Angrod

The Vulcan engine is practically bulletproof as long as you keep up with the maintenance. I beat the crap out of mine for 107,000 miles (current mileage 177,xxx) and it is still running strong. Saggy Ass Syndrome (SAS) is a common thing on gen 3 and 4 cars. The only way to fix it is to put heavy duty springs in the rear.

I'm considering coming down. I kind of used up my personal days though so I might have to take unpaid leave. If I do come down it will be in the wagon as I don't trust the wheel bearings on the Taurus to hold up. Hopefully the wagon is up to the trip.

True, but I don't want the possibility of imgur doing the same shit as photobucket. I doubt Google would do that as Photos is part of their social media dept.

Actually it does. It just takes more steps to get everything working. I have to have the images in a shared album, select the one I want, right click and select "copy image address," then go over to goo.gl and shorten the URL, the come back over here and use the "insert other media" link and select the "from URL" option. Takes quite a bit of time but it does work.

Got the Suzi back yesterday from the shop. Previous owner said he had to have the gas tank replaced so it would pass inspection. Apparently his mechanic lied about replacing it. The hole had some JB Weld slapped over it and the tank was undercoated. Well, about a month later, the gas managed to eat through the patch and fuel was pouring out. So, I took it to a shop as I wasn't going to mess with the fuel system. The shop couldn't find a tank for the car what with its age and everything. So I went on RockAuto and bought a brand new tank (surprised they had one.) The shop installed it and now I have no more fuel leaks. I feel bad for the last guy paying a lot of $$$ to "have the tank replaced" only for a crappy patch to be put on. Edit: So all of my image links from Photobucket are broken. Upon investigating I have found that they have updated their ToS and now free accounts are no longer able to link pics to 3rd party sites. You have to pay to get them to work. I have used their service for years without any issues and now they pull this stunt without any warning. Photobucket can fuck right off. Now I have to move all my pics to Google Photos. This will take awhile....

Did the brakes disintegrate during the previous hard stops? I've never heard of brakes falling apart like that before.

Changed the oil in the Suzi after about 1500 - 1800 miles. It was already a dark amber. The inside of the engine must have been filthy when I got it. 4 quarts Supertech 10w-30 (recommended for the car) and a Motorcraft 910S filter. Also, found out I have a brake light out so I need to get new ones (probably go with Sylvania LED's,) found out I have a hole in the muffler (at least one anyway) and discovered that I have a large amount of blow-by in the crankcase. The only thing I know of that has any blow-by in an engine is the piston rings but it's not using any oil. I'm thinking about just venting the PCV to atmo and plugging the hole in the intake.

Installed my old tach into the Suzi. It took me a while to get the wiring right but it's in and functional. The only issue is I can't get it to dim with the dashboard lights. It works in reverse of the dash for some reason. My reasons for the install are simple: 1) so that I know when I'm about to blow it up and 2) so that when I'm not driving like an idiot I can maximize my fuel economy by shifting sooner. I didn't realize I was revving to 3k on my 1-2 and 2-4 shifts.

Drove it for the first time in almost 3 weeks. Wow does it feel weird. Kind of like I'm driving a big boat. The ATX feels horrible too. I never realized just how much of a slushbox it really is. One positive thing; the bull handles far better than the suzi. Cornering is so easy. Just point the bull where I want it to go and it goes there. The suzi on the other hand likes to float up front and makes up its own mind about when to actually go where I point it. Reminds me of the Crown Vic in that regard.

So the check engine light keeps turning on and off. Usually takes a couple driving cycles. Not sure what is causing it. It's probably still the O2 sensor circuit fault but I don't know where the issue might be. I couldn't get the O2 sensor out to look at it (will need an impact.) The wires look good for what little length is exposed. I have noticed that I have a small exhaust leak somewhere up front as I can smell exhaust occasionally. It has a stronger than normal acrid scent. I wonder if the downstream sensor is plugged? Especially since the second cat is so far away from the engine. There is no way it gets hot enough for the catalyst to work properly. I might end up getting a new exhaust at some point.

Replaced the spark plugs in the Suzi today. I had a hunch that my misfiring issues under load were due to bad or worn plugs and BOY was I right! All the old plugs looked the same. Uniform wear with no signs of combustion issues in any cylinder. The insulator on one plug looked like it got rather hot at some point, might have been combustion gas slipping past the threads. Anyways, the engine runs MUCH smoother now. No more misfires and is a lot quieter. Now about those motor mounts......

Changed the wipers as the ones that were on it were all crappy. Check engine light came on last night on my way home from work. Checked the code; P0136, O2 sensor circuit malfunction, sensor 2. I got on it hard yesterday in the afternoon. I wonder if i broke some carbon loose and it plugged the sensor. Gonna take a look tomorrow.

I don't know. It might only show the same codes as a scanner or it might show other codes a scanner can't read. The PCM is programmed to keep the engine RPM elevated when you lift off the throttle and gradually bring it down over a few seconds to provide a more comfortable ride. Something is feeding the PCM bad data and it sounds like the computer is keeping the RPM's elevated far longer than it should. Eventually it figures out the car is stopped and cuts back on the fuel and idle air but it still has bad input so it doesn't know how far to go and ends up stalling itself out. My first guess would be a bad throttle sensor. Bad inputs could cause the engine speed to stay elevated even with the throttle in idle position. My next guess is the trans range sensor.These cars have a built in feature to prevent 'neutral bombing.' If you shift into neutral while moving the engine RPM will stay elevated in anticipation of the trans being re-engaged. I've tried this before and I have had the rpm stay elevated for up to 10 seconds after I came to a stop. The TRS might be telling the PCM that you have shifted into neutral while decelerating and the computer is reacting accordingly. I don't suspect this one as much though as you have not mentioned any issues with the transmission outside of the deceleration issue and it doesn't explain the stalling. My last guess is the DPFE sensor. If it is malfunctioning it may be confusing the PCM and the EGR valve is getting opened when it shouldn't be. This doesn't exactly fit your symptoms though so it is less likely. All in all it's kind of a crap shoot. The only way to really know for sure if it's a sensor or not would be to hook up a special diagnostic tool and watch the sensors in real time while driving. A mechanic might be able to do this. Unless you have a code for a specific sensor or circuit fault of course.

Badum tisssssssssssssssss

Yes. One tells the PCM the gear selector position and the other tells the vehicle speed. There might be a continuous DTC that can help with the diagnosis. With the engine OFF, hold the reset button next to the instrument cluster, switch the key to ON and keep holding reset. After a few seconds the data center should read Engineering Test Mode and should go into a gauge test. Release the reset button. Now you can press and release the reset button and cycle through a bunch of information (it loops back to the start eventually.) One of the readouts will say if there are any continuous DTC's that are set.