Just bought a 90 TownCar...

M

madfordz

Registered
and the windshield wipers are stuck at the top of the windshield. This is very annoying. I had this happen to a 91 SHO about 7 years ago and I had the stealership change the multifunction switch (the "intellegent" turn signal stalk)...I don't want to pay the stealership to do this for the Town, so can someone please tell me if there is an explanation on how to change this somewhere on the web? I haven't been able to find one as of yet. Can any of you experts help me out?

Thanks,

m
 
RE: Just bought a 90 TownCar...

Usually when that happens on a mark viii it's the windshield wiper motor that failed. I can't give you step-by-step instructions on how to change it, but you can get them at murrays pretty cheap.

Good luck, and congrats on the new car!
 
RE: Just bought a 90 TownCar...

Dave,
is it the wiper motor even if the wipers still work? I mean, the wipers work fine, intermittent functions and everything, they just stop at the top of the windshield when you turn them off.

I have taken the cover off of the wiper motor area and cleaned all of the leaves and such out of the area and the first time I turned the wipers on, they did their normal thing and then went back to where they are supposed to be (in the cowl area). The next time they were used, they parked themselves back at the top of the windshield. Is there some type of controler or something that tells the wipers where to stop and if so, where might that be?

Thanks again.

m
 
RE: Just bought a 90 TownCar...

On the Mark VIII, when the wipers park, the motors arm goes to a certain position then slides to pull the wipers all the way down. Sometimes, something in there goes wrong, and instead of sliding, the arm rotates again, which puts the wipers all the way at the top of their stroke. I bet the town car is the same, but i'm not sure. If the intermittant functions are working, i'll bet it's the actual motor that's the problem.
 
RE: Just bought a 90 TownCar...

On my old '89 Probe, the wipers failed in the same way. They worked but when turned to "off" they'd go straight up on the windshield. Dealership replaced the motor and that fixed it.
 
RE: Just bought a 90 TownCar...

Remember, DON'T BUY THE WIPER MOTOR FROM THE DEALER. They will charge you an arm and a leg. MSRP is abotu $120, you can get it for half that rebuilt from Murrays. Autozone or Advance might have it cheap too, but when i replaced the one on my '94, Murrays was the cheapest place.

I don't know how hard it is on the town car, but the wiper motor was the straw that broke the camels back on my '94 Mark. I was too violent in too cold of weather when i did the work and i cracked the hell out of the part that it mounts too, which is even MORE expensive from the dealer. Then i said to hell with this car, i'm buying another one. So i bought my '97. Then i realized that i'm going to have fix the wipers on the '94 if i want to sell it. So i got some of that epoxy putty stuff and loaded it up. Kind of ghetto, but perfectly functional and out of sight.
 
RE: Just bought a 90 TownCar...

Dave,

you're good. The motor is $59 and some change from AutoZone. Will hit them for it soon and do the replace. As I was getting the oil changed yesterday, the guy in the pit told me that the trans pan and the oil pan both had leaks. I will get some gaskets from the Zone at the same time and correct those problems and hopefully the initial maintenance phase will be over. This car otherwise seems to be in really good shape to have 153K on the clock, but now I have a bunch of additional questions, so bear with me.

The ride is a bit floaty for my taste, but I think a 17 wheel with perhaps 235/55 or 235/60 rubber might fix that some. Are these tire sizes appropriate, i.e., will they scrub anywhere or otherwise hamper ride quality, etc. any more than can be expected due to the reduction in sidewall size? What is the tallest tire size that I can go with given a 17" wheel on this car? Would these larger wheels/tires interfere with or otherwise obstruct the TC's suspension travel or angles? Also, can anyone tell me what the required offset is for this car's wheels?

While I am on this suspension kick, I was wondering if the parts of 92 and up Towncar suspension will work on the 90 since the 90 has the carry-over suspension from the previous generation cars. Anyone know the answer to this question? I was wondering because a buddy of mine has a wrecked 92 in his boneyard and I was planning on pulling swaybars and anything else from the suspension that might firm the ride up a bit. It also has dual exhaust, which I will also probably pilfer. Heck, while I am at it, maybe I will pull the wiper motor too and save myself some bucks from the AutoZone parts that I have to buy!

Lastly, I have noticed air escaping from a spot just above the manifold on the passenger side of the car. It seems to be coming from a hose/tube that fits into a little silver almost dashpot looking mechanism. What is this piece called? Is it something dealing with exhaust gas recalculation or something like that and if so, how expensive of a part is this to replace? I figure the leak must be coming from there because there is a soot stain on the upper intake plenum right above this little metal piece that I am guessing is a result of this "warm" air I am feeling from this area. Am I in the right ballpark? Strangely enough, there doesn't seem to be a sound related to this leak. I just happened upon it while checking the transmission fluid.

Thanks for all of you guys who have given answers and comments to date and also to those that have to read this long a@# post.

m
 
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