Bill's Corner

Bill -

May seem petty, but when I turn the blower switch to "automatic" I know the blower motor should cycle through the various speeds until cabin temp has been reached. Mine only stays at one speed. Manually going through the speeds, I do get the various speeds, leading me to believe that the resistor is ok. Might add that the temperature control does function correctly. I've been searching for a diagnostic manual on this but can't find one. Can you assist in these issues? I'm a retired Mustang Electrical tech from FoMoCo with no experience on Lincolns. I did find and buy the "Vacuum and Electrical Trouble Shooting Guide" but it's very limited on the ATC diagnosis.

Sincerely,

Nicholas

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Greetings Nicholas -

We do not have a wiring diagram at the moment but are sending you a drawing of the AUTO blower fan switch which is located on the blend door servo assembly. We are including a short description of its location and operation as a blower speed controller in the AUTO fan position. This switch can fail and can be tested electrically or removed and disassembled for inspection. Let us know what you find as we usually have working units in stock.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 11:38 AM | Permalink
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Bill -

Back-up light switch part Motorcraft D7LC 15520-AA has two vacuum ports, no vacuum lines attached. I want to install them, where do they go from switch?

Sincerely,

Anatol

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Hi Anatol -

Welcome to Lincoln Land. The function of this feature is to disengage the parking brake automatically. There is also a small manual release lever located in the mechanism. One vacuum line from the neutral switch will be routed to a vacuum supply port under the hood. The other would have been routed to a vacuum servo that is located above the parking (also known as emergency brake) brake pedal. These vacuum lines may have been removed and discarded due to some sort of malfunction, therefore be prepared for a further problem when you have restored the vacuum lines. Good luck and please let us know what you find.

Sincerely,

Bill

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Bill -

This is perfect, thank you so much!

Anatol

Posted by Bill at 11:17 AM | Permalink
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Hi Bill -

I have a leaky front seal and find the manual a bit lite for information when installing new one. Do you have to take off the timing cover off or is the seal directly behind the steering pump and can change it there with out removing timing cover?

Regards,

Dale

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Hi Dale -

To change the front cover seal the front cover does not need to be removed. The seal is simply inserted into the cover in place of the old seal . We like to clean the cover at that point and lightly coat the mating seal to cover area with a non hardening gasket cement for good measure. When the pump is reinstalled the rubber mounts ( located on the pump ) should be new or in very good shape. The original pump bolts must be used as the have a built in gauge to properly seat the rubber mounts to the cover. Good luck.

Sincerely,

Bill

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Thanks Bill -

This a great help. Your blog is a great site for learning.

Regards,

Dale

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Dale -

We are pleased that you gained some good info. from our blog. Please keep in mind that our parts service for these Lincolns and Marks is also excellent and well thought of.

Sincerely,

Bill

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Bill -

Thank you! Bill I have bought many a part off Lincoln Land over the years great service!

Dale

Posted by Bill at 10:32 AM | Permalink
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Bill -

I'm trying to get the power windows working properly with the switches, all front door motors were bench checked and worked fine, also the relay has juice to it, I took it apart to look and the relay looked good. Any help would be appreciated.

I do have a factory, and I mean it is BIG manual with all the Electrical, vacuum diagrams, not only for 69 Lincolns but for T-Birds etc..Also have a Electric gearhead, my neighbor trying to help. I can run a test light and read a diagram somewhat good. I also have a 71' Lincoln Mark 3 that I'm working on, I do all the mechanical work myself but farm out most of the vat cleaning, head work etc. The 71' was really neglected and sat for about 5 yrs. when I bought the car it had no starter relay in place, they had the Battery wired right to the starter?? Also when i looked at the wire loom i found at the Alternator connection a missing black wire which should be the Ground wire.

Thanks,

Bill

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Hello Bill -

The power windows on these years of Lincolns are a common fail item and can be difficult. You don't tell us if the 69 is a Mark III or the full size sedan or coupe. You also do not mention if the power window relay is sending power to the drivers door switches with the ignition key in the run position. You do advise though that this relay " looked good". That does not mean however that it is actually operating or not. As a service we can rebuild the relay if faulty and most of the switches if they are proven defective. The switches are a very common fail area.

If you have the correct wiring diagrams you will need to follow the power path of the switch operation to and from the window motor locations that are non operative. If you have difficulty verifying the condition of the switches we can test then for you if necessary. These circuits can be somewhat difficult to diagnose and will require patience and an understanding of the operation.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 10:26 AM | Permalink
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Hey Bill -

Huge fan first off, Now to my issue. I have a 65 Continental and I had installed an Amp Meter that blew after about a month. Before installing the new one I checked all my connections only to find that I had power running through my grounding out points. I had tracked the issue to the red connector on the right side of the dash. Upon doing my research I found that the Amp meter was a common issue and mine indeed was corroded and shorting out. Also there was several other wires that had been tampered with, so I replaced the whole dash harness as well as discovering the amp gauge and soldering the leads together as well as isolating and insulting them. I reinstalled the dash only to find out that the short is still there and still goes away when I disconnect the red and only the red wire Dash connector. So I guess my question to you is where do I go from here? I have the maintenance manual, but the schematic is very limited and hard to troubleshoot.

Thank you in advance,

Scott

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Hello Scott -

It sounds like you have a difficult issue there.

Because we don't have a 65 Lincoln apart at this time to look at could you send me clear pictures of the wires or connector etc. that you disconnect to stop this short as well as the location of this connector on your vehicle. If you have found evidence of wire tampering, there maybe more to uncover.

Sincerely

Bill

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Bill -

Thank you for the quick reply, I have sent you two sets of pictures the one in of the red connector in the pass side behind the kick panel by the circuit breakers, the other is a spare harness I have basically showing where the main power wires branch off from the red connector to the white and off white connector thanks again. Just to be clear, my problem is in on the interior harness side of the red connector. When I unplug it from the in wall connection at the red connector my short stops and when I tested the main power wires at the red connector the ones that are black with yellow stripe on the inner harness I had continuity to ground. I know that is redundant but just to try to help you get a better picture.

Scott

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Hi Scott -

Your photos helped to locate those connectors and their function in the wiring diagram. What symptoms are you seeing that lead you to believe that you have a short? You have soldered the ammeter wires together and are running without seeing the ammeter. If you do in fact have a short a good suspect is the alternator. They are known to fail in this mode (drawing power with the engine off) in some cases. I would carefully disconnect the alternator and its regulator electrically and retest. I cannot see the wiring in your Lincoln from here of course but if the wiring harnesses all look good and are intact and not grounded anywhere the culprit has to be a component. A good local automotive electrical shop will be able to test and repair the alternator for you. Let us know what you find.

Bill -

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Bill -

A quick update, I took the lower dash off and unplugged the dash and it stopped, upon further investigation I found that it is the main black wire that is causing the short in both the red and off white connectors from the dash harness.. this is very strange due to the fact I completely swapped harnesses.. I will let you know if there are any updates but this is kicking my ass!!!

Scott

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Bill -

Last update... it was the map light switch.. I pulled the dash and unplugged every connection one by one until the main black wire stopped beeping (continuity) I am about to beat my head on the wall.. something so simple... well thanks for getting back to me anyway.. I hope this helps someone else down the line lol.

Scott

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Bill -

Actually had two shorts, the map light switch and the clock is shorting out.. had to replace the switch and just pulled the fuse for the clock.. what are the odds? It has been a nightmare!!!

Scott

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Scott -

Perseverance, a wiring diagram - and a little advice pays off!

Bill

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Bill -

Sorry to bother you, I had a short to ground in the dash of my 65 Continental, actually there were several things that were fried due to the prior owner cutting and splicing.

I did narrow it down to basically somewhere between my two Courtney light switches on both sides of the dash, one green and one orange, I also had to pull the fuse out of the clock. The only thing that those two share in common is a black/blue wire. I had replaced both dash harnesses with good ones that haven't been modified and look fairly decent. I was wondering if you had seen anything like this before?

Scott

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Hi Scott -

Yes, we receive many Lincolns in for repair here at Lincoln Land that have been modified electrically by automotive shops or previous owners. A few of these " fixes" are successful and well done but many become a nightmare for us and the present owners. The reason for failures is that the quality of work is poor or that while trying to fix their problem properly they have erred and caused unintended consequences to other components and wiring etc. that were already designed correctly by the FoMoCo. These unintended side effects usually show up immediately or sometimes at a later date. Time will tell for your repair. We wish you the best of luck and many good times with your Lincoln. When you need any of those necessary repair parts we usually will have them in stock for you or easy access to them.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 4:09 PM | Permalink
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Hello Bill,

Steve here in Nevada . I've just purchased a 79' Mark V . It's got a few vacuum leaks . The headlight vac. cans have been rebuilt and lines have been replaced . The headlight doors still open within a minute or so . I built a "smoker" (boy did it !) . I could see no smoke from any lines inside or out .I isolated the engine vacuum and put a vacuum gauge and the needle is rock steady @ 14" (late timing is what it says on it's face) . I hooked the lines back up to the system and it still reads @ 14" steady as the first test . I sure appreciate your site.

Thanks in advance,

Steve

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Hello Steve -

Do you have a FoMoCo shop manual? To diagnose most devices on a luxury vehicle properly the correct manual is needed.

Does your Mark have the Autolamp option? If it does have this option, a vacuum module will be located behind the left kick panel trim. This module has three vacuum lines to it and a valve inside that can leak and are hard to detect with smoke I would think. There is also a vacuum valve located under the hood on all models that when the engine is not running can bleed vacuum back to the engine if it is faulty. The possibility also exists that your rebuilt vacuum servos could also be leaking somewhat. Any suspected component or components must be tested to know for sure as vacuum can leak wherever it is routed. We also find that many systems on our customers vehicles have more than one or two vacuum leaks. We have most parts and the correct service manuals available if and when you need them.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 2:59 PM | Permalink
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Bill -

My heater doesn't work on my 1988 Lincoln Town Car. The air conditioning works great, but will not produce heat in the winter. Could you give me some suggestions on where to look?Their is a control sensor on the heater line that the hot water goes through with 2 vacuum lines could it be that? If so could you tell me part number to order.

Thanks much. My neighbor had cancer and I mowed his lawn 3 acres and brush hogged his place for 8 years and wouldn't take any money for the car, he left me this Lincoln with only 26,000 original miles. Had to get transmission rebuilt as the valve was stuck from setting too long. However I did start it once a month for him, and let it run so rest is great. Please help

Thanks,

Don

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Hello Don -

Welcome to Lincoln Land. Without much information from your end on what has been checked so far I can only offer a few items to look at.

There will be little or no heat available if the engine thermostat is removed or is stuck in the open position. In the control system, a part known as the sensor ( sniffer sensor) under the dash above the glove box could be stuck in the full cooling position or the cable to operate it could be disconnected or faulty. These areas are items for your mechanic to check ( with a proper manual ). I do not believe at all that the sensor in the heater hose could have anything to do with this problem that you describe.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 10:05 AM | Permalink
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Hello Bill -

The window operation and A/C operation will only work with window bypass switch in the bypass position. I can find no relationship between these two circuits other than the circuit breaker panel. I recently inherited this vehicle and the A/C compressor and clutch needed replaced. System also converted to R134a. But I do not know if this issue was prior to the replacement or not. Please advise.

Thanks,

Greg

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Greetings Greg -

The a/c and p/w circuits should also be energized with the ignition switch in the " accessory" and the "engine run" positions well as with the by-pass switch engaged. The following advice can be helpful to you only if the involved wiring circuits have not been previously modified, damaged or tampered with.

Power from the ignition switch in the accessory or run position leaves the switch on a Black wire with a green stripe. It then is sent to the fuse box and through a 14 amp fuse and then to a relay known as the "Power Window Safety Relay". The relay is activated by this wire and connects the remaining two wires together to power up the windows and the HVAC. One of these wires will be live with power from the battery at all times. This relay is located behind the rt. front wheel. It is accessible by removing the rt. front wheel and the splash shield behind the wheel. The above circuit and relay should be tested as a first step. I would start at the correct 14 amp fuse in the fuse box because you can test the ignition output to the fuse and the fuse itself at the same time. If everything checks out to the relay and you are not sure how to test this relay we can offer to test it for you. We can repair these relays ( if faulty ) or supply a replacement. Good luck with the repair.

Sincerely,

Bill

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Bill:

Seems to be spot on. Actually the blower will run with the ignition off. I have the wire as number 297 & 297A thru fuse to 911 to 194A to relay. So to help me understand, is this relay causing a break in the circuit and the switch in bypass completes the circuit?

I do not believe any of this has been tampered with. I need to check that the amperage is correct on the fuse. The A/C folks may have put in a larger fuse which may have damaged the relay. Would a larger fuse cause this?

Thank you,

Greg

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Bill:

The fuse is correct size and nothing appears to be tampered with. I will need to rebuild or replace the relay.

I have another question. My interpretation (based on page 16-30) of the automatic climate control A/C function is that the compressor clutch is continuously engaged unless the ambient temperature is below 35 degrees F. Is this correct?

Thank you,

Greg

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Hi Greg -

In your first email to us you asked for my advice. I spent over an hour researching and laying out a way for you to follow the power path to the Relay from the ignition switch. Diagnosing in a logical sequence is the only way to identify the problem. Your two replies tell me that all you have done is to look at the amperage of the fuse in question. We are not even advised if there is any power to this fuse from the ignition switch. You also have more questions that are unrelated to your opening statements.

What you need to do is to follow the power path as I described to the relay to determine if the relay is present and if the relay is actually being energized. If it is being energized and is audibly working it will ( if it is in working order ) connect the other two wires and energize the circuit. One of these other two wires must of course have battery power at all times. When you have performed some meaningful diagnoses please report back to us for some further suggestions if necessary.

Sincerely,

Bill

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Greg -

Do not use the Bypass switch at all while testing this circuit. Is power available at the relay from the 14 amp fuse with the ignition in the run position? If the answer is "no", someone needs to diagnose that circuit further. If the answer is "yes" and the relay does not respond then the relay could be faulty or the wires to the relay are somehow incorrectly attached or the relay ground circuit is poor. If you suspect a problem relay, send it to us for proper testing as mentioned in my first reply. Call our office and George will arrange this for you. Remember that one wire at the relay must be live at all times ( key in any position) with battery power. A second wire will be energized with the key on in the run or accessory position.

Sincerely,

Bill

Posted by Bill at 3:14 PM | Permalink
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Hello Bill,

My '79 Mark V had an engine fire. I got the fire out with no damage to the original paint. It burned a lot of the vacuum hoses and wiring. I have '79 parts car that I was able to get the wiring harness out of and replace the burned harness. I replaced all the burned vacuum hoses, a very big job. Now after the engine is warmed up and the heater levers in the heat mode, the heater fan will not run when turned on. Also with all the heater control levers off the defroster is on all the time with no fan. This heater system is a very complex system to work on. I have the Ford factory shop manual and it's not any help.

Lyle

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Greetings Lyle -

Some of these Automatic Temperature Controls sure can be tough to diagnose and repair if you have little experience. Sometimes the experience does not help either especially if a fire has occurred.

You do not mention if these malfunctions occurred before or because of the fire. In any case we can offer the following suggestions. The factory service manual is excellent in all respects for troubleshooting and understanding how the system works. I don't know which section you are reading but in Volume Three the 1979 Mark V ATC section begins on page 36-74-1.

An under the hood fire that damaged rubber vacuum hoses as well as electrical parts can only repaired by someone there on scene with the correct manuals and so on because I cannot see the extent of the damage at all from here. It would appear from your description however that you still have an existing vacuum problem or two. The shop manual shows the complete vacuum diagram along with the colored tracers on the hoses as well as a chart that shows what vacuum is sent out to the vacuum actuators with the various positions of the control switch.

No blower in the HEAT position is a common issue and is caused almost always by a faulty EVR (Electro Vacuum Relay) unit that is located under the dash above and to the rt. of the transmission hump. Its operation and installation drawing is well explained in that same shop manual. Be advised also that wiring for the EVR operation runs to the top of the engine and to the Temperature Sending Unit at the rt. front of the 400 engine. This relay functions to hold the blower motor inoperative in the HEAT position when the engine coolant is cold and the ATC is calling for heat. A fire could possibly have shorted this wire to ground so that EVR is in the cold engine mode with the control in the HEAT position. If you suspect but can't test the EVR yourself, we can offer test it for you at Lincoln Land.

Sincerely,

Bill

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Hi Bill,

I have looked at the section 36-74-1 in the manual. The blower is working OK now. I guess the engine wasn't warmed enough before.

Everything points to a vacuum leak. The manual says if there is a vacuum leak the defroster will go to the default on mode but I sure can't find it. There's no hissing noise anywhere that I can hear.

My son is a master auto mechanic so I'll ask him to help me.

Thanks for the help.

Lyle

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Hi Lyle -

Great! You are indeed lucky. Sounds to me like a good idea. Your son will understand the manual and the diagrams. Keep in mind that all vacuum leaks cannot be heard easily and some components need to be tested with a hand held vacuum pump that has a built in gauge. We have most parts for you already in stock to repair this system. We wish you a speedy repair.

Bill

Posted by Bill at 1:28 PM | Permalink
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Hi Bill,

I'm trying to repair the seat belt chime in my Mark V. I removed the chime and cleaned the rod that hits the metal bar that makes the chime noise, also bench tested it with 12 volts and was unable to make it work. I looked in the 79 shop manual and read that the chime works through a thermal timer that gets ground from the left seat belt re-tractor switch. I assume that switch is located on the seat belt re-tractor that is mounted on the floor. I removed the floor mounted seat belt re-tractor and found a plug on the re-tractor with no wire going into it. The "fasten belts" light on the dash is also inoperative and I'm wondering if the seat belt re-tractor switch is the culprit or one of the culprits for the chime and "fasten belts" light not working. Also did i bench test the chime correctly or is there a different way to do that.

Thanks,

Matt

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Hi Matt -

Some of these electrical problems can be time consuming to diagnose and repair. You may need the correct wiring diagram to do this properly.

I cannot tell you if you have done the chime test correctly at this time because I do not know how you tested it. Please send me the page number from your 1979 FoMoCo manual that you used for this test.

During this era many owners had the chimes and buzzers on their vehicles disabled and some of the parts were subsequently discarded because they found the sound annoying and distracting.

If you wish we can offer to "check out" your chime unit here at Lincoln Land if you are unsure of it's condition.

Sincerely,

Bill

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Posted by Bill at 10:01 AM | Permalink
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