VicCrownVic's 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

[IPreferDIY]

I was disappointed with the same slop in my Fabtech spacer. Dunno if it's contributing to vibration since I know the tailshaft housing bushing is bad and I hadn't matched the alignment marks on the tailshaft and driveshaft. What I'm planning on doing is getting a big hose clamp to align the OD of the spacer with the OD of the diff flange (and removing the clamp when the bolts are tightened).

[VicCrownVic]

To maintain the proper spline engagement you either have to swap to a long output shaft/tail shaft (which requires breaking the trans down) or use a spacer.

I opted to get mine balanced and use a dampened yoke others use the non dampened yoke. After the debacle I had with installing a P71 shaft in I'd recommend the ZoneOffRoad F150 spacer, I wouldn't waste time with the Fabtech one.

So far so good since switching out the out of spec Fabtec spacer for the ZOR one. And the vibrations have pretty much gone away so I didn't need to keep rotating on the splines to find the sweet spot.

You can read about my swap: http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...l=1#post840849

Very good info!

I had planned on comparing the stock drive shaft with the aluminum drive shaft side by side. I'm sure the information you shared was in other threads that I've seen, but for some reason your post made more sense or I paid more attention to it. Either way, thanks for the heads up.

[Pvt.Hudson]

Very good info!

I had planned on comparing the stock drive shaft with the aluminum drive shaft side by side. I'm sure the information you shared was in other threads that I've seen, but for some reason your post made more sense or I paid more attention to it. Either way, thanks for the heads up.

You'll notice the P71/Town Car Yoke is not fully splined whereas a CV/GM is fully splined.



Now you can run it with the P71 yoke with the spacer. But I prefer having fully splined yoke.

Talking with the drive line shop they said that damper ring helps with harmonic issues and not really vibrations. They also said the about 20 thousandth of play on the pinion flange with the fabtech spacer could definitely cause vibration issues if its not centering on the pinion flange hub.

I was disappointed with the same slop in my Fabtech spacer. Dunno if it's contributing to vibration since I know the tailshaft housing bushing is bad and I hadn't matched the alignment marks on the tailshaft and driveshaft. What I'm planning on doing is getting a big hose clamp to align the OD of the spacer with the OD of the diff flange (and removing the clamp when the bolts are tightened).

https://liftkits4less.com/zone-offroad-f5601-rear-driveshaft-spacer-kit-ford

Where I got mine. FYI the included bolts are a little long they'll work no problem but I ordered some 12 point M12 bolts from another supplier in the proper length and they are flush with the pinion flange.

[VicCrownVic]

I was looking at that one direct from zone off-road, the link you have is on sale for a few more hours... Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

Since the kit is for an F150, I suppose the bolts are correct length on the trucks but long for a panther. That's also good to know. I can pull a bolt from a panther, measure and add 3/4" to find what will work with this spacer on a panther.

[VicCrownVic]

Some pics from the intake job last week:





And thanks again to Grand1 for the time and space to work. The rear shocks and springs have been replaced and the car rides so much better. Bumps are nothing. Moog CC817 and Gabriel HiJackers 49205. I have new front shocks to install, but replacing them is not urgent. The stock rears just weren't up to the challenge of all the junk in my trunk.
Before:


After:



I put 146 miles on today according to Google maps. 3 miles from home my check engine light comes on. P1405, plugged or open upstream hi side DPFE sensor hose. Carefully inspect the vacuum hoses associated with the EGR system for incorrect routing or damage.
Well this is the sensor bolted to the coolant tube. The new tube I installed didn't have the same mounting bracket for this sensor, but I made it work. Looks like I will have to check the two vacuum lines to this sensor and I'll probably find that I installed each one on the wrong sensor port.

[Pvt.Hudson]

Does it feel more lively now that you have a PI intake?

[VicCrownVic]

Since I didn't have a ton of seat time before the swap, I'm not sure that I notice so much. Although it does seem like it might be more responsive when attempting to pass and when the speed limit increases and I hit it hard.

For now I think I'm done with big jobs and need to slow down so I can make it out to the JYs. I grabbed a driver door switch panel with black switches (my panel was cracked). I like the look of the black switches so I want to replace them all. Right now, other than driver door that I already switched, it's gray panels and gray switches which looks kind of blah.

[DerekTheGreat]

We need to get back out to yards too. Need some odds & ends. Also need a more efficient way to lug our tools around. Ashley has the solution, needs to pull the trigger..

[VicCrownVic]

A minivan!? LOL, just kidding... unless that's what you're looking at. A wagon would be just what you need though. Everyone needs a wagon whether they know it or not.

[DerekTheGreat]

Oh no, more like a dolly that has bins which attach and detach. Truck works great for lugging tools around. Parts too, especially with a cap. If it gets dirty, hose it out!

[VicCrownVic]

LOL, I totally misunderstood. When you said more efficient I thought you meant fuel economy (although I was confused since I didn't think you were concerned with your current fuel economy). I'll see what I have going on this weekend, if I'm available and the weather is not crap I'm down for a yard run.

[VicCrownVic]

Changed the oil this evening. I bought the filter and synthetic oil a while ago. Turns out the filter is not correct for this car since it has some sort of adapter. (Oil cooler maybe?) I didn't bother to look it over to figure out what the crap I have since I was a little annoyed that I had to figure out what replaces a napa proselect 27060. I ended up going with a Fram PH10060. My other choices were sold out and I didn't want to go out in the first place let alone have to go to multiple places. I also had to get a smaller oil filter wrench, or I suppose socket. That stupid thing didn't fit the napa filter that was on there. Put a ratchet strap in the filter socket and that was enough to break the filter free. Some friggin gorilla must have installed the filter and drain plug on this car.

This filter seems to not be used for any Ford applications, but is used for many GM applications. This car was for sale at a GM dealer in Indiana before it made its way to the used car dealer I got it from. Not sure if that has anything to do with the filter or if I have some aftermarket adapter/cooler. I really should get a picture but not happening tonight.

Oil change is done now. Everything looked fine, no sparkles in the oil or any other funny business.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Oil filter should be a Motorcraft FL820S, but I have seen people use the FL500S in place of the other one since it's smaller and can be maneuvered a touch easier. I don't think a GM product ever used a filter similar in size to the FL820S with the same thread size, so its likely it got a substitute of essentially whatever would fit, and that ProSelect that came on it would fit that bill. Not correct, but functional. The adapter you're seeing is probably the factory piece that bolts to the side of the block.

Going forwards, here's some other comparable filters if you needed the numbers: Wix 51372, Fram PH2, or Purolator L24651, just to name a few. Best to make sure whatever you get has a silicone anti-drain back valve in it, otherwise the 4.6 might get a slight clatter on startup.

[VicCrownVic]

FL820S is what I originally bought. I didn't try putting it on since it was wider that the Napa filter and I wasn't sure there was room for it. Next oil change I'll see if FL820S fits. If not, no big deal. You're probably right about the factory piece that bolts to the block. I know just about nothing about the 4.6.

I just pulled the seal from the Napa filter and compared to the FL820S. The Napa seal is slightly smaller ID and OD but not enough that I would expect an issue. Assuming everything else is stock the Napa filter wasn't a problem so it and any other compatible filter could be used if anyone is looking for a skinnier filter.

[VicCrownVic]

I didn't look at things closely yesterday. The part that I am actually concerned with looks to to be connected to the power steering pump. There is not much room between the filter and that part (the piece with the electrical connector on the bottom, to the left of the filter in the picture). It looks like there is just barley enough room for the stock filter, but when I eyeballed it yesterday I wasn't sure it would fit and didn't even try.