LCM woes, part II...

Replacing the faulty factory relays with a new standard 5-pole external relay is the next step in fixing the headlight failure for your Ford/Mercury LCM.

The LCM is located under the driver-side foot well above the gas pedal. Disconnect the three wiring harnesses, two screws, and push the tang to slide it out of its bracket. The box can be opened by pressing the tangs down folding the top on its hinges.

Locate the faulty relay on the inside of the LCM board as shown. You might notice a yellow discoloration or it may look overheated--that's because it was. All the headlight amperage flows through that tiny relay. All five contacts must be carefully de-soldered from the back of the board. (Be very careful. The board is very thin, the integrated printed circuits are very thin, and the you need a steady hand.) New small gauge wire (22 gauge) can then be re-soldered to the board and extended outside the LCM box. Label each wire for the five contacts (30, 85, 86 87 and 87a as shown). The new relay can be attached outside the box and zipped tied in place. It will now handle the job of the former tiny under-build factory relay.

Alternately, you can solder in a new replacement mini-relay. My research shows they are very hard to find, horribly back ordered, and the shipping for these tiny $4 relay makes them prohibitively expensive, thus the standard relay fix. Here are the part numbers: NEC part # EQ1-11111S or the better replacement NEC part #MR301-12HSL. Try Omni-pro.com or Mouser.com.

Next: More LCM fix/replacement options.

Here's what you'll want in 2012.

Check out the Aton-Impulse Viking. This truck makes even the Hummer look like kind of a piker. And supposedly it's amphibious. Not sure about those giant balloon tires with no tread though.

A word in Toyota's Defense

Think, for a moment, about the Ford/Firestone affair. Does this sound a little bit similar? I think Toyota is handling the situation quite well, and that immediate governmental interference is perhaps not necessary, at least to the level the U.S. has taken it.
Toyota's Task

New Mustang gets 31 mpg

So the new Mustang with V6 is supposedly the first 300+ horsepower car to get over 30mpg on the highway. I think I want a Ford more than I ever have before. This car will undoubtedly smoke my TransAm in a straight line or the twisties, all while getting gas mileage that will probably match my BMW? Maybe technology is moving forward. To be fair the new v6 Camaro is only rated at one or two less than this, but since it weighs 300 lbs or so more it's hard not to imagine that the Mustang won't be the better performer. Can't wait to see the Car and Driver shootout on that one. Anyways here's the link: 2011 Mustang

My next truck

Just to remind us what's really fun...
I think I'll buy a Kamaz for weekend outings.

The TransAm, 3 decades of decline?

So I was considering Pontiac's decline yesterday. Arguably one of their best eras was the rest of the car world's worst. The mid '70s was a good time for Pontiac and the TransAm. Pontiac sold more Firebirds during the mid '70s than at any other time in the model's 35 year history. No mention of '70s T/As is complete without the requisite mention of Smokey and the Bandit, it is hard to tell quite how much of an effect this had on Trans Am sales but it seems that the film was as much a reflection of '70s American car culture, probably best exemplified by the "Screaming Chicken" Trans Am. Looking through the pictures I've collected below I think it's pretty clear that Pontiac really lost their way in the '90s. Before then, each successive generation of Firebird had a distinct visual style externally and internally that set it apart from the previous generation, while still maintaining a firm visual link with past generations. The '90s Trans Am seems to be the most evolutionary compared to other models, and the interior styling is anesthetized to the point that you could be in any Pontiac made at the time. And why is it so puffy? This bulbousness of shape would carry over to the exterior which really seemed to be a caricature of it's own styling. While previous models had been subjected to various levels of arguably tasteless add-ons, they now became standard on even the most humble model. The car's over the top appearance was also somewhat out of sync with it's times as most other vehicles in the '90s featured a jellybean slimmed down streamlined shape, and the Firebird especially in TransAm trim was covered in cladding and tack-ons and absolutely lacked the clean lines of the three previous generations. It seems that instead of people losing interest in the Trans Am, the General had lost touch with creating a car that captivated the people's imagination.

Muscle Cars? Check. Large Caliber Revolver? Check. Animated Alien boys driving? WTF?

So I found this video browsing the web, it's got some pretty cool car footage, chase scene stuff. All set to the soundtrack of a pretty weird song by the Gorillaz, which sounds like some sort of '80s homage. However, it's worth watching all the way through.
YouTube