Crown vic for friend

[Nick R]

So my friend is getting a job further away and he needs a cheap car, less than $2,000 total. Today we looked at and test drove a 99 Ford Crown Vic with 218k miles, for $1,350. It seems in good shape. Very very minimal rust, fairly clean interior. Couple things that I want your input on. Oh everything works, radio, power doors, power locks, trunk release, radio, A/C, everything.

1. Needs a new windshield. It's NYIS through July so it's not necessary immediately

2. Hesitation. He says he thinks it's an O2 sensor. It starts and idles fine, but if you put your foot down, it hesitates, and doesn't really go anywhere. I'm thinking it's either a coil, an O2 sensor, needs new spark plugs, or a good MAF cleaning. Maybe TPS too or something. Thoughts on this?

3. Steering is generally good, it probably needs a good fluid exchange, and maybe a rattle over bumps from the steering and suspension. It has 200k+ miles on it so I think a little front end work isn't out of the question. What would it probably need?

New brakes, newer belt, tires are decent. Overall for $1,300 I don't think it's too bad. What do you panther guys think? Here's the ad on craigslist. Also yes, the oil looks fine, and it's not low, doesn't look sludged. I figure if he gets it, I will change the oil, fix whatever the hesitation is, do whatever front end work it needs, change transmission fluid, Power steering fluid, spark plugs.
http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/2887033030.html

Also the owner is a former Schenectady Sheriff, and is a nice guy, seems honest to me. He says they drove it to/from NYC every weekend, that's where most of the miles are from.

 

[The_Jeff]

If it was something cheap causing the hesitation the seller would have fixed it.

He bought it from the fuzz and is PROFITING at $1300.

This is not the sort of car where the problem is "something easy". Car guys own these cars.

 

[Nick R]

It's not a ex police. It's a LX trim, with the usual interior suspects, it's not an ex police cruiser.

 

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Today we looked at and test drove a 99 Ford Crown Vic with 218k miles, for $1,350.

Sounds like a lot of money

 

[RedCorvette]

Wow that color, he wanted to be noticed huh?

Hestitation could be throttle body cleaning. Sticky butterfly. I've seen it before.

I would be most wary of the transmission. What color was the fluid? Did you do a blotting test?

 

[ComfyShorts]

Originally Posted By: Nick R

2. Hesitation. He says he thinks it's an O2 sensor. It starts and idles fine, but if you put your foot down, it hesitates, and doesn't really go anywhere. I'm thinking it's either a coil, an O2 sensor, needs new spark plugs, or a good MAF cleaning. Maybe TPS too or something. Thoughts on this?


Major red flag, when an owner says he "thinks" its something cheap and inexpensive to replace its usually not, or else it would've probably been replaced already. Its bad idea to guess driveability issues period. You're right you could be looking at something as simple as a bad coil or injector. Or you could be looking at a vehicle that was at one point overheated and has warped heads, damaged rings/valves or any other list of mechanical issues that require an engine swap or rebuild. Tread carefully.

 

[Nick R]

Transmission fluid looked good, regular Mercon V color. If he were to do it, I'm looking at replacing the MAF Sensor, The tie rod ends, spark plugs, fuel filter, plus fluids. If that doesn't fix the problem (from reading online it sounds like the MAF is the most likely culprit) I'll see if I can pull any codes for O2 sensors.

look, the problem is that pretty much any car in his price range is going to need work of some kind. I figured that of all the cars he could get, this one would be the least likely to have any major problems. But I flat out told him that it's a ****shoot, at this price point.

EDIT: Come on I know we have panther experts on this site, get in here and give me your advice =|

 

[Y_K]

Hesitation could be either MAF, or the wires that go from MAF.
The clearance seems to be a bit high for an LX.
The grill looks like a P71 with 'Street Appearance Package', they say "Crown Victoria" on the back with no LX or Police Interceptor.
Or it could be a Rubic Cube from all junk yards in the vicinity.
Once you fix it it will run forever, but I would say the price is on the high side, especially for the color.
MAF cleaner works well on those throttle bodies, btw.

 

[OVERKILL]

Go to the wreckers and grab a MAF. Take it with you and try it on the car. If it fixes the problem, get the car! If it doesn't, take the sensor back, LOL

 

[Nick R]

I also hear murmurs of DPFE. Not exactly sure what that is, could that be the culprit here too?

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
I also hear murmurs of DPFE. Not exactly sure what that is, could that be the culprit here too?


Yes, when they go out, the car will feel like a raging turd. It happened to our Focus.

You can disconnect it IIRC to troubleshoot. Another way to do this is to just remove the vacuum line from the EGR valve (plugging it obviously) and see if the problem disappears. If it does, it is the DPFE.

 

[ComfyShorts]

DPFE or Differential Pressure Feedback sensor basicly measures the EGR flow and reports to the PCM...usually will act like a bad IACV in terms of bad IDLE performance, usually not top end though.

 

[Rand]

I had a tbird with the 4.6 it had wierd hesitating issues when cold. After being warmed up it was pretty decent.

also this has an actual throttle cable.. a little bit different than the drive by wire stuff.

I'd probably pass.. as was mentioned if it was easy or cheap it would be fixed already.

also with MAF and O2 sensors you need to get oem style not whatever pos is on the cheap.

 

[ComfyShorts]

Nobody asked the most important thing yet...is there a CEL?

 

[Nick R]

So I'm going down the road at 10mph, I put my foot down, it downshifts, but that's about it. It kind of reminds me of when our expedition had bad coils, but there is no CEL flashing or on at all here, so that seems unlikely. I'm thinking MAF. Could this DPFE cause this particular symptom? It idles perfectly.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
So I'm going down the road at 10mph, I put my foot down, it downshifts, but that's about it. It kind of reminds me of when our expedition had bad coils, but there is no CEL flashing or on at all here, so that seems unlikely. I'm thinking MAF. Could this DPFE cause this particular symptom? It idles perfectly.


If the EGR is hanging open, yes.

 

[silverrat]

You can get yourself a really nice low miles Neon for that kind of cash.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: silverrat
You can get yourself a really nice low miles Neon for that kind of cash.


Problem being that there aren't any of those around here. A local used dealerdid have an old neon. But it was rusty, it smoked, and it had loud valve clatter, so we said no.

 

[silverrat]

http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/2917159384.html

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: silverrat
http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/2917159384.html

No lol.


This is not a good area for cheap used cars.