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98 Continental sputter, misses?, other issues

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Posted by: atomheartmother

Hello and heres my issues any help would be so appreciated. Well I recently bought a 98 Lincoln Continental for a resonable price, it has 134,000 miles on it. When I got it cosmetically it was not in the best shape but after a good bath it came out beautiful. All ran good from the start but 3 weeks later now a few things have happened. Oil level stays good and has been changed. One day while on the highway the check transmission appeared on the dash. I drove approx. 10 miles to the nearest gas station and checked the fluid and it was not even registering on hte dipstick so I added 2 quarts which got the levels correct. I since then have checked the fluid regularly to make sure it stays consistant and it has maybe with a minor loss every hundred so miles, but I have made sure to keep it in the boudaries. Well 2 days ago I noticed when starting the car up and sitting at stoplights a little "sputter"sound which also slightly "jerks" the car as it sputters. This continues for a while and when you press the gas it sputters till up to speed but once you come to a stop it sputters again. Or in idle also. I opened the hood and the sputtering is not in the engine compartment but appears to come from the exhaust as it can be heard and when cold the smoke puffs out the exhaust pipe as it sputters.Any idea what this could be? Please help if ya can as the dealership wants a good bit to look it over and I hate to go broke. Thanks so much!!

Posted by: pepperman

Posted by: atomheartmother

Thanks and I plan to spend a good bit of time in here as long as I am welcome. I love this car I will post pics tommorow maybe. Its dark greay with grey leather inside. The body is in near mint, very minor issues. The rims are getting clean each time I wash it. This stuttering issues has me so worried I also cant seem to find the spark plugs or wires?? Anyone have any help as I do not have a manual yet. Pics of there location would be great. I have experience with mustangs and mini vans and other vehicles just never owned quite anything like this beauty. Thanks again!!!

Posted by: JLewisinSyr

Quote:

Originally Posted by atomheartmother

Thanks and I plan to spend a good bit of time in here as long as I am welcome. I love this car I will post pics tommorow maybe. Its dark greay with grey leather inside. The body is in near mint, very minor issues. The rims are getting clean each time I wash it. This stuttering issues has me so worried I also cant seem to find the spark plugs or wires?? Anyone have any help as I do not have a manual yet. Pics of there location would be great. I have experience with mustangs and mini vans and other vehicles just never owned quite anything like this beauty. Thanks again!!!

The sputtering could be a lot of things, even fouled plugs. The car itself has direct ignition, so there are no spark plug wires.

The ignition modules and plugs can be found under the black panels. The front has the 32V V8 Text on it. Two simple bolts and its off.

Pull each ignition module out one by one, take out the plug, and place the ignition module back in. Try not to bang around the module too much.

The rear are a little harder because of the firewall, but still not bad. Same thing, remove the black panel, ignition module, spark plug then reverse.

I'd also while you are at it, change the PCV valve, fuel filter and air filter. Might as well do it all at once to get the car back in tip top shape.

The PCV valve can be easily located in the front side of the engine. There is a hose that goes from the intake to a valve in the engine. Take off the hose connection on the engine and remove the PCV Valve. Replace and reattach hose.

The fuel filter is actually not in the engine compartment like most cars, its actually on the passenger side of the car. There is a post quite recently on this site that has some good pictures. In short though it is on the frame rail close to the mid point of the car, but leaning closer to the rear. Just follow the fuel line and you'll see the big cannister.

The last, although probalby would be best to do it while doing the PCV valve is the air filter. Simple enough, yes, but as a lesson learned myself, the air tubing from the air filter to the intake manifold, likes to easily become disconnected from the intake manifold, so make sure after you change the filter, that the tubing is snug against the intake manifold, if not your car will not run very well.

Posted by: atomheartmother

Hello andthanks so much for responding, I plan to do all these fixes tommorow and I will post how the outcome happens. Today though I had another problem the battery died on me?? I disconneted it to reset the computer and when I reconnected it, it was dead? I had it tested and sure enough I had to replace it. Ohh well erasy fix but I am very concerned why it died so abrutly? Well thanks so much and I very much appreciate your help.

Posted by: atomheartmother

Well I called the Lincoln dealer today and they stated it would be $300 for a tune up???? So with my basic knowledge of cars and the info I got on this thread I took it apart got to the plugs and yeah they need replaced no question and then I had another little surprise one of the plug rubber boots was broke in half and just fell off... So now I have another issue the bare spring is flopping around that connects to the top of the plug, can you buy a replacement or can I just electrical tape the rubber boot back together and when I insert the boot it will still connect with the plug... All I know is if the dealership wanted that much for a tune up I can only imagine what the replaced rubber boot will cost. Again any help appreciated!! Thanks

Posted by: JLewisinSyr

Hm...not sure if you can buy just the tubing. I know you can buy the modules, but they run around $100.00 each.

Edit: I found one on Autozone for $40.00 each. Might be best to replace the module, I don't think you need to replace them all at once.

Posted by: atomheartmother

Well I changed all the plugs today and I replaced the plug pack that was damaged and strangely everything ran fine for a while then hours later the same thing again. And another nice thing happened I was driving and I gunned the engine to see how it reacted well it didnt go to well it lunged a good bit, then a minute later the engine died while in motion? No sound at all I did not even know untill I triewd to turn and the steering was locked up? It started back up immediately but now it is missing even more? This is quickly becoming a nightmare.

Posted by: atomheartmother

Well heres a good update, I ended up replacing only 3 ignition coils after testeing each one (onby one)and the problemseems to be solved. Drove it vigorisly yesterday all day and no sign of trouble. Man it feels good to have the smoothness back. Thanks again!!

Posted by: JLewisinSyr

Glad to hear...I was contemplating other options, and that was going to be one of my last is to just replace them all...