1984 Mercury Topaz Blue Max

Hi, and welcome to my web page dedicated to my favorite car, the Mercury Topaz. More specifically, the 1984 Mercury Topaz "Blue Max". Click on the picture above to see a bigger picture. Keep reading to learn more about my car and its history.

The Story

Every car has a story. My Dad bought the Blue Max to replace his 1977 Ford Mustang Ghia (6-cyl) in the winter of 1984. The Mustang had a bad heater core and blew lots of steam into the cockpit when the heat was on. We would roll down the windows to let the huge cloud of steam billow out of the car. It was impressive to watch from the roadside and to Dad it was the last straw for the Mustang. He had already paid for a Distributor Shaft Pin (after the shop tore the whole engine apart looking for the timing chain in a car that has a timing gear) and a Transmission Rebuild. Bear in mind that this is the same man who never changes any fluids (oil, coolant, etc...) in his car, "It's the oil companies that want you to change your oil every 3000 miles." The failure of the heater core was undoubtedly due to cooling system neglect.

The Topaz was definitely not Dad's style. His previous car was an early 70's Cougar (with the cool turn signal that blinked in sequence). He knew that I would soon need a car, so he bought the Topaz in anticipation of giving it to me when that time came. Finally, in 1988 he turned the car over to me with 25,000 miles on it (and the original oil) and bought a Ford Thunderbird (I told you the Topaz wasn't his style).

Since then, the Topaz has taken me through my last two years of College, my first 6 jobs, and my kids to and from school. Parting with this car will not be easy when the time comes. The children are especially sensitive to losing a car, as witnessed upon the death of the Villager. I've prepared them for the inevitable, so hopefully they will take it well.

Although its reliability has been perfect through the years, I'm afraid at some point it may leave me stranded without warning. Having children makes this an important thing to worry about. So, sometime in the year 2000, I will probably get a Mercury Mystique, and start a new car page that will hopefully in time become yet another "Heap On The 'Net" page. Though this time, she'll be garage-kept!

Update: On April 1, 2000 (and it isn't an April Fool's joke), I traded in the trusty ol' Blue Max for $25(!?) on the purchase of a new 2000 Mercury Mystique. Pictures and a new page will be up soon. I have lots more to add to this Topaz page as well, so stay tuned....

Parting Thoughts

"I see that you finally got rid of the Topaz, may it rest in peace. It was a good car, and it served you, nay, it served all of us well. It was a treasured part of my life, as I'm sure it was for many others. It will be missed." - Chad Mynhier

Trivia

Both Ford and Mercury had special edition models of the Tempo/Topaz dubbed the "Blue Max" and the "Red Baron".

Ford tried to anticipate the upcoming conversion of the US to the metric system by offering the Michelin TRX performance package which featured metric alloy wheels (365mm). Customers ended up with a nightmare when they tried to find tires for their cars several years later. Most replaced the wheels with used 13" steel wheels. For the cost of two 365mm tires you could get four 13" wheels and new tires to go with them.

Some Specifics

• Price Sticker - Wish I'd had a scanner back in 1984.
• Vacuum Schematic - Interactive. Learn about vacuum system components. 1984 was a very complicated year for vacuum systems. Almost everything was controlled by vacuum. Today you'll only find a handful of vacuum hoses under the hood of a car.

Mail Bag

Finally, Margaret has sent us the first credible report of problems with the 1984 Topaz: Unwanted acceleration (and falling apart at 90k miles). Honestly, it's amazing that "Topaz" and "acceleration" have ever been used in the same sentence together.

• The Most Perfect Car - lisa
• Interdimensional Thrills! - The Kitten
• Back to Shop Class... - Michael Plumb
• Fine Automobiles - Chris
• Bucket of Bolts - Tom - finally a negative (and somewhat suspicious) review
• 210,000 Miles! - Ryan
• Reliability and Endurance - Shana (a new used Topaz owner)
• Fatal Flaw - Margaret

*** Log ***

Lessons Learned

There were several things I learned about keeping a car like this in good running condition.

• If the engine knocks, tweak the timing until it doesn't. I used this trick to make sure the engine never knocked. Replacing the EGR valve would have probably helped as well, but it seemed like a relatively difficult thing to do. Whereas the timing was real easy to play with on this car.
• Increase the curb idle so it doesn't stall at stoplights. After a certain point, an old car will no longer perform to spec, so you have to get a bit creative. Generally, a mechanic cannot make this adjustment properly because they can't drive the car for more than 5 minutes without getting yelled at by their boss. Only the owner knows how high to set the idle to prevent stalling. Note that it's the idle when it is in Drive that counts. If the difference in idle between Drive and Park is very large, then it might be time to replace the transaxle fluid (and maybe the transaxle too). However, fuel mixture could also be to blame (rebuild the carburetor, it's fun).

Related Links

• Mercury
• CarList - Find used Topaz's for parts!
• DealerNet - More used Topaz's

Missing Links

These sites are unfortunately gone. If you want me to rehost your Tempo/Topaz related site, please email me.

• Wheel/Tire Info
• Ford Compacts
• Oxygen Sensor Info
• A/C FAQ - My A/C needs a recharge (more like a replacement).