I'm a new Owner - Now some other questions

[Blue03]

Hi All,

I picked up my new 03 Saturday. I've been cruzin this excellent site for about a month. The general information, pricing, tech and performance posts have been very helpful in getting me to an OK I'll buy one if I can get the planets to align. Didn't we have an eclipse this weekend? Spooky!

So far I'm all smiles...well almost! After all the heads ups posted, I failed to ask the dealer to check and fix the woofer before I took delivery. The dealer I bought my MM from is not my home town dealer. Now it looks like I'm going to have to deal with a noisy subwoofer mounting or something. What's the popular view .. Let the Dealer fix it? Try it myself? Tell the dealer how I want them the fix it? Any Tech Service Bulletins? Before posting I did a search but didn't find a string that was directly on point. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

A couple other things are on my mind...

- Does anyone know how many 03 MM's have been built?
By Color? Black, Silver or Blue?

- The Book Says vary your speed for a 1,000 Miles. Something about seating the rings. I have all of 259 Miles on the odom tonight. I did put my foot into it a time or two. Anyone have some thoughts about miles before WOT?

- I thought the parking brake would release when you shift from park to drive. My 95 GM LX (w/Handling Pkg) works that way and I think the Book says the MM does as well. Could be out of adjustment or can anybody confirm the 300B's are supposed to have auto parking brake release?

- When is a good time to dump the first batch of oil if you're doing the daily driver routine? I would think it would sooner than 5,000 miles.

Time to hit the sack. Thanks for any help or thoughts

[BillyGman]

on your purchase. I think that WOT is okay after the first 100 miles as long as it isn't a daily thing, and is momentarily. Some types of piston rings take longer to seat than others, and I think that many types that are used in the latest production cars do NOT require as many miles to seat as the rings of old did. Especially not w/Hypereutectic pistons which require a smaller piston-to-cylinder wall clearence(about .002"). And I believe those are the type of pistons that the Marauder engine has. So perhaps that is why the owners manual simply states that the RPM's should be varied during the initial 1000 miles. Some hi-perf engine builders actually recommend a couple dozen three quarter throttle blasts starting from about 30 MPH during the first 100 miles of break-in, to aid in seating the piston rings. As far as the parking brake not releasing automaticaly, that doesn't sound right to me. I have a 03 300A, and the brake releases automaticaly, unless I go to back up, and then I need to put it in Drive first to release the brake, and then into reverse.

[Murader03]

Welcome aboard Blue and congrats on your purchase. The sub woofer isn't that big a deal, assuming it's only the material covering the opening. Search the site for answers, search speakers, or radio. It'll pop up. As for the parking brake, if you have a 300A, then you must place the shift lever into drive for the brake to release. If you have the B model, then you should have a parking brake release handle. They made some changes to the B to cut cost (?) and help cover the installation of traction control as standard equipment. You're going to find several areas of the manual that may or not be correct. The mercury owners connection should have the latest and greatest manual.

As far as oil changes, I had the first change at 2500 miles and then every 5000 after that. Got 38200 on the car since 11/04/02. As far as WOT, I owned a '99 Cobra before the MM. I was always told to drive it like you stole it and that's what I did with the Cobra and the MM so far. The Cobra had 101000 when it was replaced. Other than Fords performance recall, the engine was never opened up. Still had the original brakes and clutch!

[RF Overlord]

Just to condense ^^^what they said^^^:

1. Drive it like you stole it.

2. If it's a 300B, no; there's no automatic parking brake release.

3. First oil change after 1000 miles, then use at least a synthetic blend or preferably a full synthetic (no dino oil!).

[jrzygrl]

You MUST drive that B**ch like you stole her, I do! Got her up to 102 on a residential road yesterday....Congrats to another member of the blue brotherhood!!! (I get the oil changed every 3000). :coolman:

[Haggis]

Welcome Blue03, For the first 1000 miles I did like they said, varied my rpms and I wasn't too hard on her. Once I had her over 1000 miles I get into her when I can. Had the speedometer up to 120 a couple of times and had it up to 140 once. Traveling down the highways is really fun cruzing at 70 - 80 mph cars just seem to move out of the way. You'll love the car it is comfortable and fast. You will be styling and profiling as you drive down the road. Good luck and have fun!

[tomd]

First oil change should be right after 1000 miles.
This car only gets better everyday! Welcome aboard.

:D

jrzygrl Got her up to 102 on a residential road yesterday :nono:

[USN_Lifer]

Murader03, I just pm'd you.

[03SILVERSTREAK]

Welcome Blue03-Enjoy your new ride , log on as much as you can cause this is the most informative site there is . read the owners book and just have fun . :bounce: :rock: :up:

[chapel1]

Have you found the speed control volume setting on your radio yet???

[Bad Boy Merc]

Welcome! I would change the oil at 1000 miles the first time. I did mine at about 950 and had small specks of metal in the drain pan after I emptied it. Also had small specks of metal on the third change at about 5000. A dealer did the second oil change so I can't confirm metal on that one. If you change oil yourself the first time let me know if you see any metal.

[DeadVic]

specific to the subwoofer.

Here's what I did just last weekend:

1. Remove spare tire. Read the directions on this as I wasted a good 10 minutes being stupid.

2. Get a metric socket set out. Unplug the sub power on the right side (passenger side) of the unit. Remove four nuts holding sub and amp in place on rear deck. I think it was a 12 MM socket. Drop the whole thing down to the spare tire tray area.

3. Remove the 2 inch thick black piece that is sitting directly on the speaker/driver.

4. this is the most important part and the part I didn't figure out until after the third attempt at some bass sound without the rattle. Reach into the rear deck opening from inside the truck (with the sub/amp assembly removed from it's original position) and find the stamped out portion of the 1/8-1/4 inch thick sound deadening material. it is stamped out the size of the sub speaker. Dig your finger nails into the stamped out piece and give it a yank. It's about a 6X8 inch piece of material.

5. By then I was so frustrated I wadded up and shoved a couple clean shop towels up between the interior shelf lining the and the steal shelf in the truck to ensure no vibration.

6. Button it up and fire up the bass.

welcome to the club. I have 3300 miles on mine and love it. Enjoy.

[jgc61sr2002]

Blue03 - Welcome to the site. I always change the oil at 1,000 miles on new vehicles. Changed it again at 3,000 miles. Clean oil is the life of the engine. As far as the auto brake release that was decontented along with other items on the 2003 300B. All Blue MM's are 300B's. Good luck with your new ride.:up:

[Blue03]

Thanks for all the responses.
-Looks like I'll try DeadVic's woofer fix this week end! I'll probably use foam pieces instead of the towel stuffers.
-The 1000 oil change sounds good.
-ok chapel1, I'll bite...What "speed control volume setting on the radio"???

[CRUZTAKER]

Let me add...don't feel bad about taking your MM to a dealer other than the one you purchased from for warranty work, or any work at all. Mine dealer pisses and moans ALL the time. Not my fault they STILL charge msrp for all their MM's. It is their duty to service my vehicle no matter where I bought it. I didn't buy the wifes LS there either......

[jrzygrl]

Originally posted by tomd
[
jrzygrl Got her up to 102 on a residential road yesterday :nono: [/B] I'm always carefull where I choose to play.....

[studio460]

Originally posted by CRUZTAKER
Let me add...don't feel bad about taking your MM to a dealer other than the one you purchased from for warranty work, or any work at all. Mine dealer pisses and moans ALL the time. Not my fault they STILL charge msrp for all their MM's. It is their duty to service my vehicle no matter where I bought it. I didn't buy the wifes LS there either......
Just thought I'd jump in and clarify a Ford position here . . . Although it is Ford's policy that you can take your car to any dealership for warranty repair work, apparently, there are exceptions . . .

At the time I purchased my Marauder, I had to drive over 60 miles from my house to even FIND a Marauder on a lot in Los Angeles. Since then, I take 100% of my service work to a Ford dealer five minutes from my house--I have NEVER even been to the selling dealership for service (wasn't the greatest purchasing experience). Anyway, in one particular conversation with Ford corporate, they told me that a dealership did have the right to refuse service, and insist that the problem be remedied by the selling dealership. Ford's defense was merely to say that, " . . . each dealership is independently owned and operated." Nevertheless, the Ford dealership I go to for service only refused to accomodate one service request (damaged clearcoat/paint defects) out of more than a dozen warranty repair jobs already completed there. This is probably only specific to the paint problems I've had, where the selling dealership, arguably, may have the most reason to bear the burden of this kind of customer service issue (i.e., they're probably the ones that ruined the car's finish in prep in the first place).

[carfixer]

In addition to what NBC said, if you use a certain dealership for warranty work, use them also for work you pay for to build a relationship with them. It may pay off in the long run.