Piston Slap: The Panther That Cried…Wolf?

Sajeev Mehta
by Sajeev Mehta

TTAC commentator confused1096 writes:

Sajeev,

Writing to you again after a hiatus of a three years. You and various commentators helped with my not so dearly departed Windstar (died of a blown transmission a couple of months after article). Now hoping I can get some input on a decent car.

Fast forward three years later. I sold a nice Nissan 300zx and bought a human sized car in March. I’m the proud owner of a nearly showroom looking ’98 Grand Marquis LS. The car was purchased with 198k on the clock and 10 years of maintenance records. It now has 211,000 miles. I’ve updated all routine maintenance, replaced brakes & rotors, rear shocks, etc. Really the only thing the car needs at the moment are front shocks (soon) and I plan to have the seats recovered early next year. Also plan on adding dual exhaust and a few other minor tweaks next year. This is my second Panther platform car, so I’m reasonably familiar with the common issues.

Now to the problem: Ever since I purchased it I’ve had a charge light that will illuminate on the dash intermittently. The alternator tests good, as does the battery. The car has no codes in memory and I’ve checked all the connections for battery, starter, and alternator. All are clean and secure. My regular mechanic thinks the diode in the alternator is going out. I hate to replace a pricey alternator on a maybe. Besides, shouldn’t the various part store tests have picked it up if that were the issue? I don’t want to have a boy who cried wolf attitude over an important warning system either.

Sajeev answers:

Don’t worry bro-ham! Rarely is it crying wolf when we’re talkin’ about an older vehicle’s charging system at this mileage.

Especially with 1980s-1990s Ford alternators of the poorly rebuilt variety. And from a corroded wire you will never see upon casual inspection to a failing lead plate in the battery, there are too many fail points to easily neglect, and wind up stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Your mechanic is probably right. Or it might be the regulator on the alternator, which is pretty cheap and easy to replace. Your best bet is to get a volt meter that plugs into your cigarette lighter to see the actual numbers. It’s cheap insurance, I’ve used one for almost a decade and I love it. Mine isn’t as pretty as the one below, but its paid for itself many, many times over. (which is an indirect slam against the quality of remanufactured alternators)

By the way, any parts store can test the charging system for free, with a fancy machine that is quite accurate.

Honestly, it sounds like you need a new (high quality rebuilt) alternator. One that is 100% all new, but still has a lifetime warranty. The new platinum alternators available at some parts stores will suffice. I’ve had good luck with local alternator rebuild shops and the nice folks at PA Performance. So you have options.

And now, in a poorly transitioned segue, here’s more fan mail on the same subject: Panther Love.

Stefan writes:

Oh Sajeev (note correct spelling) (WOOT, SM), I have no tricky questions for you at all today. I just wanted to thank you for your excellent and entertaining Fat Panther wisdom in many recent articles at TTAC. I took it all to heart and recently purchased this mint condition triple black ’97 Town Car (see picture attached) for $3,900.00 from a Chicago dealership. Most of the other vehicles on the lot were used police cars; regular Panthers. The Town Car already had the correct Replacement Aluminum Intake Manifold installed. New rotors & pads plus a set of Cooper Sigma Shadow Whitewalls and I am set to go for another 50,000-miles in great comfort and economy at 27 mpg.

The car had 84,000 miles on the odometer when I bought it. I’ll write you again when I get to 300,000 or so…..again, many thanks!

Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry…but be realistic, and use your make/model specific forums instead of TTAC for more timely advice.

Sajeev Mehta
Sajeev Mehta

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  • Nine11c2 Nine11c2 on Jun 12, 2013

    I don't understand all of this Panther love. Why buy a 1997 Panther for $4000 to put 200,000k on when you could buy a 2007 Accord or Camry for 12K, and probably a 2008 or so Malibu or Fusion for less and save TWICE the difference in gas over the 200,000 miles. You'll have a safer car, nicer car, polute less, the car would be more reliable and cost less to maintain.

    • See 2 previous
    • Jimbob457 Jimbob457 on Jun 23, 2013

      Forgot to mention the main topic of this thread - gas mileage. My very own 2002 V6 Acura 3.2 TL, as we speak, gets 19-20 mpg in town and roughly 26 mpg on the highway. My 1999 Grand Marquis gets 16-17 mpg in town and 24-25 mpg on the highway. For both cars I am buying the gas and doing the driving. Like I said earlier, in my informed opinion the Honda/Acura Accord is a better car than the Panther in every way and according to almost any metric you can dream up. All but one. According to Kelley Blue Book, the equivalent Panther is selling for slightly less than half of its Honda/Acura Accord counterpart (in terms of trim, mileage and age). Plus, there are lots of Panthers of various kinds for sale. Honda/Acura Accords, not so many.

  • Nine11c2 Nine11c2 on Jun 12, 2013

    There is this thing called a loan. So what your saying is you should buy the Panther because its less reliable, it requires you to buy tools and work on it, and its going to cost more over the run of 200,000 miles? How about selling some of the tools to buy the better car? Again, the gas mileage will more than pay for the difference, not to mention the cost and time of maintenance vs a relatively bulletproof Honda or Toyota...

    • Ajla Ajla on Jun 12, 2013

      Loans also have interest and require credit. Some of us enjoy working on our cars. It is our hobby. I own classic cars, that is why I have the tools. Panthers are nice to work on. If I wanted a Toyota I'd buy a Cressida

  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
  • B-BodyBuick84 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport of course, a 7 seater, 2.4 turbo-diesel I4 BOF SUV with Super-Select 4WD, centre and rear locking diffs standard of course.
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