1989 Lincoln Town Car 5.0 302 V8 from North America
Summary:
Geeez what a fine automobile!
Faults:
Alternator, coolant temp sensor, alternator wire harness, exhaust.
General Comments:
I love my Town Car. No other car in the world is as beautiful as this car. When you pull up in this car you get noticed. What a class act!
I bought this car for $550.00. It was filthy and missing some cosmetic parts! After much shampooing, compounding, ebaying and adding new thick white wall tires, this car looks like it just rolled off the line. I had 3 people make offers to buy this car from me, but I would never sell it.
To get this car running, I needed to replace the alternator. Thought I had it fixed until it broke down in the drive through line at Taco Bell... very embarrassing. Turns out a wire was damaged underneath the insulation of the alternator harness, and the car was only running on the battery.
I was also having trouble with the check engine light coming on a cold start. After learning how to get the code out of the OBD 1 system, I put a new coolant temp sensor in and the car now runs like a top. God bless the over the counter Haynes manual!!
I do notice a few things I cannot figure out yet. The A/C will go hot and the air blows out of the bottom on acceleration, and will go back to normal once cruising speed has been reached. Also, the transmission will shift hard around 45mph. I don't care if it breaks, I would install a new one in a second.
This car has just enough power. Nothing spectacular, but it will move it you need it to. My car does not want to go into a passing gear from 40-55 unless I really floor it... it just "lug lug lug's" until you reach speed. This car loves to cruise on the highway... just set the cruise, sit back and enjoy the ride.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 18th July, 2009
23rd Mar 2010, 04:26
The reason why the A/C turns to heat and blows down to the floor is because of a vacuum leak. All the blower doors are powered by vacuum actuators. Same thing happened to my Town Car. I had to replace the coffee can looking thing under the hood on the drivers side under the hood, because that is a vacuum reservoir and had a leak. If you can find the vacuum leak and fix it, it will solve that problem.
1st Sep 2011, 16:36
"The A/C will go hot and the air blows out of the bottom on acceleration, and will go back to normal once cruising speed has been reached."
In some cars the AC is automatically turned off when accelerating hard. Now if your AC is a bit compromised, you might feel hot air coming out of the vents. I would check the AC charge in this situation.
25th Jul 2009, 23:29
"I don't care if it breaks, I would install a new one in a second."
Install a brass bushing on your throttle valve, to prevent premature transmission failure. Visit grandmarq.net's 5.0/5.8 tech forum for more info.