kishy's 1986 Grand Marquis

[87gtVIC]

That u joint was dry. Wow.

[Tiggie]

That u joint was dry. Wow.

YES!

Crusty rusty

[DerekTheGreat]

...I had the whole car up to do the u-joints, and just rolled around under the whole thing on my creeper. This thing is incredibly rust-free. The undercoating goo has done its job.

..did you poke around at it? What kind of goo was this stuff again?

My K1500 (I think you've seen it before) had just one dead cylinder, #1. It ran until the plug fouled up and you'd either have to put another one in it or try and clean that one. Still had a sputter though. Burnt valve.. Doubt that's whats wrong with this car. You can always try the paper towel trick near the exhaust while running. If it tries to suck up the paper towel occasionally, burnt valve.

[kishy]

The car has Tuff Kote Dinol (undercoating) and Tuff Kote System 6 (paint protection) stickers. My 91 also has a Tuff Kote Dinol sticker and the goo on the bottom of it is similar. It is a wet-looking, thick sticky goo. I do not believe the Tuff Kote products are still sold/applied anywhere locally anymore. Santing's OK Tire, who you have previously visited for Krown service, is a former local Tuff Kote dealer.

I like rodents. Beavers are cool, capybaras are intriguing, squirrels are fun. Mice are cute, rats are smart. I like them.
But I do not like their tendency to occupy things and places where they really shouldn't, and I do not like their complete inability to urinate and defecate outside of the things or places they have chosen to occupy.

Pulled the carpet out of the car today. Plan was to shampoo it, vacuum all the mouse turds, put it back in and move on to the seats. Optimism, right?

The mouse urine corrosion is significant. Pretty invasive repair is required. Not happy about this. Makes me feel better about it being turned into a daily including winter use, though.

Used the fancy OTC Enhanced Monitor code reader on this. Cylinder balance test confirms #3 misfire. The #3 injector looks like crap externally, there was a mouse nest under the upper intake and everything is super corroded around that area. I suspect a related wiring or injector defect. Also used the OTC unit with the OBD II cable to check out buddy's badly running 2000 Grand Marquis and it did just fine at getting the codes from that. 2002 is the last supported year on this unit, no cartridge for it was produced with newer vehicle support.

Dash pad is truly perfect, pretty happy about that. This car also somehow still had the passenger foot well trim piece to cover the bottom side of the dash, though it has been partially chewed up to become mouse nest material, as was the insulation under the dash pad.

[87gtVIC]

Ugha. Mouse nest in the vents. No fun eradicating them.

[DerekTheGreat]

The car has Tuff Kote Dinol (undercoating) and Tuff Kote System 6 (paint protection) stickers. My 91 also has a Tuff Kote Dinol sticker and the goo on the bottom of it is similar. It is a wet-looking, thick sticky goo. I do not believe the Tuff Kote products are still sold/applied anywhere locally anymore. Santing's OK Tire, who you have previously visited for Krown service, is a former local Tuff Kote dealer.

I like rodents. Beavers are cool, capybaras are intriguing, squirrels are fun. Mice are cute, rats are smart. I like them.
But I do not like their tendency to occupy things and places where they really shouldn't, and I do not like their complete inability to urinate and defecate outside of the things or places they have chosen to occupy.

Pulled the carpet out of the car today. Plan was to shampoo it, vacuum all the mouse turds, put it back in and move on to the seats. Optimism, right?

The mouse urine corrosion is significant. Pretty invasive repair is required. Not happy about this. Makes me feel better about it being turned into a daily including winter use, though.

Dash pad is truly perfect, pretty happy about that. This car also somehow still had the passenger foot well trim piece to cover the bottom side of the dash, though it has been partially chewed up to become mouse nest material, as was the insulation under the dash pad.

Oh. Da '79 G10 has a Tuff Kote Dinol sticker on the rear bumper. Doesn't feel tacky though, but the thing is clean underneath. Front doors are a bit krispy along the bottom edge as whoever laid that stuff down put enough in the doors to block the drains. According the guy we bought it off of (original owner) the van never saw salt. I'm convinced these conditions are ideal for that type of undercoating. Would be curious to scratch n sniff the stuff on your Mercury.

I hate rodents. They're like the only creatures I'm intolerant of, mice and rats specifically with a dash of squirrel thrown in there. Because of the damage they cause if they get into your car or house.

[VicCrownVic]

The Scab also had Tuff Kote Dinol applied back in the day. From what I gathered it seems that this stuff was a local thing.
Some of the worst spots on the car may have actually been caused by accident damage that rusted then rotted out. The Completely rotted out passenger side rocker panel is under two non-original doors, and the smashed passenger quarter panel is directly behind that. But then there is also is some regular rot spots like around the ditch lights, driver side dogleg, and around the windshield that were not likely caused by accident damage.

Give the thorough cleaning a try. The scab had a very bad invasion in the trunk while sitting for the winter at my parents' place. When I brought the car home in spring of 2019 it was awful smelling. I thoroughly vacuumed the trunk and the smell was tolerable, until it naturally dissipated over the year. Also, based on what a friend tells me, try an ozone generator after cleaning.

[packman]

I like furry things, but like you, I can't live with them. I had a field mouse make a nest on top of the lower intake of my Ranger; while the truck was still running. It was shredding the headliner and using it to make its nest. That was during the polar vortex; so I guess it took the risk of living on top of a running engine.

[DerekTheGreat]

The Scab also had Tuff Kote Dinol applied back in the day. From what I gathered it seems that this stuff was a local thing.
Some of the worst spots on the car may have actually been caused by accident damage that rusted then rotted out. The Completely rotted out passenger side rocker panel is under two non-original doors, and the smashed passenger quarter panel is directly behind that. But then there is also is some regular rot spots like around the ditch lights, driver side dogleg, and around the windshield that were not likely caused by accident damage...

I think my K1500 had Dinol too, no wait, Ziebart. I think that's what the plastic plugs say on them anyway. It's pretty clean underneath but it was from New Mexico to start with. Rockers and cab corners are in slightly better shape than Ashley's '92 which had Dinol done to it.

[kishy]

Got some keys copied. Locksmith irritatingly used wagon key blanks for the door, I didn't know until the job was done. Relatively minor issue but still bugs me. Then again, the intended next driver of this car has joint issues so maybe the wider key head will provide an ergonomic benefit.

Visited the car today, power washed the carpet (no shampoo or scrubbing, just power wash). Still stinks. Need to be careful with my approach here, as it's easy to run up the cleaning cost (between shampoo, time, electricity, water) to near what it would cost to buy a new carpet. Investigating if a detail shop will take on this job inexpensively. Carpet remains out of car so access is somewhat easier. I think the smell is in the insulation on the bottom side too. I am pretty confident my carpet shampooer will do a decent job with the seats. I do think it needs a new driver seat rail though, the metal is pretty far gone. The mice must have designated the area around the driver seat left front mounting point as their main pissing spot or something.

Haven't figured out the rodent entry point yet. It must have been parked with a window open, or maybe the trunk. Entry into the ducting seems to have been through the floor vents. I'm pretty sure I'm pulling the whole dash. Hot mouse piss is not exactly what you want when you turn on the heater.

[DerekTheGreat]

Hot mouse piss. Nice visual and aroma. Next Halloween coffee sensation?

[gadget73]

vinegar will neutralize the stink. Its mostly ammonia that makes it reek and the acid will deal with that.

Last nasty carpet i had was my Towncar. Years of use as a farm truck plus spilled spittoons (2nd owner chewed tobbacco) made it quite disgusting. I dumped a bucket of hot water and dish soap in the carpet while it was laid out in the driveway, scrubbed it in with a small push broom, then hung it on the fence and blasted it with the pressure washer until brown water stopped coming out. Used just the hose on the padding, its not very robust but same basic idea for flushing it out. Cost very little, just lots of time. The carpet was still well faded but it didn't stink and had no ugly brown spots. Might do the same with the Conti carpet, its got some stains and its faded. Considering dying it after washing it. Carpet is in good shape otherwise though, and I don't want to fool with poor fitting or poor quality rugs. I'm a little less than impressed with the durability of the floor mats I bought. The one on the driver's side has a bald spot where my foot rests and its only been in the car for 2 years and about 12k miles.

[DerekTheGreat]

...I don't want to fool with poor fitting or poor quality rugs. I'm a little less than impressed with the durability of the floor mats I bought. The one on the driver's side has a bald spot where my foot rests and its only been in the car for 2 years and about 12k miles.

This. I forget where I got them since it's been so long, but I was able to find factory fit and color floor mats for my Town Car, minus the Lincoln logos. I figure the interior of the car had enough of them so I didn't need another reminder of what kind of car I was driving.. Anyway, those mats have maybe 30k on them but I've had to alternate where I rest my heel for the same reason.

[Giraffe]

This. I forget where I got them since it's been so long, but I was able to find factory fit and color floor mats for my Town Car, minus the Lincoln logos. I figure the interior of the car had enough of them so I didn't need another reminder of what kind of car I was driving.. Anyway, those mats have maybe 30k on them but I've had to alternate where I rest my heel for the same reason.

stockinteriors.com

Basically, the unbranded form of ACC carpets, the same manufacturer that supplies new carpets and floor mats for OEM.

[gadget73]

Mine are whatever the better grade of ACC mats are. They're that fuzz material, not proper cut pile carpet like original. Fit wise they're fine but the carpet is going bald faster than I am. I don't want to buy a full interior rug of the same material and end up with the same issue. The original one is not shedding at all despite being 36 years old.