HOW TO Change a Cabin Filter in a 2013 Ford Taurus / Police Interceptor Sedan

The following is a pictorial guide to changing the cabin filter in a 2013 Ford Police Interceptor Sedan, aka Taurus.  From what I have seen, this procedure SHOULD be the same for police and civilian models up to the 2019 model year.

First, get yourself a brand spankin' new filter.  We went with a Motorcraft FP-68 (AE9Z-19N619-A).

You will need to remove the glove box for easier access to the old filter.  Basically, you squeeze the sides of the box so that it opens all the way... then it falls out and everything falls onto the floor, which is why you will remove everything from the glove box FIRST!

Prior to starting this project, I watched some videos online so I would know exactly where to look for the filter.  So when I stuck my head under the dash I started to worry, because I didn't see ANYTHING that looked like the slot where the filter lives.  I kept following the vent ducts and didn't see a darn thing... Then I got mad and looked straight forward, and THERE IT WAS.

Basically there is a little cover, or "trap door", if you will, that has two latches and two tabs.  Undo the latches, and slide the cover down.  Now you will see the nasty old filter staring at you.  Slide it out and marvel at the nastiness!

As you can see, the cabin filter DOES actually DO something!  This vehicle started life 130,940 miles ago as a police cruiser in New Hampshire, which may explain all of the pine needles and dried leaf bits...

I wrote the mileage and date onto the new filter, just to be anal...

 

Make sure there's no leftover nastiness in the air-box, and install the new filter.

Now you can reinstall the glove box.  This means you can reorganize all of the old registrations, inspection receipts, and sugar packets.  NOTE that the left side of the glove box has some sort of plastic limiter which fell apart when I tried to reinstall the box.  One end has a tab that slides into a slot on the box.  This part connects to a second part with an odd elastic fitting.  I think I got everything back together correctly.

Swapping Rear Seats in a 2013 Ford Police Interceptor Sedan

This post is for anyone wondering what the rear seat area of a 2013 Police Interceptor Sedan looks like!

My boyfriend started out by removing the bottom seat cushion to look for a missing seat belt latch.  A while ago, he bought a totaled cruiser for parts, including a fabric rear seat setup to replace the vinyl setup his car came with from the dealer.  So he decided to finally put the fabric seats in while he had the chance.

Interestingly, I noticed that the vinyl seats that were in the car were dated 3/2/15, making them newer than the car's build date of February 2012.  The fabric seats from the parts car were dated 7/24/13. 

Seat bottom latch

Seat back latch

In case you were wondering, the bottom cushions latch into two plastic parts on the floor that have a little release lever.  The backs have two bolts on each side to remove (13mm & 15mm) on the corners.  Then you need to somehow find the two red fabric tethers that release the upper latches, allowing the cushion to be removed.  Have fun with that...

You now have a good look at the structure that helps make these cars safe.

Once the seats were out, it lead to the removal of the center console base so he could put wiring in place for a scanner head unit, to be installed later.  Word of advice when removing/installing the metal parts:  find a socket that is magnetic!  Also, keep track of which bolts came from where...

Once the wires were firmly in place under the metal console, attention was turned to under the hood, where the differences between the Taurus and Crown Victoria became evident.  You can hide a small child under the hood of a Crown Vic.  In the Taurus, figuring out how/where to snake wiring will make you stare and ponder for about a week.  The wiring project was left for a later date...

Here you can see how far the trunk floor extends into the passenger compartment

Note the date written on the metal brace "2/15/13"

Foam of the bottom cushion

The vinyl seat back that was in the car...

... and the cloth one installed.  Looks like it needs a clean!

End of an Era: Nells Vic 1.0 RETIRED

Wellp, welcome to a new year.  I won't go into how crappy 2015 was, and my feelings about what 2016 will be like (HINT:  Crappier.)

Instead, I will FINALLY update the blog with something I have been putting off for months.

As visitors to the main site may already know, Vic has been retired, and will furthermore be referred to as Vic 1.0.

What started on April 6, 2000 ended on July 20, 2015.  On that day, I gained ownership of my boyfriend's 2006 P71 Crown Vic.  Plates were swapped, and suddenly I was driving a blue car instead of a gray one.  You can read a bit more about the change HERE.  

Being a new year with a new/used car, I shall begin with the traditional mileage count, which can now include the car's idle hours:

Vic 2.0 was a Ford demo, and never saw police duty.  So most of those hours were from us railfanning, or from Todd sitting in a cold/hot parking garage trying to eat his lunch.  

One thing that even I can't get over, is the fact that neither myself or Todd has snow tires on yet!  It has been a very mild autumn, and our first bit of snow arrived on 12/29/15.  For some reason, we just keep putting the tire swaps off...

Vic 2.0 at Sleepy Hollow, Concord MA (11/18/15)

Todd is now driving a 2013 Ford Interceptor Sedan, also known as a Taurus police car.  It is the AWD V6 version, non-turbo.  He seems to like it a lot.  I'd like some carpet and a fabric rear seat, but so far it has been ok.  It is rather peppy.  It has grown on him more than on me...

2013 PI goes railfanning (9/5/15)

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...



Littleton MA, 1/10/13 - © Jonelle DeFelice