I just finished my 3rd month
being 1000 miles away from my family,
chillin' in the PDX winter.
Surprisingly it's been smooth sailing,
no major issues, sickness or accidents...
Knock on wood!
The kids have really stepped it up,
the wife's handling it best she can.
It's almost like all I have to do is pay for stuff.
Thankfully there's FaceTime, phone and texting!
Well last week was the big test,
the wife's Merc wouldn't start.
Great.
I'd been warned of the issue beforehand,
the car would take a few key turns sometimes.
I planned for an ignition coil to burn out,
but not this.
Since the Grand Marquis is basically like the van,
we gambled that it was the fuel pump.
Now,
could the kids replace it?
This was their time to shine.
Let's see what they've learned all these years...
They studied the manual and said heck yea.
I ordered the fuel pump up here from Oreilly,
Jaxon rode his bike and picked it up.
They learned my late start and late stop,
pulling out the old drop light.
Everything went relatively smoothly,
we had texted and called a number of times.
Then the big WHABAMP...
Turns out the fasteners holding the tank straps
are special breakaway studs.
There was a 1/2-1" gap,
no way to get a nut back on!
Leave it to Jake for YouTube and web searching,
this was a common problem in all Panther based cars-
Lincoln Town Cars, Crown Vic's, Grand Marquis...
Some fixes we're extending the straps with bolt-on flatbar,
ordering the replacement breakaway studs from a ford dealer,
(Tough on a Sunday!)
or what the kids chose,
adding a u-bolt and replacing the hinge pin.
They added a strip of neoprene to really cinch it up.
gettin their Mom back on the road.
Good job guys!!
TP
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