2006 Mercury Grand Marquis LS "Ultimate Edition"

[P72Ford]

This is why I do everything myself I possibly can. Nobody cares. Accidents happens but come on. Pisses me off.

Yeah, I am in the same boat. Exhaust is tough though. Super happy with the shop's work; bummed about the taillight. At any rate, I'm glad there was no paint damage!

It would probably be better with the cats in place. 2.5" is really kinda big. Maybe try swapping in some stock mustang 2.25" mufflers which will still give plenty of flow and a some good sound. Is it stainless or galvanized?

I agree, and had considered 2.25". I will say that I commute along I-84 in eastern CT and it is a hilly section of road. With stock exhaust, the car would drop out of OD at 75 mph on the hills. With the new exhaust, there is definitely an improvement in power/ torque as it goes up and down hills in OD (it just tickles my brain while it does it ). I paid extra for 409; its not aluminized/ galvanized.

Do the exhaust tips end "outside" the body? Or atleast have turndowns at the ends. Exhaust noise can bounce around from the insides of bumpers and underbody panels, amplifying the drone. That's why axle dumps are awful and should always have downturns at the ends.

While I can't comment on sound deadening lessening drone, it can reduce other resonance from the road and drivetrain. The less sound deadening a car has stock, the bigger the improvement is. A friend had pretty good results with installing some on the floor, trunk and rear wheel housings on a "premium" BMW E46 3-series.

The awful drone might go away from just changing mufflers. Frequencies, resonance and harmonics are a stupid game.
Thats why some exhaust leaks are unbearable and some just add character lol

Tips comes straight out the back like a Marauder. I am actually hoping that maybe the mufflers will "wear in" a bit. If not, I am going to explore sound deadening and the addition of a set of resonators, or different mufflers.

My Ram with no mufflers (just resonators), is much more pleasant on the highway.

[Arquemann]

I am actually hoping that maybe the mufflers will "wear in" a bit. If not, I am going to explore sound deadening and the addition of a set of resonators, or different mufflers.

I'd start with trying out different mufflers and/or resonators, if your exhaust isn't all welded together.
While sound deadening material is relatively inexpensive, it's really laborious to install, since you have to pull out the seats and carpet. And it's the exhaust that causes the drone and it's generally a better idea to fix the issue rather than circumvent the issue.

[jaywish]

Yup going to duals will open it up a bit. That is a nice improvement. I don't know if a stock dual car had a tweaked engine management program to optimize them. But if you are going to consider a program change it would be best to finalize the exhaust configuration. Wise choice on the material upgrade.

[packman]

If your shop still has your stock exhaust; maybe they can cut off those weights by the H-pipe and weld them to your current exhaust. I was told (probably here) the job of those weights is to decrease interior drone.

I have the large case Dynomax Super Turbos for my '05 MGM. Since they quieted down the lopo on the CV; I figure they will do the same for the Merc; even with headers. Of course I will put cutouts for the sleepy nights on the highway.

[jaywish]

plus 1 on the weights helping a bit. But they really did not add that much noise when i removed them from a stock exhaust many years ago.

[P72Ford]

Recently replaced the brakes on the car (rotors were original), and noticed that the upper ball joint boots were ripped. They are still "tight", but UCAs, LBJs and tie rod ends are en route today. I'll get to them before fall. The brakes were fine but the pulsating that was present from the time I bought the car was driving me nuts.

At the last oil change I decided to switch to AMSOIL. Going to do some oil analysis and see what this stuff is all about.

I had the driver's seat belt tensioner fritz out and throw a code, so I had that rebuilt. The EATC went wonky a few days later; replaced the o-rings for $2.31 and its good as new. I can't believe folks buy a new EATC unit to the tune of $600+ from Ford instead of taking the thing apart.

A few growing pains but I really do enjoy this car.

[P72Ford]

Just updating some threads and wanted to add some newer pictures.

The GM has been a great car for me, just turned over 92,000 miles. The exhaust is still too loud, but I like it just the same.

Plans for 2022:

Oil Change (I run AMSOIL in it)
Paint Correction
Rust proofing (fall)
Daily driving

In front of some Mountain Laurel in Union, CT


After a wash


Jackson, NH. Averaged 26mpg on this trip. I like stuff that accelerates quickly, but praise the Lord for 2.73s in a commuting car. This thing SAILS on the highway.

[packman]

That's where I am at with my '05 MGM. The only mods I have done/will do is the CAI, swaybars (front & Back), and a full exhaust (by default). My commute is 70 miles round-trip; and it's mostly highway; the 2.73s are staying. Totally with you on that.

[DerekTheGreat]

That's some mighty impressive fuel economy given what it is and all it offers.

[jaywish]

the 4.6 cars can do very well highway cruising with 3.37 or bigger gears.

[P72Ford]

Been a little while, but I do occasionally like to drop an update in this thread.

The car rolled 100K about a month ago, sitting right around 101,500 miles right now. I put new tires on the 19s; 255 45 19 Cooper RS3s, which are about an inch taller than the 255 40 19. They look absolutely perfect (sorry I'll have to grab a picture) on the car, but my fuel mileage has predictably taken a little bit of a hit. I am a little disappointed in that; the jury is till out on whether the cosmetic improvement is worth the mileage dip.

I serviced the transmission (Motorcraft fluid and filter), and the rear (Lucas Synthetic) about 6 weeks ago. I have some sort of a chirping sound coming from the front that I sure would like to figure out. It only happens over bumps, and I have knocked myself out trying to identify the cause. No dice yet. Going to fluid film and oil it up here in the next month or so in preparation for winter.

Hoping to get another 5+ years out of this one.

[DerekTheGreat]

I love me some Fluid Film.

[Mustang Eddie]

I have some sort of a chirping sound coming from the front that I sure would like to figure out. It only happens over bumps, and I have knocked myself out trying to identify the cause. No dice yet.

Had this same issue with my Marauder & it turned out to be the hood latch. Lubed up the latch noise gone.

[FordMan77]

Yep, 2nd the hood latch. My 03 Sport likes to do that from time to time.

[P72Ford]

Had this same issue with my Marauder & it turned out to be the hood latch. Lubed up the latch noise gone.

Yep, 2nd the hood latch. My 03 Sport likes to do that from time to time.

Phenomenal! This has resolved my issue!

Thank you guys a bunch!