alienturtle
Human
im going to give it a shot. I dont have any hvac controls at the moment because i just relocated my radio to the top. I figure now is a better time than none to give it a shot. Ill let you guys know how it goes.
SD HVAC controls
- Thread starter 7.3_IDI_guy
- Start date
FWIW I don't know if the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis setup is similar, but a constant problem I've seen on the Lincoln Town Car ACC is that the motor driving the blend door fails and leaves the blend door in full COLD position regardless of where you set the temperature. I think every car in my company's fleet with over 100K miles has gone through at least one of these motors.
Personally, while I think it looks cool and would be nice to have when everything's working properly, I'm concerned enough about problems cropping up when something fails that I wouldn't even think about doing it to my truck. I like modern conveniences, but for me, it's more important that it function properly
Just my $.02...
Personally, while I think it looks cool and would be nice to have when everything's working properly, I'm concerned enough about problems cropping up when something fails that I wouldn't even think about doing it to my truck. I like modern conveniences, but for me, it's more important that it function properly
Just my $.02...
itsacrazyasian
residentcrazyasian
FWIW I don't know if the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis setup is similar, but a constant problem I've seen on the Lincoln Town Car ACC is that the motor driving the blend door fails and leaves the blend door in full COLD position regardless of where you set the temperature. I think every car in my company's fleet with over 100K miles has gone through at least one of these motors.
Personally, while I think it looks cool and would be nice to have when everything's working properly, I'm concerned enough about problems cropping up when something fails that I wouldn't even think about doing it to my truck. I like modern conveniences, but for me, it's more important that it function properly
Just my $.02...
the blend door motor is a problem. But its a easy repair. Takes 15 minutes t0 change. Its the actual climate head that proves to be the biggest pain. They;re big bucks for them new when they go bad.
THAT I believe completely. And, I didn't realize it was a 15 minute job...the fleet mechanic makes it sound like it's a massive undertaking to replace the blend door motor
itsacrazyasian
residentcrazyasian
THAT I believe completely. And, I didn't realize it was a 15 minute job...the fleet mechanic makes it sound like it's a massive undertaking to replace the blend door motor
remove contents of glovebox and easy open cable. Remove passenger airbag and it gives you clear access to it. very easy. Hardest thing to do on a towncar/crownvic/grandmarquis is a heater core. I can replace a motor in a panther chassis faster than i can do a heater core. So every incoming car i add a ground strap to the heater and i always run Ford Gold coolant. Haven;t had to change one yet.
btw i made a bet with the guy that owns the shop next door to mine that i couldn't do it in 15. Lunch for a week from our choice of restaurants. 13 min, 42 seconds for me.
Oh cool! Didn't realize it was so easy to access...for a dual-zone setup, are both motors in the same place, or how is that handled? 9 times out of 10, it's just the pax side motor that fails...I can set the ACC to 90 and I'll get hot air out of the driver's vents and ice-cold air out the pax vents
(doubly frustrating because I'm a penguin and my pax are usually complaining about being too cold ) I learned about only adjusting the temp with the blower at low speed to keep from straining the blend door motor any more than absolutely necessary, but unfortunately, most of my esteemed colleagues don't know to do this, and I'm in a different car every day...Haven't seen a heater core fail yet...OTOH I imagine those mostly fail with age more than mileage, and we generally don't keep our cars past 3 years (but, they're at 300K+ by then
)...we still don't know what we'll replace the Town Car with when the time comes...
itsacrazyasian
residentcrazyasian
Oh cool! Didn't realize it was so easy to access...for a dual-zone setup, are both motors in the same place, or how is that handled? 9 times out of 10, it's just the pax side motor that fails...I can set the ACC to 90 and I'll get hot air out of the driver's vents and ice-cold air out the pax vents
Haven't seen a heater core fail yet...OTOH I imagine those mostly fail with age more than mileage, and we generally don't keep our cars past 3 years (but, they're at 300K+ by then
I haven't done one in a dual zone car. haven't had one fail yet. you know its funny, the oldest town car that i service is a 2002. This is the last year for it. Has 699K on it at last service and vehicle inspection. The same company has a 2001 E350 5.4L v8 15 pass. They registered that one in the next county over because they don't have age limitations like our county does... But it can go anywhere the newer ones can
anyway they registered it in the next county over because they want to keep it and run it for a few more years... In another year it will have a million miles. Same company has a new chrysler 300 livery unit. its nice, but we shall see how it holds up. The new MKT Town Car is a joke. Ford is doing what Gm did and giving up the market without realizing it.
itsacrazyasian
residentcrazyasian
I'm wrong, i have done one in a 06 with dual zone. They're even easier to do. The LH side is above the lighting control module, 15 min. passenger side, lower glove box and its right there. No need to remove air bag.
7.3_IDI_guy
Currently ******'
What company is it, if you're at liberty to say? I'm wondering if they have an affiliation agreement with my company...and wow!! My boss is pretty strict about not keeping a car past 3 years/300K miles, although that's primarily for image reasons...he wants to keep a young fleet. There aren't any laws in CA in that regard; I see Town Cars from the mid 1990's in livery service all the timeyou know its funny, the oldest town car that i service is a 2002. This is the last year for it. Has 699K on it at last service and vehicle inspection. The same company has a 2001 E350 5.4L v8 15 pass. They registered that one in the next county over because they don't have age limitations like our county does... But it can go anywhere the newer ones can
Have you seen the MKT Livery Package? I haven't seen one with my own eyes, although I've seen pictures...I don't know how well that's going to work. I asked my boss about it not too long ago, and he doesn't know what he's going to do yet...we bought some of the last Town Cars available in order to delay the decision
but he doesn't seem too hot on the MKT...he mentioned the M-B R-Class as a possibility (I for one would love an R350 CDI 
), although he also said that the S-Class would be too expensive to maintain, so I don't know how the R would figure in. I also heard rumors that we may go to an all-SUV fleet.The next couple of years are going to be interesting, that's for sure...
itsacrazyasian
residentcrazyasian
What company is it, if you're at liberty to say? I'm wondering if they have an affiliation agreement with my company...and wow!! My boss is pretty strict about not keeping a car past 3 years/300K miles, although that's primarily for image reasons...he wants to keep a young fleet. There aren't any laws in CA in that regard; I see Town Cars from the mid 1990's in livery service all the time
Have you seen the MKT Livery Package? I haven't seen one with my own eyes, although I've seen pictures...I don't know how well that's going to work. I asked my boss about it not too long ago, and he doesn't know what he's going to do yet...we bought some of the last Town Cars available in order to delay the decision
The next couple of years are going to be interesting, that's for sure...
I service for 3 transportation companies, not just one. The one that has the old pre 03 town cars is focused mostly on van work. That old 01 E350 usually is loaded with 15 people and a 5x8 trailer on the back full of luggage. Van just keeps running. Its really not a bad idea to run it longer. I put xlt headlights in it, painted the bumper and put a 03+ grill on it and it looks new inside and out. Only when you look down at the odo and realize its got 700K+ you go
As for the MKT Town car, yes i've seen one. It was nice. But it looks like a shoe and i question its long term durability.
On a side note, we have offically hijacked this thread.
My boss was saying the same thing about the durability, particularly in the hands of some of the people who drive these (read: don't care one bit about the equipment and beat it like a rental). That's the beauty of the Panthers: they'll take all the abuse you can throw at it and keep on going
courtesy of my parents' bias, I used to be under the impression that Ford cars were junk; my experience with the Panther chassis over the years has really opened up my eyes...if I were willing to drive a g@$$er, a Panther would be on the top of that list.How was it inside? I heard that they were planning to remove the 3rd row and move the 2nd row back far enough to give similar legroom to the Panther Town Car Executive L while maintaining the trunk space; how does that compare to what you actually saw? I was hoping they were going to bring one to the S.F. Auto Show last November, but the Lincoln representative said that the closest one would get to here was in Lost Wages, and I didn't feel like making that trip...
That we have
Silver Burner
Burnin' Oil&Rubber
Just an addition, I believe you can also kipe these digital controls out of a late 90's Explorer Limited/Mountaineer. I know you could at least get digital controls of some kind in these. Maybe just more places to look for the stuff?
itsacrazyasian
residentcrazyasian
The explorer/mountaineer do not use the same control head. The vacuum controls are diffferent. They will not interchange. Tried that in my own car already.
Warden, yes the 3rd row is gone, the 2nd row was moved back and the rear is for luggage. Nice but i have to see how they are long term.
I tow alot of weight regularly with my panther, i also like playing tug of war with people in it.
Optikalillushun
Registered User
Thats my buddys truck in the original article. I seen it in person and it is slick but a long, drawn out process. He had to tweak is several times to get it right. He is building kits to install these in the OBS trucks. He said it requires a lot of rewiring and parts.
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