Give me a crash course on Aero's

[marquis_82_withneons]

ok so i have an upcoming opportunity to get a 92 Aero Grand Marquis. light blue with blue leather interior. all power with the exception of heated seats im told. ummm 120k on the clock, 4.6 obviously, non-pi motor, alumin/mag/alloy wheel (whatever the non-steelies were) good tires, very very very clean car everywhere. no rust, nothing. new steering pump, hoses, and rack. he was chasing an issue not being able to turn the car at all, turns out that the pump was gummed up with stop leak. 24mpg reported on highway.

he is the second owner and retirement age, done all his own work on the car. he bought it from a little old lady who kept record of everything. he wants $2000.

im a box merc guy... i know nothing of modular motors much less the aeros. what am i looking at getting into if i buy this? what the first thing to look for when test driving, what to look for under the hood, inside, underneath. everything.

92 being the changover year i know theres gonna be some glitches here and there with it, i wanna know about it.

as always you guys input is very helpful, thanks

[sly]

if it's before 3/92 production, it's probably a bastard block with an AOD... after 3/92 should be a full electronic trans, "AODE". If it's an AODE, watch out for the torque converter shudder issue. My 93 went at 106K and again over 200K. J-mod is a wonderful way to prevent the shudder from happening along with the regular maintenance intervals. The valve seals should be leaking and it should be burning oil. If you have those replaced, replace the valve springs while you're in there.

[pantera77]

Ya, it probably burns oil, so be aware of that. EGR passages are probably clogged up too, real common on the aluminum intakes cars.
Like all panthers check the apassenger side frame bulkhead, even if the car is free it can still be rotted out there.
If it's an AOD car make sure the TV cable grommet is intact, unlike a box it attaches on the side of the TB, but can still fail.
By rack I'm assuming you mean gear box.

[marquis_82_withneons]

So to buy it outright 2k with no intention of modifying anything would be a bad move?

[pantera77]

I wouldn't say so. If the cars as clean and well optioned as you say I'd probably make a nice DD.

[marquis_82_withneons]

With all those issues that are there?

[pantera77]

All cars have there own common issues.

[GM_Guy]

How about expanding this to a crash course on Whales. Looks like my likely candidates are 2003-2008 (2009+ take a huge leap in asking price). I've never followed any of the 4.6 stuff, what I have gleaned so far is;

2003/4 have a unique lcm, and 2003 at least, out of extended warranty. Is it unique only becuase of the connector, or are the guts unique as well?
2003 had a possible chain tensioner recall/tsb, an x and three dots on the valve cover denote that the tensioners where replaced (at a ford dealer).
2005 went to electronic throttle body.

Was the soft axles limited to the early production 2003's?

Did transmission issues (ie: the shudder) still affect these?

Any abnormally high wear rates to be aware of with the rack and peanut steering?

I've read avoid 2003 and avoid 2005's, I of course also read plenty of positives people have with their 03's & 5's. Any validity to this? My main concern is long term reliability. If DBW is a bit obnoxious in an '05, big deal. As long as it keeps working.

Alex.

[sly]

03/04 got the soft axles. Never heard of any issues with the rack and pinion steering. I know virtually all the major issues were taken care of by mid 2005 so 06+ models should be near bulletproof as long as they are well maintained.

[Georges86]

05 can have DBW issues, and also was a one year only transmission. (Plus the ugly quarter panel mounted antenna)

I would go 06+ , a nice bonus is you get the new steering wheel (Came out in 05) and the new gauges (06+)

[GM_Guy]

Whats special/unique about the 2005 trans that makes it one year only? Seems very un-panther like to have a one year only item.

05 DBW, software issues? Or piss poor electronic TB controls that prematurely fail?

Naturually, 2003's and 2005's are the most plentiful on the used car market right now.

Alex.

[piranah]

I have been toying with the idea of getting a higher mile 03/04 and building it up, heads, intake etc. How much different is the bottom end on the Aero 4.6 motors?

[sxcpotatoes]

I have been toying with the idea of getting a higher mile 03/04 and building it up, heads, intake etc. How much different is the bottom end on the Aero 4.6 motors?

I don't know how different the bottom end is, but if you want to go fast with the 4.6 you may as well set your money on fire. It can be done, but it's not easy or cheap. I've never really seen *anybody* swapping Mustang 4.6es into Aeros, of course I never really visit CVnetplace anymore.

[sly]

the bottom end has a little less deck height, but the newer heads will bolt up (you'll end up with higher compression). Some folks just swap PI heads on and run that higher compression to get more guts out of the 4.6L.

My 93 got a full PI swap. It's a good kick in the pants for the old boat, but a warmed over 351w would be so much cheaper to build up than trying to warm up a 4.6L. If you can get a DOHC setup cheap, it's a better starting point than the SOHC that the panthers got, but still spendy.

[GM_Guy]

Since my catch-all thread got moved to electrical, ain't much good as a catch all thread so I'll just piggy back onto this one.

Q. Is there supposed to be a metal shield under the steering column on the 2008? I keep reading references to remove this in various write ups on older model cars, but there is no such beast under mine. Nor can I see where the 5 fasteners would attach. Two yes, which I assumed was for like the box, for a carpeted cover over the feet before I started reading some of the how-to threads.

Alex.