Sooner Schooner ongoing impressions

Those of you who have been following the "Trans Slipping" thread...

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27983

will know that I finally have my baby back. I thought I would start a separate thread where I can post my impressions as I get to know her. It has been several decades since I had driven any Dearborn iron so as I get reacquainted with their virtues and vices I thought that it might be fun to share for the benefit of those who are in a similar situation.

Initial things that I like

1. The ride is exceptional... "what railroad tracks" ...but the directional stability is not compromised and I can quite precisely place her where I want her after initially getting used to the bulk. No one would mistake it for a sports car but it doesn't wander either.
2. The materials are by and large stout. The hood does not flex at all as you raise and lower it. Doors are also solid and relatively heavy.
3. I love hood ornaments.
4. It is, for lack of a better word, calm. It accelerates just fine but doesn't make a fuss in the process. The same seems to be the case in getting through the roundabouts.
5. Space. Abbey has plenty of room to explore while we drive and can even sit between Nan and I in front seat if she wants to. The 1971 Town and Country of my youth might have had slightly more room but not much and it could not manage 20mpg ever.
6. I can drive seemingly forever with little or no fatigue.

Things that are less desirable

1. One thing that I remembered that is still the case is that little interior details are more troublesome. Door locks, glove box latches, trim and such tend to need a bit of attention from time to time. Plastic trim parts could be of better quality.
2. There is room for them to have cut the doors and inch or so higher and I would have preferred that.
3. I would prefer it if the seat backs could be brought more vertical without raising the back of the seat bottoms.

All in all I love this car.

mike
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Glad you are happy with your station wagon. Some people expect a perfect vehicle when they buy. You followed thru and are making yours dependable and fun.
I'd bet more young people would love a big ol station wagon if they drove one awhile instead of the newer generic cars.

 

Now I want to go read your other thread. I didn't follow the other "Trans Slipping" but I do now.

 

Drove the battle cruiser to work this morning. This is the first time I have driven in frigid weather (low to mid 20s) so I got an opportunity to check out a few things.

I had suspected that I needed a new thermostat and I think I have confirmed that. I idled it for a few minutes and drove about ten to fifteen minutes and the temperature gauge never moved. The air coming from the vents was warm but never got hot.

I expect that this should be a pretty easy job as the thermostat housing is supposed to be accessible on these without removing a bunch of other stuff. My guess is that if I drain a bit of coolant from the radiator into a clean bottle I won't even need to get any more antifreeze.

I also noted that no matter how I set the controls very little air came out of the defroster outlets, it all seemed to come out of the dash vents, didn't seem like much to the floor either but I didn't crawl down there to check. I suspect a vacuum line or valve. I hope it isn't too hard to get to these.

I haven't gotten a factory service manual yet so if anyone has any advice feel free.

mike

 

It sounds like a thermostat will solve the problem. I drove the car all last Winter and the heat was nice and toasty - and near immediate! I wonder that when I got the water pump replaced, if my mechanic replaced the thermostat with a different one or reused the old one. It'll say on the receipt I provided which he did.

I have a similar defroster problem on my Ford CS. Both cars have the Climate Control on them.

I can tell a difference in the Colony Park and my new Country Squire, in that the Merc has a slightly better ride quality. It also has better acceleration than the Ford. I am glad your car is working out for you. "Abbey", eh? I've never been one to name a vehicle

 

Thanks Pat. Actually Abbey is the pup, AKA Queen Abbey the Labby.

mike

 

These wagons are wonderful. We've had a few of the Grand Marquis/Crown Victoria cars, both sedans and wagons. Aside from the dash pads being fragile around the speaker grills, we've never had a problem with interior bits needing attention, though, even on my brother's 86 CP with 500,000 miles on the clock. When it comes time to do the shocks, get the Ford gas shocks. They are the least expensive, but are calibrated correctly for the car. It will seem softer than the aftermarket, but you'll find it corners much better than you expect. The difference is really night and day. Have fun with the Sooner Schooner. Sounds like a love affair blossoming!

 

Didn't take long to start getting comments. Nan had told my that on our trip home from OK she often caught passersby gawking when I was inside paying for gas etc. Well today leaving the restaurant after lunch a couple of guys stopped to chat "a really long one isn't it". Lots of questions about vintage, parts availability etc.

I guess I didn't really realize how rare a sight our blessed boats are.

mike

 

Station wagons and other strange vehicles can be a blessing and a pain in the tailpipe. Especially when you are in a hurry! But it's worth the trouble.

 

now keep in mind brother...all that 'heat' control stuff on the dash is all vacuum controlled !!!!:banghead3:
If you have any vacuum leaks ..then the vent system is almost the 1st thing to act goofy....in my 89....it wouldnt even work on the dash...until you put in on 'floor'..then back to 'dash'...

I disconnected the Ebrake vacuum line and plugged it (dont need it anyhoo)...and that made the difference !

Mind you...mine has another leak that I cant find :banghead3:

and the door locks quit working all but the passenger front

 

Yes, looking forward to diagnosing this one. The interesting thing is that the fan speed, which also appears to be vacuum operated, seems to work properly. The off position works but it appears that the control has no effect on distribution. If anyone can point me to good pics or diagrams of the under dash it would be helpful.

mike

 

The fan does not work via vacuum. It is wired to a set of resistors mounted on the plenum. There is a 3 or 4 wire bundle to the resistor pack, and then a single wire off that to the fan. The distribution is controlled by vacuum, and if there is a leak, it is supposed to default to full defrost. If you have the automatic climate control, the temperature is also controlled by vacuum, by way of an ambient temperature sensor. That sensor is mounted on the top of the plenum, and there is a supply hose from the face of the dash. I'm not sure just where that is on the 90/91 dash. When I was stuck with 2 cars with that automatic system, I disconnected the vacuum to the temperature regulator so I got nothing but full heat. Otherwise, tepid was as good as it got. You can reach that by opening the glove box, and squeezing your hand over the top of the glove box itself. There is a vacuum actuator right there. What I would do is to slide under there with a good flash light and run the vacuum lines. They all go from the controller to the plenum, and just make sure there are no leads, and that they are all connected. Good luck! This is why I will not get a car with climate control again!

 

interesting. Since there were no detents on the fan control and the change in fan speed was delayed slightly I assumed that it was vacuum. It does have the climate control. I am going to get the thermostat this morning and will have a gander under the dash after I get the therm changed. I appreciate the pointers.

It makes sense that no-vac would default to defrost. Hopefully I can reach things well enough to ring out the control lines. I think I will pick up a few feet of vacuum line so that I can test the vacuum motors with good old lung power.

I can probably test the switch and connecting hose by feeling for vacuum at the end of the hoses for each motor. If I had a diagram of the plumbing I might be able to deduce what possible failures could result in dash only.

Worst case is that I could disconnect actuators and secure doors in a good compromise position until I get it figured out.

mike

 

Keep in mind, that when the system is set to "vent", the fan has a higher speed setting than if it's set to "a/c" or "heat" - at least, that is what I've experienced with every car or truck I've owned with air conditioning made after roughly 1981.

 

Hmm... kinda scary.

I got the thermostat changed and that fixed the temperature issue. Just a note for folks thinking of getting back into fixing their own cars in one's later years... arthritis does matter. Took me a couple of hours trying to get around some obstacles and about half way through the index finger on my left hand began objecting profusely. Still it is very satisfying to DIY just be sure to plan on more time than you would expect.

The thermostat that was in the car had literally broken into two pieces with the bottom part laying in the manifold. What is kind of scary is what else I found lying beside it (see pic below). It looks like a giant metal golf tee. I wonder what on earth that is (was). I can't image that a piece of a lifter could get in there.



It turns out that I am getting air flow to the floor just not much of anything to the defrost.

I also noticed some leads broken over by the tranny dipstick (Heater hose does pass by that location). I was in a hurry so didn't inspect closely so I am not sure if they are wires or capillary tubes.



mike