89 New Yorker info needed

Hi Jesse, I have an 88 New Yorker with 96,000 miles. Bought it in 1994 with 44,000 miles.

Steve, Thank you for your info.

I, too, have the Digital Dash. The dash indicator for the oil pressure seems to be working, so, I guess its connected. That means that the wire I am wondering about is still a mystery.

On the noise, It is only heard during deceleration, at low speeds.

Another problem is that the brake pedal is funny. When I apply the breaks, it makes a slight tap at the brake pedal. Is this normal? Today, I tried pumping the brake twice and the anti-lock light came on. I just arrived home puzzled and turned off the car and turned it back on, applied the brake a few times and nothing! no light. The previous owner told me that the vehicle has the original tires and brakes. My next course of action to inspect the brakes. I assume that they might need replacing. Any input??

BTW, Here is a pic of my NEW (to me) car...

Thank you again,

Jesse

I have the same car, same year, same condition but now with 43,000 miles (when I got it from my father-in-law, who quit driving in 1998, it had 20,000).

Beats me.

Not keyless. This is supposed to be a safety feature for us geezers who forget to lock the doors. By the way, if you pull up the outside handles on mine, the interior lights come on and the door keyholes light up dimly (usually).

Dunno. But the engine is pretty loud in general and sound insulation is minimal (especially compared to our '87 Mercedes 420 SEL).

The digital speedo on mine doesn't come on once in a while when you start the car, but comes back on after a little driving.

About what mine does. It pumps up (semi-loudly) when you first start the car. I never noticed that it continued every 5-10 minutes, however. I'll listen more carefully.

Is the ride in yours extremely soft and bouncy? This is the plushest ride I've ever felt in any car. Shocks are OK, too.

Tom,

Snip, Snip... (1) The wiring going to the starter has a sensor of some sort that is exposed and not connected / not going into anything. Anyone know what it is? (I can supply pics if necessary.)

Would you mind if I took a picture of mine tomorrow and put it up for you to view? Maybe, you can check your to see if the wire goes anywhere on yours.

Snip, Snip...

(3) During deceleration, at low speed, I heat what sounds like a slight tap. (sounds like the turn signal relay going on and off Or like the speedometer gear clunking) It's definitely coming from the dash area. Anyone know what it might be?

My engine sounds normal. (not loud at all) My Digital dash works great. I especially like the Climate Control. Never had such a feature before.

Snip, Snip... (4) The Rear level system pump up for about 10 secs when I first start it and them ever 5-10 minutes or so. Do I have a leak or is that how it works? Is the rear end suppose to maintain the air when the car is off, overnight?

My vehicles ride seems firm to me. Not soft or bouncy. When I hit a semi-large bump, it feels kind of like a canoe going over a waterfall and landing flat.

Thank you,

Jesse To respond directly, remove "NOSPAM" from the return email address.

Tom, BTW, Do you know what kind of brakes are on your (OUR) 1989 New Yorker? I have a Chilton's manual and it call for either Bendex 6, Bendex 10 and Steve

1988 New Yorker calls for a Bosch system.

Jesse

I'd be happy to look but better to send the photo to my email address (remove xx from address in header). Posting binaries here is frowned upon.

Maybe I'm spoiled :-)

Our climate control works fine in the winter (heat) but the AC, which is ice cold, seems to lag in the summertime, so the cabin first gets slightly too cold and then slightly too warm. Won't hold the temp steady. It's no problem driving around town, but on the highway it can get chilly and call for a lot of fiddling with the temp. I've had the mechanic look at it but they can't find any problem.

The speedometer problem is very intermittent -- maybe 5 times a year.

I like the car, by the way. Super comfortable to ride in and to drive, good in snow, holds the road well, surprising amount of zip. I love the look -- feels like driving an airport limo (mine is midnight blue). A real hoot. Not sure how well constructed it is, however. My father-in-law had to have the transmission replaced under warranty at just under 20k miles.

Hmmm.

No, I don't. Mine are not ABS however.

Tom and anyone else who can help, Here are (2) pics of the wire I mentioned.

The wire in question, comes out from the same batch of wires that connect up to the starter. Please take a look at yours and tell me where it goes. Better yet, if you have a digital camera, maybe you can take a pic of where it goes and email it to me.

Thank you in advance.

Jesse

I just took a look at the factory shop manual for my 88 3.0 New Yorker.

Some models came with an oil pressure sensor and an OIL LEVEL sensor. I bet it was cheaper / easier in the long run to make a single wiring harness with that OIL LEVEL sensor cable than two harnesses.

Deceleration noises..

Just wild guesses

CV joint noise ? Brake noise ? worn suspension bushings ? road debris rattling around in crevasses ?

I once found a mummified mouse curled up around a suspension control arm right behind a metal brake shield.

Steve

Yeah. The rule of thumb here is that there are sometimes extra connectors on the harness if your particular car doesn't have EVERY available dooddad. No failures, no idiot lights on the dash? Then just ignore it.

Remember, too, that the connectors are arranged so that their termination points are pretty close to where the harness comes by. You'd be able to see where it plugged in if it was really supposed to be connected on your car.

--Geoff

I looked at mine -- same model, year, etc. -- and found it looked just like Jesse's. Connected to nothing.