1989 Mercury Grand Marquis LS from North America - Comments

At 95628 miles, I had to replace the left front freeze plug. It cost $237 total.

At 96108 miles, the fuel gage stopped working due to a defective sending unit. Estimate to repair was at least $250. I have not had this replaced yet.

At 105888 miles, the ignition coil overheated and melted the wire harness, shorting the coil and blowing the ignition module and distributor pickup. With extensive labor (they checked the whole electrical system), total cost came to $563.

At 105933 miles (just after I had the ignition repaired) the water pump went out. Repair cost $203.

At 106281 miles, the power steering pump failed. Replaced for $20 (part from salvage yard and local repair shop labor was $37) for total price of $57.

At 107121 miles, the power steering hoses both failed suddenly and at the same time, and the pump drained at interstate speed, burning out the pump bearings. Upon inspection, I found a leaking bypass hose and a leaking heater hose, repaired both, total cost this time $311.

At 108331 miles, the front passenger door lock failed (completely inoperable even with key) and the next day, the left rear window motor quit. Still not fixed.

At 109100 miles, the fan clutch failed and caused overheating. Replaced fan clutch and thermostat, and flushed cooling system. Total cost $249

At 109346 miles, the alternator seized up while I was on a trip, it broke the belt. Towing and repair was $191.

At 110664 miles, the air conditioner compressor return line split, had it converted to R134a, total $1140.

At 113522 miles (today), the radiator sprung a leak. Replaced with a used radiator for $50 and on the way home, one of the transmission cooler lines ruptured, which disabled the entire transmission. Still unclear if the transmission is permanently damaged. Will find out tomorrow.

These leaks have always existed since I bought the car and I have had the car in the shop seven different times just for these leaks, and most of them keep re-occurring: Both valve cover gaskets (oil), transmission gasket (replaced three times), coolant (freeze plugs, water pump, gaskets, thermostat, heater core, heater hoses, etc. I have just pretty much given up and adding oil, coolant, transmission fluid, and power steering fluid have become a daily ritual for me.

I have also gotten used to the constant burning-oil smell and underhood smoke while sitting in traffic.

Ride and comfort are top-notch.

Styling is clearly '80's, but by no means ugly.

Acceleration is quite respectable for a car this size that weighs nearly 3 tons.

Very comfortable power leather seats.

My only problem is reliability. I must have a lemon, because everyone I talk to says how reliable these cars are. I must say this car is by far the most unreliable car I have ever had. In fact, I don't know of anybody that's had as much trouble with their car. I have spent so much on this car that I could have bought a nearly-new one.

However, I still have it after more than a year and nearly 20,000 miles, so apparently the good outweighs the bad with this car.

Honestly know more about the car before you tell everyone about it, it doesn't even weigh two tons. on ton equals two thousand pounds. in other words 1ton = 2000lbs.

Thanks for your insight. My '89 with 130K has had many of the problems and I have had most of the repairs you describe. The engine continues overheat when the car is going up a grade and the air conditioning is on. I am having trouble diagnosing the exact problem. Joe.

Hi.

I had an 89 Crown Victoria which had major tranny problems and the frame cracked because of New York rust (Northern states like mine use salt on the roads all winter, this kills our cars after 8-10 years). Now I have an 89 Grand Marquis LS. She has about 130,000miles on her, so I expect problems with her. However, this car is a real lemon. The day I picked it up the front brake line blew out (It rusted through) and going down a 1 mile long hill I smoked the back brakes, which I fixed.The next day she stalled because the electrical connections were all corroded. After I cleaned up the starter relay and battery terminals, it ran fine. The next time I drove it, I finally got a chance to get up to 50 mph and she never shifted into 3rd gear.It overheated and blew out acoolant hose! If you are from a northern state I recommend that you look very carefully at the frame for cracks and holes or terminal rust damage, also CHECK THE TRANNY! I had two of the same cars, years,and engine/tranny combo. Neither one had a good tranny. The first one had only had 95K on it and this one has 130,000 miles on.

It has a 4spd aod (automatic overdrive) tranny with a 5.0L V8.

I had an 1989 Lincoln Town Car and man what a pain it was. It has the same engine and Tranny that they put in the Grand Marquis' and Crown Vic's. I probably spent well over $5,000 dollars putting money into that car. I replaced everyting from Power Steering everything to a new Transmission to new radiator, new alternator, fuel injectors, fan clutch, battery and anything else except for the engine itself. I used the car every day and it was reliable and never stalled or broke down on me where ever I was, but I had it in the shop at least 1 day a week. I have owned two cars now from that one and they are both Grand Marquis' one was an 86 and the other is a 88 they are very reliable and I love the 5.0 power, but some times you just get a bad one.

You seem to like this car with all the money you've spend on parts. STOP buying junk yard crap and replace parts with new or OEM equals! The car will only be as good as the parts YOU put in it! My 89 grand Marquis W/the 5.0 has 198600 miles, I've owned it since new. I've only ever replaced the radiator, Breaks, and tires. I change the oil every 4000 miles. since the 80000 mile mark I've used only full synthetic oils and high quality filters "K&N" for air and fram for oil and fuel! Everything works on my car. It's been from michigan to northern Canada to Florida to mississippi I drive it everyday.

Just treat her right! - Good luck in the future!

Why don't you guys work on your own cars? The grand marquis is simple and most things are easy to reach. I just got one with 59000 miles that's been sitting for 2 years I know it will cost some money sooner or later. My other vehicle is a 2003 Chevy truck with 8000 miles which has already spent more than a moth in service departments. I just made the seventh payment on it! At $496 a month for the truck including the payment while it was in the service bay the Grand Marquis is undoubtedly a bargain for $500. Get a Haynes manual and buy good parts you will be happy. The major cost of most repairs is the labor. Here in Texas labor is between $57 and $80 per hour at most shops and they all charge buy the hours the book says it should take not the actual time (usually shorter). I got the car to tow my boat with the vortec V6 in my truck it just dosn't tow as well as my 88 town car with 164k miles did.

As all Ford owners manuals say use genuine ford parts, and go to the dealer for work. It seems like your getting ripped off. Grand Marquis' are very good cars I've seen one with 425,000.

I own a 1989 Mercury Grand Marquis. I acquired my car it will be 2 years in July. Up until this year I have only performed regular maintenance or normal wear and tear items.

Now since Febuary I had the timing cover gasket replaced just because it was starting to leak and summer was coming. With that I also replaced upper and lower hoses, bypass hoses, thermostat, waterpump, tires, etc...

Now I have worked in the automotive business for about 7 years. I have found with my experiences with car repair. If you are going to be performing any type of repair or services. Check and see what other recommended services that may be overlapped in labor so you don't end up spending more in the future because of having to pay for labor again. With the Grand Marquis if you are doing a power steering pump it makes sense to replace the hoses with it. They have to come off to work on the p/s pump. So why would you not replace them at the same time. It saves time and money.

Now back to my car. In April it decided not to start, alternator died and killed the battery with it. Along with that I had to have a battery terminal replaced.

Today the hubby goes to work and when he goes to leave the car won't start.

Thinking possible fuel pump, couldn't hear it running.

So back to the shop for her. Now since Febuary I have put almost 1500.00 into her, but as reliable as she has been over the past couple years I think I will fix her up some more.

Oh by the way did I mention that the car had only 130k miles on it 2 years ago. I have over 188k now.

If you research your car you maybe able to find some history on it.

Also a lot of what you were replacing is about the mileage and time to replace. Don't be too upset with the car.

Sounds like it just wasn't taken care of properly prior to acquiring it.

I bought my 1989 Mercury Grand Marquis in 2006. It had only 35,000 miles on it. Basically a one-owner car. The old lady who had it donated it to her church, and I bought it from the church after she died. Since it had sat (garaged) for a long time, the transmission went out about a year after I bought it. It was about $1,500 for a rebuilt transmission and installation. In the two years I've had it, I put on new tires, new battery, new alternator (went out). I just changed the spark plugs and plug wires today. It now has just under 60,000 miles on it.

The car had failed to start some days -- when it was damp and the temperature was such that there was condensation on everything. I suspected the moisture was playing havoc on the plug wires. Coming out of winter, there may have been salt from the road on them, too. I washed and dried them and the car started.

I had the same problem intermittently. But the car always started by drying the plug wires. Once, I used a blow dryer to dry them off. I finally got a warm day, so I changed the plug wires out. Incidentally, the car wouldn't start this morning before I changed the wires.

When I pulled the wire off the coil, the connection was very corroded. I cleaned it with a wire brush and put a new wire on it. When I got done, the car fired right up. It runs like a top and drives like a new car. Very comfortable.

I have noticed that there are a lot of Grand Marquis of this age in use as taxi cabs, so I figured they must be able to sustain a lot of miles.

Mine needs brakes and new valve cover gaskets, but overall, it's been a good car for the money I have invested. So far, I've got about $3,500 in the car between the purchase price and repairs. I want to get another 40,000 miles out of it at least.

I own an 89 Marquis and unloaded it weighs 5361 lbs. That's well over 2.5 tons.

5361 lbs for an 89 Grand Marquis?

Is your trunk filled with cement? Curb weight for a 89 Grand Marquis is 3847 lbs. If you are reading that little sticker on the driver's door and thinking that's what your car weighs, then you are, uh, wrong. GVWR does NOT equal curb weight.

Dude, I own the 1991 grand marquis; the last of that body style, and the car has not been without its problems, but it seems to me that whoever had your car before you did, did not treat it well at all. I have had to replace the alternator, gas tank, thermostat, and accumulator, but really, this car has been as reliable as your friends claim, because I have never had a major disappointment with this car. The odometer stopped at 146K and I assume that it has around 160K give or take, and it is still running strong. I am getting ready to do some major overhauling on it because it is starting to do a lot of old man stuff from faulty locks to squeaky brakes to leaky smells, and I want to paint it the came color as my Lincoln LS, but I am hopeful that when all that stuff is done, it will go to 250K.

"but I am hopeful that when all that stuff is done, it will go to 250K."

These cars last a long time, especially if they receive regular maintenance. If you live in a Northern climate, watch out for rust... Especially on the frame-rails.