My 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

[next24]

Yes. The cheap Monroe are "cloud soft" in these cars and have absolutely no rebound stop in them. They will oscillate. The Gabriel Ultra is much more "stock ride with confidence" shock. KYB Gas-a-just is the "performance" shock of choice for most of us that want a little better handling without changing spring rates or sway bars. Bilstein is pretty much the best you can get off the shell without going to the options that Chris carries over at ADTR.net (RideTech adjustable coilovers). This is why I always tell folks who want cheap shocks to get at least the Gabriel Ultras.

I should have done more research. They were barely $12 a piece though, so it's worth it just for shocks that aren't rusty.

[next24]

I had a free hour so I thought I'd swap out the other shock since I'd already done one. I figured I knew what would work, so I put vise grips around the old shock shaft knowing I would get rid of it, and tried to spin the top nut. This time, no matter how tight I set the vise grips, it seemed like the shaft was still spinning. I even got a saw to try to cut things apart but it wouldn't fit in the space I had available. When it got dark I just put the car back in the garage.

Oh, and now the hood won't latch closed for some reason.

Short of buying an (expensive) cutting torch what else should I try?

[sly]

I've burned up a dremel using a few reinforced cutting discs to cut them off before. I should have let the dremel rest longer between sides.

[next24]

I ended up using a dremel and then a drill to drill out the old stud and drop the shock. It was a big pain to do but the new Monroe shocks are installed and the ride quality is fine. The Monroe Restore shocks aren't great but the main advantage for me is having new parts that aren't rusted together. When it comes time to upgrade these shocks in the future the job will be much easier. I'll also be removing the upper mounting nuts and applying a bit of antisieze before putting it back together to make sure they don't seize up again in the future.

[next24]

Also, does anyone know the correct type of bulb and socket for the cornering lamps? I'm missing bulbs in my lamp housings and it appears the old sockets were cut for some reason.

[Tiggie]

An 85 would have had an 1156 bulb. The 89/91 cars switched to a 3156 bulb and socket. You can go with either one. IIRC there is not a lot of clearance above so try to get a socket that has the wires coming out the side instead of the top.

[next24]

An 85 would have had an 1156 bulb. The 89/91 cars switched to a 3156 bulb and socket. You can go with either one. IIRC there is not a lot of clearance above so try to get a socket that has the wires coming out the side instead of the top.

Thanks. I'm hoping to rewire that sometime in the coming week if I'm not too busy.

[next24]

Update: I went out of town for a while, so the car sat in the garage for over a month. I'm happy to report that it started up just fine. I will be traveling a bit for work so I don't know how much I'll be able to fix in the near future, but I might at least have time to install the 1156 bulb socket within the next week.

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Does anyone know why my air blows hot even when the HVAC controls are set to cold? The heat in my car blows really nice and hot, but with the control set to cold, the air coming out is still fairly warm.

This happens even soon after I've just started the car. Turning the HVAC lever seems like it's still turning the blend door properly, and when I push it all the way to the cold setting, it sounds like the door is closing. But the air coming out is still very warm.

[friskyfrankie]

Does anyone know why my air blows hot even when the HVAC controls are set to cold? The heat in my car blows really nice and hot, but with the control set to cold, the air coming out is still fairly warm.

This happens even soon after I've just started the car. Turning the HVAC lever seems like it's still turning the blend door properly, and when I push it all the way to the cold setting, it sounds like the door is closing. But the air coming out is still very warm.

Does the compressor clutch spin when calling for AC? If not it may be as simple as low refrigerant or a whole ton of other issues.

[sly]

If you have auto on your HVAC controls, the cabin temp sensor is broken. The cable goes to that part above the glove box just under the dash pad. Vacuum modulation is used to control the blend door. If your HVAC controls are full manual, the cable to the blend door may need to be adjusted to close fully. The seals in the air box for said blend door may also be gone. I know that's the case in my 93 and I care not to dig that thing out and fix that. I do keep my AC fully functional though. Like frankie mentioned, if that's not working well, that will hurt temp control as well.

[next24]

Does the compressor clutch spin when calling for AC? If not it may be as simple as low refrigerant or a whole ton of other issues.

The system is completely empty, so I never run the AC. I'm planning to get the AC working later in the year.

[next24]

If you have auto on your HVAC controls, the cabin temp sensor is broken. The cable goes to that part above the glove box just under the dash pad. Vacuum modulation is used to control the blend door. If your HVAC controls are full manual, the cable to the blend door may need to be adjusted to close fully. The seals in the air box for said blend door may also be gone. I know that's the case in my 93 and I care not to dig that thing out and fix that. I do keep my AC fully functional though. Like frankie mentioned, if that's not working well, that will hurt temp control as well.

I'm out of town (again) but I'm pretty sure the controls are manual. I can hear the blend door closing so it sounds like it probably is the seals.

That's not a very easy job, is it?

[Arquemann]

I'm out of town (again) but I'm pretty sure the controls are manual. I can hear the blend door closing so it sounds like it probably is the seals.

That's not a very easy job, is it?

Does the HVAC control panel have numbers for the temperatures? If it doesn't, it's manual.

[sly]

I'm out of town (again) but I'm pretty sure the controls are manual. I can hear the blend door closing so it sounds like it probably is the seals.

That's not a very easy job, is it?

dash pulled away about 6 inches. heater core and air plenum out. disassemble air plenum and replace the seals. No, it's not easy. Minimum 6-8 hours. This is why I have not and will not do that on my 93 until the heater core dies. And even then, I may decide to make that my warm day car and bypass the heater core. I've done the heater core job in 2 panthers and have no desire to do it again.