'99 Lincoln Continental Refurbishment

So I ended up ordering a Deluxe Marti Report for my car. I should have it in about 14 days or so.

I had to take a photo of the door jam sticker or certification label as its called for them to do extensive research on the car. I'll receive both PDF and print format.

Total cost was $50, good price in my opinion.

I'll post my findings once I have it.

Others looking to have this done or looking for more records of research on their cars go here: Marti Auto Works - Marti Report
This is AWESOME! I will half to get one for my old black 05 LS and get one for my new 06 LS
 
Hello I am enjoying the thread, have a 99 myself same color, wheels, I have a question on your intermittent brake light not lighting up when you set the e brake, mine is doing the same thing and I was wondering did you ever resolve that, if you mentioned here I did not see it, I am thinking about just hitting mine with some electrical contact cleaner and see if that helps before trying to replace.

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Hi Carl, My light has been coming on now when I do apply the parking brake. Sometimes you can use contact cleaner or just replace the switch itself. It's not really to difficult position to change out. Keep updates coming.
 
Hi Carl, My light has been coming on now when I do apply the parking brake. Sometimes you can use contact cleaner or just replace the switch itself. It's not really to difficult position to change out. Keep updates coming.
Thanks for the reply. I will keep you posted.
 
I bought my 1999 Lincoln Continental new in the summer of 1999 and ordered it from the factory (vs. selecting one off of the lot) with EVERY available option (over $20,000 additional cost to MSRP, if memory serves me) except for the tire air pressure system option. I had a 1997 Continental before the 1999 and had nothing but problems with the tire pressure system on the 1997.

I ended up keeping the car (1999) for ~19 years (kept until ~June 1, 2018). The Continental had just 106,000 miles on it when I gave it to my 17 year old nephew. I bought a certified 2017 Cadillac XTS with very low miles.

I would warn late 1990s ('98 & '99 -??) and 2000s owners or those contemplating buying one to have the PCM (Power Control Module) checked out as I'm told that the 1995-1997 models had the PCM inside the vehicle and starting in 1998 --> end of Continental production in 2002 (??) the PCM was moved outside the car under the hood attached to the passenger's side firewall.

In ~2008, I got in the car one day and tried to start it, but it just cranked and cranked and would not turn over.

I took the car to STS/Mavis and they spent about 1.5 hours on it brushing and cleaning the PCM valve connections and got the car to start. It only lasted 1 week, then I had the PCM replaced for about $2,000.

As I said, I gave the car to my nephew in June 2018 and incredible and unfortunately the PCM valve went again just 2 years later.

This time, my Lincoln dealership informed me that they no longer carry the part because Ford did not make it any longer. They said that I could not get one from a junked Continental because the VIN is burned onto the part (like you would burn MP3s onto CDs, I guess.

They said my only option was to buy a 3rd party PCM valve part and hope that I could find a Lincoln (or Ford -??) dealer that would burn the information onto the new 3rd party part.

I found a new 3rd party PCM valve part (for nearly $3,000) and a Lincoln dealer that would do the burning for $500 - $800 (turned out to be $675) "no questions asked" (their words, not mine). What that was all about - no idea.

So, if you are buying a 1998 or beyond Continental, I would suggest that you pay a good, trusted mechanic to check out the PCM valve part out and hope for a clean bill of health.

Anyway, the car has been running just great. The only other item (besides oil changes) that the car needed was a new battery 2 months ago, which I paid for (I paid for both PCM valves as well, even though my nephew owned the car at the time of the 2nd PCM valve replacement. He is a college student with a 4.0 GPA and felt he should be rewarded for that. I learned from the Lincoln dealer that the existing battery was almost 5 years old, so no big surprise on the battery going bad.
 
Do a web search.
There are many companies that can furnish you a replacement PCM for a couple of hundred dollars, completely programmed, with your car's VIN and what ever other info that is required.
It's a plug and play swap, except you may have to get a locksmith to program the your keys into the PCM.

This is one example:
Flagship One Inc | Pre-Programmed Engine Control Modules | PCM | ECM | ECU
 
Well I am going to be purchasing a new battery for my car. The Dura last has been in the car since '06, so its time. Slow cranking too I've noticed.

I think I'm either going with a Die Hard Gold or Motorcraft original equipment.

What do you think??? I'm up for options too.
 
You got 16 years out of a duralast??
That must be some kind of a world's record.
I use duralast because the store is close by. The last duralast gold in my Conti lasted 4 years, and one month.
My average is around 4 to 5 years at the most, but the heat down here doesn't help battery life.

I used to always use Interstate, but I'm sure Die Hard Gold or Motorcraft are both good choices.
Opinions on batteries are like opinions on motor oil or tires.
 
I ended up getting a new Motorcraft battery from Oreilly's.

The part number # is MOT BXT65-850 for who ever is looking at a new battery.

I put it in the car and it fired right up no slight lag or anything.

I really like it.

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If the old duralast was a gold series, it was rated 700CCA & 875 CA.
The Motorcraft has more reserve capacity.
Good choice for anyone that has real winters.
 
Had an interesting discussion with a fellow car enthusiast, over the weekend. I explained how I wanted to get polished/chrome wheels for the Conti, but for factory oem bolt pattern is very hard to find in a 16 x 7. He replied why don't you think about getting your OEM wheels stripped down, and polished out? I was like that is a great idea. So, I am thinking of doing this, however I'm still doing some minor research. They would have to be routinely polished with Never Dul or any other polish. That doesn't bother me one bit.

My factory wheels would look like the Collector's Edition Continental wheels.

So as of now, I'm getting a quote on this. The polisher who is located in Cleveland, Ohio is very busy. Hopefully I can keep the ball rolling on this.
 
We have a '66 Corvette with American Dragmaster wheels, that had gotten polished and sanded. The wheels on the Conti shall look like this. Here is an aluminum wheel that was sanded and polished out:

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Had an interesting discussion with a fellow car enthusiast, over the weekend. I explained how I wanted to get polished/chrome wheels for the Conti, but for factory oem bolt pattern is very hard to find in a 16 x 7. He replied why don't you think about getting your OEM wheels stripped down, and polished out? I was like that is a great idea. So, I am thinking of doing this, however I'm still doing some minor research. They would have to be routinely polished with Never Dul or any other polish. That doesn't bother me one bit.

My factory wheels would look like the Collector's Edition Continental wheels.

So as of now, I'm getting a quote on this. The polisher who is located in Cleveland, Ohio is very busy. Hopefully I can keep the ball rolling on this.

The chrome Collector's Edition wheels are the same 10 spoke brushed aluminum wheels that are on my Conti, and looks like yours too.
I like those wheels in aluminum, but they look great chromed.
They keep the the factory look, which I like too.
Since you don't use your Conti during the winter, they should hold up well.
But I'd still be concerned about what, if any, guarantee do you get?
 
I had scheduled the car for service a couple weeks ago. Finally got it in, they performed the following:

1. New lower ball joints installed

2. New left front tie rod end link installed

3. Performed an alignment

4. Brake fluid flush

5. Back windows were having a hard time opening and closing. The rear passenger side window just needed some contacts cleaned. The drivers side rear ended up needing a new Motorcraft motor, and a pre-owned window switch. Which they sourced from Green Sales Company or Lincoln Land Inc. in Fl.
- I had to wait couple days for shipping on the switch. Switches for the Continentals are obsolete so your going to have to get them rebuilt through The Lincoln Ranch: www.TheLincolnRanch Homepage OR Switch City USA: Switch City USA | eBay Stores


Here is the driver side ball joint installed (This is a MOOG part) :

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Passenger side ball joint installed:

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That's all the maintenance completed for now. I got a couple other new detailing products on order too. I'll document that process with products soon!
 
I changed the oil today. To keep that InTech hummin perfectly.

My flavor I had put in was Pennzoil Full Synthetic 5W30, with the standard Motorcraft FL820S filter.

Stay tuned for my paint, ceramic coating process!
 
I finally finished up the car, polishing out the paint and adding the ceramic coating. Down below is what I had used and the results.

1. Washed using the 2 bucket method.

2. While car was wet use a clay mitt to decontaminate the paint.

3. Polished out the paint by hand using Black Max Brite Max light polishing compound. Used orbital polisher to take off.

4. IPA wipe down using 50% alcohol with distilled water. Mild mixture is all you need:

- Mix 8 oz. of 50% IPA alcohol with 24 oz. of Distilled Water, this will create a 12.5% IPA spray which is all you need. Do not let the solution sit on the paint. Just spray and wipe away.

5. Once IPA step is completed I used Avalon King's ceramic coating. It was around $60 or so. If you can find a coupon code it will be a little cheaper.

- Go here to puchase: AvalonKing | Quality Automotive Ceramic Coating Products

- Follow directions on the kit, it is very easy to apply and wipe off. If you don't drive your car all the time especially in bad weather, they say this coating will be good for 2-5 yrs.

Here are the results:

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****If your thinking of applying a ceramic coating by yourself or getting it professionally done make sure you post your pics!!!****
 
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I finally finished up the car, polishing out the paint and adding the ceramic coating. Down below is what I had used and the results.

1. Washed using the 2 bucket method.

2. While car was wet use a clay mitt to decontaminate the paint.

3. Polished out the paint by hand using Black Max Brite Max light polishing compound. Used orbital polisher to take off.

4. IPA wipe down using 50% alcohol with distilled water. Mild mixture is all you need:

- Mix 8 oz. of 50% IPA alcohol with 24 oz. of Distilled Water, this will create a 12.5% IPA spray which is all you need. Do not let the solution sit on the paint. Just spray and wipe away.

5. Once IPA step is completed I used Avalon King's ceramic coating. It was around $60 or so. If you can find a coupon code it will be a little cheaper.

- Go here to puchase: AvalonKing | Quality Automotive Ceramic Coating Products

- Follow directions on the kit, it is very easy to apply and wipe off. If you don't drive your car all the time especially in bad weather, they say this coating will be good for 2-5 yrs.

Here are the results:

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****If your thinking of applying a ceramic coating by yourself or getting it professionally done make sure you post your pics!!!****
That paint is as bright as the beautiful Lincoln Star SHINNING way up high in the dark midnight sky!!
 
So I noticed a small oil leak coming from under the front section of the engine sub frame. Gonna do some more further investigation to see.

I'll report back.
 

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