Just Bought a 2000 Townie!

[Piece-it pete]

Awesome!

For the price I'd change the whole idler arm. I originally bought a bushing (still have it) but after looking at the arm just bought a new one, you've got to have the old one pressed out and the new one pressed in. If you're interested there's a bunch of decent ones on ebay for $35 or less, I like the Spicer 450-1042 though the TRW 18833 is interesting. Both have been for sale for a while, maybe make the seller an offer?

Have you got your pads yet? Here's Rock's closeouts for your car: http://www.rockauto.com/RSS/vehiclef...l=en&html=true current discount code D8D506E48497

Pete

[fmansfield444]

Sweet thanks for the discount code. No I haven't gotten the pads yet cuz I'm not sure what piston I have, I assume steel but I'm not sure. There was another one that started with a "p" that I forget.

Also I was looking into getting the whole arm cuz it's not pricey anyway, but I wasn't sure if it came with bushings or not.

[sly]

if the piston wall is thick (like the opening is only about 1.5 inch)... you have the P version... if the piston wall is thin (much larger opening), it's steel.

have to take the pad off to see it though.

[fmansfield444]

if the piston wall is thick (like the opening is only about 1.5 inch)... you have the P version... if the piston wall is thin (much larger opening), it's steel.

have to take the pad off to see it though.

Thanks man ill check it out. I found a post on CVN saying most cars have the steel and usually only PI's have the other but I'd rather know for sure. Plus I dunno how reliable those guys are.

[fmansfield444]

Awesome!

For the price I'd change the whole idler arm. I originally bought a bushing (still have it) but after looking at the arm just bought a new one, you've got to have the old one pressed out and the new one pressed in. If you're interested there's a bunch of decent ones on ebay for $35 or less, I like the Spicer 450-1042 though the TRW 18833 is interesting. Both have been for sale for a while, maybe make the seller an offer?

Have you got your pads yet? Here's Rock's closeouts for your car: http://www.rockauto.com/RSS/vehiclef...l=en&html=true current discount code D8D506E48497

Pete

Hmmm after looking at the eBay listings you recommended I'm now wondering if it is the idler arm or Pittman arm that I need.

I'm pretty sure it's the idler, the one I need is on the passenger side (opposite of the steering pump) this is the idler arm correct?

[Piece-it pete]

Yep! Although when one goes the other isn't usually far behind.

Pete

[fmansfield444]

Thanks for the fast response. I'm actually looking into buying that spicer one on eBay. Not a bad price plus free shipping. And no pressing in a bushing.

All the other bushings look good as far as I can tell, but I see what your saying about how it may not be far behind. I wouldn't mind having all fresh bushings and an alignment done but that'll wait till I get a little extra cash.

Thanks man

[fmansfield444]

Got the new idler arm put on yesterday. I went with the spicer one mentioned. Was a very nice piece. Much beefier than stock and has a nice bearing assembly.

Went on pretty easy, my old one was so bad the spacer from the old bushing was stuck on which was the hardest part of the job.

All other bushings look great, no popping or visual damage to them so I'm taking it for an alignment this weekend. Will also be doing brakes this weekend.

I'm planning on taking it on a road trip in a few weeks to South Carolina. Should be a nice smooth ride

[fmansfield444]

Car did well on its trip to South Carolina, about 1500 miles round trip, was nice and smooth the entire time.

Cleaned all the bugs off the windshield and front bumper today, complete wash wax and 303'ed the interior.

Also ran my ipod2car under the carpet through the console!

[fmansfield444]

Update on my Town Car, I've been a little short on cash lately so not much has been done to it, washed and waxed it and steam cleaned the carpet, removed most of the stains now I just need some new seats and floor mats for a perfectly clean interior. My original dash was scratched under the radio so I installed a nicer one from a Cartier and that also have me that classy analog clock.

Also getting ready to replace the plastic intake before it busts on me and hopefully with that off I can get more room to replace the top o2 sensors.

Took this pic after giving it a wash yesterday

[marquisman]

Looking good mang!

[fmansfield444]

Got the parts coming in for the PI intake swap so I should be doing that this coming weekend! Grabbed an aluminum crossover pi intake at the local yard for $25 and cleaned it up pretty nicely I also was able to get the coolant tube and nipple out without damaging it. I have all of my gaskets and a new water pump and thermostat coming from rockauto, plus 2 new upstream oxygen sensors which I'm not looking forward to replacing, but they are giving codes and appear to be original so I'll suck it up and attempt to replace them. not too worried about downstream yet as I've read that they are less important in fuel mixture.

[fmansfield444]

Got my weekend engine overhaul done to the Town Car this past weekend!

The car had a rough idle when cold and was giving generic lean codes, so I suspected either an intake leak or clogged injectors. Since the car still had the crappy plastic intake I decided that it was a great time to replace it with an aluminum intake. And while I was in there why not put in a PI intake for some power gains

So I went ahead and took everything off Friday night and by Saturday morning I went ahead and started installing the stuff for the swap. I cleaned up everything and installed new upstream oxygen sensors while I was able to get to the connectors.



Modifying the PI gaskets to work wasn't too bad at all, I just trimmed off the guide pins and added blue RTV around the water jackets. I have no leaks so I guess I did it right. I did let the sealant dry for about 12 hours before I ran the car though just to be safe. While re-installing everything I went ahead and cleaned up everything, serviced the injectors with cleaner and new o rings, and added new COP springs and boots, cleaned throttle body with deep creep. Also cleaned IAC and maf pretty good. Next day I seafoamed the engine and had to fix an injector connector and it seemed to help as well.

Hardest part of the project was removing the old water-pump, removing the frozen oxygen sensors, and getting a cop spring out of the injector hole. Fell right in there and was nearly impossible to get out lol.



Once everything was done the car ran much better than before, it wasn't too cold to test if i fixed the rough idle problem then, but this morning it was 25F outside and the car still idled beautifully so I'll consider it fixed! I have noticed a better exhaust tone, and a tad more get up and go as well. Plus I don't need to worry about my intake cracking on me! Big thanks to SVT98t for his write up because I used it to help get parts together and how to modify the gaskets!

[sly]

[SVT98t]

I'm glad everything worked out well!!

-ryan s.