound" and the AM/FM reception still works, but the volume knob is really scratchy and depending on the position not all of the speakers in the car will come on, and there is no bass to the sound at all. I was going to try to remove the radio and spray it with contact cleaner, but the cassette player doesn't work either so I figure it might be easier to just buy a new headunit that works because I still want to have a working tape deck in the car.

[Arquemann]

Thank you!
I don't mind the slow indicators too much, but I heard it could be a symptom of a tired relay and wanted to get it back to factory condition. But that's maybe not as important as the other things.

Do you know how to get to the blower fan? I have a Haynes manual in the trunk which I haven't checked yet but I don't know if getting to this part would be covered in the manual.

The window rolls up and down at a decent speed but it shakes and wobbles a lot, so you're saying maybe it's not the motor?

My doors don't have the strikers anymore, I'm pretty sure. They close with a metallic clanging sound.

I will check if I have a factory amp system when I have daylight again. What I do know is that the radio says "premium sound" and the AM/FM reception still works, but the volume knob is really scratchy and depending on the position not all of the speakers in the car will come on, and there is no bass to the sound at all. I was going to try to remove the radio and spray it with contact cleaner, but the cassette player doesn't work either so I figure it might be easier to just buy a new headunit that works because I still want to have a working tape deck in the car.

Blower fan motor is right there in the right rear corner of the engine bay, no need to contort under the dash.

Indeed sounds like the guide rod bushings are gone. Foxbody Mustang ones fit, these panthers use both the square and rectangular ones. They are a bit fiddly to change, but way easier than replacing the window motor.

Premium sound means you should have an amp, could be 2- or 4-channel. Both completely worthless in terms of any real sound quality or low-end. If the speakers are original, they must be blown out already, making up for shitty sound and no bass. I have a factory premium sound unit with the 4-channel amp and basic replacement speakers and the sound quality is okay, but the amp doesn't have the oomph for much bass at all.
The "radio guys" on this site can chime in for specifics, but there's some interchangeability between other 80's Ford radios, so you don't need to find the exact same headunit to replace yours.


You ought to make a thread on your car under the Reader's Rides section, that way you can have all your progress, questions and context and stuff in one thread.
And post pictures of you ride of course!

[VicCrownVic]

Welcome!

I think I would agree with fist getting stuff like the radio and AC (only because you're in Souther California) working to make it enjoyable to drive, then move on to making it look as good as you want.

[sly]

Very slow flashers indicate a bulb out. If a bulb is burned out or missing, the thermal flashers don't heat up fast enough to blink normally. On the fuse box under the dash, the flasher can you can see is for the blinkers and the one on the back side is for the hazards.

[87gtVIC]

Welcome to the forum

you can remove the radio and open it up and spray some
contact cleaner on the pot for the volume. It may cure your issue. It has worked for me before. I spray some electronic lubricant in there afterwords.

While you are in there you may find that the two cassette deck belts have broken or turned to goo.

You can replace them ( amazon or similar sells universal kits) and everything may function again.

the blower motor just unbolts from under the hood. The blower motor resistor is just to the right of it and a bit lower. Get to everything from under the hood.

good luck.

[sly]

Also, may have to unbolt the inner fender to get the blower out completely. Can sometimes just press in on the inner fender to get enough clearance. I think boxes has more room over there than aero/whales.

[next24]

Very slow flashers indicate a bulb out. If a bulb is burned out or missing, the thermal flashers don't heat up fast enough to blink normally. On the fuse box under the dash, the flasher can you can see is for the blinkers and the one on the back side is for the hazards.

Looks like all bulbs are fine. The turn signals blink slow both left and right. Hazards do as well. I see one blinking bulb in front, and then two flashing bulbs in the back (per side), so it doesn't look like anything is burned out.

[sly]

Yeah... sounds like you probably need new flashers. You'll want to verify that the alternator is actually charging at idle as well. If you have the original alternator and not an upgraded 3G alternator, that could be an issue. The 2G is also a known fire hazard. The 1G is fine, but weak. You can tell the difference by looking at the charge cable. 2G will have 2 black/orange wires with a third wire on a clip on connector and the 1G will have a single bolt on charge wire. You can check out the 3G alternator sticky for information on that.

[DerekTheGreat]

New flashers or clean up connections and grounds. Sly is on point. What kind of output are you getting from the alternator? The 3G swap is the best mod I did to my box.