10th Dec 2005, 20:35
I'm a ford tech and if they sold you all that stuff at whatever auto repair shop you took it to they ripped you off,because all you needed was the idle air control valve. they just threw parts at the car until they fixed it. also it was not engine trouble you were having the engine is fine, it was just a idle air control valve a component that the PCM uses to control the idle speed of the engine that failed. I would not take your vehicle back to that shop if I where you. take it to a FORD dealer.
29th Aug 2007, 14:26
Listen to the ford tech. It was the IAC (idle air control valve). The part costs $70 at your local Napa store. It is located at the top of the motor in the back by the firewall. You can replace it without even touching the decorative plastic cover over the motor. Replacing it takes five minutes. Disconnect the electrical plug from it and then the vaccum hose. Remove the two bolts holding it in and its out. Use the new gasket that comes with IAC, reuse the old bolts, and plug the vaccum hose and electrical plug back in and the job is done. I also noticed that when the IAC was failing my electric radiator fan made a loud humming noise that inconsistantly came and went. When I replaced the IAC the humming noise disappeared along with fixing the stalling problem when shifting into gear. 20,000 miles later the car still runs like a dream.
16th Nov 2007, 14:15
How can you tell if the problem is in the idle air control valve or the idle control motor?
26th Nov 2007, 11:14
I still drive my '98 Ford Crown Victoria and it has 500,000km on it! No engine rebuild; no transmission rebuild! The car looks new like it was when purchased from day 1! The only thing I changed on the car was the headlight assembly, and the reason why I changed that was because it lost its shine, and got too dull, and was starting to turn yellow (due to Canadian weather).
The Crown Vic is truely the best car I've ever owned. Oh, and by the way my car was always Ford dealer-serviced; and that makes a BIG DIFFERENCE!
14th Jan 2008, 14:52
I have a 2000 Crown Victoria with 84,000 miles on it. Last winter my IAC was malfunctioning, and it also made a loud humming noise coming from the electric radiator fan. I replaced it and everything was fine.
The next winter it started dying again when I put it in gear. I didn't want to spend money on replacing the part again, since the IAC is just a needle valve that gets clogged up with carbon and choke's the air supply to the motor, causing it to die while shifting between gears. I took the part off the car and sprayed it out with some carburetor cleaner, wiped it down and put it back in. Now the car works just fine again.
If you have this problem, don't waste your time going to a shop and dropping $300 to $500 bucks, just to have a mechanic spray out your IAC with carburetor cleaner and claim he/she replaced your IAC with a new one. Do it yourself. If you don't know where or what an IAC is, buy a Chilton's guide for $20 bucks and get to reading it. It's always good to learn something new, and you can easily save thousands of dollars by doing it yourself.
I bought my Crown Victoria for $5000 dollars in 2006 and it only had 60,000 miles on it. I love that most people don't like the car and that they depreciate like crazy.
The fact that there are so many in service out there makes stock OEM parts dirt cheap compared to other cars I've owned. This car is the cheapest car to own, operate, and insure.
If you hate Crown Vics and talk them down, keep up the good work. I want to be able to buy a 2007 in a couple years and get it for the same price as my 2000 model.
I've had more fun driving and working on this car than my 1987 Chevy shortbox Silverado 4x4, 1990 Ford Mustang Hatchback 5.0 liter, and my 1991 Chevy Camaro RS. My Mustang was a lot faster off the line and I miss my 4x4, but the Crown Vic is much cheaper to own and operate and I just love driving it. Everything is very accessible when working on it too.
I absolutely hate that most people think you are a cop when driving a Crown Vic. It makes it hard to be able to drive the speed limit on an everyday road. Most people will do 5 to 10 mph under the speedlimit and start to swerve because they are checking you out in their rearview mirror instead of looking ahead while driving. Driving on the freeway is an absolute blast though. Most people move over to the right lane and let you blast past.
15th Jan 2008, 14:37
The 4.6 liter is a DOHC (dual overhead cam) not a SOHC as stated on the review.
29th Jan 2009, 10:05
I own a 2000 Crown Vic. What happens is that it's fine until it tries to shift, then the car loses all acceleration, and kind of putters along around 10 mph. It really sounds like it doesn't know when to shift, and it shifts at weird times, especially going up hills.
15th Apr 2010, 18:04
I've owned 4 Crown Vics, and they were all retired police cars. I paid a couple of thousand for all of them with about 150 000 miles on them. I usually get about another 100 000 miles on them. They have all been a blast to own. I have been able to drive over 150mph on all of them with no problem.
20th Sep 2011, 17:22
The idler air control motor on my 2002 Crown Victoria LX started making a noise shortly after it was placed on lift with the air ride switch still on Oct. 2010 before it was placed on the lift; consequently the car collapsed when the wheels made contact with the floor when the lift was lowered!
My question is, could this have something to do with the IAC motor going bad?
GHC Anderson, SC.
12th Aug 2018, 11:34
I have a 1998 P-71 Ford Police Interceptor. I'm the third owner by the way. I purchased this car about two years ago and it's been running quite well with little hitch. But recently, I've been experiencing a low humming noise which has gotten worse lately and it's starting to affect the idle speed. The sound tends to rise and fall even at low speeds, which prevents a smooth ride. The noise tends to reduce when you press the accelerator in neutral, but lately that hasn't helped. I've had to go online to do research on this and came up with other Ford owners who go through a similar ordeal. The IAC seems to be the main culprit here. The P-71 is not a well known vehicle where I reside, but there are other Ford vehicles here in Lagos. I'm thinking of replacing the faulty part, but not sure of getting the original. But will try cleaning it out with mass airflow fluid. I've seen some demonstrations on this via YouTube and I hope it works. My car had well over 200,000 miles on it when I purchased it.
8th Nov 2004, 11:17
It is rare to have any problems with these cars as they are almost bullet proof. I have had many crowns and they have been problem free. The ford crown victoria is a car that Ford should feel proud of. I currently have a 2000 crown. And I have another with 267,700+ miles on the original engine and still has good and even compression at all 8 cylinders!! And no it has never been rebuilt. And true the Ford Crown Victoria comes with a warranty... BUT it doesn't need it!!