85 Town Car with an Attitude?

gradymotorco1

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Hello, I bought my grandmom that 85 TC but now it has some odd problems. When you crank it you have to be holding the pedal to the floor or it won't crank. When you stop at a stoplight you have to hold the brake with your left foot and the gas pedal with your right or it will cut off. When it cuts off three messages come across the Digital display. Oil Pressure, then Charging System, then Washer Fluid. Oh yeah when you are idleing it cuts off too. But when you are going better than 8 mph then it runs great. I am at my wits end as I have Changed the Oil and Filter, Replaced the Plugs, Wires, Fuel Filter, PCV Valve, Air Filter, Breather Filter, Battery, and the Voltage Regulator. The oil was 10w30 Motorcraft, Filter was Motorcraft, Plugs were Autolite, Wires were NAPA Mileage plus (also known as Standard Motor Products, Tru-Tech, Xact, or GP Sorenson), Fuel Filter, PCV Valve, Air Filter and Breather were Puroilator, Battery and Voltage Regulator were NAPA.
I also decided to check the oil yesterday when it said Oil Pressure, and it was full but dark. Dark oil when the oil was changed 5 days ago is not a good sign. I am wondering what to do, please help me out.
Thanks Dave Grady
devilleconcours100@hotmail.com
 
I would try to find a known good TBI setup and swap it out. The crappy part about it is, the TBI on the Town Cars was a 1 year thing, so it might me hard to find. Up to '84 had a carb, and '86+ was EFI. If this was my car, that is where I would start. If there is no engine noise to speak of, then your oil is probably black because the car is running too rich.
 
Black87LSC said:
I would try to find a known good TBI setup and swap it out. The crappy part about it is, the TBI on the Town Cars was a 1 year thing, so it might me hard to find. Up to '84 had a carb, and '86+ was EFI. If this was my car, that is where I would start. If there is no engine noise to speak of, then your oil is probably black because the car is running too rich.


The last production Lincoln with a carb would be the 1980 Mark VI. This is the year fuel injection came out on Lincolns, but they still offered an optional carbed 351W. Every 302 since 1980 has been fuel injected.
 
Be sure to check your Idle Air Control Valve, or IAC. This was the final cause of idle problems on the 85 TC that I was working on. Also needed MAF sensor, and replacement of Coolant Temp Sensor, which wasn't related to idle problems, but was broken off.
Thanks, Dave Grady
 
Not a topic hijack. Just a question about a comment. :)

thamarkman said:
The last production Lincoln with a carb would be the 1980 Mark VI. This is the year fuel injection came out on Lincolns, but they still offered an optional carbed 351W. Every 302 since 1980 has been fuel injected.

That's got me worried because my 84 Town Car has a carb. Or at least its a radically different set up than my 89 Town Car which says EFI right on top of the engine. On top my 84 is a big round air filter. :)

I bought it a couple hours ago because I had an accident in my 89. The guy said its an 84 with a 302. He didn't know much about it because he bought it from a neighbor lady and sold it to me for $500. He doesn't know much about it and there's no documentation for it.

If I've got a 351 that's all the better but if I had an engine swap I'll be a little worried.
 
That's a CFI system - one fat injector in a carburetor type device. There is a particular control circuit on those that needs to be disabled or they run like sh*t but I can't reach my mechanic to remind me which one. Usually the compromise is to increase the idle to about 950rpm and they run fine.

Anybody have a clue?
 

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