Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

[rocks beware]

boat is 17' fiberglass tri-hull w/ old Johnson 125hp. i'm taking a wild guess i'm pulling all together over 2000ibs. towed her for the 1st time the other day about 35 miles and halfway engine light came on. the manual says that's when the car maybe overheating. the car's an '88 in good shape with low mileage. my question is can i still tow my boat or will i ruin my car? i think i worked it too hard. i usually won't drive that far but once in a while. i thought i could use this car for towing because of the engine and a heavy-duty suspension was installed by previous owner for towing. I can't afford another vehicle at this time. thanks for any advice,<br /> Rocks

 

[cdivrmike]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

were you towing in overdrive? If so, it could be your problem.

 

[ncwest39]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

I am assuming by engine light you mean the yellow CHECK ENGINE light.That is only for emmission purposes.It is not uncommon for that light to come on when a load is placed on the engine.If you have a way to check codes I would say you have a oxygen sensor out of speck which could be as simple as a fuel filter or plugs.The red CHECK ENGINE light is oil pressure or engine temp which is a real problem.The yellow light would come on a steady cruise or going up hill.

 

[rocks beware]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

yes, if i recall ,it was the red check engine light. it came on about halfway through trip and stayed on till we stopped. after awhile when i dropped off boat started car back and light was off and hasn't been back on. i'm a little apprehensive now about towing but fishing season is starting and not sure what to do! by the way, i wasn't in overdrive.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

My '96 Chevy Silverado has the check engine light come on when towing 2000 or so lbs when its cold out (towing snowmobiles in the winter), I have pretty high miles (150,000) and ive noticed as vehicles age they tend to become fussy and that darn check engine light comes on randomly and shuts off randomly. I wouldnt worry about it, those are good vehicles to tow with from everything I have heard.<br /><br />I am right outside of Portland by the way, where do you boat? Sebago Lake, Cresent Lake, Little Sebago, and Casco bay are my normal areas..<br /><br />-John

 

[rocks beware]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

yeah, pretty much the same. i'll go out in the saco river & bay as well. so many places, such a short season!!!!! thanks for the tip, see ya out there,<br /> Rocks

 

[aggie97]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

My dad tows his 1979 Invader Trihull with a 115 Evenrude behind his 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis. He said it tows it fine, but he won't get another ford because it has not been very durable. He has had to have fuel system work, a rear axle replaced due to a seal that failed, and misc interior trim pieces that have broken.<br /><br />I would say that you havesometing that is marginal, and needs replacing because you should have no overheating issues with that small of a load and that short of a haul. My dad has towed his boat over 300 miles round trip with half of that in hill country, and he has a heavy foot (70+ mph while towing is to be expected).

 

[controlfreak]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

rocks beware,<br /><br />do not pass off the service light as nothing to worry about, something was wrong during your tow. When the light goes on, there is a problem. The light stays on until the problem goes away, but the computer stores what happened into memory. You should have someone hook a scan tool to the car, and find out what set the light off. Then you will know whats going on and if it is a problem to worry about.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

controlfreak, what you said is more true of OBDII vehicles, (all 1996 and newer, some 1995 model years) the older systems are not nearly as accurate and often times the tests are inconclusive, even when the check engine light is on.<br /><br />I used to test 10-20 cars a day at the local garage I worked in, just my thoughts.<br /><br />-John

 

[rocks beware]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

thank you everyone for your advice & knowledge. i did bring in the car for inspection and my mechanic said nothing showed up on the code history so not to worry about the light. he did suggest a tranny cooler which i'm having installed next week.(unfortunately, i also found out i need to replace the front brake lines and a valve gasket job! oh well). i'm hoping the car will do the trick towing. it'll probably be just a few times a week plus we have a short season up here in maine . now, if anyone could throw their 2 cents in on launching and retrieving with this rear-wheel drive granny-machine it would be greatly appreciated,<br /> thanks,<br /> rocks

 

[Northern Eclipse]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

Launching be sure to know the ramps your using, back down slow and easy once trailer tires hit water, set parking brake, remember to put car in park and have window down, don't rush you may forget something from above. When retrieving boat after boat is loaded, place foot on brake, shift into low 1 release parking brake and slowly press gas pedal down until car starts to move, slow smooth and easy works better than smashing the pedal down, I still once in a while use my 1994 Merc Cougar XR7 4.6l V8 rear wheeler to launch and retrieve my 3700lb Wellcraft with additional 1100 pound Tandem Trailer, I'v never been stuck or broke anything, Very rarely have I even spun a tire,based on the info above, ramp watchers have actually placed bet's as to whether or not I make it, some of the locals that hang around, that know us, have won a few bucks and beers, they always share the beer with me. But I do have a 4wd that I use most of the time's.

 

[rocks beware]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

YEAH, THANKS FOR THE TIPS. ANOTHER THING I'M CURIOUS ABOUT; WHEN I HAD A TRUCK I COULD BACK DOWN FAR ENOUGH FOR THE BOAT TO FLOAT RIGHT OFF THE TRAILER WITH A SLIGHT NUDGE. I'M DON'T THINK I CAN GET AWAY WITH THAT WITH THE GRANNY MACHINE. HOW FAR BACK CAN I GO? CAN I SUBMERGE THE REAR WHEELS IF THE RAMP IS SUFFICIENT? OR WILL I HAVE TO USE A LOT OF MIGHT TO SHOVE THE BOAT OFF TRAILER? (IT'S GOT THE ROLLERS)

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

Just try to keep the salt water away from the car as much as you can, we all know how much rust we deal with up here, salt water is the worst. I used to use a volvo to launch my 15' boat, and I did so for 2 years, I never had a problem with not being able to get the boat to float off, all of the ramps I have been to around here seem to be of very good shape for any vehicle. Just try to keep the salt away from the tow vehicle, I always kept a few feet from the rear wheels to the water.<br /><br />-John

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: Towing With Mercury Grand Marquis?

Rear wheels of the tow vehicle that is, trailer wheels under water of course.