After a well-earned and restful sleep, we prepared ourselves for the next stage of our trip – crossing Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. After the day before, we were sure the Crown Vic would be prepared for it as well.
We had gotten in late the night before, and hadn’t gotten a chance to see the scenery of Banff. It was beautiful, much like what we’d think a mountain town in Switzerland would be. Unfortunately, my father’s camera had managed to corrupt the pictures he took of it while I got the car out of the parking garage. All I have is the one from breakfast:
Wish I had this view every breakfast!
We gassed up the car, and set out east. The Alberta section of the Trans-Canada is divided all the way through, with a grassed median and a good surface. Leaving Banff, we were still in the mountains, but as we made our way east, they gradually got smaller.
Near Canmore
The car was working fine, getting somewhere around 29 MPG at this point. As we got closer to Calgary, the scenery started to flatten out. It didn’t look much like farmland, it looked like pasture for grazing. There was a fair bit of cattle spread out among the miles.
Getting Flatter
It was pretty easy driving. Small hills and almost no trees gave us a wide-open view of it. The three of us wondered where the posts were coming from for the fences we’d see. The old wooden barns we’d seen weren’t painted, but were aged black. Could they have been made of cedar?
Calgary’s Suburbs
Upon getting closer to Calgary, the rolling landscape gave a good view of the range of suburban development in the town. We didn’t feel like tangling with the traffic in Calgary, so we took Alberta 201 around the city centre, and continued on east. It was starting to get late around the time we hit the Saskatchewan border, so we pulled into Swift Current, SK. The Motel 6 seemed to be a good bet, so we checked in there. Upon getting out of the car, we were treated to a sight we’d encounter a few times.
Geese heading north
It’s a treat to see them, flying in formation. We’d see a lot of geese on the trip and in the air. As for the hotel, it was OK. Comfortable and clean, but not much sound insulation, especially the water system. We awoke the next morning, loaded up the car for the trip, and started it up. It revved up, and started missing, and stalled. Tried it again, it still had a miss, and when I put it in gear and pulled away, it backfired through the intake, and stalled. Tried it again, and let it run for a minute, and it was fine. This was the first cold morning we had, so I figured the car, like the three of us – had a cold and didn’t like mornings either. It worked fine the rest of the day.
West of Regina, SK – Big Sky Country!
We were under way again. The land evened out the further we travelled, and hoped that we would make Ontario this day. The highways in Saskatchewan were really good too – all divided highway. We passed through Chaplin, where they process sodium sulphate. There was a lot of white deposits in the ditches and small ponds in Saskatchewan, it must be common there.
Huge train in Saskatchewan!
Worth mentioning is the size of the trains we saw out there. I guess because of the lack of grades for them to transcend, they can get away with these giant trains. The one above took about 10 minutes to pass. We were at 110 KM/H, it was probably travelling around 90 KM/H or so. We saw a lot of trains on our trip. They quit travelling here in Cape Breton a year or so ago – and I never remember them being anywhere this big at all.
Beautiful Prairie Sky
We pressed on through Manitoba as we didn’t want to be driving through Ontario at night. We reached the Ontario border after sunset – and my father was disappointed as he figured that it would be divided all the way through. I let him know that, no, the next 2000 kilometers would be mostly single lane road. Sigh. We made it to Kenora, and settled in at the Super 8. It was pretty nice.
The second and third day we:
Travelled 1738 KM. burnt 177 litres of fuel, giving 10.8L/100KM, or about 23 MPG. Pretty good for mostly 110-115 KM/H travelling.
You are reminding me just how big of a continent this is. Beautiful scenery.
Your cold start issue is a new one to me. Do you have a “check engine” light glowing? I wonder if you have one or more coils that have developed some microscopic cracks and a cold (and damp?) morning might see them at their worst. [Edit] I am now remembering that I replaced the coils on my 93 a couple of years before it went away because it had a miss and ran terribly before it warmed up. I did plugs and wires at the same time, and all was well thereafter.
Coil was my first thought as well.
I did end up getting the issue straightened out, which I’ll cover in the next post. I’d hate to ruin the suprise! I will say I wished I had brought my little USB Bluetooth OBDII adapter.
The coil packs Ford used are usually extremely reliable. I wish I could say the same about the individual coil on plug units on the later models.
I don’t doubt it, but figured that after over 20 years in the car, mine were probably due. Who knows, it might have been just wires, but the coils weren’t that expensive and I preferred to economize on my time rather than on parts.
Nice scenery! N. American transcontinental freight trains regularly exceed a mile in length nowadays regardless of route profile. For steep grades (~2.2%), they merely pile on more locomotives, often as temporary pushers. California’s Tejon & Cajon Passes are regularly traversed by large trains this way with no problems.
It’s fun to try & pace ones going your direction to get a speed estimate, but the figure you gave sounds about right. However, I’ve heard anecdotally that BNSF Southern Transcon freights (which use Cajon Pass), outside Barstow, can reach the speeds you were driving at. UP’s Sunset Route (alongside I-8) has sections rated for 80mph, from what an Amtrak guy told me, but I don’t know if the freights go that fast.
It was amazing seeing those big trains – the locomotive in the middle had some issue- Lots of black smoke. If I recall correctly there was two locomotives on each end and one in the middle
I read something about the longer trains being better, because they have a larger chance of part of the train going downhill to counterbalance the other end going uphill!
When my E30 BMW’s M20 is absurdly cold (like when I lived in NY) it did a lot of what you’re saying. Now that I’m in Cali, it starts and runs without missing, but I’m now assuming that the main problem was sticky valvetrain noise. So I figured maybe oil isn’t getting into the top end at start (it uses 20w50). So now I crank the engine without firing the car, let it sit for a sec, then start it. No roughness, and I let the fluids heat through before driving and once the tappets quiet down I roll.
My old ’66 Galaxie had a “cold” light on the dash, which would go off when the car was warmed up. Try to move it beforehand and she’d stall. I miss that feature. It’s not necessary to warm up most cars these days but when you get to even TPI modern engines that are over fifteen years old, I think the old ways may still apply. I’d suggest hitting a Jiffy Lube and changing out your oil for something higher viscosity–you don’t know how long that 4.6 was sitting, and chances are even if the oil was clean at the start of your trip you’ve likely cleaned out quite a bit of crud on the highway – it might make a difference. Try fuel injector cleaner, too.
No! Do not change the viscosity of the oil. It means LESS lubrication will be available at start up. The 4.6 is famous for its toughness. Ford’s engineers carefully worked all this out.
I understand most engine wear occurs during cold starts. I agree; don’t contradict factory recommendations unless you really know what you’re doing (i.e., have an M.E. degree or equivalent experience).
This one must have been well cared for. There’s no cam chain rattle at startup at all!
No it is just old enough that they used the better timing chain tensioners and that it was likely fed 5-30 for most of its life rather than the 5-20 they specified for later versions for the slight improvement in the CAFE results.
I disagree, 5w20 is too light, I spun a rod bearing running that viscosity in a 4.6 thinking that exact thought. A lot of fleets run up to 15w40 diesel oil in 4.6s, I know one engine builder who saught out used 400k taxi cylinder heads simply because they made much better cores for port/valve work than the ones found from regular civilian operated cars, which often have damage to the cam bores(making the heads throwaways)
The original 4.6s called for 5w30, nothing changed in the tolerances between 91 Town Cars and the final ones found in E series vans. Ford’s engineers also came up with plastic coolant crossovers and chain guides(these ironically showed up at the time they arbitrarily changed the viscosity spec) and designed the notorious valve guides/seals in early versions that puff oil plumes with less than 100k miles. It’s a tough engine, but it’s not perfect, engineering needs to meet cost and compliance, just as much as make robust engines
It wasn’t arbitrary that they switched to 5-20 that was done for CAFE purposes. The power train engineers actually tested all the engines before signing off on 5-20 and the bean counters only concern was if the engines would make it to 150K “most” of the time. A few engines didn’t make the cut and remained with 5-30 the SOHC 4.0 being the most common. The GT500’s supercharged 5.4 actually specifies full synthetic 5-50.
https://lmr.com/item/LRS-6731F/2007-10-Oil-Change-Kit-Gt500-54L-Supercharged
The early Panthers with the 4.6 actually had the old viscosity chart in them and even 20-50 was acceptable if the temp range was right.
I agree, 5/20 recommended in my 03 V6 Mustang. That worries me if say I’m driving at 120 km/ph for three hours (Edmonton to Calgary) or a greater distance.
I’ll continue to use 5/30 and change my oil every 5000 kms.
My friend’s father had a 2004 Crown Vic cop car and about 130K miles on the clock. He too killed a rod bearing under the care of 5W20 oil during the Summer and the engine was an clean as can be inside with very good service up until that point. That was last Summer. He now uses 5W30 in his 2005 civilian Vic.
My 2015 Honda Fit has a “cold” light, to, but it goes out usually within one or two miles after I start out (no warmup period, I crank it and go, driving gently the first few miles).
The ’68 Country Squire we had when I was a kid had the blue light, which was a novelty to us all – first car my folks had with so many lights on the dash. We called it our “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” car.
My wife’s 2014 Civic has the cold light; my Accord does not.
It was something really simple…and apparently common with them when I searched on Google…
I won’t spoil the suspense, but I bet the problem was caused by something that was dirty.
My cars have had temperature gauges, not idiot lights. The oil pressure is just a light. I would like the driver information to have an oil pressure read out. The Aurora did have that.
My ’66 Mustang and the two other cars I have owned with the 289 all had the same cold start problem, no matter the temperature. You get in the car, start it and start to back out of the garage. The car goes about 4 or 5 feet and dies. You start it again and it does fine for the rest of the day. The same thing happens every time you drive it whether it has been sitting for a month or just overnight. The ’66 also likes to run a little rough for the first block or so. Since it has been several years, I can’t remember if the other two ran rough or not. None of this bothers me anymore and it is just part of the routine. The only time I really notice anything different is on the rare occasion that the car doesn’t die.
Which brings up the question, has the intake manifold in your CV been replaced? The 96-01 intake manifold tends to crack, which will cause coolant leaks and misfire/backfire issues.
You might inspect the front of it to see if it is not cracked. You did replace the alt recently.
http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/185
No, unfortunately not…and when I replaced the alternator, there was a little drip of coolant on the manifold behind the alternator. It was on my mind the whole trip, but it hasn’t gone yet.
Your route looks like a terrific one and Banff is a place I now want to visit.
So has the CV proven to have been a good choice for you? Apart from the alternator, it sounds like it has been but I’m just living vicariously through you at this point!
Banff is a nice place to visit. One can hike up the mountain side at Lake Louise to a glacier and there is a tea house there to eat lunch at. Also a bit further north and west (Yoho Park) are the spiral tunnels (which Marc probably did not see) and a water fall. Another water fall is located near there on a river, but one has a bit a walk to get there. Bears are possible, although I did not see any.
Banff has more lodging options than Lake Louise, but there is what used to be a Canadian Pacific Hotel there.
It would have been nice to spend a bit of time there, but we were on a deadline to get back.
As for the Crown Vic, it was the best choice I could have possibly made, I think – we spent 7 days in it, 12 hours a day, and weren’t sore at the end of each day. I’ve had cars I’ve been in pain in after an hour!
It’s hard to believe (Out in Vancouver, anyway) that one can get a car for under $2500 and just get in, drive, and not worry. You’d have to watch for body/undercarriage rot out here in NS.
I’ll do a writeup on the car once I am done with the trip log!
I expect part of the reason you had such a good experience is that you found a dealer who strives to provide a good car at a reasonable price. Presumably his intention is to have happy customers with repeat buyers and referrals rather than milk every possible penny out of every deal. Unfortunately that seems to be very rare today.
I’d say another reason is that you purchased a Panther. I’ve been saying for years that at any given price point the Panther is likely to be newer with lower miles and in better overall condition than most other cars. Chalk it up to it being seen as an old man’s car and a gas hog, which scares away many would be buyers. The other thing is that a lot of the previous owners were old men that just kept their cars nice and don’t tend to drive as much as a retiree.
In this case the referral won’t do the dealer much good unless Marc knows a prospective customer in Vancouver! But you’re right, “happy customers/repeat business/referrals” is a good business model.
Yup it is unlikely that he will be a repeat customer or give a referral, however with the internet a pissed off customer could chase away potential customers even from across the country.
Down here cargo trains are long like that. I’ve seen them in Geelong and on the line that goes parallel to the Hume highway.
I hear the Trans-Australian Railway has the longest stretch of straight track in the world, 478km. It’s said to cross no permanent watercourses, pretty amazing.
We crossed the continent on the Indian Pacific a few years back. It is an amazing ride. The scenery across the Nullarbor Plain is spectacular, and if you don’t like the view, the vegetation will change in a while. Definitely not my idea of desert.
The Nullarbor Plain it crosses is a clue – Nullarbor = no trees. The average annual rainfall is less than 10″.
There is also a section of straight road just over 90 miles long.
I’d love to drive around Australia. My impression is that it’s beautiful, but everything wants to kill you!
It is a beautiful place. Everything doesn’t want to kill you, it just kills people who are careless or willfully stupid. Just like in most countries, I’m sure.
Nice, too bad you didn’t have time for an off day in the Banff area. That was our big mistake on our cross Canada motorcycle trip, not enough time for resting & sightseeing.
Are you going to let us know how you managed to plate the car and get your insurance company to come through?
I will – I’ll do a writeup at the end of this series and on the details of gettign the car licensed and insured. It was easy – in NS the insurance is handled by private companies, the registration and licensing by the provincial government. It was just a matter of calling the insurance company and adding the car to my policy and they emailed me a temporary card. I just used the plate off of my Cabrio on the car.
It’s disgraceful that the Trans Canada isn’t four lanes through much of Ontario. Some sections are downright dangerous. The US is criss-crossed with divided highways and Canada can’t have one coast to coast four lane highway.
While they don’t have the Canadian Shield to contend with, certainly with a lot of dollars thrown around, any highway can be twinned, such as the Sea-to-Sky in British Columbia.
Maybe Kenora should bid on an Olympics…
It doesn’t even have to be divided – if it was just four lanes with jersey barriers in the centre with a limit of 100, it would be OK. Getting stuck behind someone slow on a single lane sucks!
I hope your stay in the Motel 6 didn’t adversely colour your view of my hometown.
No, it was more a function of the way they built the building…we’d probably not stay in a Motel 6 again. Just cheap, and the finish work was terrible – but that seems to be the case in any new hotel I’ve stayed in here in NS. The people we met in town were great – we went to the Buffalo Brew Pub and had the most delicious steak on the trip! Even the taxi drivers were great!
A fine culinary choice in Speedy Creek.
For the edification of the reading audience, I would like to clarify that most of the prairie provinces are a great deal more diverse topographically than what it viewed out of one’s window on the Trans Canada Highway.
That does not in any way detract from my enjoyment of this series. Thank you, Marc.
I’m enjoying this series .
Spend the day with wrenches in my hands then read about far flung highways and by ways .
-Nate
Quiet smalltown in Manitoba…. ..