As you may know, I bought a 93 Crown Victoria a month ago, thinking I got a good deal out of it. Well, it's looking like I may not have got such a great deal. I'm experiencing transmission shudder, some kind of ignition problem where it completely cuts out (feels like it does anyway) for a split second, plus I have some bad problem in the front suspension and it needs a muffler. When I bought it, I was told the transmission was rebuilt, and the exhaust was fixed right up the the manifolds. I think I may have got taken for a bit of a ride, if you catch my drift. I spent approx. $1200 in total on the car, that included the cost to get it transfered into my name and such, and by the looks of it, it's gonna need a few hundred bucks of parts alone, not counting the cost of getting the stuff put it. Like the title says, I miss my Accord now. It has a few small problems of it's own, but nothing like the Crown Vic. First off, the flexible joint in the exhaust has a hole. The part at Canadian Tire is $51.99. Next up, it has some alignment problem. The inside of the left front tire is worn smooth, and I think it has a broken belt because it thumps when I was driving it. It also seems to wander a bit on the road. Next, 2 small holes in the left rear fender. Oh, the tires are also kinda worn. It could stand to have the timing belt and related thingys replaced too. If I had just really thought it over, I could have fixed up the Accord for 500 bucks or so, that would have left me over 600 bucks for things like my insurance bill and a nice set of rims or something. I would love to get my Accord back, but I sold it to my stepfather, but the thing is, he probably won't be back from Alberta for another few months. Right now, I'm let down by the Ford, and I'm thinking about selling it, cutting my losses and buying the Accord back. Even with 342000 kms, it still runs good. Suspension is good, drivetrain is good, body is ok (some small rusty spots, nothing major). I just don't know..I like the Criwn Vic, because it has AC, 4 doors and cupholders that the Accord doesn't have but I suppose I could live without them.
$1200 dollar mistake
- Thread starter 55Test
- Start date
- Status
$1200 car. Canadian $, right?
What exactly were you expecting for just a hair under 1000U$D?
I don't mean to come off as rude or anything...take the tires for example. Were they not visible when you bought the car?
Cars are freakin' expensive. I hate it, too.
What exactly were you expecting for just a hair under 1000U$D?
I don't mean to come off as rude or anything...take the tires for example. Were they not visible when you bought the car?
Cars are freakin' expensive. I hate it, too.
I expected the car to need some work, but problems are starting to pile up. The transmission problems, ignition problems, front suspension problems, plus I noticed that it's starting to puff blue smoke now and then. The oil smoke is to be expected in an older CV though, but it didn't smoke like that when I looked at it. The thing is, I'm just kicking myself for selling the Accord. Yeah, I could have fixed it up for WAY less than I've spent over the past 5 weeks on the CV and undoubtedly get another few years of reliable service out of the car until rust kills it.
"I got a piece o **** car..." Seriously though when buying a car you have to take everything with a grain of salt and know how to translate the sales ad.
- "Transmission Rebuilt Recently" usually means the trans has never been rebuilt.
- "New Exhaust" means it NEEDS a "New Exhaust"
- "Minor Rust" means the door is about to fall off
- "Good Tires" means that the tires would be considered good only in a third world country.
Etc, etc. If they make fishy claims about something you cant see like the trans being rebuilt, ask to see receipts. If they dont have em, it probably wasnt done. Caveat emptor.
- "Transmission Rebuilt Recently" usually means the trans has never been rebuilt.
- "New Exhaust" means it NEEDS a "New Exhaust"
- "Minor Rust" means the door is about to fall off
- "Good Tires" means that the tires would be considered good only in a third world country.
Etc, etc. If they make fishy claims about something you cant see like the trans being rebuilt, ask to see receipts. If they dont have em, it probably wasnt done. Caveat emptor.
Dang it all! Buying a 13 year old car with no records seemed like such as good idea. Sorry.
trans shudder might be fixed with a fluid change. you might even just try the 'red bottle' additive (see the transmission forum).
ford of that era seem to have ignition module problems with cause a variety of strange failures. my '88 bronco would stall for no reason and then start right up seconds later.
timing belt changed? save your money. it doesnt have a timing belt.
ford of that era seem to have ignition module problems with cause a variety of strange failures. my '88 bronco would stall for no reason and then start right up seconds later.
timing belt changed? save your money. it doesnt have a timing belt.
I was driving it today, and I decided to pay extra close attention to the car's operating conditions when the bucking occurs. It seems to occur between speeds above 40 mph in 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear with the OD on or off. It doesn't do it when my foot is off the pedal, only when the pedal is pressed. I also noticed today that if I hauled it into 2nd and drove it, it really acted bad, bucking constantly almost like the spark or fuel is being cut off. I'm thinking it's some electrical problem, which isn't good especially given the intermittant nature of the problem.
have you changed the fuel filter?
well a misfire can feel like transmission problems. see if you can pull any code from the computer. sometimes it will set a code but not set the check engine light. i was getting 'loss of dual input control' on my old ford.
also, check trans fluid condition.
also, check trans fluid condition.
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2003
- Messages
- 23,591
My '84 Buick had those symptoms. It was not one specific thing but a compound problem. The warped torque converter was responsible for most of the mechanically induced shutter issues at certain speeds.
I just happened to remember one odd thing the car did to me a few weeks ago, don't know if it's related to this other problem. About 2 weeks ago, I started the car up from an overnight sit. It was probably -15 Celsius outside when I started it. It idled for 20 seconds, drove at 15 mph for under a minute, then out onto the road. When I hit the road, I noticed the car absolutely would not go above 40 mph in any gear. I hauled it into 1st, and accelerated up to 40 mph. It just felt like the car would just shut right off at 40 mph, almost like a top speed limiter or something, but I was only going 40 mph. It did that for about 5 minutes. I drove home, shut the car off then restarted it 6 hours later that day. It didn't do that weird speed limiter thing again. What do you think made it do that, and could it be related to my problem with the bucking?
I hate to sound bad....
but it looks like you will have to ask your step dad if you could PLEASE buy back your Honda.
Cut your losses. Get your car back or look for another Honda in that price range. Too bad you live far away, I'm getting rid of a 98 Civic (140K miles) in a few months.
but it looks like you will have to ask your step dad if you could PLEASE buy back your Honda.
Cut your losses. Get your car back or look for another Honda in that price range. Too bad you live far away, I'm getting rid of a 98 Civic (140K miles) in a few months.
This car has EEC-IV. You should run an EEC-IV self-test, both the key-on engine running and the key-on engine off test.
There's instructions on how to do that all over the net. Just search Google for EEC-IV self test and you'll find it. All you need is a jumper wire...any codes will be flashed out on the check engine light.
This is the first thing that should be done when any Ford vehicle with EEC-IV is acting strange.
This won't, however, tell if there's a misfire, which is also a possibility.
There's instructions on how to do that all over the net. Just search Google for EEC-IV self test and you'll find it. All you need is a jumper wire...any codes will be flashed out on the check engine light.
This is the first thing that should be done when any Ford vehicle with EEC-IV is acting strange.
This won't, however, tell if there's a misfire, which is also a possibility.
Kestas
Staff member
There's nothing more expensive than a cheap used car!
Those kind of deals are fine, IF:
a) you know the model like I know (240) Volvos
b) ditto and have friends
c) have books
d) have time
e) have access to parts, junqueyards, etc
a) you know the model like I know (240) Volvos
b) ditto and have friends
c) have books
d) have time
e) have access to parts, junqueyards, etc
Speakng of Volvo's, there's an 87 240 DL up the road for sale. 116000 miles. Body looks good. $2000. That's too much for me, but I had to take a look at it yesterday. Don't see too many of them on the roads anymore.
That's actually low miles. But if you know them and can get the guy to come down a bit....
I sold my 1985 245ti with 260,000 miles for more than that!
I sold my 1985 245ti with 260,000 miles for more than that!
That's where you find old Renault parts...in the junqueyard
P.B.
P.B.
Okay, I'm gonna help out a bit here. #1 - tranny fluid change with Aamco Mercon V (which is backwards compatable) - all of it, not just what is in the pan. #2 - no need to change the timing belt because this car should have a 4.6L engine which doesn't have a timing belt. It has timing chains with tensioners run by oil pressure. #3, have a mechanic hook it to an ignition scope. It could be a bad plug, wires, or coil packs. If you replace whe wires, replace them with motorcraft wires. I have not had good luck with even the most expensive after market wires. They never seal at the top and water gets past them causing the spark to jump down the side of the plug. This is obvious when you pull the plugs by lines of carbon running down the sides. #4 - there is nothing very expensive in the front end of this car. Have somebody go over it and do an alignment of nothing major is wrong. #5 - fuel filter.
I'm a bit confused about the holes on the quarter panel - what do they affect and why are the a problem - other than cosmetic?
Really, you shouldn't be let down by the Ford. You obviously didn't check this car out very well prior to buying it. The irregular wear of the tires should've jumped out at you before you bought the car. When you pulled the tranny fluid dipstick, what did it look like? By the sounds of it, you let yourself down and the car is in no way at fault. Anytime you spend only $1200 and expect reliable transportation, you should look it over with a fine tooth comb.
I'm a bit confused about the holes on the quarter panel - what do they affect and why are the a problem - other than cosmetic?
Really, you shouldn't be let down by the Ford. You obviously didn't check this car out very well prior to buying it. The irregular wear of the tires should've jumped out at you before you bought the car. When you pulled the tranny fluid dipstick, what did it look like? By the sounds of it, you let yourself down and the car is in no way at fault. Anytime you spend only $1200 and expect reliable transportation, you should look it over with a fine tooth comb.
- Status
