Hi New to the forum, I figured I would stop in drink some beer and pick some brains..... But not today.. I have had a 1978 country squire for two years. I bought it for my daughter. It had 34,000 miles. She hated it at first, but she learned to love it. She would run out of gas and bitch. The motor would stall, and complain (bad module).. She would get a flat tire, DAD it's broke again... Then she was adjusting the radio And drove it off the road.. DAD, OH YEAH SHE WAS FINE. That thing got pulled out of the swamp trees and we drove it home. The wood grain moulding got all twisted up. Sooo. Her mom gave her a worn out 2002 Taurus wagon thingy(boring) I took it back...... Unloaded the trash bags and clothes boots and crap. Put it in the garage where it sat for a year. I dropped It off at a guy who said he could fix the moulding (he didn't). He did shine it up and it's running great.. Thanks for being a cool forum to visit and chat Cheers!!!! Rich
She actually AGREED to drive the Country Squire? My younger daughter accepted her first car, begrudgingly (a '90 Camry), but would have preferred to take the bus and bum rides from friends rather than have to drive a big ford land yacht. I think now that she's gotten a bit older (all of 22), she might think my Safari as kinda cool, especially with the 'way back'..... Welcome to the forum, Rich. Looking forward to seeing pics of your wagon... Marshall
Welcome to the nuthouse, Rich. I think you will find a home around here. Be sure to check in, and join in. We're all a bit crazy, but mostly harmless.
to the forum. Your daughter seems to be normal. As for you, stop in drink some beer and pick some brains.. That shouldn't take long. Then get out and work on your wagon.
Well first off, thank you for the the welcome WAGON!!! When I get a chance to use the wife's iPad I will post a couple of pics. I also have a original 1979 Lincoln Continental. Which is a true pleasure to ride! One question I had regarding the 1978 country squire is that the brake pedal has full travel almost touching the floor. It is kinda unnerving at times! Any thoughts??? Thanks Rich
My first guess would be air in the system somewhere, but after that it gets a bit stickier. Can you pump the pedal up at all? And if so does it hold pressure or slowly sink to the floor again. If it holds pressure does the pedal feel solid when the car isn't running, then sinks after the engine is running?
I have tried to pump it, but it seems not to change the pedal travel. I will check it again though- to many beers since I last posted!!!! THANKS FOR THE HELP! Rich
The brakes in the Country Squire should feel almost identical to the brakes on the Continental, since both cars use the same booster and master cylinder, and weigh close to the same amount. If the pedal is low like that, and does not pump up, there are basically 2 common causes. First, the fluid level is low, normally from a leak somewhere. The other possible cause is the master cylinder has gone south on you. Master cylinders are cheap on these cars, too. They are under $70 brand new. The rebuild kit, if you want to do it yourself, is under $20 including tax. If it is low fluid, the find the leak. If there is no leak in any of the lines or fittings, the one thing to check is what happened to my brother's 79 Thunderbird. The seal between the master cylinder and vacuum booster leaked. The booster was literally sucking the brake fluid out of the booster, but there was no visible leak. When we figured it out, the booster weighed about 5 pound more than it should have, and that was all fluid! We'd been looking for the leak for a while, and it took the seal letting go completely for us to find the problem.
