REPAIR: Transmission Lines (approx 177,000 miles)

(June 2024 - approx 177,000 Miles)

This one's almost too painful to recollect!  But here's an abridged version of the repair experience... 

There had been some random drips appearing under Vic's front end for a while, but I couldn't actually see anything dripping.  Fluid levels all were pretty OK.  Then the drips got worse, and I was actually getting wispy smoke from under the hood, so we got under and looked around.  Sure enough, the transmission lines were rusting through in two areas.

LONG story short, as many of you know, these lines are no longer available from Ford, and it appears NO ONE offers them aftermarket.

I managed to score an NOS set, and we thought we could install them ourselves in Todd's driveway.  ANOTHER long story short, do NOT try this job at home unless you have a lift and LOTS of patience.  In the end, especially after one fitting snapped off in the housing, we had to give up with the old lines still stuck on the car, and have the car towed to a transmission shop I had used before for my Javelin.

Other than their obviously using another vehicle to push the car into their shop, they did a great job.

Transmission fluid had been seeping through these areas, then actual drips began

Take a good look... HARD to find

Car vs. Man... guess who won that day?

Vic takes a trip to the transmission shop

REPAIR: Front Brake Pads (approx 182,000 miles)

Front Brake Pads (only) - 10/28/24 (mileage approx 182K)

REPAIR: Rear Brake Rotors & Pads (approx 170,000 miles)

Rear Brake Rotors & Pads - 12/2/23 (mileage approx 170K)

Went with Bendix

Crusty old rotor

Old vs. New Rotor

Old vs. New Pad

Emergency brake shoe... the less said, the better!

REPAIR: Gas Tank Straps (approx 167,000 miles)

On 10/5/23 (mileage approx 167K) I noticed something was making a noise under Vic.  At first I thought maybe a spring had broken, as it had a metallic rubbing/scraping sound, and seemed to have to do with the car moving up and down.  Then, one day while driving home on the highway, I noticed the gas gauge was reading all funny.  

When I got home, I looked under the car, and didn't see as much sunlight as I expected.  Why?  Because the gas tank was hanging down!

One of the two metal straps that hold the tank up had rotted away.  The other wasn't far behind.

Parts were ordered, arraignments were made with "Jeep Guy", a friend not afraid of rust work, and we towed the car to his shop.

"What's that strange noise?"

Strapped up off the ground

Borrowing municipal parking lot for a few minutes...

Ready to hit the road the next day!

HOW TO Replace Driver Side Window Switches in a Crown Victoria

NOTE that all versions of the plastic switch panel are prone to breakage of the mounting tabs.  If you are like me, it will annoy you to no end having a panel that pops up all the time.

These photos are from my '08, but will help you with older versions as well.

The job is otherwise very simple.  The hardest part is removing the switch-block from the panel.  I suggest two thin screwdrivers to keep the panel pried apart for easier removal.

New switches

Look for the small slot where it is safe to insert a flat screwdriver

Try not to mar the plastic

You do NOT want to break this tab!  Older versions are worse...
The plastic is more brittle and has an added metal "gripper"

Electrical connectors that need to be removed

There are four locator tabs that you need to deal with

NOTE the location of more mounting tabs!

Old switches removed.  Notice the "shmoo" that collects around them!

UPDATE: Almost 200k!

For a car that was never intended to still be on the road, Vic 3.0 is almost at 200,000 miles!  The odometer doesn't display properly, but the last time I could read it (12/21/25), it said 199,124 miles.  I've always wanted to watch an odometer hit 200K, but since it is broken, I probably will miss it (or already did).

This is also the first year in around 27 years I am NOT running snow tires.  Long story short, I never took them off so worse them out.  So Vic has RS-A's on.  SO FAR, so good.  I've only had to drive through light snow, so time will tell how the season ends up.

Of note, December 2025 was the first Christmas season that was white in recent memory.  Hopefully this isn't a trend...

REPAIR: Replacing the Wiper Motor on Dad's '11 Crown Vic

When my mother passed away, her low-mile 2011 Crown Vic was taken over by my father, after we sold his 2010 Grand Marquis in 2023.

He recently told me his wipers weren't moving very fast.  I checked, and sure enough, they were moving slooow.  When I switched them to high, they moved at normal speed.  So I knew what was coming: a new wiper motor.  It wasn't making any struggle-noises, but I knew things weren't good.

Sure enough, in between snowfalls, the motor quit altogether.  Panic set in, as we had just got snow, but were due to have a warmer, rainy day.

Panic set in, as I no longer had access to indoor work space.  So I decided I was going to brave the cold and swap in a spare rack/motor unit we had in storage for just such an emergency.  

I started the project at roughly 1PM, and finished at about 3PM.  Even though it was well under freezing outside, my fingers worked just fine.  Probably because they never got wet with snow.  One thing's for sure, having done the job a couple of times before AND finally having power tools made the job easier and quicker!

The snow has stopped, the job begins...

Top cover removed

New (used) unit installed... this is where tons of organic "ick" collects

Job DONE.  Wiper arms had to be reinstalled a couple of times, since the
locator pins are always missing