A friend of mine asked me to work on his car. I reluctantly said okay. My friend is in his 70's, had broken his back several years ago so he can't get around on an engine the way he used to. So he brings me his wife's 88 Crown Vic. last weekend and said "no hurry". Their complaint with the car was a certain speeds it surges or bucks. Well at 135,000 miles and still on the original plugs/wires/cap/rotor, I figured that deifinitly needs changed and wouldn't hurt. I replaced those parts plus the filter screen under the PCV valve and ran fuel system cleaner through the intake a the car blew out a lot of carbon. I took the car down the road, and it ran like the wind and I was throughly impressed. I went 3 miles to a friends house, turned around and made it half way back. The car then lost all of its power, began bucking & surging. I'm going to replace the fuel filter when I get one, but was wondering if anyone esle out their has a similar story with their car/truck or any advice on where I should look. They are on a limited income and I'm only charging them for parts to help them out. I would really hate to give the back a car that runs just as bad before I did anything to it. Appreciate your time.

 

A caveat first, I'm not familiar with the extent of computer controls on late '80s Ford vehicles. However, my '93 would surge/buck at around 40 mph. I replaced the throttle position sensor and solved the problem.

Not a bad idea on the fuel filter as well.

 

The '88 Crown Vic should be EEC-IV so I'd start by pulling codes, you can do it by watching the CEL on Ford EEC-IV vehicles if you don't have a scanner:

Pulling Codes on a Ford EEC-IV Car

Fuel filter sounds like a good idea, too.