Well when I first bought my XR4ti it had a cracked block and no compression in 1,3,4 cylinders. I just bought a new engine to fix it. The car it self was in mint codition.
The car is very fast I just put a T3 turbo, air to air intercooler. cold air intake, and exhaust. My little Merkur is a Honda eater. I also just put raceing shocks and struts on for better handling and it made a big improvement. I would suggest to anyone to do the same! I do belive that this is by fare the best car Ford has ever made in there entire history. If you don't own one I suggest you find one or more.
My '87 was plagued with electrical problems from the beginning... to which THREE MERCURY DEALERS could NOT find the answer, no matter how long I left the car at the dealership, and no matter HOW MANY TIMES!
I finally got rid of the car... and I hated to do it. Great car to drive, fast and super, super fun. But when you stop at a traffic light and the car dies, what do you do?
You tow it to a dealer, leave it there for three or four days, paying for a rental car (from your own pocket) then the dealer replace the battery, charges you $150 for the battery plus labor. You drive this fun car again for a few weeks/months until it stops at the drive-through at Wendy's...and you have to PUSH THE CAR OUT OF THE DRIVE THRU to have it towed AGAIN to the dealer... or Another dealer, hoping THAT dealer can have an answer for ya.
NO ANSWER! Are Mercury dealers REALLY THAT STUPID??? I think so. They are used to selling Lincolns to retirees, not German Sports Cars to "Middle America." (I was 34 when I bought it.)
I hated to get rid of it, but I don't have time to wait until FORD discovers what it wrong with the electrical system. I loved the car, when it would run.
The problem of unexpected engine shutdown sounds like a bad ignition module. The XR4Ti uses the Ford TFI-IV ignition module, as did many, many other Fords. There was a very long class action suit against Ford which resulted in a settlement. Without going into the subject further, this can be looked up online. Some owners have engineered their own fix for this which involves moving the module to a cooler position in the engine bay and installing a heat sink.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site