used police car

[peter lena 9,830]

talking to a guy yesterday at at walmart  , had a very clean  police interceptor , hadrecently  picked it up at   https://www.google.com/search?q=brooklyn+ct+state+police+barrics&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS866US866&oq=brooklyn+ct++state+police+barrics+&gs_lcrp= auction , 123 k on it  fresh service , all new brakes  , tires , tune , $  995 !  had to  ask him again about the price , he said  right place right time  ,  he said very solid  nothing  at all  off , said  with a/c on fuel was obvious  , but not bad , highway mileage in the mid 30,s . thinkin today  for a grand , thats a no brainer , told him to get after  an oil  creeping soaking going  on body / frame , he was thinking the same way  , emphasised the  highest  closed body feeding the lowest  seam areas  , and 2 step  , penetrating  oil  soak down first  , then  MACKS  chain and cable spray  , days after  , look for effects .  try it on a visible  area , and learn from it  , especially  horizontal , boxy areas . fender wells and door bottoms . told him once you see the lubrication proof  ,  you will be hooked . most of the stuff i see  is rusted neglect , those body seams , are the veins of a car , put  lubrication in them , pete 

[ri702bill 11,714]

When I met my wife in 1975, she was driving a 1973 Dodge Coronet 4 door that was an ex detective's car. My FIL got it at auction; it had 88K one driver miles on it and it had had only 1-1/2 years of service. We kept it until 1985. My kids cried when we sold it to buy the Buick. Oh, but then it was OK because they realized the Buick had AC and a nice velour interior!!

[ML3 2,225]

I had a Crown Vic Police Inerceptor. It was a great vehicle.  Got over 300k miles outta it. It got respect on the road while delivering over 20mpg. Tons of power- I towed my boat, snowmobiles, & camper with it. I've owned over 100 vehicles & gotta say it was probably one of my favorites. 

[peter lena 9,830]

@ML3  very solid looking unit there ,  first thing that stands out to me is , no rusty wheel wheels , or related trim ,  more than nicely kept , the detailing  / interest , really shows  , pete

[ML3 2,225]

1 hour ago, peter lena said:

@ML3  very solid looking unit there ,  first thing that stands out to me is , no rusty wheel wheels , or related trim ,  more than nicely kept , the detailing  / interest , really shows  , pete

It was originally a Fla detective unit. Had 60k mi when I got it. However,  I drove it daily for 7yrs all year round to just over 300k. I wash my vehicles very often. It was also treated with Fluid Film underneath & in doors etc. I did have another set of 4 same wheels with winter tires. 

[peter lena 9,830]

@ML3  WAIT , YOU CAN,T DO THAT  !   but  I agree with you  , pete 

[8ntruck 8,739]

Those wheels were made in the plant I retired from.  I was not there engineer on those dies, but I oversaw the maintenance and development of them through production.

 

I was the engineer on the next generation of police interceptor wheels.

Edited 21 hours ago by 8ntruck

[adsm08 4,338]

3 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

Those wheels were made in the plant I retired from.  I was not there engineer on those dies, but I oversaw the maintenance and development of them through production.

 

I was the engineer on the next generation of police interceptor wheels.

 

How involved were you on the 7-hole wheels?

[8ntruck 8,739]

Drop center wheels or full face wheels?

 

The wheels in the picture look like they are full face wheels.  These came in several flavors.  Different numbers of windows and those for heavy duty applications got shot peened on the outboard beadseat.  My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think the initial production was 7 windows, then later there was a 12(?) window version.

 

I had a part in the conversion of the dies to make a different number of windows.  That conversion needed to be swappable, as both versions were in production at the time.

 

The drop center wheel had its own set of tools.  That set of tools was a good running set of tools.  I really don't remember how many windows these had.  I'm thinking that it was an even number.

[adsm08 4,338]

Just now, 8ntruck said:

Drop center wheels or full face wheels?

 

The wheels in the picture look like they are full face wheels.  These came in several flavors.  Different numbers of windows and those for heavy duty applications got shot peened on the outboard beadseat.  My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think the initial production was 7 windows, then later there was a 12(?) window version.

 

I had a part in the conversion of the dies to make a different number of windows.  That conversion needed to be swappable, as both versions were in production at the time.

 

The drop center wheel had its own set of tools.  That set of tools was a good running set of tools.  I really don't remember how many windows these had.  I'm thinking that it was an even number.

 

The ones that I wasted most of 2007 replacing because they were prone to fracturing.

 

The recalled ones were like the ones in @ML3 's picture, except they were 7-windows. The ones in his picture were the replacements installed for the recall.

[8ntruck 8,739]

12 minutes ago, adsm08 said:

 

The ones that I wasted most of 2007 replacing because they were prone to fracturing.

 

The recalled ones were like the ones in @ML3 's picture, except they were 7-windows. The ones in his picture were the replacements installed for the recall.

Ah.  Those.  That issue spurred the 12(?) window version. The 7 window version started production just before I got assigned to that plant.

 

All of the replacement wheeling and dealings were done up in Corporate.- way above my pay grade.  I was at the manufacturing level - we built what we were told.   

Edited 20 hours ago by 8ntruck

[Beap52 2,140]

I'm certainly no expert nor do I have a degree of any kind--in fact I'm still a student in the "School of hard knocks".   

 

Some of the engineering/production on modern vehicles baffles me. As an example, my son-in-law's SUV with a window in the roof allowed water to drip from the switches on the ceiling.  The result was $650 to work on the switches and motor to get it functioning again.  The window opened up and wouldn't close.  He asked me to see if I could help.   The first thing I did was try to locate the drains only to find that some of them are impossible to have access to.  I was able to blow out the front drains but the could only  blow air into the exit tube on one of the back drains and no access to the other back drain at all. 

 

When I took the SUV to the dealership for him, I asked about the drains.  The one back drain requires dropping the headliner to clean at a price of ~$400.  Fortunately this drain is open in his vehicle by the evidence of water running down both sides of his inner fender. I would have thought that these back drains should have run to sunshine so they could be  cleared of dirt and debris as needed.   I suppose that construction costs have to be managed to keep vehicles withing certain price points. 

 

I see same type of issues with house construction.  The water table is pretty high in this area.  Most homes on crawlspaces will have issues with mold and rotting floor joists.  In my opinion, sealing the crawlspace while the house is being constructed would be much more cost effective than some unknowing homeowner being billed twenty or thirty thousand dollars at some future date by companies that advertise heavily on television.  

[8ntruck 8,739]

  Serviceability seems to be a secondary consideration in automotive design.  Getting the vehicles assembled with a minimum of labor and time quite often over rules ease of service - once it is financed, shipped, and sold, things become the owner's problem.

[Handy Don 16,210]

4 hours ago, Beap52 said:

"School of hard knocks"

There are so many examples of shortcuts or “not made to be serviced” that we could spend all day discussing them. There are also many examples of “this is a pretty cool feature, but it requires more maintenance.” Car roof windows are one of these.

 

The roof window drains are an at-least-once-a-year maintenance item and typically done by dealers (although, I’ve seen some very helpful YouTube videos explaining how to do it on several car models). Waiting until they are clogged and water is coming into the car reinforces this.

The drains can become clogged in ways that are very difficult to clear--and air pressure is NOT an ideal solution since they are often plumbed with “Ys” connecting different branches and air pressure can pop the connections apart letting water drain into extremely awkward locations (like under headliners). Dealers typically use a blunt thin plastic “wire” to rod out the tubes. Parking under trees that drop stuff and opening the roof when there is debris on top are invitations to clogging. Dried dirt is the most common culprit. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Handy Don

[SylvanLakeWH 31,010]

 

I've had two vehicles with sun roofs. Both problems from the start. One I permanently sealed with silicone and disconnected the switch. No problem after that. The other was a mechanical recall issue. Fixed by dealer with lifetime warranty. I never use it.

 

Lesson learned. I won’t get another vehicle with one... holes in roofs are simply not advisable... 

 

[Handy Don 16,210]

13 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

I won’t get another vehicle with one... holes in roofs are simply not advisable... 

So many vehicles have them now, even trucks!

I was initially skeptical of the one on the ’22 that I bought as a used CPO but I will say that winter sunlight has been nice and my service guy does the drains every 6,000 miles with the oil change, to boot!

[adsm08 4,338]

4 hours ago, Handy Don said:

So many vehicles have them now, even trucks!

I was initially skeptical of the one on the ’22 that I bought as a used CPO but I will say that winter sunlight has been nice and my service guy does the drains every 6,000 miles with the oil change, to boot!

 

The sunroof is still the dumbest thing in automotive history.

 

The tracks break down, cost a butt-load of money, get discontinued, and then there is a giant hole in the roof when the glass won't close.

 

Best to just avoid the whole thing and NOT PUT A HOLE IN THE ROOF.