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, April 21, 2016

168,600 Miles - Vic Gets Some Much Needed Attention

Vic 2.0 got some attention today.  The steering has been odd... when the outside temperatures were cold, the steering would feel heavy and "notchy".  The fact that as the engine bay/outdoor temps got higher, the steering was a bit better, made me rule out what the actual cause seems to have been, the upper steering shaft.  The lower one was changed last year under the Ford recall.  Taxi Guy lubed it up and says to try that.  Seemed nicer during the drive home.  Time will tell.

Another issue is the rear end has slowly been staining the driveway.  The bearing in the differential needs to be replaced, but due to my financial situation, he topped off the fluid and we will simply watch it.  I don't know how such a small drip makes such a large stain...

Next, the air conditioning had stopped blowing cold.  Happened all of a sudden.  I could hear the compressor turn on/off over and over, with no cool air coming through the vents.  I figured it needed a recharge.  Turns out the cause answered yet another issue.

Last week, I found a small green puddle under the car, sort of under the battery.  I assumed it was coolant leaking from the plastic tank nearby.  But it didn't smell like coolant.  It ended up being from a rotted out a/c condenser.  I had asked Todd if "freon" had a color, and he assumed it was a gas and therefore it didn't have a color.  Well... it does.

In fact, all the years and miles Todd had the car, one of the very few repairs he had to do was to replace that part!  So the car is now on it's THIRD condenser.

Vic also got a nice oil change.  I have decided to go with Mobil 1 again, as Vic 1.0 seemed very happy with it.

Next on the list is a wax-job and taking off the snow tires.

Long time readers may like to know the BBS-style alloy wheels from Vic 1.0 helped to pay for today's bill.  Taxi Guy has a buyer for them!

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Keep a light burning in the window...

So, I'm out with some railfans, waiting on a Pan Am freight, enjoying a record warm March day.  The train passes, and we start walking back to our cars.  I notice my headlights are on.  No clue why as the sun is shining.  I start thinking... Did I accidentally hit the light switch or something?  OR, did my boyfriend show up while our view across the tracks were blocked, unlock the car, and switch on my lights to mess with me?

I unlock the car, and the light switch is off.  Turning it turns on the marker lights and taillights like normal.  The high beams didn't work.  I popped the hood, looked around, and didn't see anything obvious.  I even switched on the AUX power to see if Todd's wig-wags and flashers were the problem.  (No, he hasn't removed his equipment yet)

Fast forward... I am driving home because I can't leave the car parked with the headlights on for an hour or two.  As I stop at traffic lights, I play with switches and stuff and look at the lights reflecting in the cars in front of me.  Things just won't go off.

Pull into driveway, and look at time.  Vic 1.0 had a feature where things like interior lights would shut off if accidently left on by the driver.  I forgot the amount of time it would take.  So I parked the car and looked back in a 1/2 hour.  STILL ON.

A search for correct socket ensued, and the battery was disconnected.  

A little while later, Todd comes over and we poke around under the hood a bit.  Pulling fuses doesn't turn the lights off.  We mess with the battery cable and listen for things turning on and off, etc etc etc.  

So... long and short of the story is the culprit was a connector Todd had used to wire up all his lighting.  One metal bit was brown and burny.  Being electrically illiterate, I guess that was causing a short, thus turning on the headlights alone.  And I think even on high-beams!

We unplugged that connector, hooked up the battery again, and everything was back to normal.

One potentially annoying and pricey fix avoided... THANKFULLY!!

Friday, January 1, 2016

... and Crown Vics Were There!


... LOTS of them.  And SILVER ones, too!!  Thing is... what is all that stuff sitting on them??  Don't they know that's how you SCRATCH PAINT??

Oh, the threat ended up being a hoax... AFTER the damage was done...