Prudence, my 87 Town Car

[Tiggie]

I had an S10 that cracked the plastic radiator neck. No idea why or how that happened. So look for cracks in that area just to be sure.

I'd put a new cap on it too. Cap pressure get lazy with age.

The clamp on your vent line is curious. Makes me wonder if it's the wrong size hose. Does it fit tight without it? It should fit snug and seal without a clamp. I think those are supposed to be unclamped in the event that the hose gets stopped up, it can blow the vent hose off instead of the next weakest link in the system. Dad had an old truck with a full hardline vent that got stopped up. It ballooned the tanks on the copper radiator. Luckily made some interesting noises as it grew and we discovered the problem before it left us stranded. Radiator still on the truck and not leaking.

[Lutrova]

The hose ought to be the right size as the whole assembly came off a '90 Town Car. I think I found the clamp on some other part in the engine bay and felt like it would fit over the overflow hose. Never gave any thought to the possibility of it getting blocked up. I'll have to see just how snugly it fits without.

Elsewhere I was reading that the air plenum on Boxes is such that a bad heater core won't dump coolant on the carpet until several quarts have come out. Is there a way to visually inspect the core without taking the dash apart? Or is it something you can clearly smell when it happens?

[gadget73]

leaking out from under the cap is almost always a bad cap. Or dirt on either the seal or the top of the rad. The lower part is what holds pressure, when that spring gets overcome it passes into the upper chamber where its supposed to go into the overflow bottle. If the cap isn't sealing it just squirts out from there, but more importantly it won't draw coolant back out of the bottle either. It just sucks air instead.


not really much of a way to to see the heater core. if its not fogging the glass or smelling like coolant inside the car, don't tempt fate.

[Lutrova]

I picked up a plain, 16 lbs Murray cap from O'Reilly. Seems the only Motorcraft replacement these days is plastic, and it wasn't in stock anyway. The new Murray cap appears to seal well, though I couldn't fully remove it once I got it on. Probably something simple, but it was dark, cold, and windy and I didn't want to monkey around and somehow break the radiator neck. The neck, by the way, looks to be fine. I felt around the inside and couldn't feel any cracks. The old cap, however, had a couple nicks in the rubber seals, so that's probably the problem then.

Assuming that is the solution, the next project is shoring up the power steering. The pump has always been noisy, and steering boost has declined while a leak has increased in the last year. Both hoses are wet right at the pump, which leaves me unsure whether it's the hoses or the pump or reservoir that's the source of the leak. I have replacement hoses and a pump seal kit, but I'd like to avoid removing the pulley, which I believe is required to do most/all of the pump seals.

If I just replace the hoses, the procedure would be 1) remove old fluid, 2) remove old hoses, 3) install new hoses, 4) add new fluid, 5) bleed? Or is it dumb to just stop at hoses and not do the pump at the same time?

[87GrandMarq]

I put a remanufactured pump in my 87 mgm because the stock one was noisy and leaked. This new one is noisy and leaks. I even used type F fluid too. I’ve heard synthetic fluid is supposed to quiet it though. Doing the pully isn’t hard it’s just a pain in the ass. The fan shroud will need to come off and it’s still tight.

Most definitely do the lines. I’ve heard of them bursting more than once. Be very careful when putting the new hoses on not to cross thread them. It’s very easy to do that.

Since you have the seals you might as well try it first. Clean up the pump and steering box while you’re at it to identify new leaks, god forbid any appear.


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[gadget73]

I think you might be able to get the reservoir off without removing the pump, but that won't do you any good if the front seal is whats leaking. A good pulley remover makes it not a big deal, a garbage one makes it just a horrible nightmare.


pretty sure I've done mine without removing the fan, but its been a while. When mine was leaking from under the front seal and making irritating noises I got a Napa pump. Its quiet and doesn't leak. Can't really say more about it. If the assist is getting weak, I'd say you need a pump more than just seals.

[Lutrova]

If replacing the pump might be necessary, I guess I'd rather just skip to that step than screw around with resealing the one I've got. It looks like all the major auto parts stores sell reman'd pumps under their store brands. I doubt they're dealing with them in-house. Do you think Napa has a better angle on these units than Autozone or O'Reilly, or is it just the luck of the draw whether you get a noisy one or not? (Ultimately, a noisy pump isn't the end of the world so long as I can make u-turns with a single finger.)

I'm hopeful removing the pulley won't be too bad. I do have the '90 fan shroud which puts the coolant overflow tank right in front of the PS pump. If it's too tight I should be able to just move the tank before I have to deal with the fan and shroud.

In other news, new rear coil springs arrived today. Rock Auto "Lesjofors", constant rate springs. The box says they're made in Sweden, so I guess I'll have some of that fancy, European handling. I'd still like to get the air shocks installed and working, but the regular ones I've got are just fine, so that can wait.

[gadget73]

probably really only a handful of rebuilders so luck of the draw. I had a discount card for Napa so it ended up being the cheapest thing I could get. I couldn't actually get a better price from Rockauto after core and shipping and all that so I went local in case it was a noisy one.

If you're changing the hoses that will end up being a pretty complete flush too. fresh Type F does tend to make less noises than old nasty fluid.

The puller I have is a Gearwrench one I think. The part that hooks on the pulley is split in two so you put the halves together and screw the handle in to hold it. I find that style works better than the C shaped things that only grip on part of the hub. Its also got the installer piece with the studs and the bearing and all that.

[Mainemantom]

Lisle makes a good puller too. The Auto hobby shop on base might have one to use. I think it is the luck of the draw with remans.
Maybe you can find a good deal on a nos Ford.

[DerekTheGreat]

I wouldn't call it syrupy pancakes, but a very faint, sweet smell. Which could be the start of the heater core leaking. That would certainly make more sense than the scent of coolant at the radiator cap making its way all the way across the engine compartment.

I don't have the tool to perform a pressure test, but I'm sure it would fail as I can clearly see drops of coolant from the block freeze plugs. No puddle or drips on the floor yet. I suppose it must be leaking only at temperature.

If the heater core is on its way out, would that cause leaking at the cap?

That's the smell. "Breakfast/pancakes" is more of a joke. My car never left drips. Like someone else said, the other tell-tale sign of a leaky heater core is if the windshield fogs up when using defrost. My car did that too. That will not cause a leak at the cap. Evan's Coolant, maaan. Fix the leak and then put in Evan's. The stuff doesn't expand like traditional coolant does so it won't stress gaskets, seals or other components.

[gadget73]

Lisle makes a good puller too.

had to grab something out of the toolbox. Mine is actually a Lisle. Not sure why I was thinking Gearwrench.

I ended up buying one because the loaner from the parts store was destroyed beyond being useful and the one they had on the shelf for sale was such a piece of junk it wouldn't work.

[Lutrova]

That's the smell. "Breakfast/pancakes" is more of a joke. My car never left drips. Like someone else said, the other tell-tale sign of a leaky heater core is if the windshield fogs up when using defrost. My car did that too. That will not cause a leak at the cap. Evan's Coolant, maaan. Fix the leak and then put in Evan's. The stuff doesn't expand like traditional coolant does so it won't stress gaskets, seals or other components.

Well that sucks. I'll have to verify with the defrost, but between the freeze plugs and the heater core are two major jobs I would've preferred to not have to do. I assume the only way to keep it from leaking until then is to bypass the core?

Lisle makes a good puller too. The Auto hobby shop on base might have one to use. I think it is the luck of the draw with remans.
Maybe you can find a good deal on a nos Ford.

I've learned with the auto craft shop to expect nothing in the tool department. They have hydraulic lifts, a steady supply of air, and some of the larger machines - fluid exchange, tire mounting, etc. Anything that might be specific to one make or model they won't have. Sometimes that's not the end of the world. The guys who run the place come from the Red Green school of auto mechanics, and that can overcome any number of obstacles.

O'Reilly had the cheapest reman power steering pump. With a $5 core I may just hold onto the old pump. Now I just need to find time to swap it out, along with the rear springs, and the other half dozen projects that have cropped up in the mean time.

[DerekTheGreat]

Oh those are jobs I wouldn't do either. I farmed out the heater core and also had the evaporator done at the same time. Yes, bypassing the core would keep it from leaking, stinking and fogging. I attempted to do that, but those hoses weren't budging without cutting so I just left the temperature to full cold and barely drove it.

Good luck with a reman pump. Most seem to be just cleaned & painted. I went through two on an F150 I was working on- both were just as noisy as the one they were intended to replace. Funny enough, the fix was the one I pulled from a ~300k mile Ford Taurus. That pump was dead quiet.

[Giraffe]

The pump on my '90 GM was actually fairly quiet. It got much more quiet when I filled it with Type-F from O'Reilly.

If you'd be willing to buy your own puller, OTC makes a good one. There is a full service set that includes a case ($53) and a smaller one that doesn't have a case ($40) but still looks to have everything needed to remove and install a pulley.

[Lutrova]

It's been awhile, and progress isn't too quick these days with a newborn, but I've managed to get a few projects moved along.



Replaced the rear springs with the Lesjofors, 4427512. A tag on one of the old springs read D9AC-5560-SA. The new springs have one less coil and thicker wire, and actually are a little shorter than the old ones. I couldn't find any data on spring rate for them, but I assume they'll be a little stiffer. Not my first preference, but they did raise the rear 1 1/8" and the front by 5/8". If they keep the hitch from striking the ground I'll be happy.



The power steering project was supposed to be a straightforward remove-and-replace, but I can never help myself from cleaning things up. I hit the alt/PS bracket with 150 grit sandpaper by hand, which didn't work miracles, but it did brighten the aluminum up and smoothed out a few smaller casting marks. Between the PS leak and the old intake manifold leak, there was a lot of sludge caked on this part of the engine.



I took a gamble on the Harbor Freight pulley puller tool - the $20 Pittsburgh set. It has the two-piece puller clamp and several options for installing to different pumps. I'm sure it's nothing special, but it got the job done, all without power tools. I think I saved myself a lot of agony by removing the pump with the bracket instead of attempting to remove the pulley in the engine bay. The upper alternator bracket does have to come off first, which also requires unbolting the fan and its pulley.

The only trouble with the pump replacement so far has been reinstalling the old pulley. I had to use a vise grip to keep it steady while pressing it on while holding the bracket with my knee. But it's on now. Tomorrow I'll replace the lines and try to bleed the system.

***

Replaced the fuel filter today. There was a Purolator on there. No idea how old it was. Probably could've been left, but now I know there's a Motorcraft filter and when it was put on.

This is part of my efforts to correct a slight misfire and lack of power. Maybe it's more in my head than anything, but I feel like something's just a little bit off. I've also got Motorcraft copper spark plugs gapped and ready to be swapped in. We'll see if any of this makes a difference.

The final piece of the puzzle before the car's back on the road is the heater core. I have a new core ready along with heater hoses, which I believe are the only rubber hoses that haven't been replaced yet. The current setup has a fill valve in line with the hose that has the TBL switch. I don't think that was stock, so I'm probably going to remove it. Seems to have no advantage anyway to just filling from the radiator.

This video on Youtube seems to show the process pretty well, though I believe this guy's Crown Vic has fewer relays and wires in the way than a Town Car does:

https://youtu.be/ntQFNqbLIpo