kishy's 1994 Crown Vic

[kishy]

As first mentioned in WAYWO '26, I've acquired an aero! Apologies for the long first post, there've been a bunch of things to talk about with this one, but I held off on posting until it was clear I'd be keeping the car.



I have been keeping my eyes open for most of the year to try to spot an "easy button" option to have a winter beater this year without needing to finish the 89 Ranger project. I still intend to build that vehicle, but it became clear this wasn't going to be the year for it, so some other vehicle that would offer me better comfort and safety in the meantime vs the outgoing 85 Ranger would be a good thing. So, when a pretty clean looking 1994 Crown Vic turned up for 1500 Canadian, that seemed like a no-brainer.

203k km. Previous rust repairs to the frame (below AC drain) and one of the dog legs. Otherwise, not terrible.



History to-date:

Currently in possession of a 1994 Crown Vic. Gotta say, with 3.08 gears and the correct intake, these feel just like the boxes off the line - vs 2.73s and/or NPI hackjob that makes them feel gutless off the line. Not sure what percentage of the gutlessness is which, but I might be willing to sacrifice all the 2.73 cars to the derby crowd if it meant we could keep all the 3.08-and-above cars on the road.

The car turned up for cheap on Marketplace, and between myself and two other friends, we reasoned that one of us would end up with it. I get first swing at the decision. Currently mulling over the idea of getting out of Rangers entirely and doing this as the winter/year-round beater. It's not so nice that it deserves to be saved from the salt, but it's nice enough to be worth considering.

Currently have my Ranger mess (2 trucks plus a pile of stuff) listed for sale, as well as the Jag. Trying to gauge what sort of interest exists for either car. It doesn't look like there's much.

There is no compelling reason besides convenience that I couldn't just keep it all in parallel. I could shelve the Ranger project in its entirety for another year, especially if I extract all the parts from the 85 and store them in the bed of the 89, then shove the whole thing behind my garage.

Continuing this train of thought:
I think my strategy is as follows:
Get insurance quote on the 94 as a replacement for the 85 Ranger, tomorrow.
If palatable, proceed with trying to get the Vic to pass a safety.
If the list of things they call out is palatable, proceed with keeping the Vic, doing the work, and replacing the Ranger with it.
Doing this solves the problem I ran into where my non-classic-car policy premium has been rising but I've been trapped with that specific ins co because the 85 Ranger can't pass a safety.
The safety is a government thing, but ins companies commonly demand them before they insure a new-to-them vehicle of this age now.

I have the Jag and the Acclaim listed for sale. Technically also the Rangers but I think I'm pulling the listings and keeping those.
I'd like to proceed with the Ranger rebuild project regardless of taking on the Vic, but if the truck can fall back to just being a truck rather than my obligate winter daily, that would do wonders for comfort and convenience.

Continuing to prep the 94 Vic for the government safety inspection. Just odds and ends. Air bag light is out. ABS light has decided to show up. Code 33 appears to implicate the left front wheel speed sensor or its wiring. I intend to prove out the wiring but two of the cheapy sensors are also on the way, just in case.

Car has an extremely irritating feature in the form of the automatic door lock. I have done everything that seems like it should disable it - e.g. following the instructions in the manual to program it off with the keypad, then when that didn't work, unplugging the seat switch, then when that didn't work, depinning the seat switch circuit entirely from the keyless entry module - yet the "feature" persists. Wondering now if it's a function of the aftermarket remote starter which also features keyless entry, but I'm thrown off by the fact that the feature did not continue working when I fully unplugged the keyless entry module. Next up is probably to depin the wire that the module uses to sense that the shifter has entered reverse, since the remote starter looks quite difficult to actually look at and identify.

94 owners manual specifically provides instruction for how to disable the autolock feature. Between the seat switch and using the disable instructions, I was pretty sure that the remote keyless entry module was no longer at fault.

And indeed, the aftermarket remote starter with keyless entry was at fault. I peeled the remote starter out of its very neatly installed, but invisible location, and determined it's an Autostart AS-1203 manufactured in 1999. The manual, which is still floating around online thankfully, does explain that it has a programming mode where the various optional settings can be configured, and by turning off "mode 1, feature 1" which is "ignition lock", the car no longer automatically locks.

I'd really like to use a single-function remote starter plus the factory keyless entry fobs, but I can deal with this thing in the meantime. The car is optioned with the remote keyless feature, but the Ford fobs didn't come with it.

Exactly what my future with the 94 is, is not yet completely clear. Trying to get it in for its safety inspection so I can factor that into the decision. I'm currently leaning towards it displacing the Ranger as the winter beater for a couple years. It's clean enough to pass for decent while being rough enough that this isn't a shame to do to it.

Other things done to the 94 today: freshly turned rotors went on, worked out the caliper slides a little, seem to work OK. Bad pedal feel. Replaced all brake fluid, feels a lot better now. Also removed (and in doing so destroyed) the front left ABS sensor; new one in the mail for maybe tomorrow.

94CV - the ABS sensor arrived. After extensive effort to return the sensor bore on the knuckle to the original size, I was able to get the sensor installed. The ABS light was immediately cured, and did not return after a test drive down the block and back. I'm calling that fixed. The tone rings up front do sort of look like lost artifacts from the Titanic sinking, but they work well enough to keep the light off for now and that's all I care about.

Last things on the list before I send it for its inspection are to glue back on the rear view mirror (I'm not even sure it's technically required since there is a right side mirror), and reassemble the disassembled dashboard from my prior adventures.

The ABS light did return prior to the safety and it's intermittent. Additionally, at times when the light is not lit e.g. the system thinks it is healthy, the ABS pump erratically runs while driving the car at low speeds. I think my "undersea Titantic artifact" tone rings might be at fault for the latter, but I am not confident in the former. I unplugged a sensor to disable the system when it went for its safety, which is allowable provided the brakes otherwise work correctly, and they do.

I glued on the rear view mirror, and then I glued it on a second time after it fell off. Seems like the real key to success here is wire-wheeling the metal button to rough it up.

And then, of course, the windshield wiper misery.
https://www.grandmarq.net/vb/forum/t...cycles-94-ford



In addition to all of that, I also replaced the ball joints (one lower and both uppers) and tie rods (inner ends, outer ends, and sleeves). As a result, an alignment is required. It drives really well as it sits currently but the steering wheel is almost 90-degrees off. I will probably take a shot at improving this before a shop sees it because I don't want them to conclude they need to separate any joints and then charge more than a regular alignment to have done so.



There was a minor exhaust "puff puff" type of sound from a beginning-to-be-blown-out gasket on the right flange between the cat and Y-pipe. I broke all 4 bolts off, got it apart, cleaned it up nicely, and put it back together with new gaskets plus a healthy dose of exhaust sealant since the flanges weren't really flat and left visible gaps against the gaskets. Seems to have worked well enough. Hardware used was some crazy 12.9 M10 black oxide stuff I had hanging around...I drilled the holes out slightly larger for this to fit. Probably would have used stainless if I were buying it specifically for this job, but I had that stuff already.



Initially I had figured this would be an easy pass on the safety, but as you can see I did have to poke around with a bunch of stuff. I picked up the car on June 12 and finally got it in for its safety on August 17. My efforts were sufficient and the car passed. One of the tires is considerably lower tread than the others so I swapped on the wheels and tires from the wagon for the inspection, but I will be returning the previous tires to this car. As winter approaches, the winter tires on the 85 Ranger will get swapped on. They're on Panther 15" wheels so the hub bore size isn't an issue, and although the tires are fairly old now they look good and their tread is great. Hankooks seem to age well.

[87gtVIC]

Car looks good Kevin.

Does the dog leg repair have a matching duct-tape or is it painted over?! Cannot tell. Either way I dig the granny colors on the inside and out.

Id say it will be a super plush winter beater.

[Tiggie]

Careful with those winter beaters... sometimes they hang around for 20 years!
I like the aero style. In my opinion, they have aged better than the whales - better than most other Ford products on the lot in 1994.

[kishy]

Car looks good Kevin.

Does the dog leg repair have a matching duct-tape or is it painted over?! Cannot tell. Either way I dig the granny colors on the inside and out.

Id say it will be a super plush winter beater.

Some sort of thin metal-ish patch glued down, with probably-painted duct tape over the lower part of the rust. My guess is the metal patch went on when it started and the tape went on after it spread later.

Careful with those winter beaters... sometimes they hang around for 20 years!
I like the aero style. In my opinion, they have aged better than the whales - better than most other Ford products on the lot in 1994.

Well...yeah, actually. The Ranger was bought to be a winter beater, and has been...that's sitting at 10 years, but only because it already wasn't really roadworthy when I started with it. My 84 was bought to be the plusher winter beater to probably get rid of the Ranger, but then I realized I liked it too much to use it for that...it's passing 10 I think next year, and may very well see 20.

I do not like the Ford nose in the 93-97 years. 92, I really do like. The little grille ruins it for me.

I think this is a reasonably high-optioned car, but without a brochure to reference I'm just guessing. LX with the nice wheels, 3.08 gears, RAS, autolamps, keyless, the better radio, digital cluster, auto climate control, ABS, and the seats seem like a cut above the fabric choices I've seen in more base-spec Vics. I don't know if HPP existed yet in 94 but this seems like it was trying to be that.

[sly]

HPP started in 92 as far as I know. If someone has the part number for the HPP wheels, we can confirm that.

[Pvt.Hudson]

I think this is a reasonably high-optioned car, but without a brochure to reference I'm just guessing. LX with the nice wheels, 3.08 gears, RAS, autolamps, keyless, the better radio, digital cluster, auto climate control, ABS, and the seats seem like a cut above the fabric choices I've seen in more base-spec Vics. I don't know if HPP existed yet in 94 but this seems like it was trying to be that.

Here is the 1994 CV Brochure.

A HPP in 92 would've been the touring sedan. After that its an option package and just HPP.

[gadget73]

The random ABS trigger thing is often a weak signal from one wheel sensor. Rust on the tone ring or lots on the sensor itself will do it, so will excessive gap. Basically the signal drops out at low wheel speed on one side, the ABS system reads that as a lockup and kicks the pump in. The sensors generally work or they don't so if they ohm check in a sane range, its almost certainly fine. Cruddy connections are a possible though.

[kishy]

Nice brochure, thanks. Looks like this is likely an LX 114A but minus the extra options like HPP. Champagne Clearcoat Metallic on the outside with Mocha for the interior.

Interesting that you couldn't get Trac-Lok at the same time as ABS. I certainly understand why, but I feel like there must be newer years where cars were sold with both.

Learning that ABS is paired with traction control makes me hesitant to fix the system. I am not fond of traction control, and in the snow I'm not fond of ABS either. Regardless I'll see if I can track down some tone rings that look less catastrophically terrible.

[DerekTheGreat]

I mean, you could see if adding the Lok of Trac makes any difference. Could have been one of those fluke things where it passed 9/10 internal tests, but only got the stamp of approval if it passed all 10.

[Pvt.Hudson]

Learning that ABS is paired with traction control makes me hesitant to fix the system. I am not fond of traction control, and in the snow I'm not fond of ABS either. Regardless I'll see if I can track down some tone rings that look less catastrophically terrible.

Traction assist is annoying but its easily overpowered. I find it really only works ok on wet roads, snow it just a hindrance 90% of the time. If its anything like 95-97s ATE ABS system its only active till 25mph or if brake is applied. No off switch unless you tie in a switch to the brake light system which someone on CVN did a writeup on.

98+ Traction control is the worst of both worlds not only does it constantly buzz but its all speed and in addition adjusts timing to pull power, terrible. Least there is a off switch but placed where trunk release was on older boxes behind the glove box door. Later ones have the traction control button more conveniently placed when they added adjustable pedals think 01.

[gadget73]

The traction control isn't guaranteed to be paired with ABS, but it does share the hardware. A traction lock makes it mostly ineffective anyway since its reading rear wheel speed difference in order to engage. If both wheels spin, it says "cool" and thats it.

[jaywish]

Also IIRC there is an off switch for traction control. I got rid of my 93 GM sport in 04 so it has been a while.
I have traction control and posi in both the TC & Marauder. I added the posi to the TC. No problems with either. car. I turn off traction control in the snow. Or if I need to spin the wheels for any reason.

[kishy]

The two are listed as one single option in the brochure. Perhaps in the earlier days of this system they were set up as an all-or-nothing deal? ATE system in this car.

ABS definitely has its place. ABS probably could have saved me from the fender bender with my Town Car way-back-when - 4-wheel lockup slide into the car that pulled out in front of me. Didn't help that it had stock box brakes which are pretty lock-happy.

[DerekTheGreat]

I love ABS. Spent a great deal of time and money getting it functional again in my wife's Tahoe.