louspinuso

Hey all,

Just wanted to introduce myself and ask a couple of questions.

First of all, I just acquired 2 cars, I paid $300 for them delivered (well, one's delivered and the other will be delivered tomorrow). We bought these while we were looking for a car for my stepson as he is now 16 and "needs" a car. I think we got REALLY lucky.

As far as I can tell, there is nothing too mechanically wrong with the 89 (the one that got here today), however, it does need a new starter solenoid as the only way to start it right now is to put the key in the ignition and then short the solenoid. I've already picked one up, but I think that when the person delivering the car to me hooked up the battery in the car before starting it, he reverse wired the battery for about a second and then pulled the cable as soon as it sparked. I am going to need to get a battery for the car, as the battery he was putting in it was to be able to pull the car into my driveway, and he then took it. When I put the battery and the solenoid in, I am thinking about bringing it somewhere to have them test the electrical system, thing is, I don't know what to have them test for. I am guessing that I should have them check the alternator to make sure that it's charging the battery fine. Is there anything else that I should have them test that might have fried when the battery got hooked up backwards?

Also, the car was sitting for a while and this guy bought the two of them from an old guy and the speedo shows only 82,000 miles on it. Now, I know that there are only five digits on the odometer on this car, but is there anyway to tell if the odo has flipped? Is there anything in particular that I will need to look at on this car to make sure that it isn't bad? any "known" problems?

As for the 91 Grand Marquis, it doesn't start, kinda. It starts if you spray it with a ton of starter fluid or if you pour a bit of gasoline into the carb, but it stalls immediately after that. I am guessing that this is a fuel delivery problem. I know that there should be a fuel cut-off switch in the car, any one have any idea where it might be? Also, if it's not the switch, can anyone tell me how hard it is to change the fuel pump in this car?

It's been a long time since I worked on my own cars (about 20 years) but I still retain a majority of my tools and I remember a bit. I figure I'd ask here because here there is a group of owners that are very familiar with this car and should be able to guide me in the pitfalls of such an endeavor.

One final question. I live in Florida (Tampa Bay area) and both of these cars have immaculate bodies. There isn't a ding anywhere on either of these, but the paint is shot on one and pretty bad on the other. What does it cost to have someone do a quick spray on these cars? I'm even willing to do most of the prep work if needed.

Thanks in advance to all the help.

vicky96

I don't know that much, but my 96 vic has 180k miles and it had over 125k when i bought it 2.5 years ago. Just a guess, but I bet it has flipped. Sorry, too young and inexperienced to tell you whether it definatly has or not.

amo4387622

To my knwoledge there is really no way to tell if it flipped I mean you can take the valve covers off and see how much sledge has built up and can kinda of make up your mind if it has flipped but even then you still don't really know. As for the wiring have them check all the fuseable links other than that I can not think of anything else because I really don't think a couple of seconds will hurt the car, I have seen people do that kind of thing on so many cars and everything was fine.
For the 91 the switch is in the trunk on the drivers side near trunk lid hinge little black box with red or orange button on top should be pushed down for pump to work. And to replace the fuel pump on it if need be you have to drop the tank the pump is inside it. But before you replace fuel pump think about replacing the fuel filter and check the fuel lines might be a kinck in one. And a good way to tell if the pump is working while you stand next to the rear tire have someone turn the key but don't start the car listen for the fuel pump to prime the lines.

louspinuso

Thanks, I will look for that fuel cut-off first and go from there. Also, where is the fuel filter in this car? Is it one of the ones that clamps onto the fuel line or in the carbuerator?

Thanks again for all the help

amo4387622

The fuel filter is on the frame in front of diif. on passenger side. And on my 90 it was two white clips holding the lines to the filter and a bracket and clamp holding the filter to the frame.