Has anyone else experienced a problem with the headlights on their Mark VIII. I ''ve had my 95' for a few years now and hate driving it at night as the headlights are really dim. I've tried different types of bulbs, but they don't help. I was told the silver backing inside is probably worn off. Any suggestions. Luv the car, hate the lights. It's really my summer car although I'm driving it right now cause the Continental has a fan problem.

go to local lincoln dealer and pay 450 to 500 dollars for new ones nothing you can realy do to the ones that are on there now

Thanks. I had originally inquired at the dealers about new ones and the price was closer to $1,000. I'm still hoping to find some on a wreck somewhere that are better than mine LOL... I just thought maybe someone had come up with a solution. I haven't given up just yet.

Here: http://fordpartswebsite.com/

ABout $400 for a pair, but Max will be in the same ball park on pricing.

There is no solution, the lights suck - plain and simple. Everyone here is in or has been in the same spot as you. :(

At least it's nice to know I'm not the only one, and I'm certainly not giving up the car cause of the lights. I wonder if the dealers in the US would ship to Canada, that's a big jump from 400 a pair to 1,000 a piece.

I have an e-mail address (at home) for a guy who if you send him your head lights he will refurbish them, both the lenses and the reflective backing for $200 per set. I have one of his set and am very satisfied. He has a patten pending and claims they will not fade or he'll re-do them.

I would really appreciate that. Thanks

Or if you want to hold on for a bit, I might be getting a set of HIDs soon and I will have a set of halogen housing for sale, they both look new - one is about 2 months old the other about two years but the car sat in a garage for a year of that when I put the engine in. Im very fussy and almost ordered two the last time ( I had a hit and run on the passenger side) but they both look great and match.

What? Your going to HID's unity? Wow, you seemed so proud of how good your halogens were I'm surprised.

I'm open to buying the old ones if you don't mind shipping to Canada (depending on price of course)

Hehe... ya, I like my halogens, but we all know nothing beats OEM HIDs. I had no NEED for hids, but an opportunity may have risen to get a used set that I will have to recondition.

And I dont mind shipping anywhere!

Here is a pic of the older one on the driver's side.

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q137/AVI8TOR2006/headlampfront.jpg

Let me know when you get your new ones. I believe you can access my personal email from here ????? let me know if not and I'll give it to you. Thanks a bunch.

Oh yeah...will they fit the 95'. If I remember correctly 93' to 95' are the same.

Unity, did you ever have those lenses off before?

Ya, all 93-96 are interchangeable. By the way, these housing have only used HIR bulbs which reduce heat a little. The reflective material is in perfect shape on this one.

You mean separate the lens and back headlamp housing? No, but the glue job is nice huh! Even my new passenger side looks like that.

Hey Unity, got a second pair by any chance? :)

No, but I have another passenger side one, the one that I had to replace recently form the hit at run. Its the "mate" to the one pictured above, about two years old but barely used.

Unfortunately you have to be good with epoxy. ALL three mount points got sheared off in the hit. The rest of it is perfect and oddly no scratch or nicks on the lens. Also the bulb retaining ring on the low beam broke off but is easily taken from another unit.

No, but I have another passenger side one, the one that I had to replace recently form the hit at run. Its the "mate" to the one pictured above, about two years old but barely used.

Unfortunately you have to be good with epoxy. ALL three mount points got sheared off in the hit. The rest of it is perfect and oddly no scratch or nicks on the lens. Also the bulb retaining ring on the low beam broke off but is easily taken from another unit.

Unity, what sort of HIDs are you going to add? Are they aftermarket or Lincoln HIDs that you're taking off another car?

Ya, all 93-96 are interchangeable. By the way, these housing have only used HIR bulbs which reduce heat a little. The reflective material is in perfect shape on this one.

You mean separate the lens and back headlamp housing? No, but the glue job is nice huh! Even my new passenger side looks like that.

I have the HIR's as well, They actually raise the temp by about 15 degrees! They claim not to burn any hotter but that's BS! My infrared thermometer says different. 150 degrees with stock bulbs, 165 degrees with HIR's. That's only the outside of the lens, you can only imagine how hot the inside must get!!!

Are yours the real Toshiba's? Or are they black market fakes? Only Toshiba makes the real ones. The bulb itself is VERY round and there is a visible film on it, but not all of it.

Going OEM hids hopefully, just waiting for someone to get back to me to set things in "stone". They are not new and will need to go to the plastic shop for a recondition.

Yeah, they are the real Toshiba's. Don't get me wrong, they do produce a brighter, whiter light. They also burn hotter. I use my headlights as little as possible. I don't want to burn up my new housings.

Well that sucks, makes me want to take a hammer to my HIRs! LOL Well I don't drive at night much and the auto-lights are never on. I DO drive around with my parking lights on though - all the time.

Also, if you stick with halogens, you can install driving lights behind the grill. They work very well.

Lincoln HIDs are the ideal lighting solution, but the price and availability is really bad right now.

I have nothing to add to this thread excecpt for the fact that I have been on the big 3 mark8 message boards for years now. You could make a novel on the ammount of threads that deal with how crappy these headlights are, it seems that there are an insane ammount of people who have these cars and a high demand of headlights. SO my sole question is why isn't there a cheap place to get new lights. I bought a set of headlights and turn signals for my 88 t-bird from a ebay light dealer. they have mustangs as well as a bunch of others for cheap. I don't get it at all, its not like this is a rare car

There have been discussions on an after-marker headlight maker making sets, but NOTHING has come to fruit. Housings have been sent, measurements taken and nothing. I would LOVE to buy a setup that could use of the shelf DS2 HIDs, etc...

Hey PM me(either here or one one of the other sites) about what you want for that one passenger headlight that you have. I need another one to make a clay mold off of.

I should talk to my friends dad, he owns one of the largestaftermarket body parts suppliers in the U.S. He mainly makes import car parts. I think the cost to tool up is somewhere around $100,000 and up, and thats with everything being done in china.

I have an e-mail address (at home) for a guy who if you send him your head lights he will refurbish them, both the lenses and the reflective backing for $200 per set. I have one of his set and am very satisfied. He has a patten pending and claims they will not fade or he'll re-do them.

Rich, see if you can get that guy to join LVC, and posts some before and after.

Well that sucks, makes me want to take a hammer to my HIRs! LOL Well I don't drive at night much and the auto-lights are never on. I DO drive around with my parking lights on though - all the time.

Yep, that's the way to do it. Only use your lights if you really need to. I also run my parking lights untill it's dark enough for the headlights. I have had my new ford housings for a year now and so far so good! Who knows how many are left though. :confused:

Thats true. There are MANY parts for this car that can no longer be purchased since they are no discontinued - you have to be lucky in eBay or somewhere to even get new. The Gen 1 passenger side marker is a recent example. Its no longer made, new ones are hard to find and used ones are fetching more than the price for a new one!

I think for these reason we are going to see an acceleration of bone yard Marks :( Not every driver of a Mark in on a forum. Smash up the car, even a little and cant get replacement parts (assuming the insurance company does not total it anyway)? Well, what would you do with a 10 year old car, dump it....

Driver's side inventory of side markers is low - in short, if you need front end crash parts - get em now folks!

I have a feeling struts will be discontinued sometime this year.....

any pointers to where we can get Gen I HIDs?

Driver's side inventory of side markers is low - in short, if you need front end crash parts - get em now folks!

I have a feeling struts will be discontinued sometime this year.....

Scary.... I pray not to hit anymore deer for me LOL... or anything else.

If I buy just a HID bulb, can I fit it into the old halogen housing, or do they use completely different parts?

Very different and the halogen's will not disperse the light right.