Picked up a new beater

[unstable bob gable]

I was kicking around picking up a new beater, and yesterday I was coming home from a doctor's appointment and 3 blocks in there it was: 09 Crown Vic Police Interceptor. Retired Wall Township car. Has the mandatory spot lights and push bar. Called the number and the gentleman came out and we went for a ride. Everything is kosher except the radio doesn't work. The fella dropped it off last night and I'll get it on the road tomorrow. And it's fun seeing people slow down on my street when it's parked in front of my house.

[wretched73]

Good for you, I've been tempted to buy the same thing

[BonzoHansen]

I want a caprice like the NJSP are using. Do they still make those or did they die with holden?

[unstable bob gable]

Originally Posted by wretched73

Good for you, I've been tempted to buy the same thing

It is SOOOOOO much fun to roll down the highway in the fast lane and have people actually get out of your way! Lol

[Joey D]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

I want a caprice like the NJSP are using. Do they still make those or did they die with holden?

Caprices I believe are dead. U can pick em up cheap tho. Dave (irocman) has one he has used at work for last few years and they have replaced the top of the motor several times I think. I never had a caprice on patrol but crown vics were the ****. Rears and transmissions are only things that broke and that was after a lot of abuse

[unstable bob gable]

Originally Posted by Joey D

crown vics were the ****. Rears and transmissions are only things that broke and that was after a lot of abuse

And the crowd said "AMEN!"

[wretched73]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

I want a caprice like the NJSP are using. Do they still make those or did they die with holden?

Sadly they died.

I've seen some used police caprices on craigslist with the 6.2. Not a bad choice for a DD

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by Joey D

Caprices I believe are dead. U can pick em up cheap tho. Dave (irocman) has one he has used at work for last few years and they have replaced the top of the motor several times I think. I never had a caprice on patrol but crown vics were the ****. Rears and transmissions are only things that broke and that was after a lot of abuse

what's with that, DOD lifter issues?

[Joey D]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

what's with that, DOD lifter issues?

Not sure. I remember our v6 chargers had the same issues. Every car having top end of motor replaced several times. V8 chargers had to have srt front ends put in after we kept having problems with them. Im not a ford guy but the crown vics and interceptors (taurus/explorer) have really done a good job

[sweetbmxrider]

Would love a caprice for dd commuting

[maroman88]

I have an old '10 hemi Charger cop car, its fun, was well kept by my home town. 78k miles. at work we have '11 and '14 hemi chargers, the 11's are getting pretty beat from city work and have just under 100k miles but over 18k engine hours

[edpontiac91]

Didn't you just say you bought a 2003 Buick Century from a little ole lady?

[IROCZman15]

Yea, as JoeyD said, I have been driving a 2012 Chevy Caprice for the last 5 years as my work car. My coworkers are more fans of the charger, but I have enjoyed the caprice all this time so they let me keep using it. It has 115,000 miles on it, and the rear and trans are untouched. However, the engine is now on its 4th camshaft. each time it began with a lifter related issue. according to our townships dpw garage (who sends out the car for big repairs) one or several of the lifters rotate in their bores and get hung-up enough to round out the lobe(s) on the cam. each time the car is down for about a month because they had to ship parts from Australia ! aside from that, the car is great. It has the shifter on the console and not on the column. no bump steer issues either, but it is a bit sketchy at high speed cornering. even though you turn the traction control off, the damn computer still has some control over it and you cant power through snow or terrain, so that also sucks.

we still have three remaining ford crown victorias but they are soon to be retired. as was said here, those cars were great for getting the job done. they aren't the fastest thing out there, but they are dependable. the final few years of those they made the seats uncomfortable and dis a very weird thing where the headrest was angled forward in a painful position. I never had any major issues from my time driving them. one time a mechanic must have left a spark plug loose during maintenance and I was driving around and heard a pop, a ding, and a loud exhaust misfire. opened the hood and the spark plug and its boot were laying across a bracket. the ding was when it hit the underside of the hood !!

nice purchase bob. enjoy it. !

[Featherburner]

Originally Posted by wretched73

Sadly they died.

I've seen some used police caprices on craigslist with the 6.2. Not a bad choice for a DD

6.0 L77. None of them came with a 6.2 except the SS.

[Featherburner]

Originally Posted by IROCZman15

Yea, as JoeyD said, I have been driving a 2012 Chevy Caprice for the last 5 years as my work car. My coworkers are more fans of the charger, but I have enjoyed the caprice all this time so they let me keep using it. It has 115,000 miles on it, and the rear and trans are untouched. However, the engine is now on its 4th camshaft. each time it began with a lifter related issue. according to our townships dpw garage (who sends out the car for big repairs) one or several of the lifters rotate in their bores and get hung-up enough to round out the lobe(s) on the cam. each time the car is down for about a month because they had to ship parts from Australia ! aside from that, the car is great. It has the shifter on the console and not on the column. no bump steer issues either, but it is a bit sketchy at high speed cornering. even though you turn the traction control off, the damn computer still has some control over it and you cant power through snow or terrain, so that also sucks.

we still have three remaining ford crown victorias but they are soon to be retired. as was said here, those cars were great for getting the job done. they aren't the fastest thing out there, but they are dependable. the final few years of those they made the seats uncomfortable and dis a very weird thing where the headrest was angled forward in a painful position. I never had any major issues from my time driving them. one time a mechanic must have left a spark plug loose during maintenance and I was driving around and heard a pop, a ding, and a loud exhaust misfire. opened the hood and the spark plug and its boot were laying across a bracket. the ding was when it hit the underside of the hood !!

nice purchase bob. enjoy it. !

When NJSP has problems with the lifters/cam they install a new long block.

[sweetbmxrider]

Should just go with link bars

[unstable bob gable]

Originally Posted by edpontiac91

Didn't you just say you bought a 2003 Buick Century from a little ole lady?

Nah that was my bestie. He's a mope so I did the leg work to find him a decent car.

[ChickenLittle]

Originally Posted by Featherburner

6.0 L77. None of them came with a 6.2 except the SS.

And that car is a ton (or 2) of fun, lemme tell ya

[ThoR294]

Originally Posted by unstable bob gable

It is SOOOOOO much fun to roll down the highway in the fast lane and have people actually get out of your way! Lol

Yup I used to drive for a taxi company and we had a black police car. It was awesome

[unstable bob gable]

And finally a car I can get parts for at the junkyard! Needed a spare tire so went to Absolute in Middlesex and a wrecked South Plainfield cruiser gave it's life so I could have a spare tire. Lol

[MyFirstZ]

Originally Posted by IROCZman15

one time a mechanic must have left a spark plug loose during maintenance and I was driving around and heard a pop, a ding, and a loud exhaust misfire. opened the hood and the spark plug and its boot were laying across a bracket. the ding was when it hit the underside of the hood !!

nice purchase bob. enjoy it. !

I'm pretty sure this was a common issue with the 4.6 motors. Not a spark plug being left loose but the plugs blowing out from the head. I had to do a few of the repairs on this at a private shop I worked at

[sweetbmxrider]

Originally Posted by MyFirstZ

I'm pretty sure this was a common issue with the 4.6 motors. Not a spark plug being left loose but the plugs blowing out from the head. I had to do a few of the repairs on this at a private shop I worked at

I thought it was the 5.4s with the short threaded plugs because engineers know its best to mix things up when its worked forever Don't forget the ones that did the opposite, you know, stayed stuck in the head!

[unstable bob gable]

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

I thought it was the 5.4s with the short threaded plugs because engineers know its best to mix things up when its worked forever Don't forget the ones that did the opposite, you know, stayed stuck in the head!

I think the 4.6s have been known to have the spark plugs stay stuck in the head. My one buddy works at a shop that had one that almost needed the head pulled but after major attempts he got it out.

[B4C]

Originally Posted by MyFirstZ

I'm pretty sure this was a common issue with the 4.6 motors. Not a spark plug being left loose but the plugs blowing out from the head. I had to do a few of the repairs on this at a private shop I worked at

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

I thought it was the 5.4s with the short threaded plugs because engineers know its best to mix things up when its worked forever Don't forget the ones that did the opposite, you know, stayed stuck in the head!

Originally Posted by unstable bob gable

I think the 4.6s have been known to have the spark plugs stay stuck in the head. My one buddy works at a shop that had one that almost needed the head pulled but after major attempts he got it out.

The 4.6 and 5.4 2v trucks seemed to have a huge problem bolwing the plugs and threads out of the head.

The later 5.4 3v used a special spark plug that extended alittle into the chamber and would get loaded up with carbon and stuck into the head.

[unstable bob gable]

Getting snow tires installed today. And the trunk is already weighed down with tools and sandbags. This will be my first RWD winter in many moons so I want to be prepared.