Prudence, my 87 Town Car

[Lutrova]

Yeah, it's most noticeable when stopped while in gear, but I definitely can pick up on something when it gets above 40 or so, too. Goes away entirely as soon as it shifts into park.

I'll try running a scan test tonight and see if I get any codes.

One, maybe both mounts were soaked in oil from past leaks. I wouldn't be surprised if that didn't help their longevity. Though I'm not particularly excited by the idea of replacing them.

[DerekTheGreat]

Try throwing a strong magnet on the diff cover, might help with the whine and prolong the life of it.

[gadget73]

another thought, did you have the fan off to do the shroud? If so, did it have a bushing inside the clutch that maybe got lost? The replacement clutches have a larger bore than what our pumps use, and there is a bronze bushing that goes in there to make it all work. If the bushing is gone the fan doesn't center properly and it makes things vibrate. Easy enough to tell, watch the clutch with the engine running. If its running off center you'll see it pretty quick.

[Lutrova]

I did, though I always just unbolt the fan from the water pump pulley. I don't believe I've ever separated the clutch from the fan. Will take a look, though.

I had to replace a spark plug wire that broke on removal for the exhaust job, and I'm a little worried that another wire might appear to be good but doesn't actually make a good connection. But now that I think of it, there was some idle vibration even before doing the exhaust manifolds and fan shroud, though it wasn't quite as pronounced. Overall, the engine sounds good.

Try throwing a strong magnet on the diff cover, might help with the whine and prolong the life of it.

On the outside or inside? If I'm opening it up, I suppose there are probably other things I should be looking at while I'm in there.

[gadget73]

Sounds odd and I have absolutely no idea if its anecdotal but when I did the pinion seal on the Conti I found that the pinion had no preload on it. One of the steps for doing seals is check the preload and if its at or above spec, put it back where it was. If its below, torque it until its in spec. When I set mine back to spec, the slight whine the diff had went away.

preload on these is checked with a small inch-pound beam type wrench. Forget the specs offhand, something like 20 inch-pounds of drag, but basically you make the nut in the center of the flange tighter until you get that much drag when rotating the diff with the wheels off the ground and the brakes not dragging. If you've never had the diff open to change the oil though, its due for that and probably an axle inspection.


The bushing sits in the clutch and centers it on the water pump shaft. Its not between the fan and the clutch.

[DerekTheGreat]

...On the outside or inside? If I'm opening it up, I suppose there are probably other things I should be looking at while I'm in there.

If you're going to rebuild it, then you'd put it on the inside. If done right, you won't need it. Otherwise just toss it on the outside of the cover, supposed to help. I've got no first hand experience with that but I'd do it if I had a whine.

[Lutrova]

I watched a couple videos on rebuilding differentials last night, and I now know enough to know it's not a job I care to do myself. At least not anytime soon anyway. Looks like there are a good number of specialized tools required. Gear oil, though, I'm sure I can do.

Haven't been out to the garage in a couple days, so I haven't finished checking out the engine or fan. Although I'm coming around to the idea that it could be the motor mounts. In talking with some guys at the office, it sounds like replacing them aren't quite as hard a job as I'm imagining them to be. Is this the correct mount? It looks like they make different parts for the driver and passenger sides, so I'd obviously get both.

From looking around the forum, it sounds like I'll need a special flex socket if I want to keep the lower control arm in place. Is 13mm the right size?

The shop manual just says support the engine with a jack and wood block. Does that mean pushing up on the oil pan? And if so, from in front of or behind the crossmember?

[WagonMan]

Most of the pre 1988 5.0s had lifting tabs on the exhaust manifolds. If you have an engine crane you can lift the engine up from under the hood. WagonMan

[87gtVIC]

Yes 13mm swivel.. LOW LOW PROFILE not some deep socket. Look here:

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthread.php?26257-My-1987-Two-Door-Crown-Victoria-AKA-THE-BROWN-BLOB&p=775079&viewfull=1#post775079

[gadget73]

kind of a bitch to change them. Only set I did with the LCA in I used a floor jack and a 2x6 on the pad to lift the engine by the front of the oil pan.

with the right tools its possible, without you may as well forget it. Integrated swivel not-deep and a good long extension will get it. Go for a locking extrnsion if possible, otherwise tape the socket on if it doesn't fit real tight.

[Lutrova]

The power went out Wednesday night and wasn't restored until early Thursday afternoon. So I had an opportunity yesterday morning to get a little work done on the Lincoln. Replaced both front sway bar bushings, which was definitely one of the easier things I've done on this car. Next would've been looking at the motor mounts, but I was still waiting for the swivel socket to arrive. So instead I looked at the tailpipes, which it turns out are stainless steel. A little steel wool and they shined up pretty good.

I ran a full diagnostic scan, and then lost the codes in the reader's memory before I wrote them down. But from what I recall the EGR system is still not working right, and the smog pump was throwing out several codes. That's probably because I have a vacuum line unhooked somewhere along the line between pump and everything else. More importantly, I ran a cylinder balance test, which came back OK. Perhaps there's a better way to be sure, but I'm taking this as a good sign that a misfire isn't the source of my vibration. Also, the fan looks to be properly centered.

At this point I'm thinking I'll do the motor mounts tomorrow. Or maybe start with the driver's side mount and see if that does the trick. If I'm jacking up the engine from below do I need to remove the through bolts for both left and right mounts, or can I leave one installed while I do the other?

[87gtVIC]

Good question on the mounts. Id say at a minimum you would need to loosen the opposing side so the engine can swing upwards I think it all sounds easier on paper, may not be so much when in practice.

I had replaced the mounts twice on my car. Once with lower control arms removed because I was upgrading all of the bushings and swapping to big brakes up front and the second time because I was putting in my new engine so I just wanted newer ones in there. The second set I put in required some persuasion to fit the blocks bracket. I dont remember the specifics but I do know you should try and test fit chassis mount to blocks bracket and ensure there are no clearance issues.

[Lutrova]

Well, as expected, removing the mounts has been harder than it should be, but not in the ways I expected.

First, the 13mm swivel socket has worked like a charm. That, plus an 8 or 10 inch extension have made all the bolts real easy to get to.

I got a little excited and removed all six mount to frame bolts right after pulling the through bolts. Then I jacked the engine up maybe 2 inches or so. The driver's mount pulled right out, while the passenger mount is wedged in between the engine bracket. I probably need to lower the engine, reattach the mount, and raise it again to hopefully free it from this bracket. Because all my pulling and prying hasn't done much.

The other trouble I've encountered is the threads on the new mounts. The new passenger mount had a little rubber or paint in the threads, but with some cleaning out using one of the bolts they've cleaned up just fine. The new driver's mount seems to have threads that are too small. I need to pick up a tap set tomorrow - I believe the bolts are M10-1.5. Pretty disappointed, though, that these replacement mounts aren't even consistent between left and right.

[87gtVIC]

Both times I installed mounts I did notice that both appeared to be made in different factories as the finish as well as rivets and rubber looked entirely different.

[Lutrova]

I've somehow managed to really screw things up. The driver's mount is probably the bad one, but after I gave up tapping the replacement mount I thought I'd reinstall the old one and see if I could at least replace the passenger side by jacking with the other two points secure. What I should've done was call it a day and just try to put everything back together. Instead, I bolted down the driver's mount completely and raised the engine again. The slope of the oil pan meant the engine normally raised toward the passenger side, running into one of the resting tabs of that side's mount. But with the driver's side secured, the engine pivoted off it and the passenger bracket pulled away from the mount.

Unfortunately, this move also managed to get the engine/transmission caught on something, and lowering the jack doesn't lower the engine. I thought maybe the driver's mount was holding everything up, but I completely unbolted it and the passenger side is still an inch or two above the mount. Maybe the transmission mount is binding? When I lower the jack and the engine's weight is no longer on it I can hear groaning from the frame.

I feel like I may be underequipped and in a little over my head on this one. There's a soldier from one of the motor pools here who offers to fix personal vehicles. He's willing to come out and do the job later this week. I suppose that's a little sketchy, but I'd rather have someone take a look at the car where it currently is than have it towed 40 miles to Barstow and risk whatever's binding things up breaking during the trip. I've also ordered a different set of (hopefully better) mounts and some replacement bolts, as the threads on some of the old ones were damaged from my foolishly trying to use them as pseudo-taps. M10-1.5s are apparently hard to come by in 13mm heads, but someone on the internet sells what they bill as Ford replacement bolts, and their strength rating and finish seem to match OEM.

So all in all a fairly straightforward job made complicated by my being cheap and rushing. Hopefully I haven't broken anything else so far and round two goes a little better.