2002 Grand Marquis LSE!

[mercurygm88]

Took a little road trip yesterday and put 180-200 miles on the LSE with no issues. I had to go to a town about 40 miles away to meet a guy from the internet to buy some reloading pistol primers. I also needed some powder and all the gun shops near me are either closed or out of powder and primers due to panic buying. So I ask this guy if their were any gun shops in the area. He said everything in the area closed up 30 years ago. So at this point I was 25 miles from Toledo and they have a Bass Pro Shops, I prefer Cabela's but Dundee Michigan was more than double the distance. So I went to Bass Pro, they had about 10lbs of powder left in the whole store and I was lucky to find something I could use. There's an old steam freighter on the Maumee river that's now a museum the "Col. James M. Schoonmaker" previously the "Willis B. Boyer" dad and I toured it years ago and I recently found out it had been moved, repainted, and renamed. It was only a 10 minute drive from Bass Pro Shops so I drove up there and walked around the little park they had built near the ship, drove across a couple of the bridges over the Maumee river and drove through downtown Toledo a bit. I also got gas in downtown Toledo for $1.24 a gallon! Then I took a two lane state route back home as opposed to the interstate. Not a bad little trip but nothing spectacular either.

[mercurygm88]

Changed oil for the second time last night, after 5,000 miles it still looked like honey. I always run the Motorcraft 5W-20 synthetic blend and a Motorcraft filter on 4.6 cars. I'm at 104,xxx miles so I've put just under 8,000 on it. Found a new scratch I didn't know was there the other night! Other than that everything is going good, no new problems have popped up. Most of my driving these past few months has been 60-150 mile trips. Dad and I drove it 450 miles round trip last Monday to pick up a rifle and that trip was completely uneventful. I haven't done any fancy figuring but I seem to be getting 23-25mpg all around.

[packman]

Funny, stupid story!

I got my replacement temp tag today. Ohio quit doing 30 day tags 5 or 6 years ago and went to a 45 day tag. Due to all of the BMV’s being closed their offering 90 day tags. I ordered it on March 30, it was made out and dated April 1 and mailed last Friday! Why didn’t they wait until Friday to date it so I didn’t lose out on 12 of my 90 days? Also they added a little letter in there that said in order to insure the tag lasts 90 days please display it in your rear window, then it listed the section of the Ohio revised code that allows this. Now I did this when I had the first Lincoln and I was pulled over and issued a written warning because it was in the back window when the tag and registration even said write on it that if could be displayed in the rear window. So now the BMV issues you a printout saying it’s legal, stating the ordnance number, and giving you a 1-800 number for the Ohio Attorney General's to call in case you are harassed for it. Then in fine print it says they have had issues over the past several years with law enforcement not following the rear window rule so now they make it a point to include the printout.

Now that's pretty damn stupid if you ask me. The registration and Temp tag already say on it that it can be displayed in the rear window and yet they still pull people over and harass them over it? What makes the state think the stupid printout is going to help? Apparently for some reason Ohio is incapable of keeping law enforcement on a leash, then again with the corruption in my own home town it doesn't surprise me. We've had several police chief's and county Sheriff's removed from office, charged with corruption, and imprisoned in the past 10 years. Even more going back before that. A handful of judges and prosecutors too. The only upside is I've dealt with the Ohio Attorney Generals office twice before involving similar matters, and one thing I've learned is that neither private businesses or law enforcement agencies like to get an unfriendly call from the AG's office.

Here in Jersey; the northern Jersey suburbs and cities don't care about the AG office. They have their own laws.

[Mainemantom]

What about making a copy and displaying it in both places? From experience, many officers will not be told by any civilian what the rules are. They are right you are wrong. Take it to court. It is called ego. Sad but true. On the other hand. There are many humble officers that treat the public like they would like to be treated. Much of the blame goes up the ladder to poor supervisors and judges who should not have their jobs. Just like any occupation, there are fools and good people. It is better to think out of the box. What can I do so I don't see their face and their attitude at my car window ?
It is really sad because LE needs the public's support. They have a rough job that gets worse each day.

[mercurygm88]

What about making a copy and displaying it in both places? From experience, many officers will not be told by any civilian what the rules are. They are right you are wrong. Take it to court. It is called ego. Sad but true. On the other hand. There are many humble officers that treat the public like they would like to be treated. Much of the blame goes up the ladder to poor supervisors and judges who should not have their jobs. Just like any occupation, there are fools and good people. It is better to think out of the box. What can I do so I don't see their face and their attitude at my car window ?
It is really sad because LE needs the public's support. They have a rough job that gets worse each day.

It doesn't matter now, the BMV's opened back up at the end of May and I got my tags transferred when the temp tag expired June 30. I also no longer have to have a front plate which is kinda nice. I was told by the BMV I couldn't legally make a copy of the tag or tamper with it in any way. The fact is the letter from the State said to display it in the rear window because that is the law, rear window, or rear license plate bracket. The notarized letter specifically stated to show it to any law enforcement officer who tried to cause trouble. It also said if said trouble was caused to call the AG's office and they would take care of it immediately.

[mercurygm88]

Here in Jersey; the northern Jersey suburbs and cities don't care about the AG office. They have their own laws.

They listen in a hurry here, or else people lose their jobs. I've been through it before. I bet they'd listen up there too after the AG threatened to put a boot in someones ass, which is exactly how it works down here. Why can't the damn cops just follow the law? That would make life easier on everyone.

[mercurygm88]

I figured I’d stick this here rather than start a new thread. I saw a post on Facebook awhile back from a guy who claimed that the panthers with the rotating headlight switch originally had the switch illuminated with the dash lights.

I’ve owned four of these cars now with that switch and I’ve never seen one light up. Yet this guy had photos of his. I’m guessing he modified the panel and was trying to fool people. To me the markings don’t even look like they could be back lit. In my experience back lit buttons or switches usually have a somewhat translucent gray look to them not bright white. Can anyone here confirm or deny that?

If there’s a bulb back there I’ll have to get in there and change it as I’ve always felt like that panel should be illuminated.

[87gtVIC]

Maybe they are glow in the dark and he "charged" them up good before the pictures he took?

No idea as I am not familiar with the car but wished you would have shared the picture you are talking about.

[VicCrownVic]

I'll have to remember to look at this in my '98. I know I do have a little red light next to the headlight switch that I think indicates when the auto headlights are on. It's so dim it's not really noticable.

[mercurygm88]

I'll have to remember to look at this in my '98. I know I do have a little red light next to the headlight switch that I think indicates when the auto headlights are on. It's so dim it's not really noticable.

I feel like my '95 had that but I just can't remember for sure.

[mercurygm88]

Maybe they are glow in the dark and he "charged" them up good before the pictures he took?

No idea as I am not familiar with the car but wished you would have shared the picture you are talking about.

I wish I had the pic or could get it but I'm not longer a member of that group. He definitely had a bulb back there as he had photos of it but I also believe he did extensive modifications to get it that way and was trying to troll people. If I wasn't for all intents and purposes crippled at the moment I'd go pull it out of the dash and see.

[VicCrownVic]

I took a look at my '98 in the dark and it appears that there is a light in the switch. It lights up the "PUSH INTERIOR" and the headlight symbol on the upper right. I think the same bulb illuminates the red "lights on" indicator, and I can see the glow of the light around the round knob and around the "PANEL DIM" switch. The night picture does not really pick up the glow around the switches (which I believe is not intentional, but it can be seen at certain angles).
The headlight symbol is almost impossible to see in the picture (straight to the right from the red light, and down about 1 red light diameter, about the same distance from the right of the pic as the red light is from the left of the pic), but in person it's a little easier to see although not well lit. This makes me wonder if more of the switch is supposed to light up? Like the little rectangles, the markings on the knob itself, Off, Parking lamps, possibly the dim panel, and dim panel arrows? Now I need to take it apart and see if I can tell if more of it is supposed to be letting light through.

Night shot:


Day shot:

[Kodachrome Wolf]

...I’m guessing he modified the panel and was trying to fool people.

No foolin':


Most of mine are alive in my '97, save for maybe the bottom most one for 'PUSH INTERIOR'. The issue is the lights are incandescent, and always on with the key on, so they burn out quite early compared to the rest of the interior. There's about five or six of them on the back of the switch, and are 'grain-of-rice' style bulbs. Two are on long extensions, so finding replacements may be difficult. The bulbs usually have a teal/green color filter on them, however I found they made the lighting very dim for the rotary knob positions, so I removed them. I left the ones around the dimmer alone since they're plenty bright. The Autolamp indicator is an LED and turns on whenever the lights are active in that position.

[VicCrownVic]

I figured if anyone would have the answer you would be one of those people with how many of these dashes you've had apart.
Now I know I have some little bulbs to replace.

[mercurygm88]

No foolin':


Most of mine are alive in my '97, save for maybe the bottom most one for 'PUSH INTERIOR'. The issue is the lights are incandescent, and always on with the key on, so they burn out quite early compared to the rest of the interior. There's about five or six of them on the back of the switch, and are 'grain-of-rice' style bulbs. Two are on long extensions, so finding replacements may be difficult. The bulbs usually have a teal/green color filter on them, however I found they made the lighting very dim for the rotary knob positions, so I removed them. I left the ones around the dimmer alone since they're plenty bright. The Autolamp indicator is an LED and turns on whenever the lights are active in that position.

Interesting, I may have to get in there sometime and take a look. I wonder if maybe this went away sometime between 1998-2002 given that I also don't have the little red LED.