Parked 4 years...
#1
12-31-2006 | 04:43 PM
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1
Parked 4 years...
... and now it's mine.
Hello! New to this forum, even tho I have been a Ford guy forever. Current vehicles are a '96 Escort (it just won't DIE!!), a '93 E-350 (it is definitely dying), and a 2004 E450 heavy-duty cube (8500KG gross) V-10 (wow... what a sweet truck!) that I bought new this past summer (yes... a 'new' '04... it had 720 km on it when I took delivery, and I put 80 of those on it test-driving!!)
I was just given a '92 Crown Vic. Standard issue. 57K KM on it (yes... 57,640 kilometers!) One BIG problem: this car has been sitting on a driveway for four years without once being turned over. I was sufficiently clever to have it flat-bedded to my place rather than try to drive it the 180 miles, but now what?
Just to be clear: this car got driven very lightly from 1994-2002 (occasional trips to the store, and even more occasional 1-hour runs on the highway. In '02 the driver died, and the car just sat there. Not set up for storage.
Since getting it home, I drained the turpentine out of the fuel tank (wow... gas gets REALLY yellow as it ages, eh?), and refilled with 4x20 liter jerry cans (showing just under 3/4 tank now) and checked all the fluids. Oil is still clean. Tranny fluid is good to look and smell. Coolant was down a gallon, so I topped. Battery was DOA, but I was able to trickle a load into it (it was brand new just before the car got parked... and the tranny fliud was replaced about a year before).
Fired it up. Unbelievable! Cranked over for about 5 seconds on the starter, and then lit right up. Grumpy for about a minute, and then smoooooth as silk (and I know smooth.. had a '93 BMW 525 iTa up to 6 months ago). Once it warmed up, it got a bit less smooth, so for sure the ignition set (at least plugs/wires) nwill get replacement.
Biggest scare so far: no response from the oil pressure idiot gauge. All others are working. So did a test. Warmed up the engine... turned it off. Felt oil filter. Hot. Waited 30 mins and felt oil filter again. Pretty much cold (it's close to freezing here today). Lit up the engine again... and the filter warmed up immediately. So.. pump must be working. I'll check that out better, but not really scared at this point.
Issue: I smell maple syrup. There's a coolant leak someplace. Any ideas where to look first?
Anyhow.. any advice on how to get this sled road-worthy on a budget happily listened to!!
Hello! New to this forum, even tho I have been a Ford guy forever. Current vehicles are a '96 Escort (it just won't DIE!!), a '93 E-350 (it is definitely dying), and a 2004 E450 heavy-duty cube (8500KG gross) V-10 (wow... what a sweet truck!) that I bought new this past summer (yes... a 'new' '04... it had 720 km on it when I took delivery, and I put 80 of those on it test-driving!!)
I was just given a '92 Crown Vic. Standard issue. 57K KM on it (yes... 57,640 kilometers!) One BIG problem: this car has been sitting on a driveway for four years without once being turned over. I was sufficiently clever to have it flat-bedded to my place rather than try to drive it the 180 miles, but now what?
Just to be clear: this car got driven very lightly from 1994-2002 (occasional trips to the store, and even more occasional 1-hour runs on the highway. In '02 the driver died, and the car just sat there. Not set up for storage.
Since getting it home, I drained the turpentine out of the fuel tank (wow... gas gets REALLY yellow as it ages, eh?), and refilled with 4x20 liter jerry cans (showing just under 3/4 tank now) and checked all the fluids. Oil is still clean. Tranny fluid is good to look and smell. Coolant was down a gallon, so I topped. Battery was DOA, but I was able to trickle a load into it (it was brand new just before the car got parked... and the tranny fliud was replaced about a year before).
Fired it up. Unbelievable! Cranked over for about 5 seconds on the starter, and then lit right up. Grumpy for about a minute, and then smoooooth as silk (and I know smooth.. had a '93 BMW 525 iTa up to 6 months ago). Once it warmed up, it got a bit less smooth, so for sure the ignition set (at least plugs/wires) nwill get replacement.
Biggest scare so far: no response from the oil pressure idiot gauge. All others are working. So did a test. Warmed up the engine... turned it off. Felt oil filter. Hot. Waited 30 mins and felt oil filter again. Pretty much cold (it's close to freezing here today). Lit up the engine again... and the filter warmed up immediately. So.. pump must be working. I'll check that out better, but not really scared at this point.
Issue: I smell maple syrup. There's a coolant leak someplace. Any ideas where to look first?
Anyhow.. any advice on how to get this sled road-worthy on a budget happily listened to!!
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