Bill's Corner

Bill,

Last year I purchased a complete and running 1965 Ivy Gold Lincoln Continental here on Kodiak Island. I have a problem with the charging system that no one can seem to solve. The alternator, voltage regulator, dash gauge and wiring have been gone through or been replaced new but the problem persists. The car will not go from charge to discharge so whenever I drive it the battery gets sucked of charge and the car dies after the battery is dead. The wiring appears to be correct and was even looked at by an auto electrician. But when the car is running if I disconnect the negative cable the car dies instantly. This would be a good indicator that the alternator is not running the ignition but the battery is. What else can I possibly do to fix this. I love this car and want to enjoy it but getting it to be a daily driver with this problem is impossible since I have to carry around two batteries with me at all times. Thanks for your time.

Al

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Greetings Al -

The charging system on the 64 and 65 Lincolns are unique to that era as the AMP gauge is very involved in the correct function of the whole electrical system as much of the power travels through this gauge. This amp gauge is also extremely problematic when and if it develops poor connections or short circuits at its connections behind the dash. Many technicians are not aware of this fact as they are familiar with the more common "Shunt" style of charge indicators. Assuming that your alternator,regulator and battery are correct and have been tested to be in "very good" working order and also not knowing the history of your car's electrical system I can offer the following advice. I would obtain the "correct" charging system wiring diagram for the car and using this schematic I would inspect the wiring for bad connections or alterations that a previous owner or technician may have performed to the wiring. You should begin though with a very careful visual inspection of the amp gauge connections behind the dash as it may be disconnected or burnt. If you do uncover a problem in this area the repair needs to be done accurately with the contacts well isolated and tight. If you have more information or require parts for the repair or further assistance please contact us by telephone and refer to this blog post.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 9:55 AM | Permalink
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Bill,
My stepfather owned a 1978 Lincoln Mark V ...sadly he passed away last year and I have been trying to get it running since he passed.

With a lot of patience we managed to get it roadworthy again and it is quite the car only 44,007 kms (approx. 27.5000 miles) The only problem I am still trying to resolve is the excessive play in the steering wheel. At present, there is approx. an inch of play in the wheel and I'm pretty sure that's more than what it should be. I know there is an adjustment screw on the top of the steering box but I'm thinking this is more for fine tuning vs. the amount of play I am experiencing.

As an experience pro can you offer me any suggestions? I've checked the underneath of the car and the steering components appear to be fine ...is there a chance this could be a steering column problem? Or, should I try adjusting the steering box first to see if I can get the play out?

Any insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated ...best regards.

Sincerely,

M.J.

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M.J. -

Nice to hear that you are keeping that Mark in the family. If you are seeing excess steering play do NOT adjust the steering gear box first. Instead do a complete examination of the steering components first. If you are not confident in doing this correctly yourself with the help of a friend do take the car to a trusted front end shop. This examination will include the very popular flexible Coupler or "rag joint" that is located between the steering box and the steering column shaft. This coupler is well known to fail and is relatively inexpensive to replace. The steering box will also be inspected carefully for excess play of its interior components as well as all of the other steering connectors between the box and the wheels. The total sum of all of the looseness will give you the amount of play that you are concerned with. From the sound of your post I think that the above mentioned coupler would be my first guess as the culprit.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 9:59 AM | Permalink
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Bill -

Recently my 97' Town Car has been having issues starting, especially when cold. I'll have to turn it over a few times and when it does start it sputters a bit before it roars to life. Any idea what might be happening?

Sincerely,

Leo

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Leo -

What have you done so far to correct this issue? Do you know the tune up maintenance history of the car and basic engine condition? If this information is unknown you should begin by performing basic tune up procedures which will include new quality high tension wiring and spark plugs as well as engine filters and battery condition etc. A possible neglected engine at 16 years old regardless of mileage will display exactly the symptoms that you are describing. If the above is found to be in good order then a visit to an automotive shop near your location that is skilled in the diagnosis and repair of the electronic engine controls etc. of these engines will be necessary in order to avoid guessing and replacing parts that are already in good working order.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 9:52 AM | Permalink
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Hi Bill,

I have a question regarding the power window relays in my 1966 Lincoln Continental 4 door sedan, the master safety relay specifically. I am in the middle of getting all my power windows functional again. I have gotten all my switches back from being rebuilt (except the drivers side master control) and I tried testing a few out but they didn't work. I wasn't concerned about the switches being faulty (they aren't) so I have been chasing the electrical issue. All four up down relays are good, but when it came time to test the Safety relay I unfortunately discovered that it wasn't even there! My questions!..

1. Could this prevent all the switches from working (again I have only tested the three door controls I have gotten back). I wasn't sure if it acted like an open circuit in the system or something, I'm kind of electric impaired. That being said, is there any other things I should trouble shoot (other than motors which I know are good)

2. After 4 months of owning the car I'm starting to believe that the 66 Continental is the hardest to find parts for. I have looked everywhere for that relay and I found one for $175, and I came across Lincoln Land which rebuilds but it is a mandatory exchange. Do you guys have 1 that I could buy? or what would you recommend doing? I appreciate you letting me pick your brain on the matter.

Greg

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Hello Greg,

Without the power window safety relay the windows will only work when the By-pass switch is activated along with one of the window switches. On a complete working system the windows will also operate with the key in the Run or Acc. position. We certainly can supply you with a P/W safety relay if yours is missing but are you looking for this relay in the correct location? Call Lincoln Land and ask for Al. He will advise you exactly where this relay is located and at the same time be able to give you details of our replacements. Do you have a Service Manual with a correct wiring diagram?

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 10:21 AM | Permalink
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Bill,

I have a 1971 Lincoln Mark lll with original mileage 61,500 and original radiator. The car operates OK temperature (half way mark on gauge) at highway speed, however at in town stop and start or a little slow traffic it tends to overheat.

I checked it with a laser gauge at several locations and it checked at 220 to 225F at idle.

Please advise standard operating temperature, also is there a larger radiator available for the Mark III?

Any help with this is much appreciated.

Best regards,

Gene

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Greetings Gene -

Using a laser temperature gauge is a nice idea but we cannot rely on laser temperature readings to decide if an engine is overheating. To use this method correctly one would need to compare all of the readings and reading location areas with a similar engine that does not have an overheating problem. There is also no published correct laser temperature readings for a technician to compare with. The owners manuals and shop manuals usually point out where the temperature needle on your instrument cluster should read at certain times and and driving conditions. Many times a normal elevated reading is misinterpreted as an overheated engine. Your concerns of overheating of course are very valid and should be carefully and correctly verified. At Lincoln Land we would carefully check out your important cooling system components as follows. Your 71 MK III should be equipped with a seven blade cooling fan and the thermostatic fan clutch behind the blade MUST positively engage this blade on the warm and hot days at idle and low speeds as necessary to pull large amounts of air through the radiator. These two components are many times overlooked or NOT diagnosed correctly. The original three pass radiator in your car is of a capacity that will handle any driving condition in North America. If it was ever replaced with a lesser capacity rad. or if the possibility exists that it could have some blocked passageways it must be removed and properly serviced by a good known rad. shop. Always choose your radiator shop wisely as we have found that while there are many excellent ones out there, sadly some poor quality shops can do more harm than good. Of course the rest of the cooling system should have a good history of maintenance and coolant flushing etc. and the correct working engine thermostat and radiator cap should be in place. A small overlooked item such as a faulty rad. cap can spew coolant from the cooling system and give the illusion of an overheated engine. Good luck with your diagnosis and if you have any further information to provide us regarding the situation please let us know.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 11:41 AM | Permalink
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Good afternoon Bill,

I'm currently in year two of a major restoration/build of a 1965 Continental Convertible. Most of the OEM parts we've bought came from you guys. Powertrain and Drivetrain have been upgraded to a Fuel Injected 521 Big Block Ford, GM 4L80E, and a Ford 9". The dash has been customized and we're about ready to finish the build just in time for the upcoming 2013 Hot Rod Power Tour. My question to you is, where is this window safety relay? I've been searching all over this thing and with all the new equipment, it has been rather interesting. I've come to the conclusion that the only reason my window system isn't fully operational is this safety relay. The windows will only work with the bypass. We have zero ignition power at any switch, which from what I gather, gets its source from the safety relay. I've read it's located behind the glove box, by all the circuit breakers on the right kick panel, near the A-Post, under the passenger fender well, etc. Well, behind the glove box consists of a Vintage Air A/C Unit and the dash has been fully digitized. Zero factory vacuum systems remain in the vehicle, including the tilt and door locks. So the old plugs still exist and at the moment just hanging until I can complete the rest of the wiring.

I appreciate your time,

-Randy

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Hi Randy -

That is an ambitious project. The original power window safety relay on a 1965 Lincoln is located behind the right kickpad panel near the passenger area foot well. The easiest access however is to remove the right splash shield behind the right front wheel. The relay can be found near the power antenna area.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 1:06 PM | Permalink
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Bill,

I just bought a 1959 Lincoln Premiere that has an electric fuel pump incorrectly mounted in the engine bay. It does not work properly. I have the original, mechanical fuel pump in good condition with good gaskets. My plan was to restore the car to original and put the mechanical pump back in. However, I keep reading that the fuel pump push rod and eccentric are prone to premature failure.

With your experience on these cars, is it generally unreliable to run the mechanical pump? Should I just mount a quality electric pump back by the tank and call it good?

Thanks!

-Jake

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Hello Jake -

At Lincoln Land we believe in restoring the original mechanical fuel pump system completely as designed and then installing the electric fuel pump as a back up device. When you do it this way the electric pump can also be used to prime the carburetor on those occasions when your vehicle has sat unused for a period of time. Priming the carburetor of course saves excess cranking of the engine before starting. We really like this idea because also there is always the risk of an electric pump failure and leaving you stranded.

Sincerely,

Bill

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Bill,

Sounds excellent. Thank you for the advice. Should I replace the fuel pump pushrod and eccentric as a precaution, or is that usually unnecessary? (Id like to avoid pulling the timing cover off if possible.) Also, should I expect about 6-7 psi from the stock pump at idle?

Thanks!

-Jake

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Jake -

The decision to replace certain " hard to get to" parts only as a precaution is a personal choice that only you should make as we have no idea of the condition of your present fuel pump drive parts or the history of the engine maintenance. If you do decide to proceed you should also consider replacing other parts that you will be removing and uncovering such as the water pump, fan clutch and timing chain and gears etc. Personally I would only replace the fuel pump push rod at this time as it can be done with the front cover intact.

Our shop manual indicates a fuel pump pressure testing specification of 4-6 lbs. Are you working on this Lincoln without a Shop Manual? We hope that the above advice helps you make the correct decisions for your repair.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 11:03 AM | Permalink
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Bill -

Just bought a 1966 Lincoln, all the lights come on yet have I have no turn signals or break lights on passenger side once I step on pedal. Would the hazard switch missing in glove box cause this problem? I've replaced all flashers and bulbs in car.

Thanks,

DDB

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DBB -

If one side of the vehicle has stop lights and turn signals and the other side does not I would be leaning towards a Turn Signal Switch problem or that someone has altered the wiring in an effort to repair the circuit without consulting the wiring diagram. I would begin by tracing the power path from the brake light switch, brake relay and through the t/s switch with the use of the correct wiring diagram for the car. If your 1966 Lincoln is equipped with the Tilt Steering wheel option the turn signal switch will be adjustable and located in the lower steering column area. At that time you could also trace out and repair the Hazard Light circuit with the aid of the same wiring diagram. While tracing the circuits be on the lookout for non factory altered or spliced wiring etc. The absence of the hazard light switch in the glove box is a mystery though. I would wonder why anyone would remove it and not want that feature to function.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 10:57 AM | Permalink
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Bill,

I have read most if not all of your posts on your blog. I have an issue with the car. I have replaced:

Starter
Alternator
Solenoid
Voltage Regulator
Grounds
Ignition Switch

Battery is charged with 12.5 Volts.

When you first start the car, everything is great. After the car gets to operating temp of just hot, you turn the key off and wait a minute. Restart the car and the starter stays engaged.

I have replaced the solenoid 4-5 times on this car within the last 2 months. The car has not been driven more than 200 miles in that time. Most of this is while it was sitting in my driveway while we continued to trace wires and replace bad grounds.

To no avail..I thought I would ask for some help from someone who knows these cars. That would be you..;-)

Thanks for any help you can provide,

John

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Hello John -

At Lincoln Land we have also experienced solenoid problems such as you are describing. Have you been using the same brand during these failures? We have found that some solenoids have been of a low quality or inconsistant quality from some suppliers. I would first check though if the wire that activates the solenoid is in fact at 0 volts when the ignition key is released from the cranking position to the run position. If it remains at battery voltage after the engine starts and the key is in the run position the starter of course will remain on and cranking. This test of course must be done and is only useful when the issue is occuring. We have also found that a high starter draw, a dragging starter, an undercapacity or failing battery can surprisingly cause some solenoids to overheat and fail. Another item that is often overlooked and easy to overlook is the battery cables and starter cables. Some faulty cables as well as grounds can appear real fine but be in fact bad. Some of the above can cause a solenoid to fail in the closed position (contacts inside have overheated and fused closed) so therefore I would revisit some items that you may have already checked. Finally do not overlook the possibility that a newly rebuilt starter could be drawing too much power and causing the solenoids to fail. I hope that the above helps you to solve the problem.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 9:21 AM | Permalink
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Hi Bill,

Questions for you, 1 - What would make a humming/ vibrating sound from drivers front brake when starting off from a start going about 10-15 miles per hr when the noise appears I step on the brake and it stops and I let go and starts again but not all the time. All new brakes and calipers there was 2 clips on back of caliper top and bottom I couldn't put one of them back on because the hole was broken so I only put one on? I just put her on the road for second time and it just started, probably 40 miles on the brakes .sometimes when I hit a nice bump I hear it for a split second? 2- I put a fuel sending unit in w/low fuel warning it was working fine until now when I start the car I see the warning come on briefly and goes out the car starts. I haven't check voltage yet one wire should have no power, one should have constant power and one blinking. If I have all of these were should I go from there? would it be the sending unit even though its new?

Part two:

Hi Bill, just a little up date the sound is more like a low air horn vibrating humming noise. Now that I'm thinking about this would it be the brake booster?

Part three:

Sorry for so many emails failed to mention I have a new master cycllnder from cardone and I see some seepage where the master cycl. meets the booster and the sure brake plug is disconnected from solenoid. Trying to give you as much info as I can. It seems to happen when I drive it more and is hot from driving.

Phil

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Phil -

You have a strange noise in your brakes after you yourself has admitted to omitting the installation of a necessary part. I have no idea what this noise is but it sounds to me at first glance that you have answered your own question. Have you thought about repairing the missing brake clip part so that it can work as designed.

As far as answering your fuel gauge comment and question I don't understand it at all. What exactly is wrong with your gauge.

Sincerely,

Bill

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Bill -

Gauge is not registering, the clip I don't think is the problem. A mechanic thinks it is the booster, white blue smoke coming out on start up when that didn't happen before. He thinks the diaphram is bad, making the fog horn sound along with sucking brake fluid in the vacuum giving it a rough idle and sometimes runs like s**t what do you think?

Phil

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Phil -

So, as I understand it your fuel gauge needle on the dash is not moving at all after it was working fine for a period of time with the new sending unit. The new sending unit may have failed or the float may have detached or developed a leak and become saturated with fuel. In any case the issue must be correctly Diagnosed with the use of the Shop Manual for reference. A good place to start this diagnosis would be at the fuel tank plug at the sending unit.

As for your brake noise problem you have been very confusing to say the least. In your first post you did explain clearly that you had a noise from the left front brake assembly. I replied to you according to the information that you supplied to the best of my knowledge. Your latest email indicates that this left front brake noise has somehow now seemed to have evolved to a fog horn sound at the brake booster along with leaks and white blue smoke from somewhere. Please keep us posted and let us know what you eventually find what your problem was.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 8:29 AM | Permalink
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