83 Lincoln Continental
 

I wanted something to drive in traffic to work every morning other than my 84 Firebird. I don't like putting the miles on it (It's up to 45.5K from 44 already), and while I like the 5-speed, driving a 5-speed in heavy traffic on the highway every morning at 6AM isn't so great. And I wanted something with AC. I was looking for a truck or a van (for hauling TVs), but came across this Lincoln on craigslist yesterday and couldn't pass it up.

It's got the 302 (with the tbi) and a 4-speed auto, disc brakes on all 4 wheels, and these weird aluminum/spoke wheels (those aren't hubcaps). It's not very big for a Lincoln, I'm almost positive its built on the same chassis as an 86 T-Bird I used to have. It's also low milage for its age (88k). I like the unusual colors (the two tone gold and yellow/cream-color). Its got every accessory known to man: power door locks, windows (2 out of 4 work), seats, trunk (not working), gas cap, mirrors, antenna, cruise control, tilt wheel, leather seats, ps, pb, ac, rear window defroster, light-up thermometer mounted on the side mirror, fully digital dash with this clock/ milage calculating computer in the center.

The stereo (with cassette) is the best sounding in any car I've ever had. The controls are scratchy though. I haven't tried the cassette yet - I probably won't until I take the radio out to clean the controls rather than just putting in a tape and probably watching it get eaten.

It's got some minor issues: I had to put a new battery (It almost didn't start back up after stopping at a gas station when I was driving it home.) The parking break won't stay engaged unless I push some lever way up under the dash, and won't release unless I pull it. And I sometimes hear this awful high-pitched whining sound from behind the dash (only if the car is in forward gear). I'm wondering if these issues aren't related and there's some kind of leaky vacuum operated switch that releases the parking break when the car is in drive.

pics...

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Lincoln Ownership. All the nigglin' problems you mention are likely nothing serious. Just be glad that Ferd Motor Co. doesn't install the back doors Bassackwards like they did on my 3-'69 sedan, '67 convertible, & '65 Limo...

Nice luxe-boat for the commute!

Power doors?

Nice. Thermometer sounds interesting. My parents had an 88 Town Car but I don't remember that, although theirs wasn't nearly as fancy as your Continental.

I meant power door locks:D

I've always liked those suicide door era Lincolns, and with that 462 they'd run circles around mine with only a 302. My favorite Lincolns have got to be the 58-60 models though, great looking cars.

I agree about the stock Lincoln sound systems , they really do sound great and got better & better as the years went on . While my 89 Firebird is my #1 daily driver , I also have an 03 Towncar Cartier for rainy days with ALL the bells & whistles including the premium JBL sound system with factory subwoofer , this Lincoln was the first car I ever owned that I absolutely loved the factory stereo in :thmbsp:

I think the tranny is called AOD, automatic over drive. they were the predicessor to that piece of crap computer operated one they started using in 1991??? in trucks, unsure of when in cars. Ive been told they were similar to the C4, and about the same toughness. Not as good as a C6 but ok.

Good cars. you may have trouble with electronics but mechanics are good. I would figure out that vacuum leak pronto is its related to the tranny. The AOD's are great if not abused but those kinds of problems can be pretty serious if not fixed.

Theres some crazy cable... I think it goes from the carb to the tranny. (my memory is foggy) Make sure you never leave it unhooked as it wrecks the tranny if unhooked.

im jealous. I'd love one of those cars. Im fond of any large Ford.

"It's Evidental, I LOVE my Continental..."

A very rare car today! I'd actually forgotten about this version. I used to have a customer that loved the car that replaced this; he owned several. Yours reminds me of an updated Versailles.

Will the power windows run at all? The typical failure mode is the motor would run but nothing moved. The clutch mechanism in that motor consists of a 3 nylon "bushings" that will self destruct. You can buy replacements for a reasonable price. At the shop we would buy them in a box of a dozen.

The cable runs from the throttle linkage down to the transmission, and controls transmission pressure. If left loose, the transmission will be toast in less than 40 miles.

The cables themselves don't go bad, what breaks is the little plastic fitting on the throttle body linkage that the control line attaches to. The replacement is brass with a metal "c" clip to hold it on (so it never goes bad). Most 80's models have already had this part replaced with the updated version by now. If the plastic part breaks, it's easy to tell because the accelerator pedal will suddenly become really easy to push, and the transmission will shift through all the gears by the time you get to 20 MPH.

I've replaced many of them on the Town Cars I've drove down through the years.

"If the plastic part breaks, it's easy to tell because the accelerator pedal will suddenly become really easy to push, and the transmission will shift through all the gears by the time you get to 20 MPH. "

It's not doing this at all, so at least I know that cable's fine. A little googling did confirm that it does use a vacuum switch to disengage the parking brake when you shift into drive, so I'm betting that leaking is the source of that awful sound. I'm also hearing something rattling around under the car. It drives fine, so I'm betting it's just a loose exhaust pipe banging against the bottom of the car. I also just noticed there's a sticker on the window saying when the oil was last changed -- in 2012! But it's only been driven about ~2k miles since. I have the week after next off, so I'll have time then to work on this (I'll definitely be changing the oil) - and maybe also figure out why one of the headlight motors quit working in my Firebird.


"The typical failure mode is the motor would run but nothing moved. The clutch mechanism in that motor consists of a 3 nylon "bushings" that will self destruct. "

That's exactly what's happening, but I'm lucky in that the drivers window is one of the ones that are working.


"I agree about the stock Lincoln sound systems , they really do sound great and got better & better as the years went on . While my 89 Firebird is my #1 daily driver , I also have an 03 Towncar Cartier"

I love my 84 Firebird, I'll never sell it, and plan to eventually put a 350 in it ... but I'm so tired of driving a stick in stop and go traffic 5 days a week and having no AC in 100+ degrees . The stereo in the '03 Grand Marquis I had was also very good, but I think the one in this Lincoln sounds better.


"Im fond of any large Ford."

I've always considered myself more of a GM guy, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a great car like this one. Of all the Ford products I've had: 65 Mustang, this 83 Lincoln, 86 T-bird, and the 03 Grand Marquis, this is my favorite by far (the Grand Marquis is the runner-up). It's weird... back in the 90s when I first got into cars I didn't like the digital dashes and only wanted cars with all analog gauges, but now I think the digital dash is really neat. The letters that say "continental" over the glove box even light up in green to match the rest of the dash at night.

I'm surprised they even put parking brakes on cars with automatics...The park position has never failed or even malfunctioned on any car I've been in, and most cars the parking brakes even when new have so little effect that you'd probably still hit whatever you were stopping for if your regular brakes failed and you remembered to engage the parking brake...

The reason is this ;

If you park on an extreme hill without using the parking brake the pressure of the car trying to roll down the hill can be so great as to jam the park pawl and make it impossible to shift out of park . Whenever parking on an extreme hill your supposed to set the (properly maintained & working) parking brake first , and then put it in park . Conversely , your supposed to take it out of park before releasing the parking brake when leaving .

On the hills that 99% of us drive and park on this will never be a problem , but I'll bet drivers in places like San Francisco are very well versed in parking brake use with automatic shift cars ;)

Thanks for the right description of the cable davet753. its been a long while since i saw one.

The parking brake is for the reason init4fun wrote, plus in case of full or close to full brake failure. Also Ford had issues with trannies popping out of park into reverse so some people used the brake everytime they parked there autos. Unsure if other makes had that problem. There may be other reasons too.

Make sure you turn your front wheels into the curb facing downward before setting the brake. Relieves pressure on the pawl when parking and prevents the car from rolling down a hill with pawl failure.

You hit the nail on the head. Most of these Lincolns, if not all, have a vacuum actuator that releases the parking brake whenever you put the car in gear. A very nice feature that's sadly forgotten in cars today. Likely, the vacuum actuator's rubber diaphragm is torn and leaking vacuum, so it won't auto release. And because it's meant to be automatic, the manual release is, as you say, way up under the dash. My advice: don't even bother applying the parking brake... unless you are parking on steep hills, but even then, it's not really necessary. At least until you get a replacement actuator. You might want to remove the vacuum hose from it and plug it, to silence the noisy leak. Be careful though, those plastic vacuum hoses are very brittle now.

The whining noise under the dash is probably the vacuum operated Prk Brake release switch, it's part of the neutral switch as I recall and is mounted on the lower end of the column.

Not using the parking brake on a hill is really hard on the drive train, everything from the U-Joints to the Motor Mounts is under a strain.

Yeah-My '69 Sedan, which I used as my 2nd car for the 1st several years I had it, had "Issues"... I got it in '83, it had an indeterminate no. of miles on it at the time, but I felt it was around 100K.I had the tranny rebuilt in it, but it had the Ferd habit of slippin out of park & into reverse, even after the rebuild. It was my 1st"Tomcat" car, I'd load it up w/buds-An' Hopefully a few Feminine Women of the Girlish Persuasion as well, & we'd turn it into a Rolling Den of Iniquity... Lotsa BEER was drunk in it, not necessarily much by Moi-SOMEBODY had to Ride Herd over the Screwballs 'n' Knotheads who rode around in it w/me.. Still have it, last time I looked at it, if I spent a day or so "Spiffin' it up" it would look GREAT...

This has two drain plugs in the oil pan - one in the front and one on the bottom towards the back.

I didn't notice this at first, only drained about 1 qt out of the engine, thought the oil light must have been malfunctioning to have not been on, and started worrying something might have happened to the engine from driving it with such little oil.

Then I change the filter, put about 3 quarts in, and check the dipstick and find it to be way overfull. Then, I figured I had to be missing something, looked around and noticed the second drain plug. Then, I had to drain out all the new oil I just put in along with the rest of the old oil, and go get more oil.

Two drain plugs in the same oil pan ... never seen that before. The lower portion of the pan must be somehow subdivided into two sections.

It helps to have an idea of the volume of what is in your catch pan and how much you should be putting in...if it wasn't low before the change and noticably less was in it than specified something ain't right.

I spent all day working on this. I changed the spark plugs (those were the original plugs in there). I've never seen plugs with the electrodes actually worn down so much. There was a noticeable increase in performance with the new plugs. And some of those plugs were really really hard to get to (reminding me of why I'm always saying I prefer cars of the 60s and 70s).

The problem with the parking brake/vacuum switch is the switch. I removed the vacuum line and plugged it, and the sound went away. One of the two screws that hold it in is on top of the column and really hard to get to, so I haven't removed the switch yet, but I have ordered another one.

What I heard bouncing around under the car is an about 1" diameter metal tube which is supposed to connect to the catalytic converters (It has 2 catalytic converters which then feed a single muffler), but is rusted through and bouncing around under there. It leads to a mess of smog hoses on the right side of the engine. I'm not sure what it is or does, but in the Phoenix area all cars newer than 66 need to pass smog, so I need one.

(There is a loophole in that if you register your car as a 'classic' and get special insurance you don't need smog no matter what the year (but it's more expensive and limits how much you can drive the car per year - and seeing I bought this to be my daily driver, I don't want to be limited in how much I can drive it).

I plugged in a loose connector I noticed under the dash when I was trying to remove that vacuum switch, and now I get beeping every time I start the car. It seems to be beeping because it thinks it's out of gas. The display says DTE (distance to empty) miles = 0, even though that isn't the case. For now, I'm just going to unplug that cable again, but I'd like to find out why it always thinks it's out of gas. (The fuel gauge works fine - this is that computer that calculates gas milage, distance travelled, avg speed, ... in the center of that dash that thinks there is no gas)

That pipe that feeds the converters is the secondary air injection. Basically, the system pumps fresh air into the exhaust to aide in the catalyzing, usually during cold weather. If the inspectors see that it's broken, they'll fail you. But if they don't check, and the pipes on the converter side are plugged, it's entirely possible it won't affect a tailpipe gas analyzer test.

I don't know much about how inspections work in Phoenix, but I'd wager nobody even has an exhaust gas analyzer anymore, anyway. Likely their inspections (on pre-1996 cars) are visual only - but don't take my word for it.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/show...wpost&t=760335

Colorado still tests , this thread is not me or my car , but I feel bad for anyone who owns a vintage car in a place that still tests pre OBD2 cars .

:D Thankfully where I live it's a visual safety inspection only on anything pre OBD2

Try owning a 79 pinto in CA. Still under emissions testing... Been non-oped since.. :D

SR

Wew I'm glad there's no smogging in the county I live in. The truck had its cat deleted long ago, egr was rusted out (in NM, How?!), air pump seized, evap is intact but I don't think it works (can smell it sometimes), air preheater missing.... So I trashed all the smog equipment (except the evap).

The Pug also had most of the emissions deleted due to vacuum leaks, because vacuum leaks+Bosch k-Jet=a bad time. cat is till there for now......

The Miata had an emergency cat delete because the ground strap and ignition coils took a crap and ruined the cat. The downstream O2 is just zip tied to the body braces :D

I've seen dual drain plugs on 5.0 LTD Crown Vics (or was it a Town Car) when I used to work for Jiffy Lube, I think we took out both to be safe.

Yeah thankfully in Chicago, they don't test pre OBDII cars.

They don't test NOTHIN here in Bugtussle, thank the Lord....Just what we need-Another layer of Gummint busybodies pokin' around stuff that ain't Nunya gotdam Bidness..

I washed and waxed both cars yesterday. Both these cars, even if I repainted them, I'd keep these colors. Not since I had that avocado green 72 Impala (which I sold back in 06) have I had cars for which I really liked the colors they came with.

I put a full tank of gas in the Lincoln and that problem with the milage-calculating computer being stuck on 0 and beeping fixed itself.

It doesn't need to pass smog for another 2 years, so for now I just tied that air tube up to the exhaust pipe so it wouldn't bounce around. I can't locate another one (I figure in two years I can come up with something even if I have to get a piece of straight pipe and figure out a way to bend it).

This car is nearly impossible to locate parts for: car parts stores don't stock parts for it because it's too old, and online parts stores for older cars don't stock parts for it because it's too new! I'm going to have to start looking around for junkyards (I quit doing it when I lived in the midwest, but back when I lived in Los Angeles it was one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday morning - wandering around the U-pull)

When I lived in CA I used to always try to get cars older than '75 so they wouldn't need smog. But here in AZ, the cutoff being 66, I just can't find a pre-67 car that doesn't either need lots of work, or isn't super expensive. It is nice that they have that 'collector car' exception here, and I will eventually go that route with the Firebird because I want to swap out that 2.8 V6 for a 350. For now the 'Bird is still registered in WI (it doesn't expire until next August). I don't plan on swapping the engine for a few years, so whether or not I try the 'classic car' registration right away depends on how hard it is to get it to pass smog when I finally get around to it. All the stuff's still there, so it probably will.

I'd consider moving somewhere just to get away from the smog checks, but I've done 6 long-distance moves in the past 10 years (and I just don't want to ever do it again.) And I like the Phoenix area, and would like to stay in the general vicinity. (Even though AZ seems to be a complete wasteland in terms of TV-collecting activity, in comparison MI was a real hub of TV collecting activity, and even WI had the warci swap meets) I do plan on moving locally, because I want to eventually buy a house rather than renting forever. But for now, I absolutely hate the job I moved here to take, and am desperately trying to find something else.

Wow, both cars look great!

I MUST admit,I was NOT a big fan of these when they came out, but YOURS, especially its color scheme, is rather "Regal" looking-More like a Lincoln oughta be ! STILL not quite as nice as my Suicide Door Specials-but to MY feeble little mind, you'd have to go back to the great bespoke bodied cars of the Twenties, Thirties, the great KA & KB Lincolns, the Judkins & Lockes, Willoughbys, to surpass modern cars.. Guess I'd have to include Derhams, too, I think they made a few bodies for Lincoln, but mostly they worked for that damnable Generous Motors "Off-Brand"...(Grin)

That photo looks like an advertisement piece.

If I knew how to do it better, I'd edit out the modern cars, so I'd look like the picture was taken back in the 80s.

I've never been a huge fan of the downsized cars that came out in the late-70s and early-80s either. I was actually looking for a truck when I saw this on craigslist: but the price was good, it was in good condition, and I was attracted by the long list of options and features, and while the 302 is no 460 or 462 I like driving it. And that digital dash looks good at night. The really old Lincolns I always thought were neat were the ones with the V12s in the late-30s - 40s.

And I'll eventually get around to fixing all those extra features - that beeping computer started flashing "DTE 0" and beeping again when I went over a bump - probably some nearly impossible to track down bad solder joint somewhere or maybe I'll get lucky and it'll just be an easy to find loose wire.

A good obsolete Ford parts depot:
http://www.greensalescompany.com/
Kinda neat to just browse around their website. I think they only time I bought anything was when we were fixing up a late 70s Continental and needed a piece of body side molding. It wasn't overpriced.

So I'm driving down the highway with the AC cranked, and I start seeing mist coming out of the vents and smelling coolant. So the first thing I think is that I have a leaky heater core. The coolant level was low, but I found a leaky hose - it's a smaller diameter hose that connects from a T-junction in a heater hose to the intake manifold (not sure what it's for - I have to get a service manual for this thing, I know the cars of the 60s and early-70s inside and out, but even by 1983 I come across a lot of stuff that I'm not familiar with). There's tight 180 degree bend in it and I couldn't find a pre-bent one anywhere so I just got a longer hose and ran it a goofy way to avoid having the tight bend in it. I'll try that Green Ford parts next week and see if they have one.

But that is not the end of my problem - I drove around with the AC cranked up for a while after I changed that hose to see if it would happen again, and I did still get that white mist coming out of the vents after a while (but it didn't smell of coolant anymore). The carpet under the dash was also wet with the stuff (and there was a big puddle of it under the car) - it was clear but sticky. At first I thought it was leaking freon, but then I thought if it was leaking that much freon - how's the air still blowing cold? But if its just water, it's the wrong consistency, too thick and sticky. What do you guys think is going on?

Might be refrigerant oil. Refrigerant itself has no odor and is a gas, but the oil smells and it's oily.

As for the hose, they sell things that look like a spring, you put it on the outside of the hose, and you can bend it and it will force the hose to keep that shape.
amazon link

For a smaller hose, like 3/8" you can use my trick - get the same size metal brake line, make the bend in that, cut out only the bent section, grease it liberally, and shove it into a regular hose up until you get the bend where it needs to be. Careful not to leave any sharp edges on the metal tube ends.
Also, is this the hose?

The old diesel GMC van I had used several odd hoses in the EGR system, all very obsolete. The previous owner replaced them with pieces of straight hose and PVC elbows which worked very well. Later in another vehicle I needed to temporarily bypass the heater core and just used a short length of PVC for the short circuit.

Another story: had an aging Dakota and I started noticing a foul, oily smell & I could feel some slight dampness on the carpet just to the right of the transmission hump. I really thought it was freon but the AC worked. Then one day I figured it out: I had one of those old compasses, from the 60's, that I'd mounted to the dash. It was leaking-I always thought it was full of alcohol but it was mineral oil, and stank!

Chicka-Boom, Chicka-Boom, doncha jes' LOVE IT ?!? Grrrrrrrrrr..

I overcharged my truck and it dumped some oil out of the rear seal of the A/C compressor, right on the intake manifold, a stinky mess! I've never heard of oil leaking out of the evaporator side, but it's certainly possible :scratch2:

An oil leak that large should give a LOT of noise as the AC system vents. Are you positive the AC still works?

When you mention a T-junction though, I know some vehicles (my eagle included) shared the heater core in the same cavity as the evaporator and thus used a bypass valve to shut the heater core off whenever the AC was turned on. Due to the high heat and the mechanical nature they are famous for leaking.

Edited: one other thing. Are you POSITIVE it's not just condensation dripping off the evaporator? It is Arizona but one good rainfall is enough to crank the humidity up to 80% for an afternoon.