“Rolan! the damn car won’t start”

“Rolan! the damn car won’t start”
These were the words that myself, my brother and sister heard many times throughout our childhood and into adulthood.
It all started on a January morning in 1972. It was a cold that morning with a bright sun, snow was everywhere but the roads were clean. and in front of Northwest Lincoln-Mercury, in Schaumburg Ill. was a shiny 1969 Lincoln Continental Sedan, ready to come home.
My father was very proud, my mother happy as she just “one upped” her sister who drove a 1968 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham..Mom had the newest car.
As we grew up, moms frustration with the Lincoln grew.. Dad was always at the short end of the stick, with no answers except, “I’ll look at it”
You see, the car would start up fine when cold, after being driven a while, then turned off, and tried to re-start…. it would rawr, rawr, rawr and would not start. (slow starter drag) many times with a car full of kids and groceries, we would have to wait the allotted 15-20 minutes until it would start.
Once we got home, dad would get the wrath of mom… It was something we just got used to with the Lincoln over the next 25 plus years.
Fast forward to today – “finchie” has overhauled Engine/transmission/rear end/HVAC and all associated components… and guess what, she still has the same issues..
On my first trip out to Starbucks, and very proud to have car back from the shop, I got the same issue, rawr, rawr, rawr… That old feeling was back…
I could heard the echoes of my mom yelling at my father saying… “Rolan! the damn car won’t start”, all I could do is laugh, drink my Starbucks coffee and wait my allotted 15-20 minutes before the Lincoln will start… I even called my brother to tell him to guess what I was doing, we had a good laugh….
Bill – So what is it with these Lincolns??? My father is no longer with us, but Mom is and for some strange reason, I’d like to give her the answer that he never could.
Sincerely,
Rolan
P.S. The Lincoln and Cadillac occupy the same driveway space and are happy together….and a huge Thank you for all the technical support, parts sales!
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Rolan –
Are you sure that you want to spoil family tradition by correcting that starting issue? A 15-20 minute wait sounds like “coffee time ” to me!
Hot starting issues indicated by “slow starter drag” as you state are usually caused by a high starter draw, a bad or weak battery or poor wiring in the starting circuit. If the car has had this problem since it was new we can probably rule out the battery but a wiring fault and or a bad starter motor could exist though for all of these years since 1969. Some factory defects can survive for the life of a vehicle if they are allowed to go on unaddressed. I assume that the engine timing and the general tune up conditions are in good order as these can and do contribute to hard hot starts. Another item that can cause hard hot cranking can be bad engine bearings. I know this first hand as my 1970 Lincoln suffered with this until I changed the bearings. It is of course well advised to begin by looking at the smaller easier to repair possibilities first as described above. Because this issue existed from when the car was new I would examine the starter circuit wiring very carefully as some wiring faults can be hidden deep within the insulation. Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Bill