My 1987 Mercury Colony Park

[Tiggie]

Very nice. I may grab a 4R70W pan just in case. I was not aware they were that close and the drain would certainly be a nice feature.

[gadget73]

Cork gaskets are junk. You want either the metal cored rubber or the fiber gasket. Personally I'm more of a fan of the metal/rubber gaskets.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

That's not quite right.

That happened once I got the fluid level up to the hashed area on the dipstick with the engine running. For all intents and purposes, it took 7 quarts to get it in the hashed area, which definitely seemed like quite a bit. Dropped like a quart on the ground. Last I checked an hour ago and there was a slow but steady drip right between the engine and transmission. When I checked it with the car running after the puke fest, it was holding fluid level in-between the two dots. I'm wondering if I just managed to blow the front pump seal out, or if its just overfilled and purged like no one's business.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Since I'm past the edit time, this was one thing I mused over in a discussion on Discord...

Myself: "Since this is gonna be one of those topics I'll smartly walk away from for a little bit to get a better idea of WTF I have borked today. That said, I'll write out what's changed, and a theory I have.

So the original AOD pan came off and a 4R70W type went on. It is deeper by ~1 quart. The standard filter was swapped out for a 4WD type one as several deep pan write-ups for AOD applications recommended it. The 4WD filter uses a snorkel like the 4R70W, so it is pulling fluid from deeper down in the pan. Obviously I need to add fluid, so I started with 4 quarts, and with the car running, the fluid level did not hit the stick. Quart five hit the stick below the first dot. Quart six hit below the hash area. Quart seven got into the hashed area, then fluid party time.

With the car off, the fluid level is roughly an inch above the hashed area, after the fluid purge.

So, theory: Since the fluid pickup is now much lower (standard AOD filter doesn't live quite so deep in the pan), the dipstick is no longer accurate based on how the fluid is being pulled up from the pan. Ergo, attempting to fill the transmission into the appropriate range on the dipstick results in a massive overfill and the extra fluid pressure blows it past the seal.(edited)"

Message #tech-chat


Anyway, I'm going to sleep on it and not freak. There's an answer to the why.

[gadget73]

I don't think the pan depth really has any bearing on fluid level. Yeah its deeper and it pulls from lower down, but the surface level of the fluid will be the same no matter how deep the pan is. You could potentially get by with less fluid since the pickup is down lower in the pan but that kind of defeats the point of extra capacity. Full trans with engine not running is usually an inch or so over the full mark, so thats reasonable.

not what you want to hear but I suspect you have a bad pump seal. There is a diagram in the shop manual that will tell you exactly what is bad based on precisely where inside the bellhouse the fluid is.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Oh how I'd like to drive this car again. Broke it in July last year, sent it off in December with Nick, and maybe we'll see it by spring?

Hopefully this'll be the last time I send it off on a U-Haul with transmission trouble.



I did decide to do something in the interim and ordered a Marti Report for it:


Curiously it mentions the car was optioned with aluminum wheels, however when Nick got it, it was wearing period correct wire wheel covers with steel rims. Everything else lines up with what would have been originally fitted, but has unfortunately been changed with time. Original radio was long gone on arrival, the original seats had been recovered in vinyl so they were swapped for better Lincoln seats, the leather wrap on the original wheel had been peeled off the rim, so a vinyl one was fitted, and most obvious is the repaint. Curious as to what color the accent stripes were on the hood.

If this car ever gets repainted properly, I genuinely want to do factory style pen striping with the hood and body side striping. I always thought nicely contrasting pinstripes worked well on these cars.

Can't find any information on the dealer. Building and surrounding lot looks small on Google Maps.

[87gtVIC]

I see it was ordered for stock to the dealer. I wonder if something happened at the dealer regarding the missing wheels.

[gadget73]

also interesting that it was nearly a year from order to sale date

[friskyfrankie]

Took 7 months or so just to get it "serialized". Maybe an issue at the factory??

[Tiggie]

I love these Marti Reports. Dealer stock, ordered WAY early. Something definitely held it up. Usually it's an option... what was new for 87? Load leveling suspension maybe?

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Why am I thinking I saw something posted around here that 1987 model year cars had issues getting the aluminum wheels, resulting in many going with steelies and wire hub caps regardless of order?

Also, considering the sale date, this car may not have even spent an entire year in PA before the original owner moved down to Charleston, SC in late '87/'88.

[gadget73]

Load leveling existed in 86, at least on Lincolns.

[DerekTheGreat]

...I did decide to do something in the interim and ordered a Marti Report for it:


Curiously it mentions the car was optioned with aluminum wheels, however when Nick got it, it was wearing period correct wire wheel covers with steel wheels. Everything else lines up with what would have been originally fitted...

In 1987 there was a turbine wheel shortage. Affected customers received a credit for the wheels they ordered but didn't get.

[friskyfrankie]

I remember a friend ordered a '87 GM but wanted the turbine wheels. He was told he would have to get the steel wheels and wire caps. Not sure what the issue was but the turbines were not available.

[Tiggie]

My old 87 parts car was turbine equipped but it was an April 87 build. Apparently they got it figured out by then.