About the Lincoln.....

[YabbaDoo]

Well Bleu was my Mothers car and has been in the family for 23 years, I let her sit parked for about 5 years and other than going out starting her up and maybe circle the block a couple times a year, there she sat. Well the year before last, the squirrels did a number under the hood... They chewed the wiring harness, hoses and a couple of sparkplug wires so she wasn't started for about a year. Well I last year about this time I decided she had been sitting long enough and I needed to put her back in rotation so I drug her out of the carport with Scooby and got to work... I had replaced the air suspension with coil over struts a few years back so I didn't have to worry about that issue(the air ride was a major pain over the years), so I replaced all the hoses, plugs, wires, water pump, thermostat, sway bar links etc... Got her up and running and drove her up to Brooksville for some tires (Big Blonde mistake...). I had a feeling I should have had her towed up there because the rear tires were the original 1991 tires that came on the car and one had been flat for a while... My boyfriend convinced me that the tires would be just fine... In his defense he was right about the tires however, I still should have listened to my little voice. As I was driving I could smell the brakes, so I pulled over and checked the rear wheels and they were a little warm but not bad. My thought was the parking brake cable was stuck a bit from sitting so long... Wrong. Turns out it was the front calipers not disengaging and on that 45 mile trip I fried my Transmission. Made it within 2 miles of the tire shop though... So needless to say my transmission needed to be rebuilt. I wasn't thinking about the front brakes being bad because just before I parked her I had replaced the calipers and pads and they maybe had 800 miles on them... Oh, well lesson learned!! Now I have another 2 years and unlimited mileage warranty on the transmission. While at the transmission shop they were kind enough to (I supplied the parts) install the new motor mounts and the 2 front swaybar links at no extra charge. Not long after getting her back on the road a friend of mine flew in from California and we drove to Virginia and back averaging about 26-28mpg with no issues. After about a week of being home I noticed my coolant was a little low in the reservoir so I poked around and found a little seepage behind the timing cover so I put some Bars Leak in and that took care of the problem till about a month ago...  I noticed a small wet spot under the car and sure enough it was leaking again from the same spot. Time to take the cover off and put on a new gasket.... OMG that turned into the project from hell!!!!
No matter how we tried that &^$%^& cover would not come off!! 2 of the studs were rusted solid to the aluminum housing and one of the other bolts had the same problem. Tried begging, pleading, cursing and heating them up with a torch all to no avail...       So when all of that didn't work out came the sawzall and the sledge hammer    Took a week to find another cover( well found one before the old cover was smashed off the car however when I called the next day to see if it had been taken off the car at the parts yard he told me the guy cracked it when he was removing it) groovy... Get the part here and installed it, put the distributor back in got it started before putting all the pulleys and belt back on ( I accidently moved it out of TDC when torqueing the harmonic balancer  ) anyway it started so I buttoned everything back up ready to set the timing.... Yeah, about that... Now it doesn't want to start and I have no spark... WTF  Soooooo, I get a new distributor and that fixes that issue. However the other day the alternator decides to go south. So I buy a new one and install it takes less than 10min, but the new Alternator is not working so I drive it over to advance for them to test it in the car and then I remove it so they can bench test it as well... The guy bench tested it 8x in a row and it tests good ( they don't have another one in the store either) Anyway we are trying to figure out WTH is going on. The one guy refuses to think it is the new alternator and insists that it is the computer or fusible link in the car... I even had the help of the mechanic shop across the parking lot (AWESOME bunch of guys) they printed out the wiring schematic and we tested all fusible links and all are good the only possible thing it could be other than the alternator is the resistor in the instrument cluster. We tested the theory by jumping that wire with a test light. That did make the alternator start working. However before tearing the dash apart (scary thing to do on a 23 yr old car because everything is old and can be brittle) I call the guy at Advance and he is having another alternator brought from another store for me to try...   Well THANK GOD that worked!!!     I did not want to go fishing in and around the dash and instrument cluster as this car is an electrical nightmare with all the sensors, sensors for sensors and many computers. So hopefully that will make her happy for a while and I don't have to do anything other than routine maintenance...

[Ilikeoldfords]

Sounds like you have had quite the adventure with that old car. Up until I got my 01 Ram, all I had were old cars like that. First on was a 1989 chev 1 ton duelly. Then was a 1986 Ranger, and my 1976 Ford F-250. The Dad-in-law actually had a 1991 ford crown vic. Probably about the same exact model as your lincoln. That thing was one cool car but he traded in in on a new lincoln.

[YabbaDoo]

Let's top off the story with....... Today she blew the head gasket!!!!     :doh:    By the time I'm finished she will be a new car again ...

[Mopar1973Man]

 

Your not winning...

[YabbaDoo]

I know.....

[Mopar1973Man]

When you get to pulling the heads off look at the head gasket closely and see if the coolant seal was rotted out from corrosive coolant. Being that Lincoln doesn't have a turbo and high compression ratios I doubt it was compression caused.

[YabbaDoo]

I believe it had to do with the fact she sat so long... When I pulled the timing cover the gasket was pretty much non-existent ... I also put some radiator flush in the other day to clean out all the Bars Leak... That is what probably broke the camels back...

[diesel4life]

Repeat after me: It beats a car payment, it beats a car payment, IT BEATS A CAR PAYMENT!

I hate being tied down to anything unless its absolutely necessary, and in my book a car payment is not necessary. We have a vehicle savings fund that we put money into every month instead of making a payment to somebody and use it when the time comes for a new(er) vehicle. It sure beats the tar out of going up to your ears in debt. Although I have had days like your having and it does make me rethink my position, but only briefly!

[Mopar1973Man]

There is a balance between upkeep maintenance and failing vehicle. I know the difference. I had a 1972 Dodge Power Wagon that was this way it seem like every time I turned around I was off to a wrecking yard looking for part for this old beast. This way a reason I bought my truck new in 02.

 

 

[YabbaDoo]

This was my Mothers car and she is not going anywhere!!! Not much more I can replace and it is still cheaper than a new car/new car insurance payment!! So fixing I will be fixing the old gal

[YabbaDoo]

Ok.. So the heads are off... Nibishibi   :mad:       What I thought was going to be a short and easy (HAHAHHAHAHAHA) job turned out to be an all day project..   :doh:  turned out to be an all day flipping JOB!! 

Anyway, still want to strangle and torture the engineer that designed the engine compartment for fit and finish... Last I removed a head from a vehicle only took a half an hour... this took all day (granted the back isn't what it used to be with the tricky disk and all)  But this truly sucked,, The front exhaust manifold was a pain in the arse to remove... Ok, enough with the ranting..on with the pictures... Guts on the ground... And the Problem.. And now she waits for the transplant...

[dripley]

Me and the wife had a 95(if memeory serves me right)Signature series Lincoln, beautiful car. It also had the 3.8L V6. One day a guy came thru the parking lot of the 1st Chick I ever built driving a Ford with the 3.8 in it. He was leaking water bad and trying to get to the dealer and cussing that engine up one side and down the other. Turned out the head gasket were a serious problem for them. Ours went at 98k. On top of that it took out some of the bearings with it. I was on the road and have no idea how long it took the wife to realize she had water coming out of the tailpipe. I spent alot of money having a dealer fix that car only to find the bearings shot afterwards. Even had tranny problems at the same time. Any way the only thing good that came out of it was Ford was forced into extending the warranty on that issue to 100k. I did get to go back to that dealer with my receipts and he had to write me a refund for all the cost.

 I googled it and quite a bit of info came up on the issue. http://fordsuckz.0catch.com/ This was just one such site. You might want to read up on it before you dump a bunch of $$$ in it.

 

Heck, if they did not put a time limit on it, you might still be under warranty. Wouldn't that be something.

[Wild and Free]

Time to  o-ring the head or just go all out and fire ring the block and get a set of head studs ordered lol.......

[Ilikeoldfords]

Might as well upgrade everything and put a turbo on there at the point that this is getting to. Get as much power out of it as possible!!

[MnTom]

Might as well upgrade everything and put a turbo on there at the point that this is getting to. Get as much power out of it as possible!!

^^^^THIS^^^^

[YabbaDoo]

Really Doubt ford would warranty after 23 years..

Dropped the heads off today at the machine shop and the cost will be between 150 magnifluxed and resurfaced, 250  magnifluxed, resurfaced and Valve Job... Should be done by Tuesday

[dripley]

I went back and looked and the warranty was extended to 100k or five years. Didn't see the five years the first time. Hope all turns out well.

[YabbaDoo]

I will hear back from the machine shop today

[MnTom]

I will hear back from the machine shop today

Ported and polished??

[YabbaDoo]

ummmm, no.. Just magnifluxed , resurfaced and possibly a valve job... Chip said he would let me know, but on his first inspection said they looked pretty good and wasn't sure they would need a valve job...