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At 115,000miles, my car is falling apart all at once. I just replaced both frt. window regulators at a cost of over $500! Below are my current problems; any ideas are greatly appreciated. Thx in advance.


1) Door lock not working on passenger side frt., but I can hear the actuator moving. Actuator bad? and not moving enough or is there a clip that could have come loose?


2) Intermittent battery light. Battery load tested fine, belt is recent, starts all the time (even in 25 degeree weather).


3) Bought new remote entry but cannot program. Do not have original permanent code but I thought I found it on an owners card; no dice. How do I remove the panel to access the computer ( it is supposed to be on there).


4) Cruise control stopped working. Previously had to push buttons several times to get it to work. Switch assembly on steering wheel?? Is this a pop out item that I can replace?


5) Hood not staying open. Rods are not sold at local stores and appear to be riveted to hood. Any ideas?


6) hood does not want to open or shut, as if the latch is sticking.??


7)Popping from frt. end when turned sharply or in a bind. Tie rods, ball joints?????


Seat belts do not retract w/o alot of help but I figure that is a straightforward remove and replace thing, but any experience or tips are welcome. Headliner falling out at back: I will try to tuck it back in. Also, has anybody ever replaced the carpet and/or seat covers in these cars. BTW, I have a 1998 Grand Marquis. Plz share your thoughts.
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1.) Several possibilities. Most common I heard is that the plastic retainer guarding the steel rail going to the door know is worn out. Best thing would be to take door panel off, and watch the mechanism, then you should see if the steel rod is moving, and all the way.

[img]uploads/92Mercury/0900823d801746c1.gif[/img]

2.) Maybe bad ground? Ground is mounted to transmission bell housing. After almost 10 year, could be just a corrosion issue. Or a bad wire. Again, age is showing.

3.) Several posts out there with more than detailed instructions. Use the search function.

4.) [img]uploads/92Mercury/0900823d80087672.gif[/img]



5.) You can get decent priced ones i.e. on eBay. OEM style. Riveted on? No metal pin with slide-on clip? This is what the manual says, unless you are one of those "unique ones" LOL

[img]uploads/92Mercury/A15_0900823d801747f2.jpg[/img]

6.) Yes, could be. Again, age. Try some WD-40, you might be amazed.

7.) Sounds like control rod bushings. I was quoted $125 for both sides, at Sears.

You had both front regulators replaced, for over $500? Give me $250, I have a shop do the work (yes, including parts) and that will still leave me a nice profit.

I paid $49 for a regulator including motor, and #150 to have both put in. I took the door panels off myself to safe one labor.

Where do you live? I'm sort of in the country, so pretty much everybody except the dealer is fairly priced. I only heard of metropolitan areas where they seem to charge a whole lot more.

Greetings!
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Edited by: 92Mercury

 

Wow, thx for the answers and diagrams. I'm in western NC and I will not be returning to the dealership for any more work.


I will pull the door panel off since I know what it looks like now. Thx. I will try some of your other suggestions and post back in case this could help someone else......or I pulled the rest of my hair out.[img]smileys/smiley4.gif[/img]

 

Pull the rest of your hair out? Don't do that, it's not worth it, after all, it's just a car.


It didn't take me too long to figure out that many things can be fixed much cheaper by either doing a little "creative" work yourself, or going some other place. Especially for basic issues, the dealerships have outrageous charges.


Look for the other post regarding the door panel. One thing you might have to look out for is the trim behind the door handle. At least on the earlier models (especially '92 to '94) we learned that even though the manual says you are to take them out before removing the panel, on some they seem to be part of the panel itself, and therefor can not be removed.


So you would have to play with it a bit, jiggle it around while pulling on the handle, in order to get it off.


Removing the headliner should not be a biggie, except for the amount of side-work involved. You would have to remove i.e. the pillar covers. Don't you think you might be able to remount it w/o removing it?


Also, what do you mean with seat covers? Like redoing the seats? To the best of my knowledge, the fabric is tucked on, it can't just be removed like a ordinary seat cover. Do you have tears in your seat? they make patches to partially fix them, just so that you know.


Greetings!
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Yes, I think I can retuck the headliner ( I have the spray glue if necessary).


By "seat covers", I meant recovering with new material...as in hog rings if they are still used. The fabric is really worn, faded, and just damned ugly. Should I get this from the dealer or are there other companies making replacement upholstery?


I would have an update but I just fixed a Dodge pickemup at a cost of 0 after the guy guy had already paid a garage $350 to replace a water pump, belt, and supposedly flush the heater core.[img]smileys/smiley2.gif[/img]

 

I would look for a trim shop, upholstery, whatever name they use. I know a shop in my town, they do the partial fix. They go by the original stitches. Like the patches on the left and rear of the seat, or just the middle part.


I would think that the dealer would charge you an outrageous amount of money. Besides, I doubt they do the work themselves. They probably give the seats to the same shop to which you could go yourself.


Greetings!

 

Well, here's the update:


The lube worked on the latch. [img]smileys/smiley1.gif[/img]thx again.


The door lock actuator is working but is loose in the door ( not mounted so it can't move the lock). I could not see how or where it mounts but it looks like a stud/bolt may have broken off of the actuautor. Any pics of an actuator up close?


According to the manufacturer of the remote entry unit, 1998 is the one year that requires a trip to the dealer for programming.[img]smileys/smiley6.gif[/img]. I can get into the programming mode with the keyless entry pad but remote does nothing. He confirmed that I have the right unit.

 

Mine was sitting outside for many years, so I had several issues with sticking latches. First WD40 did not work too well. So I used brake cleaner to wash off all the debris, and then lubed it. Works just fine. So glad to hear that it worked for you as well.


Nope, sorry. Have to browse my archive, but don't think I have one. But I will take off the panel within the next 2 weeks, so if you are not in a desperate situation, I can post one then.


How did it go with taking of the door panel? Did you have a hard time getting the door handle through the tiny opening?


Here is some other instructions, maybe they help:


[img]uploads/92Mercury/Programming.JPG[/img]


Greetings!</>

 

what years is that applicable to the keyless entry that is.

 

Supposedly '95 to '00, there are at least 2 different ones out there (the other one w/4 buttons), and then the ones for the transponder key.


BTW: Above instructions are pretty much identical to the ones from my '95 Taurus.


Greetings!