A Grand Marquis far from home - Life with my 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis GS

[Arquemann]

Great to see you finally enjoying the car to it's fullest extent!

Can you describe the vibration the U-joints caused? I've got an annoying "wobble" around 70-80kmh and I'm not sure if it's the tires or something else.

[Tynnerstroem]

Great to see you finally enjoying the car to it's fullest extent!

Can you describe the vibration the U-joints caused? I've got an annoying "wobble" around 70-80kmh and I'm not sure if it's the tires or something else.

Yeah to me it was more of the wobbling sort of vibration rather than the ”faster” vibrations of imbalanced tires. I’ve done wheel bearings and various front end work, the tires are new so it also wound up being the next logical place to go looking for imbalances. I don’t know the lifecycle of U-joints but for all I know these had never been swapped and once the drive shaft was down (like four bolts, so it’s easy to take down) you could tell there was lots of play, especially in the rear. If you have access to a shop I’d say it’s well worth doing or having done.

[Arquemann]

Yeah to me it was more of the wobbling sort of vibration rather than the ”faster” vibrations of imbalanced tires. I’ve done wheel bearings and various front end work, the tires are new so it also wound up being the next logical place to go looking for imbalances. I don’t know the lifecycle of U-joints but for all I know these had never been swapped and once the drive shaft was down (like four bolts, so it’s easy to take down) you could tell there was lots of play, especially in the rear. If you have access to a shop I’d say it’s well worth doing or having done.

Good to hear, mine are probably original with 115k miles on them. Couldn't feel any play in them with the driveshaft in the car though.

[Tynnerstroem]

Good to hear, mine are probably original with 115k miles on them. Couldn't feel any play in them with the driveshaft in the car though.

It was essentially exactly the same for me. My car has done 122k and they felt all right when trying to feel under the car. If nothing else I feel it’s a good, cheap way to rule out potential errors. Plus the car really does feel that much better when those vibrations go away.

[Tynnerstroem]

Gents, I seem to have lost my brake lights. None of them light up when I press the brake pedal. Now I doubt they'd all burn out at exactly the same time so I would then assume it's the brake light switch that has packed it in. But here's the thing: the cruise works just fine. When I brake and then let off the pedal, the car accelerates up to the designated speed again. Do you have any ideas what gives here? I have a brake light switch at home ready to go in but I wanted to make sure I wasn't barking up the wrong tree here.

[Arquemann]

Gents, I seem to have lost my brake lights. None of them light up when I press the brake pedal. Now I doubt they'd all burn out at exactly the same time so I would then assume it's the brake light switch that has packed it in. But here's the thing: the cruise works just fine. When I brake and then let off the pedal, the car accelerates up to the designated speed again. Do you have any ideas what gives here? I have a brake light switch at home ready to go in but I wanted to make sure I wasn't barking up the wrong tree here.

The cruise is supposed to cancel when you press the brake. Seems like its not disengaging, you're just dumping vacuum out of the system when you brake.
99% sure its the brake switch.

[DerekTheGreat]

^^^I'd place money on that bet.

[sly]

I'll third the brake switch.

[friskyfrankie]

They are not all that expensive or difficult to install so why not?

[87gtVIC]

When I brake and then let off the pedal, the car accelerates up to the designated speed again.

fancy. But not operating correctly.

[Tynnerstroem]

Right yhou all were gentlemen, the brake light switch it was. There was some no-name switch in there that I swapped out for a nice new Motorcraft one.

fancy. But not operating correctly.

Almost felt like I had that fancy new GM Super Cruise

[Tynnerstroem]

In another thread, we spoke of driving our cars even in poor weather and I figured I should put my money where my mouth is. Behold, the Grand Marquis after having battled freeway traffic and a rain storm (the kind where you actually have to use the speediest wiper-setting).


Otherwise the car soldiers on in daily driving duty. It's become that time of the year again where it doesn't really make sense washing the car since there's rain at least twice during the week (but there's no salt yet, Arquemann will be able to relate), so the car mostly looks like this. I realize I've finally driven the car over 10 000 kilometers since I bought it which has overall been pleasant and I do smile more or less every time I get in it, but it is coming up on having some work done to it by my mechanic.

Once the 1988 Buick Electra is roadworthy (hopefully within a week) I'm having the air conditioning compressor swapped out (as it sounds like it has rocks in it when its on), whatever creaking sound has appeared when turning the wheel fixed and also having the vibrating brakes properly looked at since I can't seem to sort it out on my own despite my best efforts. I'm suspecting that these vibrating brakes are also messing with my brake light switch, as I note the brake lights "flicker" on light touch and require the pedal depressed pretty far for them to be steadily lit. But also, today I had no brake lights until I basically stood on the pedal a good few seconds in the garage. Finally, there's an atrocious sound from the rear end when the wheels are raised from the ground - it too sounds almost like there's rocks in the rear end. It really does sound awful and if I didn't know better I'd think the rear axle was a mile or two from failing. Now ever since I bought the car I have heard a faint whirring sound from the rear, which has remained even after having the rear wheel bearings done. It's been that way for the 6 300 or so miles I've driven it but I never did try to have the wheels run in the air until recently, and I'd assume the rear end is the culprit here. Whether a full rebuild or it being something simpler is to blame, we shall see.

Finally, the car did serve as a table for me and my friends to enjoy some trendy overpriced inner-city pastries (shit that costs like $10 a piece). Pastries were awesome but the crowd seemed like jerks so maybe it was for the best that I had this VIP table setup.

[Arquemann]

Hey now, I'm not the one telling how to use your car! I just like driving mine

Sounds like the new brake switch you have might be sticky and/or making poor contact. Might just need some fiddling.

[DerekTheGreat]

The brake switches on these are a horrible design and notorious for flickering like that or not coming on until you're standing on the brakes. I believe the switch needs to be adjusted.

[sly]

If the switch is worn, you may need to add a shim to the button (dab some epoxy on it) or replace it. The only nice thing about this switch design is that it is very strange to have one fail on and drain your battery.