Lookin at a crown vic

My girlfriends mom is selling her 97 Crown Vic with the 4.6. I took it out the other day and she burns those tires. Its got 145k on it but she NEVER EVER beat on it. Its so damn clean its amazing. Not a spot of rust or any gunk build on the engine. It looks brand new and drives like it too(Probably not, its just an expression, never drove a new one). Its fully loaded with every option. Anyone know anything about these cars? I know its a ford but this car is NICE. Anyone know if there is a police package available for this car? I could just go to a junk yard and find an old cop car and take parts off it. hmmmm..... any feedback would be nice.

Check the transmission fluid first. If it smells like a forest fire, it is going to need a rebuild so keep that in mind before picking it up.

There is a police package available. It consists of higher rate springs, beefier swaybars, 140mph calibrated speedometer, blue silicone hoses and an ECU with no speed limiter. No other differences in engine or what have you. I've seen a lot of cabs around here that were ex-cop cars in the junk yard and those hoses still looked and felt brand new. Might be worth while to yank all of those from the start.

Check here

I think I would rather have a Caprice instead of a Vic but either way if the price is right and its in great condition I say to go for it

Yea, Caprice with LT1. oh so nice. But yea, we had a 1997 police package crown vic. It was a solid car. Not as good as that there caprice I was talkin about, but still a solid car.

CVPI package I believe also includes stronger rods and pistons in the engine as the 4.6 2-valves tend to be a little fragile in that dept.. (my cougar is same transmission engine and driveline ane is also a 1997 model) they also have an auxiliary transmission cooler installed... They have a cold air intake from a Mercury Marauder and a different exhaust setup.
The driveshafts on those vehicles are known for snapping... I strongly recommend an aluminum aftermarket replacement. The torque converters are also not so impressive. They have no speed limiter but on factory gears, run out of steam at about 140mph.

After Blazers, I'm a Caprice guy.
If the car feel right, buy it.
The police out here went to the Caprice and Monte Carlo after a rash of fuel tank explosions in the Crown Vics.

That issue with the fuel tanks was corrected... the Ford Modular engines are very decent provided you dont pound the living crap out of them daily, they cant handle daily abuse... As I said, the police package has stronger rods because of that issue. Forged rods/pistons for those engines are incredibly expensive since they arent availible "off the shelf", .. If you have to rebuild,, they are a wise investment however.


If youre going to buy that Vic, whether you soup it up or not.. that transmission NEEDS an aux tranny cooler,, mount it to the AC condensor and slice into the return line on the radiator and intercept with barbed/compression fittings.. if you want to see a pic of my setup on my cougar let me know.. I have a B&M supercooler from summit.. a trans-go shift kit is also not a bad idea.