The Crown Vics ETC Blog: January 2013

Welcome to the Crown Vics ETC blog!

On April 6, 2000, I purchased a 1998 Ford Crown Victoria LX HPP with 23,490 miles. I decided to start a little website for it featuring a running log of my experiences with the car. Vic 1.0 was retired in 2015 due to rust and electrical issues. Vic 2.0 was a 2006 P71 in Blue Pearl that belonged to my boyfriend. It was a Ford demo and never saw actual police use. It was damaged in September of 2018 with well over 186,000 miles. It was replaced by Vic 3.0 in October 2018, a 2008 P71 in Silver Birch with 120,971 miles. To read posts prior to 2010, click a link at right, or go to Crown Vics, ETC.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

UPDATE: Plop, Plop, Ping, Ping...

This morning while getting onto Rt3 N, Vic made some odd noises. They were sort of like when it is cold out, you have some ice under the windshield wipers, and it breaks loose. Only it was sort of under the hood, or even under the dash. Then I smelled exhaust. Thing is, at the same time, there was an older Jeep Grand Cherokee with its hazard lights on, slowly going down the breakdown lane, and also a horse trailer was in front of me.

Now, I am pretty sure I couldn't hear a horse stomping around in that trailer. And the Jeep didn't appear to have a flat tire. The sounds didn't last long, but I was starting to worry. Add in the fact it was very windy, and hard to keep the car from wandering in the lane. The thought of a ball joint giving way crossed my mind...

A little later, I accidently tapped the emergency brake pedal, and found that it sank right to the floor. AHA! Maybe the cable snapped?? Was it wrapped around something under the hood? Uhoh... When I got a chance to pull over and check, the cable was still intact. Granted, it was sagging as usual. It seems that sometimes when I step on the e-brake, it does nothing (like normal), or it REALLY does nothing, and just sinks to the floor. When I got home, I soaked (what I think is) the cable tensioner with WD-40, in an effort fo loosen things up a bit. I am not hopeful... I need rear pads anyway, so perhaps it is almost time to make an appointment with Taxi Guy...

Brand New Littleton MA Ford Police Interceptor SUV

While heading home today, I found myself looking right at a brand new Ford PI SUV, belonging to the Littleton MA police. Since it was parked in good light, I decided to ask the sergeant inside if I could take a photo of it. Littleton always used to have Crown Vics, but then they started buying Dodge Chargers. The Sgt. told me they are trying the new Fords now, but that he wasn't fond of the SUV. He said it is slow, and doesn't like the seats. So that makes one officer I've asked so far who doesn't like the new Fords. Seeing as he is the first one I have asked, that isn't a very good track record! Time will tell...