1987 Ford LTD Crown Victoria LX

[Milano]

Hi folks.. I've been reading these forums for about 4 years now and finally decided to make a post.

Last week I picked up an 87 Ford Crown Vic... 80,000 original miles (and you can tell.. there's not a dent or scratch on this thing)

Trying to decide on a few fluids for it...Car runs excellent, no major (or minor) leaks that I've seen yet.


OIL: I was thinking MaxLife 10w40 but Amazon has it on backorder. Maybe I'll bite the bullet and walk into a wal-mart. I just don't want anything to start leaking so I figured this is a good oil... have used it in several other cars with good results.. but I'm open to suggestions for other high mileage oils that swell/condition seals - I'd also like to clean it up in there real nice, I don't know what the previous owners used for oil... How's Penzoil High Mileage for cleaning, or is Penzoil Platinum any help for the seals? How about the stuff no one seems to talk about, like Total and Gulf? Wouldn't mind those either if they fit my application.

O/F: I picked up a Purolator PureOne L30001. I've had good luck with these.

FUEL: I want to get my hands on some BG 44K or comparable fuel system cleaner with some good PEA in it.

FUEL FILTER: Is there any difference with these between brands?? Motorcraft, Wix and Mann were the brands I saw for decent prices... but I feel like they're probably all the same inside? Maybe not, but I don't see too many guys cutting them open..

DIFF: I don't know for sure what to do with the rear diff, as I don't have anything to pump it in there as of now I suppose I'll keep reading.. I've used the Royal Purple stuff before in my BMW but I don't think I want to spend so much on this car.. the whole point of buying it was for cheap maintenance. I haven't found the spec anywhere yet either.. a few websites tell me "Sorry we don't have that information" It IS a regular peg-leg diff tho. AMSOIL recommends GL-5. When it comes to this, I'd like to "set it and forget it" (as much as I can). I hate dealing with rear end grease.

GREASE: Haven't been under the car yet.. I usually like Shell Gadus S2.


Please advise if any of my choices aren't great... -or- if you have something in mind that is a better value. I'm not a "Ford guy" as you can see from my signature, only owned one Ford in the past and never changed the oil in it LOL. If there's something you know that these 5.0 engines like, let me know! I'm looking for value.. not the best of the best. My driving will be 90% highway. My OCI's are usually 4-5k.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

-Pete


Oh, obligatory picture...

 

[Nitronoise]

nice vic , my wifes grand father had one until they took his licence at 90 years old

my thoughts ate a QS Defy 5W30 , any 75W90 differential fluid will be fine I used valvoline synthetic in my Panther it was an old squad quiet as a church mouse

Motorcraft filters and Fords go hand in hand never ever had any issues in my fords with motorcraft filters

 

[Colt45ws]

Love Maxlife. Excellent choice.
IMO 5W30 or 10W30 will suffice.
Rear gear lube is 80W90.


Sidenote: Im jealous. I want to take one of those bodies and drop it on a 03+ frame.

 

[BrocLuno]

Nice car

Crawl under there and look at the tag on the Diff. Also look at the glove box door and the door pillar. You are looking for indication that it has posi. If it does, use Fords posi oil. Others will either get notchy and make turns feel rough, or they will not grip...

Run Maxlife 10W-30 first change. Red bottle semi-syn. See how it goes. If no weeps and seeps after a full 5K, you can switch to full syn Maxlife and go 7,500 miles at least. Maxlife and older Fords go together well

MC filters are a good choice. FL1A I think...

New PCV valve and check all the vacuum hoses for leaks. I'd just replace them... IIRC, that engine has a vacuum advance w/o EEC control. If so it's a good dizzy. After cleaning fuel system, you can set the spark timing so that it barely pings on a steep hill with regular under full throttle. That will give you about the best performance and fuel mileage.

Enjoy

 

[Colt45ws]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the PCV. Make sure you pull the screen under the PCV valve and clean/replace. A lot of people pull the PCV and screw a wood screw into the screen to pull it out.
And check and make sure the transmission TV cable has the nylon bushing where it connects to the throttle. The bushing likes to break and fall off, causing the transmission to fail in short order. There are metal ones available that will eliminate this failure.

Im slowly remembering my Box Body knowledge.

 

[Falcon_LS]

That's a sweet looking LTD!

I know everyone loves MaxLife here, but you might want to consider running regular oil with Motor Oil Saver should the need arise. Unless you're burning oil, or you've got issues with something like valve seals, I would personally stay away from high mileage oils. Motor Oil Saver is a high mileage additive, but the good thing about it is it uses esters. Personally, I would use an ACEA A3/B4 certified oil too.

For the differential, I would go with 75W-90. If you were driving it in a hot climate, 75W-140 would be a good bet. Double check to make sure you don't have any clutches in there. You can use Mobil 1 75W-90, which is relatively well priced. I love Motul Gear 300 75W-90, but given you're not looking to go wild, Mobil 1 is a decent choice.

For chassis grease, I'm a huge fan of Schaeffer's 238, which can be bought pretty cheap online.

The one thing I don't see you mention though is brake fluid. Like your BMW, I would put some DOT 4 (or DOT 5.1) in there and change it out annually. How're the brake hoses looking? Are you flushing out the coolant as well?

 

[Merkava_4]

Everybody in this thread is afraid to recommend 10W-40.

 

[Garak]

I used 5w-30 when I had such an engine.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Beautiful car!! The year I graduated high school

. I'd run Pennzoil High Mileage 10W30 and a Motorcraft oil filter.

 

[69GTX]

Originally Posted By: Garak
I used 5w-30 when I had such an engine.

I think I did too. Most of my oil changes were using the grade recommended in the owner's manual. The 10W might be a tad heavy for an upstate NY winter on the coldest days. 10w-30 should be no problem during the spring-fall. I wouldn't use an HM oil until you run your first OCI to determine your own usage.

I had a 1988 that I bought with 55K miles and drove it to 212K miles until the trans finally quit...lots of highway driving and conventional oil changes every 3K-4K miles. It had a factory tow package on it and pulled trailers for its senior owners. Sold it to my mechanic for a few hundred bucks. He installed a new trans and was driving it around for a few years more. I don't think many of these have limited slip rear ends unless you buy an ex-police cruiser. The spark plugs are fairly easy to get to on these and I did mine twice at around 75K and 150K.

I also owned '85 and '87 Crown Vics. They didn't do so well with early trans failures at 80K and 125K. If your fluid isn't new looking, I'd change trans fluid and filter....and keep things fresh at least every 25K-30K miles. The trans is probably the weak link on these.

 

[AirgunSavant]

Nice car
Keep a look out on Amazon for Havoline HM in all flavors.
Sometimes they about give it away!

 

[MuzzleFlash40]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Beautiful car!! The year I graduated high school

. I'd run Pennzoil High Mileage 10W30 and a Motorcraft oil filter.


+1 except I was only 3

 

[Milano]

Thank you all for replying thus far. I've been reading this but hesitated to reply, letting more opinions flow in.

Interesting no one liked the 10w40 in this application. I would've thought that would be nice for the expected hot summer coming up and help with sheer. Probably doesn't matter all that much with a 4-5k interval tho. Still not 100% decided but I'll use a 30WT oil of some variety and it'll depend what Wal-Mart has on the shelf. Apparently my local store is out of stock from Quaker State Defy... and maybe I am being premature with the HM oil having no clue if it's burning or leaking yet. Things I'll take into consideration depending what's on the shelf.

WHAT do you guys think of trying to get in on Valvoline's Engine warranty as the car has less than 125,000 miles? Too much red-tape and hoops to care?? Kinda curious about that.

It's not a limited slip diff. I know that. Just ordered brakes and rotors, I hope the last guy didn't upgrade those to the police package otherwise I just wasted a bit of money LOL.

I know well about the TV cable, it "looks" fine but I might buy the bushing anyway for peace of mind.

The coolant is a nice bright green with no signs of rust in the system. Previous owner replaced the water pump and all hoses recently so I'd imagine that was done at the same time. However, I know some mechanics who will dump the same [censored] in that comes out after doing such a job... LOL so I guess it's always good to check.

The brake lines were also mostly all replaced... from what I'm told and from what little I can see under the car on my back.. I haven't found a rusted one yet.. So there has to be new brake fluid in there. Right now it has a horrible pulsation in the pedal I'm hoping rotors fixes that... if it's the master or I find more rotted lines I'll go with DOT4 as suggested.

Fuel tank was rotted and replaced also. Seems the last guy did all the nightmare work AFAIK. Assuming the fuel filter was done at this time but I'm going to change it anyway. I see no one really had an opinion on a brand of fuel filter other than obvious Motorcraft for fit and finish qualities. They're all basically the same inside I'd imagine? I've never seen an advertisement for any super-duper fuel filter before.

Transmission service was the first thing the PO said he did when he bought the car. It's very quiet and you can barely feel it shift. Embarrassing I haven't checked the fluid but I will go do that after I post this. Seller was completely honest straight arrow type of guy so I'm not particularly worried about anything.

Thanks to the two genetlemen for the reminder on the PCV valve and info on the screen. I'll tinker with that when I get a replacement in hand.. knowing me I'll break something and have nothing.

No one mentioned power steering but there is a new PS pump in the car. It leaks a little as the cap doesn't fit on the reservoir correctly.. It pulls up 1/8 of an inch or so and doesn't stay tight. I dunno what that's about but I'll try to figure something out! Missing gasket perhaps? Maybe I can shove some large o-ring on there and fill the gap.

No recommendations for snake-oil fuel additives? I'll throw in some techron, sort of hard to come by BG 44k since I don't work at a shop anymore.

Schaeffer's 238 seems good for chassis.. the Shell Gadus stuff I wanted doesn't seem as easily available as I thought it was.

Tax season was very expensive for me this year... This car needs the brake situation fixed and the exhaust changed out. I'll work on those 2 things and then I'll get to the fluids. Slow process, bare with me and thanks again for all the comments, compliments and opinions.

OH - Vacuum hoses.. I'm thinking I'll go all silicon at some point

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Nice car

Crawl under there and look at the tag on the Diff. Also look at the glove box door and the door pillar. You are looking for indication that it has posi. If it does, use Fords posi oil. Others will either get notchy and make turns feel rough, or they will not grip...

Run Maxlife 10W-30 first change. Red bottle semi-syn. See how it goes. If no weeps and seeps after a full 5K, you can switch to full syn Maxlife and go 7,500 miles at least. Maxlife and older Fords go together well

MC filters are a good choice. FL1A I think...

New PCV valve and check all the vacuum hoses for leaks. I'd just replace them... IIRC, that engine has a vacuum advance w/o EEC control. If so it's a good dizzy. After cleaning fuel system, you can set the spark timing so that it barely pings on a steep hill with regular under full throttle. That will give you about the best performance and fuel mileage.

Enjoy

Being an '87, it would be SEFI with EEC-IV and TFI, which started in 1986.

 

[OVERKILL]

Milano:

Great looking old panther!

#1. The valve cover gaskets are cork. If they aren't leaking already, they will. The get hard as a rock due to age and heat.

#2. The PCV is three parts on the SEFI Ford engines:
Part 1 - The actual valve
Part 2 - The grommet that it sits in
Part 3 - The splash screen underneath the grommet, which sits in the intake.

Most people make the mistake of only changing the valve, whilst is the the screen that often plugs solid, resulting in excessive crankcase pressure, blow-by and can lead to oil in the intake/consumption. You want to just go to the local Ford dealer and buy all three parts, as the grommet will also get very hard and not seal properly. As Colton noted, a screw is often used to pull the screen out, I prefer a pair of long nosed needle-nosed pliers.

#3. Being a lopo roller 302, it isn't overly picky about oui as long as it has some. Your choice of Maxlife or something along those lines is perfect. I would use a 5w-30. If you want some cleaning you could use a more exotic oil like Mobil 1 0w-40 (my favourite for the Windsor engines) but it is definitely not necessary.

#4. BrocLuno's point about the rear-end is spot-on, use the Ford FM fluid in it.

#5. Don't forget the probably ancient power steering fluid. I like Mobil 1 ATF for this application.

#6. The TV cable, as I believe also mentioned by Colton, it should be at full pull at WOT, if not, adjust it. Also, there is a brass bushing kit to replace the plastic one available through your Ford dealer. I may have one kicking around so if you can't get it, let me know. I had to buy them in a pack, so I had a pile of them.

 

[BrocLuno]

OK, the thing about XW-30 vs XW-40 is that IF we are talking conventional oils, there are more Viscosity Index Improvers (VII's) in a wider range oil. These are not actually oil. They are long chain carbon based chemicals that help with the VI at temp. But they are also the things that shear down. Full synthetic (whatever that means nowadays in the USA...) MAY be different....

So the way multi-grade oil is made is to start with the base stocks that will flow cold at the Winter rate (W) and add VII's until you get the hot viscosity you want. But when the oil shears down, you are left with the W grade base stocks. So a 10W-40 might be a conventional oil loaded with VII's and not a good choice.

Better to narrow the range as much as you can get away with. SAE 30 is almost all oil with no VII's, but might not work in your climate... So maybe the next best is 15W-30 or 10W-30 and that's why folks are not really pushing the 10W-40 thing.

Old motor with 125 on the clock will have some varnish and a bit of sludge in the dark corners. Old cork gaskets can start weeping if you hit them with 100% synthetic. So maybe Pennz Yellow Bottle for the first change in 10W-30, and see how it goes... If no weeps or seeps, move up to Maxlife 10W-30 Semi-syn (red bottle) and see how it goes...

Still no weeps or seeps, full on USA synthetic if you want. And now we are into wide range oils that MAY not have a ton of VII's and can be 10W-40 which would be fine for that old motor.

Or, you could just start with Delo400 15W-40 HDEO and cruise on from there and forget all the other steps involved. HDEO's will clean slowly and they are robust. Most are not synthetic, but may be Grp III and that's OK. The 5W-40's will be synthetic, so a bit of caution on old gaskets there until you know how it's going

 

[Milano]

Hi Overkill thanks for jumping in!

#1 Will do. The passenger side is leaking. Figures it's the side that's tougher to get to with the smog pump [censored] in the way. No problem, will get it done. Should replace with original type cork or go rubber?

#2 Will do for sure.

#3 Will go HM of some variety depending what they have on the shelf. I just checked the Carfax and this thing had a few 3-year periods where it only did 2000 miles. Things have to be hardened up in there. Who knows how many years it was going without oil changes if perhaps the original owner only went by mileage intervals?

#4 Gonna be a while before I have access to a lift but I'll keep that in mind!

#5 I made a long post you probably missed it but the previous guy changed the P/S pump last year and the reservoir cap leaks some fluid.. I bet it's plenty fresh after topping it off every month for the last year LOL.

#6 -- I went out with a friend to see that the line had slack at idle and no slack at WOT. Seems to be correct. Know all about the brass bushing -- I did a lot of reading before I bought this thing..

Thanks for making sure I was aware, tho! I can see that being quite a disaster for guys who didn't read!

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Milano:

Great looking old panther!

#1. The valve cover gaskets are cork. If they aren't leaking already, they will. The get hard as a rock due to age and heat.

#2. The PCV is three parts on the SEFI Ford engines:
Part 1 - The actual valve
Part 2 - The grommet that it sits in
Part 3 - The splash screen underneath the grommet, which sits in the intake.

Most people make the mistake of only changing the valve, whilst is the the screen that often plugs solid, resulting in excessive crankcase pressure, blow-by and can lead to oil in the intake/consumption. You want to just go to the local Ford dealer and buy all three parts, as the grommet will also get very hard and not seal properly. As Colton noted, a screw is often used to pull the screen out, I prefer a pair of long nosed needle-nosed pliers.

#3. Being a lopo roller 302, it isn't overly picky about oui as long as it has some. Your choice of Maxlife or something along those lines is perfect. I would use a 5w-30. If you want some cleaning you could use a more exotic oil like Mobil 1 0w-40 (my favourite for the Windsor engines) but it is definitely not necessary.

#4. BrocLuno's point about the rear-end is spot-on, use the Ford FM fluid in it.

#5. Don't forget the probably ancient power steering fluid. I like Mobil 1 ATF for this application.

#6. The TV cable, as I believe also mentioned by Colton, it should be at full pull at WOT, if not, adjust it. Also, there is a brass bushing kit to replace the plastic one available through your Ford dealer. I may have one kicking around so if you can't get it, let me know. I had to buy them in a pack, so I had a pile of them.

 

[HM12460]

Lots of good advice here and I can't really add anything. You sir, have a very nice vintage Ford! I am a die hard full size, rear wheel drive Ford fanatic. I see yours is a 4 door model. 1987 was the last year the Crown Vic was offered in 2 door trim. Well done!

 

[BrocLuno]

Yeah, but the cooler ones were Merc

 

[CKN]

A Panther love fest. Put some Michelin tires on that dinosaur and your good to go!