I am looking at a 1997 Grand Marquis with 77,000 miles. It is spotless and in very good shape. Any ideas on what to look for? Or any recommendations on these cars. I have always liked the looks, but of the 35 or so cars, I have had, not one has been a Panther Platform. Any suggestions would be great!.

I called my local dealer to see if they had a warranty record of this car having had the intake manifold repaired and there was no record.

Thanks,

 

that's pretty much the only thing to look for. check the intake for cracks on the edges where it meets the heads. any cracking could mean replacing it sooner rather than later. Other than that, take it for a spin. there should be no lack of power. it should drive well and not bounce more than once over most bumps. as with any car of age, check the hoses (coolant, vacuum, brake, etc) and other rubber parts for cracking/bulging.

 

Inspect the steel brake lines if you can get under it.. American companies used some cheap brake line in the mid to late 90's.. The part of the country you live in will have some bearing on this as well, but even here in the rust belt it seemed kind of odd to be replacing the steel line on cars with under 100K... Also listen when you first start the engine cold for any sort of funny rattles.. There were some issues off and on with the timing chain tensioners.. This seemed to be worse on cars that were driving on a alot of short trips...

I woudl bet that you still have the original intake.. Most of them usually started to leak from 60K to 100K.. If you are a do it your selfer this isn;t a difficult job.. Dorman makes a kit that will have everything needed including the intake with the aluminum crossover...