1999 Crown Vic 150K miles multiple recent problems

Right after I bought myself a nice Mustang GT w/ manual transmission the wife does not want to know about driving, her 99 Crown Vic started acting up to point of not being reliable at all.

I was a mechanic 20 years ago but am older and wiser enough to know I should not attempt to work on this on my own.


3 Problems:


1) AC stops working after the car warms up (Even though I live in FL I will be willing to live with this since I will only use CVic as commuter to from work) Dropping off at a local station tomorrow to see if I can have the problem diagnosed.


Question 1: I am thinking of bringing it to Ford Dealer rather than local shop since I don't know anyone in my town or nearby. I am assuming I will get what extra I pay for w/ Ford Dealer and have best chance of correct diagnosis and repair, do you agree with this ?


2)Lights on dashboard go out seemingly after the car gets put into gear or perhaps right after it is started? Someone told me there is printed circuit board material in the instrument cluster that gets dried out and shorts out. Was told it would be about $400-500 to fix. Thinking I* will live with this as it is.


3) Pretty sure this happens only after car is warm but pushing down on gas pedal does not cause car to accelerate but rather bog down. Was told this could be a "clogged catalytic converter" or fuel pump or filter.
Any ideas?

Thanks very much in advance for any feedback, I am thinking I will drop off at dealer tomorrow morning to help make decision to fix car not completely or to cash in my chips and sell her for whatever I can get, thanks again

1. A good service that purges the system and refils the R134A should do you wonders unless you have a major leak or bad pressure switch. A good shop will catch the switch and put dye in for leak detection but you usually have to drive it a week or so to find it.

2. Yes this is the most likely cause, the best bet is usually to get a dash out of a wrecking yard or such. If you have the digital dash like mine it is pricey though and usually better to have it repaired. If you are lucky you can see the short and repair it yourself once the instrument cluster is out of the car.

3. This can be quite a few things, bad throttle position sensor, bad EGR, bad MAF, bad idle air control, clogged cats, etc.... Do you have the updated intake manifold with the Aluminum water passage or the older plastic water passage? Any check engine codes by chance?

Thanks very much for all of the information, I dropped it off at the Ford dealer thinking they would give the most bang for the buck in terms of helping me to keep it or junk it decision.


Took it to auto parts store for check engine light, they said it might be leaking gas cap, that light has been on
previously for years.

Thanks again will let you know how it works out.