'92 Mercury Grand Marquis

legion · 07-14-2010, 06:17 PM

One of my coworkers is hosting her little sister as she interns at a local hospital and studies for her MCATs. Last week, her car refused to start. Coworker's husband assessed the situation and determined the likely cause was a bad starter. (I later confirmed this diagnosis to the best of my ability.)

Coworker calls her father in Ohio for advice on how to proceed (as he will be bankrolling any repairs for the college-aged sister). Father states that he knows starter was dying, already purchased a replacement, and would send it to Illinois for installation.

College girl is planning on driving back to Ohio tomorrow.

Coworker's husband and I were recruited to do the work in the hospital parking deck where the car has been for the past week. No problem. Doing the starter on an American V8 RWD vehicle is about as easy at it gets. I don't even bother to look if the vehicle has any quirks I'm so confident.

We get the starter pulled in about 30 minutes. The starter supplied and the starter pulled look different. Bolt holes don't line up...

No problem. We figure father of college girl just ordered the wrong one. He purchased at Autozone and we have receipts. We verify car is a '92 (manufactured August '91). Husband takes picture of door sticker with VIN, manufacture date, etc...

We head off to Autozone. Counter guy verifies we have a starter for a '92, but suspects that because this was an early '92 model, it might have been made with leftover '91 parts. No problem. He pulls a '91 starter.

'91 starter has same bolt pattern as the pulled starter, but a different opening to the flywheel. It's clear it won't fit without grinding down some metal.

Clerk looks for mid-year differences in '91s and '92s. Doesn't find any. Exhausted, he has one last idea. He asks one simple question:

"Where was the car made."

Husband pulls up photo of door sticker. Made in Canada. Clerk says that we have a Canadian market Grand Marquis, and he can't get parts. Different engine. Different starter. He suggests we try NAPA or Ford, both of which are closed at this point. Either way, it will probably be days to get the correct starter on special order.

College girl is stuck in Bloomington.

jpk · 07-14-2010, 06:30 PM

I'm pretty sure almost all grand marquis were made in St. Thomas Ontario, about 20 min South of London. I think there were some made in St Louis on the line with Crown Vics, but only through the 80's.

aigel · aigel's Garage

LOL - this is why I HATE working on other people's stuff. It never is this bad on my own cars. And if it is, well, I have more than one and can take my time ...

George

Rot 911 · 07-15-2010, 05:15 AM

Damn, I'm impressed the Autozone guy was that on the ball!

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

1. Sell car
2. Buy her a Honda

End of problems.

legion · 07-15-2010, 05:18 AM

No, the Autozone guy was not on the ball.

The car is a U.S. spec Grand Marquis made in Canada. My friend (the husband) found the correct part on the Autozone website. They have two starters listed for the '92 model year. One is the one we had, one is the one we need.

He also told us that NAPA was closed last night. Find out this morning it was open.

This guy didn't know how to use the computer system and was pulling answers from his posterior.

Rot 911 · 07-15-2010, 05:26 AM

In that case, I retract my statement and put a voodoo curse on him!

masraum · 07-15-2010, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

No, the Autozone guy was not on the ball.

The car is a U.S. spec Grand Marquis made in Canada. My friend (the husband) found the correct part on the Autozone website. They have two starters listed for the '92 model year. One is the one we had, one is the one we need.

He also told us that NAPA was closed last night. Find out this morning it was open.

This guy didn't know how to use the computer system and was pulling answers from his posterior.

That sounds more like it. That's why when I need a part, I look it up on the website ahead of time.

kaisen · 07-15-2010, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

1. Sell car
2. Buy her a Honda

End of problems.

I assume this was supposed to be in green font?

onewhippedpuppy · 07-15-2010, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaisen

I assume this was supposed to be in green font?

I'd be willing to bet that any Honda in existence is vastly superior to a 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis.

Joeaksa · 07-15-2010, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I'd be willing to bet that any Honda in existence is vastly superior to a 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis.

Bingo!

legion · 07-16-2010, 06:36 AM

We got it fixed. Advance Auto Parts had the starter.

Joeaksa · 07-16-2010, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

We got it fixed. Advance Auto Parts had the starter.

Pics of the cute coed in or near the car or BAN!

legion · 07-16-2010, 06:44 AM

You know what the really sad thing is?

I've never even met the girl.

Joeaksa · 07-16-2010, 07:02 AM

Hey, it does your Karma good! Pass it down and someday when you really need help, hopefully it will be there for you.

kaisen · 07-16-2010, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I'd be willing to bet that any Honda in existence is vastly superior to a 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis.

Yeah, that's why law enforcement and almost every taxi in the country are Ford Crown Victoria (aka Mercury Grand Marquis, Lincoln Town Car). I took a limo taxi (extended length Town Car) from the airport and glanced over the shoulder of the driver and noted that he had 386K miles. We talked a little about it and he said that they were just retiring their oldest taxi, a Crown Vic, with 780K miles. Original engine and transmission. They love them.

For what you'd pay for a tank-safe '92 Grand Marquis, what Honda would be as reliable, SAFE, or as cheap to fix? Parts for those cars are dirt cheap. Parts for Hondas are, well, not.

onewhippedpuppy · 07-16-2010, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Quote de onewhippedpuppy

I'd be willing to bet that any Honda in existence is vastly superior to a 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis.

Yeah, that's why law enforcement and almost every taxi in the country are Ford Crown Victoria (aka Mercury Grand Marquis, Lincoln Town Car). I took a limo taxi (extended length Town Car) from the airport and glanced over the shoulder of the driver and noted that he had 386K miles. We talked a little about it and he said that they were just retiring their oldest taxi, a Crown Vic, with 780K miles. Original engine and transmission. They love them.

For what you'd pay for a tank-safe '92 Grand Marquis, what Honda would be as reliable, SAFE, or as cheap to fix? Parts for those cars are dirt cheap. Parts for Hondas are, well, not.

You know as well as I do that cheap, big, RWD, and V8 are the primary reasons that cops love the Crown Vic. I'm thinking cheap and big probably appeal to transportation services. As for safe, look up the Final Gear old Volvo vs new city car crash test on Youtube. Size and mass does not automatically equal safe, it's all about managing impact energy. As for reliable, one sample does not a survey make.

Joeaksa · 07-16-2010, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaisen

Yeah, that's why law enforcement and almost every taxi in the country are Ford Crown Victoria (aka Mercury Grand Marquis, Lincoln Town Car). I took a limo taxi (extended length Town Car) from the airport and glanced over the shoulder of the driver and noted that he had 386K miles. We talked a little about it and he said that they were just retiring their oldest taxi, a Crown Vic, with 780K miles. Original engine and transmission. They love them.

For what you'd pay for a tank-safe '92 Grand Marquis, what Honda would be as reliable, SAFE, or as cheap to fix? Parts for those cars are dirt cheap. Parts for Hondas are, well, not.

What are you doing on a sports car forum when you could be on a "Crown Vic" forum talking he man muscle cars with those guys?