best oil for a 2004 crown vic police interceptor

[theedge67]

I don't think the CVPI's handle bad. They are no corvette, for sure...but for the size and weight of the car they actually do remarkably well. Good torque low down too, so they do move pretty well.

Also, most police officers are well trained in high speed and pursuit style driving. Give a professional IRL driver a Cavalier and Joe Smith a Mustang GT and see who wins on a road course. It would be much closer than you would think.

 

[Dyoel182]

Well Joe Smith would go off in the grass the first turn anyway.

 

[mustang]

thanks for all of the replys...next oil change i will use m1 5w20 and a mc fl820-s...the police interceptor is rated at 250hp and 297tq....the car has alot of power and sounds sweet when you "let it go"!

 

[seldont]

Originally Posted By: Titan
Originally Posted By: tpitcher
I can't help but ask:

A Police Interceptor with a 4.6L in it?

Isn't that a bit too small of an engine for that weight of a car?? What's the 0-60 (MPH) time??

I'm sure it's got some power, but that just strikes me as too small.......


Unlike many people's expectation, these cars are not hot-rods. Same engine in the Grand Marquis and Town Car. Very little difference in power. The DOHC Marauder puts out somewhere around 300 horses, but, it weighs about 300-400 more that a stock CVPI, and the 1/4 mile times are very close to one another...which isn't really fast. As mentioned, Radios do a wonder job of keeping up with fast cars.

Oh, handling isn't good either...I don't car what suspension modifications are done...look at the overhang past the axles...that's not how good-handling cars are set up, for very good reasons.


My oldest son is a police officer in Georgia. Their department has a ride along program which I participate in when there visiting (gets interesting). Anyway, while these cars are not speed demons they do stretch out pretty good and they handle a good bit better than a stock Vic or Grand Marquis. You add a little driver training into the mix and they are quite formidable. Believe me, most of these guys can drive the [censored] out of those cars. Add the radio and you better be pretty good to run away from them.

Back on topic, the knocking many times in a mod motor Ford comes from the timing chain adjusters which have to pump up especially in a somewhat worn 4.6.

As to the oil choice, either 5w20 or 5w30 which is what the original spec called for will work fine and they seems to really like a diet of Motorcraft although I am sure any decent motor oil of the correct spec will work fine.

Also, it is hard to beat a FL820s filter for the price and until they quit making them that will be all I will use on mine.

 

[BuickGN]

LOL. All of my friends that couldn't control a car well when we were growing up became cops and still can't drive that good.

 

[westcoaster]

I have to say, being a highway cop, the 4.6 doesn't do too bad. The car spools up pretty quick, but the nice thing is that it clings to the road. I have had mine buried at 220 kph and the vehicle wants to pull more, and feels sure on the road. You can than take that same car, and go from 220 to 0 and the car will not even heat up, were as your normal cars are starting to sweat and overheat due to the lack of air flow and aggressive driving.

Where hoping that the refreshed CVPI will have the 300 HP 4.6 found in the newer Mustangs, that would be sweet.

 

[theedge67]

I doubt we will see the 300hp Mustang version anytime soon. I asked a member of the Ford Police Advisory panel that very question about 6 months ago. He agreed the car needs that engine, and said that Ford was reluctant to spend the money on the car, since that would raise it's price. They want to keep the price rock bottom so they can outsell the Impalas, Chargers, and whatever else agencies may want to use instead of the CVPI. I disagree with their line of thinking, but then again I disagree with many things Ford does.

More HP, more torque, better fuel mileage, lower emissions, lighter weight (Mustang's engine is all aluminum, current CVPI is iron block), what is not to like? Even 1mpg better fuel mileage would save big $$ when you drive 30K miles a year, and I'm sure police agencies would be willing to pony up an extra $500 for the engine upgrade if they saved it in fuel costs over 1 year.

 

[rangerdood]

What about the difference in reliability? The current motor is proven to last in the CVPI's... how would the Mustang engine do under heavy fleet conditions?

 

[theedge67]

I think reliability would be good with the newer engine. I know a guy with an 05 Mustang GT that has almost 100K miles on it. He hits the rev limiter (which he raised to 7K from 6,250 stock) about 3x daily, and has over 300 1/4 mile passes on it. No significant oil usage, engine still runs great.

 

[psudaytona]

Originally Posted By: theedge67
I don't think the CVPI's handle bad. They are no corvette, for sure...but for the size and weight of the car they actually do remarkably well. Good torque low down too, so they do move pretty well.

Also, most police officers are well trained in high speed and pursuit style driving. Give a professional IRL driver a Cavalier and Joe Smith a Mustang GT and see who wins on a road course. It would be much closer than you would think.


I agree. For their size and weight, these cars handle very well. And some police are incredible drivers the rest are so-so. Ever CVPI I see has a cracked rear bumper cover. Or a smash mark on the front cover. The guy I bought the car from sells vehicles to most of the LE angencies in the tri county area. He said, "dont get me wrong, I love these guys....but they arent the best drivers. They back into or 'bump' alot of things".

BTW. I use motorcraft 5w30 with the MC 820 filter. Sounds great even in extreme cold weather.

 

[honus402]

The performance aspect of a Police Vic may be a bit deceiving. Don't under estimate the handling of a Vic or the performance. I drive them at work and I've owned them. If you think they don't handle or accelerate, ask for a ride in one at your local Police department driving school. 0-60 times, breaking and cornering are hard to beat. As far as the timing chain adjuster noise, use only a MC820s filter and try a few differant brands of oils. A lot of PDs (don't care about gas mileage) use HDEOs in the 4.6. Yes, 15W-40, and we have never lost an engine.

 

[Titan]

Just to be clear, I'm not saying these cars are BAD handling for a land yacht. I guarantee you if you get one out of shape at the edge of the envelope, you will have a MUCH harder time recovering compared to a truly good-handling car. It's just physics...they are heavy, and they have WAY too much weight hanging over the axles. Plus, they aren't exactly dogs in acceleration, but, they aren't what I'd call "quick".

I've driven them at their limit...that's a very unforgiving limit to cross over.

I've also driven a Mazda Miata-R at it's limit, and beyond, and back...it's VERY forgiving because of it's lightness and very light overhang weight.

An RX-8 is also easier to recover at it's limits, and it's limits are far above the Miata or the Crown Vic.

For what it is, it is fine...but, let's don't kid ourselves into thinking a Police Interceptor is anything that is really special in the car world as far as power or handling.

 

[psudaytona]

I get asked alot if mine has the "cop motor still in it?". Just one of those myths that people keep believing that these are super cars that can do 150-160 with their cop chips.

Pretty much all of them are limited to 130mph. Even if you remove it on the computer, you arent getting much above that even downhill with a tailwind.

They just handle awesome for an old person's car

 

[Titan]

Originally Posted By: psudaytona
I get asked alot if mine has the "cop motor still in it?". Just one of those myths that people keep believing that these are super cars that can do 150-160 with their cop chips.

Pretty much all of them are limited to 130mph. Even if you remove it on the computer, you arent getting much above that even downhill with a tailwind.

They just handle awesome for an old person's car


Exactly!

 

[honus402]

Police Vics are not exactly the same as the civilian Vic. They have a different electrical system, torque converter, exhaust, fuel pump, rear-end ratio, injectors, and suspension. The computer is programmed differently, including transmission shift points. They sit lower, handle, accelerate and stop better. No, they won't do 150. Short of a Mustang GT, Vette, 350Z or RX7/8, you'd be in trouble trying to out run one especially in a sustained run.

 

[theedge67]

Originally Posted By: psudaytona
I agree. For their size and weight, these cars handle very well. And some police are incredible drivers the rest are so-so. Ever CVPI I see has a cracked rear bumper cover. Or a smash mark on the front cover. The guy I bought the car from sells vehicles to most of the LE angencies in the tri county area. He said, "dont get me wrong, I love these guys....but they arent the best drivers. They back into or 'bump' alot of things".


I wouldn't say that because the cars are banged up the cops are bad drivers. We do much different type of driving on a daily basis than the average Joe Commuter on the interstate. When you drive 100 miles a day in the city, constantly turning around in places that you probably shouldn't turn around in, and driving while looking for addresses, suspects, specific vehicles, etc... At the end of the night my neck feels like a bobble head doll because all night long I'm constantly looking left to right, left to right, left to right. Only about 25-50% of the time am I actually looking forward at the road ahead. It sounds terrible, but it's just the way we drive. Always looking around. It's actually amazing we don't run into more things!!

 

[Dave H]

Regarding the bumper covers, driving in parking lots at night "blacked out" (so you don't alert a suspect) can make you bump in to things unexpectedly.
Police Interceptors are good cars for their intended purpose. They aren't the best car at any one thing, but they do everything very well.
In a pursuit, when it comes down to it, the driver is the most critical part. A lot of agencies train their officers in something like the NAPD (National Academy of Professional Drivers) Police Tactical Driving. Add to that the amount of high speed driving experience a typical officer gets in his daily activities, and they can get quite competent very quickly. And most pride themselves in their driving, and strive to continually improve.

 

[BarkerMan]

Police interceptors are faster than a ZR1. They have an equalizer on board. It's called a radio. Trying to run from a cop is beyond stupid. Making a CV faster is not an answer. There is no good answer that works for every situation. In the future the solution will be supplied by electronics. Someone will figure out a method to turn a car off that is being chased. Getting this to work is not a technical problem. It's a legal and political problem. You know it's coming because they already have robots giving red light tickets. Accidents at intersections with red lights is a not a category that exists in NTSB reporting because it's insignificant when compared to others like speeding, tail-gating or drunk drivers. The sole purpose of these robots is to make money. So it's no great leap for cities to arm the Police with a device that will turn your car off if you do something bad.




Did everyone get the best oil for a CV figured out?

 

[Titan]

Originally Posted By: honus402
Police Vics are not exactly the same as the civilian Vic. They have a different electrical system, torque converter, exhaust, fuel pump, rear-end ratio, injectors, and suspension. The computer is programmed differently, including transmission shift points. They sit lower, handle, accelerate and stop better. No, they won't do 150. Short of a Mustang GT, Vette, 350Z or RX7/8, you'd be in trouble trying to out run one especially in a sustained run.


Riiiiighttt. Look, they're incrementally changed, but, nothing very special over and above the Civilian CV, or even a Grampa Marquis. They are good for a land yacht, but, they are no sports car....the dual exhaust PI only gains about 15 HP compared to the single exhaust...very hard to feel the difference. In a quarter-mile run, a Police Interceptor has a hard time beating a STOCK CV. Although the Interceptor will go through the trap at a higher speed, the Civilian beats it due to it's higher gearing only has it shift once, whereas the Intercepter shifts twice in a WOT 1/4 mile. The Police versions have minimal changes to the suspsension, too. Lock-up rear differential and lower-geared rear ends make it "feel" a bit more powerful, but, there really isn't much difference...it's an old Myth.

Motorcraft blended 5w20 works great in these engines, probably go by the non-severe service schedule and change every 5000 miles with that oil. In mine, I prefer to use PP 5w20, and run it at least 10,000 miles. The wear rates are very good either way.

 

[cyclic]

Crown Vic Interceptors aren't the fastest, but you throw a radio and 10 other guys on the road on the other end of that radio plus a lot more driving experience than the guy you are pursuing and the Police will win everytime.
There is a clip on here of me somewhere at the driving track chasing down a Chev Tahoe and you can see the Tahoe is just as fast out of corners as the Vic. I think this was a 02 or 03 Crown Vic (it's a training car) I had trouble hooking up traction as the tires aren't great on the track cars.

http://www3.telus.net/public/c.noel/1.wmv