New member with 88 Marquis Questions

[redjay]

Hey all. Ive just got a few questions about my new car and hopefully this is the joint to get some answers.

I just recently bought an 88 grand marquis from my gf's grandfather. White, vinyl top, garage kept, but seeing that I am the 3rd owner of this car there are a few problems. The bottom of 2 doors are a little rusty but I can fix that (i filled a rust hole the size of my fist in my old 89 Caddy Brougham) and I need some help with a few other things.

im trying to intall an aftermarket stereo in my car but it doesnt work. I figured out how to get power to it but no wire harness allows the speakers to work. Ive tried different harnesses and I just found out that many of them for this car are built for bypassing the factory amp and going into a new one, which I dont own. The speakers are fine as the old radio SORT OF works. its blares and doesnt work too well. Seeing that harnesses for the "ford premium sound system" dont really work/exist, should I just go ahead and put in a new AM/FM radio with a cassete player like Im thinking about? At least that way I could use an adapter for CDs


Secondly, this thing has 115,740 miles on it and just today, it stalled while in my driveway. ive only owned the car for about 5 days so i got a little worried. But then again, it was wet, cold, and crappy out today so who knows. But yah, is there anything I should be on the lookout for with this car? It just got a new battery, starter, alternator and tires so that covers mainly electrical stuff but seeing that I always hear things about older fords, are there any common problems with a grand marquis this old?

I also put a slight hole in the dash over the left speaker on accident. Im thinking about just getting a dash cover or putting a speaker cover over the hole but yah, for a car with 72 THOUSAND less miles than my old car with a horrible looking door, vinyl top, and paint, I shouldnt complain seeing that I got it for $350

[reekor]

About the radio, Does it have two plugs shaped like an "L" one gray and the other black? do you have speaker in the front doors or just in the dash? You will also need a dash kit to install a aftermarket radio.

The "Idle Control Valves" on these cars suck butt, I replaced mine (89 Vic) with one from a new ford escort. The distributor ignition modules are also a nightmare in hot weather.

Originally Posted by redjay

Hey all. Ive just got a few questions about my new car and hopefully this is the joint to get some answers.

I just recently bought an 88 grand marquis from my gf's grandfather. White, vinyl top, garage kept, but seeing that I am the 3rd owner of this car there are a few problems. The bottom of 2 doors are a little rusty but I can fix that (i filled a rust hole the size of my fist in my old 89 Caddy Brougham) and I need some help with a few other things.

im trying to intall an aftermarket stereo in my car but it doesnt work. I figured out how to get power to it but no wire harness allows the speakers to work. Ive tried different harnesses and I just found out that many of them for this car are built for bypassing the factory amp and going into a new one, which I dont own. The speakers are fine as the old radio SORT OF works. its blares and doesnt work too well. Seeing that harnesses for the "ford premium sound system" dont really work/exist, should I just go ahead and put in a new AM/FM radio with a cassete player like Im thinking about? At least that way I could use an adapter for CDs


Secondly, this thing has 115,740 miles on it and just today, it stalled while in my driveway. ive only owned the car for about 5 days so i got a little worried. But then again, it was wet, cold, and crappy out today so who knows. But yah, is there anything I should be on the lookout for with this car? It just got a new battery, starter, alternator and tires so that covers mainly electrical stuff but seeing that I always hear things about older fords, are there any common problems with a grand marquis this old?

I also put a slight hole in the dash over the left speaker on accident. Im thinking about just getting a dash cover or putting a speaker cover over the hole but yah, for a car with 72 THOUSAND less miles than my old car with a horrible looking door, vinyl top, and paint, I shouldnt complain seeing that I got it for $350

[redjay]

Nah, there are 4 radio plugs. Two that connect to each other and the other two are for speakers/ground,constant 12v, ignition starter, etc. Ive done alot of radios for cars but this one beats all. Im just seeing if i can get a locla shop to install it.

But yah, im not too worried about the idle and ignition stuff anymore. It only happened that one time and it has an all new starter, battery, and distributor