The seeping cooling system brought to light an interesting situation. The original problem was a broken hose that goes across the engine, similar to one in SHO enegines, and was repaired under warranty by the local dealer where we live. Unfortunately, after the hose was fixed, there still was an antifreeze smell, and try and try as we might, the source never could be found. I was able to find several hoses that had deteriorated where they connected to fittings, and fixed them, but the semell still continued. This was in the summer, and all we were using was the air conditioner, but later on when it got cooler, we used the heate for the first time in a long time......POOF went the heater core, and fogged up the windshield, and totally enveloped the interior in antifreeze fumes. OK....I thought....here it is. The heater core has been seeping all this time, and now we have the culprit. The car had a Ford factory used car warranty, which was valid until about 80,000 miles, and we were at 65 thousand or so....plenty of time!! I made an appointment at the local dealer for a new core, and it went in and came out on schedule, with a nice new core. Probelm solved. Wrong.....! About 4 months later, in the middle of winter, it went out again. I took it to the other Bay Area dealer I trusted, who had done the last couple of clutches on the Lowrider. I mentioned that this core was only 4 months old, and that I was surprised that it had failed so soon, and was reassured that the next one would be the last one. Well, it lasted about 11,000 miles, and then I went back again. I was reassured that there would be no problem with the next one, and said, OK....we'll see. Well.....that one lasted three weeks. I took it back into the dealer again, and kept it running until my favorite service writer (really!) could see what was going on....he looked at me with a questioning face, and I turned on the defroster.....he about fell over, and I laughed and laughed. He said, "what the heck is wrong here......?" I told him I wanted to do it my way this time, and he said, "whatever you say!!" First, we took the old core down to a radiator shop to be tested, though we could see where it was leaking from....there was a hole about 1/16 of an inch in diameter right in the center of the core, not near any seams, but in the center of the center tube. It was an aluminum core, and the inside was all black and corroded. It had been eaten away by electrolysis. It needed to be grounded, but for some reason was not being connected to anything else metallic within the plastic heater plenum under the dash. So I said....this time it will be an aftermarket brass core, with an external ground fastened to one of the tubes where they come out the firewall, and that ground fastened to the engine...and I get another 12,000 mile warranty on this core, even though the car is out of warranty in a month or two. The service writer said, "You got it!" That is what we did, and that core is still in the car, 4 years later. I sent a bunch of messages to the SHOTimes list about this situation, and apparently several folks have benefitted by grounding the core, or at least making sure it is grounded within the heater.
Just before I got the car back from Sue, in about 1997 or so, it was in the body shop for repair of a ding or two, and while there, it was being driven by the shop owner, with my grudging permission. Unfortunately, on a particuarly hot day, for whatever reason, one of the side tanks on the radiator developed a huge split, and all the coolant was immediately lost. The driver didn't realize this situation was occuring, much less the speed at which the engine was heating up, and by the time he realized the temp gauge wasn't lying, a head gasket had blown. I tried to get the car home, but there was one large hill to cross, and it wouldn't make it up the hill without totally overheating. So I had to have it towed. It sat in front of the house for a few days, while I waited for the appointed day to take it to the dealer. There, it was found to definitely have one cylinder blown, but there was no metal damage, and no water in the oil. We freshened the valves, and installed upgraded head gaskets. It had previously had a rack replaced by a Goodyear store, and the worker who did that forgot to reinstall the aluminum shield that protects the rack and power steering hoses from the hot exhaust manifold on the right side of the engine, so this was a doubly good thing, other than the obvious expense of reairing the engine, for which I was reimbursed. The rack was on its way to being cooked, and we were able to save it and the hoses. While apart, the mechanic at the dealer showed me some seepage at the timing cover, which was also a weak point on this particular vintage 3.8L Vulcan engine. I decided not to change it then, because the cost was an extra $1000, and I knew I could get it done cheaper elsewhere. But I wanted a warranty on this repair, since it was such a major job.
The replacement of the steering rack is also an interesting story. Because of circumstances leading up to its replacement, I know it isn't 'my time to go' yet. The car still officially belonged to Sue, but I was driving it to troubleshoot some temporary affliction. I had gone to the bank, after driving it for an hour at speeds of up to 70+ mph on the freeway. As I was pulling out of the bank parking lot onto the street, suddenly it lost directional control, and didn't want to go forward, or backward. I was crawling out of a parking slot at the time. I couldn't figure what was wrong...in drive, it would sort of twist one way, and in reverse it would twist the other. I got out and looked at the front wheels, and the right front was all the way in a right turn, while the left front was straight ahead.
It turned out that Sue, being very short, had previously been driving it in the rain, and had hit a curb thinking it was a driveway. That had apparently cracked the tie-rod, and it had picked the bank parking lot to originally fail. I dodged two bullets that week
I sold it in just a couple of days to an airman on base at Travis AFB. I explained its problems to him when he asked why it was so cheap ($1,200). I said all he had to do was check the water level every morning or before every drive. It turns out that he did check it, but his wife did not, and she burned it up. I saw it at the base gas station and asked about it. I probably could have bought it back for $100, but Eva is here and that was out of the question. They had it maybe 3 months before it was towed to Pick 'N Pull. I did not go to that yard for a year and a half afterwards....I didn't want to see it. Thinking back now, it would have been a good idea to go get its Tokikos (shocks in the back, not struts) and wheels and tires. Someday I might build another Slorider.....Taurus wagons are good cars....getting scarce!
What a great car that was, and it would have been even greater....insurable by Hagerty, like BD.
