EATC o-ring replacement: finally

[sick88tbird]

Finally got around to replacing the o-rings in my EATC unit. I edited out the “wrong” way...I may make a short video of that and post it to my Carport Shenanigans FB page if there is any interest in that. Thanks for your continued support guys!

[gadget73]

the fact that they never put proper electric actuators in these and bodged it together with 1970s vacuum motors controlled with an overly complex electronic vacuum valve mechanism never ceases to amaze me.

[VicCrownVic]

Nice to see how it's done. I took a look at those spot welds and decided I didn't want to mess with them. That's why I retrofit the '03+ actuator unit into my stock control heads. I also noticed that your electrical connector on the actuator assembly is the 5 pin instead of the 8 pin like the older units. I'm not sure when that change came about, but it was definitely after '98.

In your case the '03 actuator assembly would likely plug in without modification to the electrical connector, and only require two holes drilled in the back of the head unit for the new location of the cover screws.

I think you'll be fine with the broken spot welds since the actuators are still mounted in the center just like the '03+ units which lack that outer frame. If not grab an '03+ ('03 and '04 for sure) actuator assembly from the JY (cheaper than buying the whole head unit) and swap it in.

[sick88tbird]

Another solution to reattaching at the spot welds would be JB Weld...also, as snug as the lid fits, some small adhesive backed foam strips would hold them down. I am curious now to see how the ‘03+ models are put together.

[87gtVIC]

Thanks for the vid was fun to watch. Interesting.

[VicCrownVic]

Another solution to reattaching at the spot welds would be JB Weld...also, as snug as the lid fits, some small adhesive backed foam strips would hold them down. I am curious now to see how the ‘03+ models are put together.

I looked at my pictures again from my RR thread. Instead of the frame there are screws to the sides of the actuators. The assembly screws to the redesigned lid.

Link to that post (#30) with pictures and details on the retrofit: http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...l=1#post839773

[sick88tbird]

Thanks for the vid was fun to watch. Interesting.

Thank you for watching! Glad you enjoyed it


VicCrownVic- that later setup looks MUCH easier to service. I may do that one day, thanks for the write-up and pics!

[VicCrownVic]

Yep, super simple.

When I was researching the install of a '97 LTC EATC head into The Ice Car ('91 MGM, factory ATC with broken sliders) I wanted to change to O-rings before installing it. I looked up various write-ups/YT videos, which were done on '03+ units, and thought the job would be easy. After seeing what needed to be done on my '97 unit (break those spot welds) I took a trip to the JY to find a unit like the ones I was seeing in the write-ups. Yanking a few control heads in the yard is where I found the switch happened in '03. After comparing the two versions I determined swapping to the new one should be possible. I've done the swap twice now.

Here's a video that gives a good look at the '03+ unit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQusJQbT7rA

Like I mentioned earlier your repair will most likely be fine. The only modification for your '01 unit, since you already have the 5 pin electrical connector, should be drilling two 3/16 holes in the back of the head unit to accept the screws for the new actuator unit.