I should of known with it being so cold here it was bound to happen, Went to start the bird today and it was a bit sluggish. I didn't think anything of it since it's really sluggish to start once it gets hot anyways. Well i drove out to the local walmart since i had an interview today, came back out and the bird refused to start just a " ugh " and dead lol.
To my luck walmart had a jumpbox and she cranked up right quick, took it home parked it next to my shop and sure enough dead again. Anyways it's about time to put her up for winter anyways.
Maybe i heard wrong but i thought " interstate " batterys are supposed to last forever and this one is only a yr old...
I had an interstate battery in my ranger for a couple years and one day it just ped out. With no warning. I've had three Wal-mart batterys in my cougar in the last four years, they're too, but you can't beat the warrenty. It's just a pain to have to return batterys once a year.
There's been an Everstart Maxx battery in my truck for 5 years, never had a problem out of it.
I've always had a problem with Fords I've owned ('86 Escort & '86 Cougar) froze shut, whenever it got cold out. I mean, they would be so frozen shut it wasn't even funny. The '94 Conti I had treated me alright until I dropped $450 into the suspension, then it decided to puke the waterpump & headgaskets all in one go
Last year, I was using my truck as a dd, I was pulling out of the driveway, went to crack my window, and I completely ripped it off of the track (crank window). The window was froze in the weatherstripping, but as soon as I got out of my driveway, the window fell, and I drove all the way to Nashville with the window sitting in the door when it was around 15* outside....... not very fun.
To the OP, have you looked into optima batteries? I hear they are great batteries, but have never bit the bullet to buy one, so I don't know firsthand.
Aint got cold enough for anything to freeze shut, yet anyways lol. I'm still looking for a good battery aint looked at the optima's yet but was told the diehard platinum's was very good.
Die Hard. I've never had one fail early on me.
Oh and my MN-12 has been the most unreliable POS I've ever owned. Every two months something new breaks on it.
I don't drive the bird everyday thats what i have the grand prix for, but when ever i did drive it i've always got there and back without a problem...until today that is lol
Then,if I have this right,the car didn't let you down,the battery did. Every winter,check the battery,anti-freeze,heat,alternator and as always,fluids. Please don't blame the poor Bird,it can only give so much.
My Fox Cougar broke something once a month ...the MN-12's been okay, so far ...
Should have been riding in my Cougar when the Heater Core went out on me. I never fixed it ...there was no more fun that driving from Wal*Mart (in Hoptown) down 41-A, across Tiny Town Rd, down Needmore Rd, and over to IHOP three times a week. Now, the only way to keep the windows from fogging over on the inside was to keep the one (passenger side) working window down half-way. It made for a half-frozen me and a frozen passenger by the time we got to where we were going :rollin:
I've got a red-top optima in my Silverado. I don't know how old it was when I bought the truck, but it's been 4 years and it still cranks the 350 over, every time.
We have had excellent performance from Duralast Gold batteries, we have had an easy 20 plus of them and all but two of them lasted at least five years. The two that did fail, Autozone replaced with no questions asked.
My Mn-12 was one of the most reliable cars I ever had although mine had the 4.6. I beat the shiznit out of that car for almost 3 years.
That sucks major sack dude. The '86 I bought and sold to a friend had a bad core, even came with a replacement in the trunk, I never installed it and neither has he, I know he is freezing his ass off, he is a delivery driver for Pizza Hut LOL
Scott D....did you fix the heater core yet. Most people put it off thinking it's a terrible job. It's not bad. I'd do it for everyone for $100.00 each.....if everyone was local.
I got rid of Project Thundercat a few years ago :(:(:(
It's time for another bro
What about the Motocraft batteries? I've had alot of good luck with them.
I might have to drive to Oklahoma. Just kidding. If it's as easy as the article on coolcats than it should'nt take me more than a couple hours. I just need $60 for the heater core. It's hard to come up with that kind of money being unemployed.
well yea lol had to put something in the title
Around here, the only core you can get is $20. I have been using the same walmart battery for about 2 years now. When I first bought the car, there was a overly large battery in the tray with a bungee holding it down. One day it broke and I did not notice until the car would not start. When I popped the hood, the battery was sitting on the belt by the a/c with a big hole in it. I went to walmart and had like $25 and bought the cheapest battery I could, with the right terminals. Haven't really had a problem yet. Only had one or two jumps, cause I left the lights on.
With proper maintenance and an adequate charging system, just about any battery will do, imho. Our cars don't really have any special needs as far as power goes (unless you put in a huge stereo or a hi-comp engine that's hard to crank, etc)
A guy once told me that a battery gets damaged when you leave it dead. So if you do kill your battery, recharge it as soon as possible.
I agree. Something on my car is always breaking. When I fix one thing, something else breaks. I know it's an old car, but I dunno.
Where did you get a quote for $60? Mine was less than $35, I think I got it at autozone or something.
I bought an energizer for my tbird and one for my camaro, I have returned both every 6-12 months since '08
Free replacement is free replacement.... Now my DD explorer?
Optima redtop lol
I bought my 95 3 years ago with 69,000 original miles on it. It now has just over 89,000 miles. I bought it becaue of the low mileage so I wouldn't have to invest a lot of time or money in it. I was wrong. In the three years and 20,000 miles I've driven it I've had to replace the following on the car:
TFI
stator
starter solenoid
all four balljoints
water pump
radiator
the passenger rear wheel cylinder exploded, had to rebuild the rear brakes
brake master cylinder and booster
Yesterday the driver's side front caliper locked up and chewed up the roter. Now I have to rebuild the front bakes on both sides.
At 89,000 miles these things should not be failing. My 88 T-bird has had two things fail in the 8 years I've owned it and it has 130,000 miles. The heater core failed and the stock AOD died after the GT40 HO swap. That's it. Everything else I've done has been for fun to upgrade the stock stuff.
The front ends on the MN12 are junk, that '95 LX I had needed ball joints(and about everything else)at just over 70K, and it was a calif car... Everything is still orig on my '88 and it has 140K mi... I did replace the LR shock due to it leaking, but that came from a junk TC...
Where'd you hear that??? 'Nuther one of those I-net myths, floating around...
I'd be finding out what's wrong before I put it away, possibly that battery is bad or the charging system is weak...
Now On batteries, I have a almost 13 year old Motorcraft that is the original out of my '98 Grand Marquis that will still crank... Currently it's in a '91 Super Duty with a 460(yeah it struggles a bit with the big block, but will spin a 4.6 without effort )... Seriously though, if someone had told me a battery could last 12+ years, I'd have called them a liar...
hmm interesting i may have to look into that, wouldn't have to buy a motorcraft battery from the ford dealer would i ?
Yeah they are. Like I said I just had the driver's side caliper lock up on me, at 89,000 miles. It's crazy how py the front ends on the MN-12s are. If I buy another old Ford as a DD I think I'm going to look at a Crown Vic or a Grand Marquis....
In the 4 years I actually drove my '86 Cougar, I had to repair (or replace) the following ...
Alternator (5 times)
Alternator bracket
Tensioner pulley (2 times)
Headgaskets
Harmonic Balancer
Driveshaft U-joints
Window Switches (twice)
Power Window motor on the driver's side (2 times)
Speed Sensor
heater core
Then the Torque Converter went south on me & I said "shag it."
That car nickle and dimed me to death and I was glad to see it gone. My '86 Escort GT, with 100,000 more miles on it, was a more reliable car than my Fox Cougar was.
Since I've had the '97, I have put less than 700$ into it, the most expensive thing having been new tires.
If
I bought another Cougar, it'd be an MN-12
Now you are talking almost indestructible... Other than shocks and one idler arm(turned out it really wasn't bad), I've never done any front end work to the five Grand Marquis I've owned('86, '92, '93, '98 & '07)... With coil overs, rack & pinion steering the '03-up drive really nice, reportedly the '03-up frame is 25% more rigid than the earlier models...