kishy's 1984 Town Car

[Stocker]

Sunday, my previously well-behaved parking brake release valve started doing that hissy thing they do. Slight tweaking of the shift lever would cure it.

Years ago I passed up a clean '86 partly because of that - at the time, I didn't know it was just the parking brake release.

[sly]

if tweaking the shift lever fixed it... that's the horseshoe shaped valve at the bottom of the shift shaft near the firewall.

[kishy]

Hypothetically...

17.5 US MPG @ 90MPH with the air on.
Previous highway benchmark was 21.5 US MPG @ 75MPH with the air off.

Seems about right...aero of a literal brick combined with the well-known complete dissolution of our fuel economy at higher speeds.

[DerekTheGreat]

I've noticed A/C does take it's toll above 50 or 60 mph. Around town, I never notice I have it on but during acceleration or when I have to get some petrol, I definitely do then. 90mph? Jeez, what was the hurry for? Guess you need a new sticker on your rear window, that 60mph one is now outdated.

Drove mine yesterday to get ice cream with the old lady. Was fun, she runs great and rides so smooth compared to the garbage I drive daily haha. A/C was nice & cold too.

[kishy]

Hypothetically, plans to attend an event with a friend may have been delayed by said friend crossing the border. Hypothetically, the increased speed did in fact make up the lost time. Apparently at the expense of a great deal of MPG.

It appears my replacement of the parking brake valve was all for naught as the diaphragm in the actuator is now leaking. Pulled up to a stop sign this morning and heard a distinctly new hissing sound coinciding with the increase in engine vacuum at deceleration. Neutral, silence. OD and below, hiss. Engine load, silence. Closed throttle coasting and stopped, hissing.

Never studied the parking brake pedal up close but I imagine it's just two screws for that actuator and out it comes, but access is not great in that area. It might be a decent opportunity to upgrade to the 90+ ratcheting parking brake pedal instead of the stupid deal we have from the factory, with the release handle that likes to stab you and then punch your knuckles into the pedal as it comes up.

[DerekTheGreat]

Speaking of brake pedal, how hard is it to change out the brake light switch? I bought one since I think my brake lights only come on with half pedal travel, just never installed it...

[VicCrownVic]

Hardest part is getting yourself into a position where you can get at it.

[gadget73]

right. Once you get in there its a couple of clips or something that holds it on, no big deal. It lives up above the brake pedal though, which sort of sucks to access.

[Tanner02480]

Kishy, that's a nice and well maintained car you have, congrats !

[kishy]

Kishy, that's a nice and well maintained car you have, congrats !

Thanks! We've come a long way...this car forced me to become quite intimately familiar with EEC-IV. Not that I'm complaining. Learning is fun.




Still haven't tried to put the noise cap back on the charging circuit. Pretty sure that's where it's coming from. Observed today that the noise is actually split between the door chime and the dash speakers. If the radio is off, the noise is so faint you almost can't hear it, but it's there, coming out of the chime instead of the speakers. Turn the radio on, and the exact same noise becomes much louder and is now coming out of the speakers. The tone follows engine RPM. Seems to be worse on rainy or humid days, and today is both.

[DerekTheGreat]

You've got a good eye & ear. I never noticed the taillight thing on Ashley's truck, from the brightness to the difference in blinker speed.

[Tanner02480]

Thanks! We've come a long way...this car forced me to become quite intimately familiar with EEC-IV. Not that I'm complaining. Learning is fun.




Still haven't tried to put the noise cap back on the charging circuit. Pretty sure that's where it's coming from. Observed today that the noise is actually split between the door chime and the dash speakers. If the radio is off, the noise is so faint you almost can't hear it, but it's there, coming out of the chime instead of the speakers. Turn the radio on, and the exact same noise becomes much louder and is now coming out of the speakers. The tone follows engine RPM. Seems to be worse on rainy or humid days, and today is both.

Do you have the premium sound with amplifier in this car ?

[kishy]

Do you have the premium sound with amplifier in this car ?

Yes, it has the 'football' amplifier in the trunk. There are seemingly several variations of that amplifier, I have personally encountered 3 different ones that are not plug-n-play with each other (different connectors), between 1981-1985. There could easily be more variations.

Interestingly, some of them have a metal mounting leg which grounds them to the body. My amp has plastic mounting legs so it is never grounded to the body when it is mounted. However that doesn't matter much because mine is sitting on top of my spare tire sidewall.

I've also noticed that if I place a load on the electrical system (e.g. hold window switch even after the window is fully up), the whine will intensify and change tone. Need to find that little capacitor and put it back where it goes.

[gadget73]

Make sure the alternator case is clean too. Dirt on the ground side will make it extra noisy. I have the same whine problems on the Continental with that alternator. I have some things I need to fix and check on that, but since the car is apart at the moment it isn't real critical.

[BigMerc96]

I used to get a nasty whine thru the radio in my Town Car with its factory 3G and JBL audio system, it got better with a new 3G but didn't go away till I upgraded the ground between the cylinder head and firewall from blue powder that resembled a ground strap to an actual piece of wire. It must have had something to do with that questionable ground although I'd think the engine is still grounded pretty well without that stupid little strap going to a thin piece of firewall stamping. I fixed that when I did the intake because until then I hadn't even looked at that strap because you don't see it.