Ford Windsor Forums

Hiya. Until this past January I had been running an 88' Grand Marquis as a daily for around 4 years. It just passed 260,000 and has about 8000 miles on a new trans. This was my very first car and I don't want to part with it. With the exception of the transmission, she ran without any major issue from the day my grandad bought it 20 years ago so I feel it deserves a good work over now that I have a new car to drive to work everyday. The car still runs beautifully and has been well taken care of. My question is this. With the mileage on this lump, is it worth keeping? Can it be salvaged, and if so, what would you recommend to extend its life even further? I know nearly 300,000 miles is a lot to ask of an engine but I really only want it as a Sunday driver and would like to avoid swapping it out. However, I don't mind doing a rebuild as I won't have to source a whole new engine to do that. Thanks for any comments that come this way.

It depends if its had a rebuild before. Do you know if it has been bored out previously?

 

The milage isnt a big issue if it has been well serviced all its life. Its possible it hasnt even been bored out, which means a rebuild/freshen up could be quite viable, or you could just keep it running till it develops a few more problems.

Have a compression check done to see how its holding up internally. That will give you a better idea of the engines state
 

I just finished looking through 20 years of service records and, since my grandfather wasn't that mechanically inclined, it has never had a rebuild nor has it been bored out.

 I would prefer to keep my maintainence preventive rather than reactive so running it until problems develop is a bit out of the question.

Since my mechanical skill falls short after brakes, steering, suspension and tune up jobs, I'm not sure of the specifics of the doing a compression check. Is it something a person could do in their home garage or do I need to go to a specialist?

Its something you should be able to do, if you can change spark plugs.  Basically you pull a plug out, screw in the hose for the gauge and crank the engine over.  I like the testers with the hose, as most will hold the peak pressure number and give you a good reading, rather than one you have to hold in the engine as you crank it over.

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1989 Firebird L03
1993 Thunderbird 5.0 HO
1995 F150

Gonna be building a 351 Boss this summer!
Summer's over, never got to it...
This is my current build though
http://www.302w.com/Forums/forums/thread/1100.aspx

Sounds like a plan then. I'll give it a shot. Thanks.

Make sure the ignition is not hot when you run the test or you might find the engine starts up!!!

 
 

 

C0V3R:

Make sure the ignition is not hot when you run the test or you might find the engine starts up!!!

 

 

Dont take all the fun out of it for the new guy.... hehehe]

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William Cunningham
slyhog22056@tx.rr.com
Grand Prairie, TX 75050