2002 Grand Marquis LSE!

[Mainemantom]

I put a set of Sylvania Zevo LED headlights in the LSE today, and Wow! They’re bright. The box says “Not DOT approved for fog light and off road use only.” Which I don’t get. I know many people who have been running LED lights for years and none of them have ever been hassled over them.

I can agree with the non DOD approval. Those lights are bright. They exceed the DOD allowable candle power and can be blinding to oncoming traffic. If they have a blue appearance, they can be confused at a distance with police blue lights. I personally hate those lights. People get away with using them however if law enforcement wants to stop you for something, they now have probable cause for stop and to issue a citation. I don't know about you but I do not want to see a LEO at my car window for anything.

[Mainemantom]

Great, glad you did your research. There are far more important "crimes" for law enforcement to deal with. Being a clear bulb helps. Blue ones get the wrong attention. If law enforcement wants to give someone a hard time for something, it certainly can be done without issuing a ticket.

[mercurygm88]

Great, glad you did your research. There are far more important "crimes" for law enforcement to deal with. Being a clear bulb helps. Blue ones get the wrong attention. If law enforcement wants to give someone a hard time for something, it certainly can be done without issuing a ticket.

Sorry I deleted that post but what it basically boils down to is a stock 9007 bulb is about 1000 lumens, Sylvania says these are 1000-1100. I have them properly adjusted so they certainly won't be in anyone's eyes on low. They are white and from what I can find white and amber are just fine, it just seems odd the box says you can use them as fog lights but advises against using them in headlights. I imagine they're just doing that to cover their butts.

[sly]

The LEDs I put in my 93 aren't any brighter than anything on the road made by OEMs. In fact, these LEDs aren't even as bright as the LEDs on OE vehicles right now. The main reason for that? Mine are NOT FKN PROJECTORS! Mine actually disperse the light so you can read road signs as well as see the deer a block away instead of just the horizon and potholes on the road. I HATE projectors. The LEDs I got put the LEDs in the same position as the filament and are set to fire sideways only so they are actually less blinding than the stock halogens as they disperse more left and right and less up and down The hot spots are in the exact same location as the halogens but brighter and actually throw light down the road. If they didn't do that, I would have put the halogens back. The current generation of aftermarket LEDs are actually pretty good in some cases. Much better than the crap they were selling a few years ago.

[mercurygm88]

The LEDs I put in my 93 aren't any brighter than anything on the road made by OEMs. In fact, these LEDs aren't even as bright as the LEDs on OE vehicles right now. The main reason for that? Mine are NOT FKN PROJECTORS! Mine actually disperse the light so you can read road signs as well as see the deer a block away instead of just the horizon and potholes on the road. I HATE projectors. The LEDs I got put the LEDs in the same position as the filament and are set to fire sideways only so they are actually less blinding than the stock halogens as they disperse more left and right and less up and down The hot spots are in the exact same location as the halogens but brighter and actually throw light down the road. If they didn't do that, I would have put the halogens back. The current generation of aftermarket LEDs are actually pretty good in some cases. Much better than the crap they were selling a few years ago.

The Sylvania LED’s I bought definitely aren’t as bright as some of the OE LED’s and HID’s out there but they certainly seem to illuminate more of the road than the 9007 halogen bulbs did.

[jaywish]

Generally I like the LED bulbs. As with any headlight alignment is the first key. Pattern also is important. I have Beamtech bulbs in the Escape and they are a good cheap improvement with a good pattern. The Marauder Beamtechs have a great pattern and much better light for low beams but the high beam pattern is not so good. I wonder if a different bulb might rectify that. I will have to check if Sylvania makes them now.

[mercurygm88]

Generally I like the LED bulbs. As with any headlight alignment is the first key. Pattern also is important. I have Beamtech bulbs in the Escape and they are a good cheap improvement with a good pattern. The Marauder Beamtechs have a great pattern and much better light for low beams but the high beam pattern is not so good. I wonder if a different bulb might rectify that. I will have to check if Sylvania makes them now.

The Sylvania Zevo LED’s rotate inside the mount they come with. The instructions explain that for proper adjustment the wires need to face down. That’s how I put them in and they seem to be right where my previous bulbs were adjustment wise.

I do a fair bit of night driving and have yet to have anyone flash their lights at me with my low beams on. They also don’t seem too terribly bright looking at them while standing in front of the car. But they sure seem to light up the road better than halogens, especially the high beams.

[mercurygm88]

I'm having an old family friend who owns a local shop put an idler arm on the LSE this evening. I no longer have a jack or jack stands here as my uncle took off with most of my grandfathers tools when he passed away. I also don't feel terribly confident that I wouldn't break something and be totally screwed. I noticed it clunking on low speed turns mostly while parking a few weeks ago, I crawled under there to check it out because I just greased everything in July when I changed the oil. Lo and behold no bushings at all left in the idler arm. I have receipts from August 2019 that show new upper/lower ball joints, inner/outer tie rod ends, center link, pitman arm, and idler arm.

All of them were MOOG parts, lifetime warranty. But if they're like our MOOG parts at work then they're just re-boxed store brand parts. We do a re-box every few months which seems like false advertising but the company has been doing it for decades. We take "Made in China" store brand parts and put them in "Made in USA" MOOG boxes, and the computer system is updated with the change and an increase in price. A middle tier option will also usually be phased out in the process. So I just bought the cheap lifetime part since it probably isn't going to matter.

[mercurygm88]

Had the idler arm replaced, steering feels much better. On some turns the centerlink is still banging into the drivers side frame rail. I guess I'm going to have to have that and maybe the pitman arm replaced. Fun, fun.......

[mercurygm88]

I made a video for the LSE today, not bad overall minus the tear in the rear bumper cover. I'll do something about that eventually, or maybe not it doesn't really bother me.

[mercurygm88]

Installed a new Pitman arm tonight. The old one was totally shot. That was a huge pain in the ass both nuts came off easy with my 1/2” impact. The impact did nothing on the pitman arm puller, I ended up using a 6’ section of 1” I.D. pipe on the ratchet handle, I can’t believe neither the $10 Chinesium puller or cheap no name “Made in Taiwan” ratchet didn’t disintegrste. I didn’t want to I use one of my good ratchets just in case.

Got it back together, steering is nice and tight but the wheel still sticks every 1/4 turn or so and won’t return on its own when you turn I’m guessing the steering box is shot? Seems odd at only 120,000 miles.

Also I went on about a 30 mile drive and the air suspension light came on again! I don’t know what the hell is going on. It’s almost like after a pre determined time “about 20 minutes” The light comes on. The car sat for a month recently and the rear never sagged so I don’t think it’s a leak. Do the height sensors on these ever act up and just not read?

[FordMan77]

That sticking issue sounds like the intermediate and possibly upper steering shafts are shot. The U-joints in the lower shaft get cooked from the exhaust manifold heat and bind up, which puts more strain on the upper shaft and firewall bearing. I just went through this on my 03. Replaced both shafts and the firewall bearing and it steers nice and smooth again. I was actaully able to source OEM Ford ones so they're out there. Also note that the pinch bolt is stated as one time use. I wasn't willing to risk it so I replaced it too.

[VicCrownVic]

Must be steering component day. I changed the idler arm today on the '98, bushing was shot.
I'll keep an eye out for a decent rear bumper cover. I need one myself so I'm already looking, but mine is not quite that bad. Just paint (Bondo?) cracking and a missing paint chip a little smaller than a dime. (The Rear bumper was trashed in the dealer pics I found of my car before it made its way to the used car lot I got it from.)

[Mainemantom]

"That sticking issue sounds like the intermediate and possibly upper steering shafts are shot. The U-joints in the lower shaft get cooked from the exhaust manifold heat and bind up, which puts more strain on the upper shaft and firewall bearing"

I agree with the above. Plus rust gets in there You should be able to find NOS parts. You might even see if those steering shafts are covered under a recall. I replaced both of shafts on the 96 Mine were binding almost solid in one direction. After new shafts and a "Red Top" steering box, steering is like new.

[mercurygm88]

I'll have to see what I can find for the steering shafts and do those next.