Mainemantom's 1996 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor

[massacre]

Update on the CVPI. The car would not start and no power to anything again. This time it happened on a rainy night. Had the car towed via AAA to a local shop. The battery cable from the battery to the fuse box looked good however one side showed 12 v and the other side showed 3 v. Cable replace and all is well.
I was looking at the fan blade when re installing the fan clutch. I noticed the plastic blade was cracking in a few spots at the area around the center metal attaching plate. I found a nos one on Ebay.
The seller has about 13 now in stock. It is about half the cost of a new one from Ford. The part number is : F4AE-8600-AA. @ $79.95 plus shipping. Spark Surplus is the seller. I should receive it next week.

The plastic blade fans are a weak spot on the 1st gen exploders as well. Same issue, cracks around the middle. I have a NOS fan here in case mine shits the bed.
Spark Surplus is a great seller, have bought a lot of NOS Ford stuff from them.

That Aero is in great shape, good for you!

[DerekTheGreat]

Makes sense. Aside from our Tahoe, I've never heard one roar.

A 2.3 Ranger with A/C. Brings back memories. I remember that too. Mine was a '94 extended cab five speed and was absolutely dismal with the A/C on or with 300lbs of sand in the back + people. That engine should've only been available with 4.10 gears and in regular cab, shortbox configuration. Well, at least through 1994 or so. I forget when they finally got some much needed performance upgrades.

[kishy]

RE: Spark Surplus
If not in a hurry for the item, always add it to your watch list and walk away for a couple days. They have it set up to send you a seller offer for people who watch their items. If I recall correctly it's 10% off. Nothing crazy but do that on a hundred dollar item and you've saved yourself a fancy drink from your coffee shop of choice.

As for fan clutch functionality:
I do not fully understand all of what goes on inside them but my understanding is that newer-engineered parts are designed differently (and I don't just mean worse) than the original parts. It's supposedly normal for the fan clutch to be more or less engaged and to roar at first startup, and then they sort of disengage once they get a little warmth into them, and then engage again when they get properly hot. Something to do with centrifugal force on the fluid inside. I'd take all that with a grain of salt but I've read in a couple spots that it's normal.

2 rotations after shutting off when hot is probably still OK, but it's enough that I'd probably call it marginal. It's definitely still engaged enough to be useful, and bear in mind that the standard duty ones never 100% lock up therefore that might be entirely normal for the design of that specific one. If temps are staying stable and the clutch does seem to "lock up more when hot than when just a little warm" it's probably working enough to use.

[Mainemantom]

Update on the 96 CVPI. I am on fan clutch #4. This new one is a new Motorcraft for a police car. This one seems to work so far. I had a coolant sensor start leaking. This car has two sensors on the intake. The one on the driver side was leaking so I replaced with a new Motorcraft. Now the other sensor on the passenger side crumbled apart. The part is obsolete from Ford so I went to Advance auto parts (carquest) They must have given me the wrong one as my temp gauge climbs up to over 75% hot. Car is not overheating. The parts people don't know what is the correct one. It is a rectangle shaped plastic end with two pins inside. The color of the plastic was green. but I can't read the number since the plastic crumbled. Prior to this, the gauge worked fine as it was in the normal range. Hopefully I can get this issue solved this week.

[DerekTheGreat]

Would you happen to have access to the service manual for that car? Wonder if it lists part numbers...

[Mainemantom]

Update on the 96 CVPI. The sensor for the gauge has been replaced three times. Two faulty sensors out of the box. The third sensor made the temperature gauge go up to 3/4 hot. I took temperature readings and the engine is running cool. Next step is to replace the dash gauge with a nos part. I have located only one Ford sensor nationwide, as they do not make it anymore.
The other issue is re- aligning the driver front door. Normally it is a simple adjustment. Not this one. When the door is perfectly aligned, the interior light stays on. With any other adjustment, the light still stays on. The light switch on this car is inside the door latch assembly. I have the nos part but I am not looking forward to replacing the part.

[Mainemantom]

Update on the cooling issue. Gauge still reads at 3/4 hot however the engine is not overheating at all. I did a complete radiator/ engine flush. After draining the antifreeze I put the Blue Devil cooling system cleaner in and took it out for a 1 1/2 drive. Got back home and flushed it out twice. The cooling system was dirty but not too bad. Installed a new Motorcraft thermostat and O ring on the housing. New coolant. No change with the gauge. Replaced the coolant sensor with a Motorcraft. The previous guy at the dealer said it was obsolete. The part number had changed. Still no change with the gauge. I have pressure tested the system and no leaks were observed. Before I replace the gauge, What else could be the issue ??
The car will be going to the paint shop on July 1 for the hood and top to be redone. The body shop guy was having too much fun racing cars instead of working. He must need money, so he is working again.
I readjusted the driver door again. I got it about 90% correct.