A New Addition to the Driveway... Introducing, MomVic!

I never thought I'd see this day, but here it is... Introducing, MomVic!

Yes, after all these years, Ma finally has a Crown Vic of her very own.  Her 1999 Lincoln Town Car finally looked so crappy and needed enough repairs that it was retired, miles unknown thanks to a replaced digital dash, but still under 100,000 miles.

MomVic is a 2011 LX in black with gray leather, about 85,000 miles.  So far, she really likes it.  It did sit for a while before being sold at auction, so there are a couple of things to look into, like one rear door power lock that doesn't seem to be working, and the CD player isn't working.  Shame, because it is super-clean and nice.

Even though it was clean, it needed a good wax.  I just wasn't up to doing it myself, not on a black car, so we had Arlington Auto Detailing handle the job.  Everyone was impressed with the results!

And YES, I am jealous of the rims..............  I did the initial clean up of them myself, for old time's sake...

Alas, this IS Massachusetts, so from here on, it will be subject to snow & salt, pollen & bird mess, parking lots & jerk drivers.  All reasons I myself could NEVER live with a black car!  Vic 2.0's medium blue paint was hard enough to live with!

On the way to it's new home...

Fresh from the detailer...

Settling into a new driveway... 

The 1999 Lincoln Town Car in 2016... I never liked
that car, and am glad to see it GONE!

Cooooooool, man!

6/12/19 = 126,000

Vic 3.0 got a little love today.  The air conditioning finally ran out of "freon", or whatever they are using these days.  The accumulator had been leaking since the fall of 2018.  TaxiGuy put in a new one and charged the system, and just in time... it was 90ºF in Massachusetts today!

Then I (finally) replaced one headlight with a better used one.  All of the adjusters matched up to each other, so I didn't do anything but install it.  Looks better... but now the OTHER one isn't up to snuff.  I have two brand new ones, but for some reason, I am afraid to put them in... my luck, I'd end up in a head-on collision!

New accumulator inside the plastic cover...

... original headlight and slightly nicer used one...

... and finally put the nifty trunk bungee in. 
This came on Vic 2.0 and has come in handy through the years!

125,886 Mile Update

A quick 125,886 mile update:  Vic FINALLY got it's oil change today... way overdue and yet the oil on the dipstick was darn clean looking!  Trying to figure out the car's small exhaust leak... or at least it SEEMS to be one.  It was put on a lift and looked at last month but there's wasn't anything obvious.  The cold and wet spring here in eastern Massachusetts meant it took me a while to get rust converter shmoo onto the car's wear spots.  Snow tires are off and other than that mystery leak, things have been uneventful.  Hopefully I am not jinxing myself!! 

Photo Without Caption... 

STUDY: The Most Dangerous Cars in the US... Small Cars & Sports Cars are the Most Deadly

This post may be a bit off topic, but I have always said most larger cars are safer than econo-cubes.  What use is a crumple-zone if your hood or trunk is 2 feet long??  

Now, if someone drives a lot and needs good MPG, and also doesn't have a lot of money to spend, FINE, get a tiny car.  BUT, you're not going to save the world by driving it, so if you can afford it, buy something at least SLIGHTLY larger than a postage stamp.  

The Most Dangerous Cars in the U.S.

By Julie Blackley

Small Cars and Sports Cars are the Most Deadly

Occupant fatalities from car crashes occur almost twice as often in subcompact cars and sports cars compared to the average vehicle, according to the latest study by automotive research firm and car search engine iSeeCars.com.

iSeeCars.com analyzed fatality data of model year 2013-2017 cars from the U.S. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and more than 25 million used cars from the same model years to determine the vehicles that are most often involved in fatal accidents. It found that there are 14 models that are at least two times as likely as the average vehicle to be involved in a fatal accident.............................CLICK TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AND SEE WHICH VEHICLES ARE MOST OFTEN INVOLVED IN FATAL ACCIDENTS  

125,000 Miles...

Massachusetts Police License Plate #1 Spotted!

I managed to snap a decent photo of Massachusetts police license plate #1 on a Boston PD Interceptor... the catch is it was in Concord MA!

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.