New Grand Marquis owner with power-steering question
First of all, hey there. My name is Rob and I just bought a beautiful 1997 Grand Marquis GS and am absolutely loving it! My Sunfire of 10 years was rear-ended and wrote off a couple of weeks ago, and that's not a bad thing coz I hated the little thing. I'd had a 89 Buick Lesabre before that, and after 10 years of driving a pop-can, I decided to get a land-yacht again. Picked up a rust-free, original paint Grand Marquis with 70000km on it for $2700 and it runs like a beast (custom flow-master exhaust, mag wheels and a couple of minor engine mods). It runs beautifully...I'm truly amazed at how well it runs for the price I paid. No leaks, no noises,,,,it's just about 100% perfect:
The only thing that's not working properly is the steering; Don't get me wrong, I can turn the steering wheel with my pinky (not that I actually drive like that, heh heh) whether standing still or moving, so there's no stiffness whatsoever, but there is a wee bit of play (nothing major) and what concerns me is that when I take a corner and then let go of the wheel, it will begin to straighten out but as it approaches center I have to take the wheel and complete the return-to-center. That is, if I take a 90 degree turn in either direction and let go of the wheel like I normally would, instead of straightening out all the way like my other cars would, it would straighten out almost all the way and then I'd bump the curb. I have gotten used to this and can drive it safely no problem, but obviously I'd like it to handle like it should. If I'm driving straight and let go of the wheel, it keeps going straight. If I'm driving straight, let go of the wheel and slam on the brakes, it keeps going straight. What is likely to be the problem? Any ideas? Am I at risk of something happening if I keep driving it like this? I know it's probably hard to diagnose base on this limited info, but perhaps someone has experienced the same thing or can make an educated guess before I take it to a mechanic so I don't get taken for a proverbial ride?
Otherwise, it has already become my favorite of all the cars I've driven. I feel like I'm riding my living-room couch down the highway!
sounds like just normal wear & tear.you might want to have the front struts checked to make sure one is not weeker than the other.
Thanks for the reply. If one is weaker than the other, than would it drive straight and brake straight when hands are off the wheel? It wants to keep turning when hands are off the wheel whether I'm turning left or right....or would one strut being weaker than the other cause the wheel to not fully center by itself when turning in either direction? Will investigate your suggestion for sure...thanks again!
correct,I used to do aligments,and this is a common thing,it wont hurt anything driveing it.
Cool. That's a relief. Now I'm noticing a clicking sound coming from the left rear tire area when I slow down to a stop. It's intermittent and goes away as soon as I take off, but if I drive really slow it continues to click until I either brake again or until I start going faster. I suspect a rear-brake issue, but the car stops without a fuss, so again, likely nothing to panic about. I also noticed that the intake manifold has the aluminum coolant crossover mod which is good...I've heard these cars are notorious for cracked manifolds spilling coolant all over the engine. So far, I'm amazed at the car I got for 2700 bucks!
I have a 99 Marquis it has s lot of play in it what can that be or is that normal I just got the car it only had 51 thousand miles on it
I have the exact same problem in a 2001 marquis let me know if u ever solve that issue
I had this problem with my 99 Marquis.Noticed that it was worse when cold.What I did was removed supply to power steering pump from the reservoir tank,drained fluid from tank and then had my wife keep turning over engine while I held container to catch remainder of fluid pumped into the reservoir tank and drained out where line is disconnected.I then re installed hose on reservoir tank and filled with new power steering fluid.No problem with it returning to centre any more.Less then ten bucks to fix.Car only has 135 km on it.Another thing I do is with a needle grease fitting try sliding between rubber and metal on front end part.This allows you to grease some componets that do not have fittings.if need be you can push threw rubber but try not to.Just changed upper ball joints in my 01 f 150 for first time,only 1 had a bit of play after 390 000 k.Sure helped those out.Did this on my nephews 98 marquis that he bought after driving ours a bit and loved it.The grease helped with his returning to centre and it has 118 000 km on it.Good luck and hope this helps you out. Scott
Add Lucas power steering additive. My 06 has 170,000. Use Lucas additives in transmission and engine. You will notice the difference. GREENHORNET
The Marquis doesn't have front struts; it has coil springs and shocks. Not much of an alignment guy if he doesn't know that.
