oh no! colony park (302) engine issue...

Cool!!
I'll get the haynes manual and pay a visit to autozone for parts. I had a poor experience at salvo.

And I'll repeat-- anyone in the Baltimore area who's mechanically inclined and wants to show me some of the ropes?

 

oh, might have to do the power steering fluid box too-- will try to do that myself as well.
Failed inspection for it.

 

Power steering fluid box? Is it leaking around the pitman arm seal? A nice upgrade if you have to replace the box is a '97+ steering box from any CV or GM (I believe they are all the same regardless if it is a police car or not). Here is a link to an article on what it takes to swap it over.

http://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=528300#Post528300

Otherwise you should be able to just replace the seal.

 

Haynes is good but go to eBay and buy the Factory Service Manual(s) for your car. It/they will not be wagon specific but will include the wagon. Sometimes they are a large, single book and sometimes they come in a set of 2 or 3 or 4 books. I don't know how many books are in the set for your car. They are a must for all car owners. They will help you understand many things, Bernie, and will walk you through repairs. Get the FSM...you will be glad you did.

 

Sound advice indeed. The factory manual for that year is one big book not including the EVTM (electrical and vacuum troubleshooting manual). A quick search on ebay yielded this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220520628369

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270155517659

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290397081722

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360104157013

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200007676793

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170477162081

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300427719486

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390158388359

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390194622647

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270517468761

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360227330831

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170475805008

It's not terribly critical that the shop manual is for the exact year of your car, but you might want to try to get the correct year for the EVTM.

 

wow....great post, Kevin. Very helpful for Bernie.

 

Thanks! I've since ordered ALL the books
[no, not all the ebay auctions-- one of every manual there is however, including haynes AND chilton]

Hell, altogether they cost less than 1 hr of the mechanic's time, at least by going Towson rates.

OH-- to the credit of my family's mechanic, while he asks $800 to do calipers, brakes, rotors, and lines; he checked out the car and couldn't find anything wrong at all! And didn't bill me for his time in looking. I know at least one mechanic (*ahem* towson exxon *cough cough*) who would have been delighted to do that and more, and insist it was all urgent.

The same towson exxon mechanic who only knows there's a power steering leak, but not where, yet was glad to fail the inspection as "cracked power steering box" when he wanted $100 just to find the source. Huh!



So anyway, the car is running great. I still suspect it was the brakes, and wonder why the chose to stick right then.

I was in stop&go traffic for 1 hour today, and the engine temperature crept up to the same highs; at the very edge of "normal" so I didn't worry. No unhappy engine signs. But I might want to think of ways to keep her cool, when I'm going 5mph in stop&go and there isn't the airflow to cool the engine.

Btw, any issue with throwing 600lbs in the back of the wagon tomorrow? They can take that weight easy, right?

 

600 pounds of cake....no problem.