Hatchbacks and sunroofs

[RobertB]

     Well, the Crown Vic konked out once with that minimal keychain, but it restarted easily.  However, the car was low on fuel, enough to pop on the Low Fuel light but there should have been a reserve of 3 to 4 gallons.  So, I've been driving with the minimal keychain and have been keeping the gas tank more full of fuel.
     I also sprayed half a can of Gumout down the throat of the MAF and wiped away any gumminess around that throat and flapper.

          No engine dying so far,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

[RobertB]

...the car was low on fuel, enough to pop on the Low Fuel light but there should have been a reserve of 3 to 4 gallons.

Problem solved!  At the last gas fill-up, I pumped more gas into the car than usual.  I discovered that when the Low Fuel light came on, the car only had 1 to 2 gallons left in the tank, not the 3 to 4.  The tank float level had changed!  When I had gone around the corner with Low Fuel light on, that 1 to 2 gallons had sloshed to one side of the tank, and there was nothing for the fuel pick-up to suck up.  When I had stopped and the car restarted, the gas had leveled out for the fuel pick-up to get to the 1 to 2 gallons.  In other words, when that Low Fuel light comes on now, I'd really better get some gas into the car and fast!

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

[RobertB]

     When I went to New York/New Jersey in September, I rented a car which was upgraded to a bigger car, a 2018 Ford Fusion.  I drove it around and noticed how quiet it was.  I took out the sound meter app on my cell phone and measured the decibel level at 70 mph on the New Jersey Turnpike.  65-66 decibels!  A full 4-5 db quieter than my 1990 Ford Crown Vic and 1988 Mercury Colony Park!  Well, the NJ Turnpike has a really smooth asphalt surface, and California highways have a noisier, corrugated surface, so maybe that Fusion was 4 db. quieter.  Future goal - get the Crown Vic and Colony Park quieter with sound-absorbing materials. 

          Maybe not as far as 4 db. quieter but at least closer,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
          Commodore Los Angeles Super Show - http://www.portcommodore.com/class

[RobertB]

     Last August I went to Las Vegas for the annual Creation Star Trek Convention.  Over the Tehachapi Mountains, the steering in the Crown Vic felt different.  As I maneuvered the curves, the steering was heavier.  I had lost power steering!  Well, I could still steer, though it was harder to turn the wheel.  I stopped at the nearest town in order to look over the damage.  In the Techachapi Walmart parking lot, I looked over the damage.  There was a fairly large hole in the power steering high-pressure hose.
     It was getting dark, and I was supposed to be 90 miles away in Barstow for the night.  I got materials in Walmart to plug the hole and refill the power steering reservoir.  Fail!  The new fluid just blew past my patch in the hose.  I also noticed the drive belt, which controlled the steering, alternator, and engine main crank, was starting to shred.
     I decided to drive on!  About 10 miles further, the engine started losing power.  Instead of 70, I was going 40, and then after some miles it would surge back to 70.  This happened again and again.  I finally made it to Barstow, smoke coming out of the tailpipes.  The Crown Vic was not happy.
     The next day I crawled the car to the local AutoZone and operated on the car in the store's parking lot.  I cleaned off the leftover power steering fluid which had splashed on the engine, sprayed cleaner down the fuel injection throat, and changed the air filter.  Slightly better but the engine was still stumbling.
      I went to Victorville that day.  The car was still acting up, losing power and then surging back up.  Gas mileage was abysmal.  Instead of 20 miles per gallon on the highway, I estimated it was under 10 miles per gallon.
      The next day I drove to Las Vegas and parked the car, taking taxis to the convention every day.  And every day, I would be in the heat (daytime and nighttime), working on the car.  Change spark plugs, change spark plug wires, spray more fuel injection cleaner.  It was only by chance that I determined the cause of the problems to be the mass air fuel sensor.  After 530,000 miles, it had failed!
      Getting a new MAF sensor would require me to order it for such an old car like mine.  I decided to drive it back to California -- no power steering, bad drive belt, and failed MAF sensor.  Hundreds of miles later I made it back home.  I parked the car, trading it for the Colony Park station wagon.  The station wagon's smooth-running 302 engine made me recall how the Crown Vic's engine was supposed to run.
      After all these months, I've had the Crown Vic's problems repaired.  It runs so much more smoothly now; I should have replaced the MAF sensor long ago!
     However, if it's not one thing, it's another.  The Crown Vic failed its smog test.  Did the rich-running engine with the bad MAF sensor destroy the catalytic converters?  If so, that will be an expensive fix.  Also I drove the car to Stockton (165 miles), and there was a strong vibration from 50-70 miles per hour.  The next day when I looked at the car, the right rear tire was flat.  It had been failing on my freeway drive!  Now I will have to replace that, too.

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
          April 15-16 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2023 - http://www.portcommodore.com/class