New Mark viii Owner

Franco802

LVC Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2018
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Location
San Diego, Ca
Hello everyone! Picked up a 1998 Mark viii a few days ago. Original owner, 95 y/o WW2 war veteran, 82k miles, all service records since new, recent brand new tires and brakes, with brake flush. Having a few issues though. Smell of fuel inside cabin, ac stopped working after I cycled it from heat to ac a few times to check it on test drive (blend door?) And neon trunk light does not go on.

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Welcome to LVC! There are many amazing knowledgeable people on this site. You'll find a lot of info on here.

Your Mark VIII looks really good. Its good that it came from California, no rust. I believe the blend door could also be causing your problem. The fuel issue do you see or smell fuel on top of the engine at all? The fuel filter on the Mark VIII's is on the passenger inner wheel well liner, behind it of course. Might be a fuse of some sort. Look for any stored codes if you can. For the neon taillight, Glitch use to sell a ballast for this problem. I don't know if they do but I'll provide info as to places that have Mark VIII restoration parts.

1. Super Coupe Performance
2. Temple Performance

There are also Facebook pages on the Mark VIII:

Lincoln Mark VIII Marketplace

Here is a Facebook page dedicated to a group who own and have regular get together's in your area:

Lincoln Mark VIII Addicts

https://www.mk8addicts.com/

I also want to point out LCOC Lincoln and Continental Owners Club. It costs $48.00 a yr. You get a monthly magazine, meetings and greets all over the country. You get a good price on advertising in their magazine if your selling something, or promoting a business. Best of all you get Ford X- Plan discount on any new Ford or Lincoln whether you buy or lease. The more popular the model the more you save.

Can't wait to see more of the car! Have fun.
 
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Welcome to LVC! There are many amazing knowledgeable people on this site. You'll find a lot of info on here.

Your Mark VIII looks really good. Its good that it came from California, no rust. I believe the blend door could also be causing your problem. The fuel issue do you see or smell fuel on top of the engine at all? The fuel filter on the Mark VIII's is on the passenger inner wheel well liner, behind it of course. Might be a fuse of some sort. Look for any stored codes if you can. For the neon taillight, Glitch use to sell a ballast for this problem. I don't know if they do but I'll provide info as to places that have Mark VIII restoration parts.

1. Super Coupe Performance
2. Temple Performance

There are also Facebook pages on the Mark VIII:

Lincoln Mark VIII Marketplace

Here is a Facebook page dedicated to a group who own and have regular get together's in your area:

Lincoln Mark VIII Addicts

https://www.mk8addicts.com/

I also want to point out LCOC Lincoln and Continental Owners Club. It costs $48.00 a yr. You get a monthly magazine, meetings and greets all over the country. You get a good price on advertising in their magazine if your selling something, or promoting a business. Best of all you get Ford X- Plan discount on any new Ford or Lincoln whether you buy or lease. The more popular the model the more you save.

Can't wait to see more of the car! Have fun.
Awesome info and thank you for the reply. No smell in the engine area or the passenger front well. I saw all the components. Took them out and tested the purge solenoid and it's good. The smell seems to be coming from the rear part of my passenger area and my trunk smells like fuel too. Gas cap is okay. I'm going to check the vent valve and canisters this weekend.
 
Evap Vent valve at back of car clogged!!! Pulled the hose to let it vent out into the outside for now. No more gas smell! Already have part from junkyard my friend pulled for me. I also moved the grey mechanism for the vent under the glove compartment. I now have ac again!!
 
I want to re-gear the car. Was thinking 3.73's. I can get a pumpkin out of a junkyard mark8 just like mine, take it home and work on that. Then swap pumpkins.
 
I put 3.73s and a trutrack diff in my original pumpkin. I have the manuals on disc. great idea that.
drove a 98 with 4.10s and open spool. had the traction control always coming on even on dry pavement with fairly good traction. the torsen type diff really helped calm down the traction control which kills some fuel flow to regain traction. I like the 3.73 gears-ford racing parts-as they make the car much more drivable in traffic when heading up the rockies . so, that is my experience with it. let us know how your doing with it.
 
I put 3.73s and a trutrack diff in my original pumpkin. I have the manuals on disc. great idea that.
drove a 98 with 4.10s and open spool. had the traction control always coming on even on dry pavement with fairly good traction. the torsen type diff really helped calm down the traction control which kills some fuel flow to regain traction. I like the 3.73 gears-ford racing parts-as they make the car much more drivable in traffic when heading up the rockies . so, that is my experience with it. let us know how your doing with it.

What difference did you see in fuel economy on steady interstate runs with 3.73 gearing?
 
Wow... that's pretty good considering my stock 97 base with 3.02 tops out at 25 mpg set at 75mph. I bet 3.53 would be virtually little to no loss. After a few more mods, this gearing change up is about the last thing I want to do aside from a chip tune. THANKS for the info.
 
Your going to lose 2mpg on the interstate going from 3.08’s to 3.73’s. I wouldn’t waste my time on 3.55’s. Personally if I had to do over I’d go 4.1’s.
 
Actually, I was wrong, the Base has 3.07 vs 3.27 of the LSC. I guess its all about the driving style we have. I look at it from a practical and cost view point. 98 percent of the time I'm just cruising along with light throttle. A hill here and there requires a bit more with the 3.07 gearing, while a 3.55..... not so much and you don't pay much in a millage penalty. A tad better get up & go for the few times you may want it. For us retired guys, it looks like I'd be happy with 3.55 axle drive ratio. :)
And Franco, you did good, the body looks exceptionally straight! What a great looker.
 
Actually, I was wrong, the Base has 3.07 vs 3.27 of the LSC. I guess its all about the driving style we have. I look at it from a practical and cost view point. 98 percent of the time I'm just cruising along with light throttle. A hill here and there requires a bit more with the 3.07 gearing, while a 3.55..... not so much and you don't pay much in a millage penalty. A tad better get up & go for the few times you may want it. For us retired guys, it looks like I'd be happy with 3.55 axle drive ratio. :)
And Franco, you did good, the body looks exceptionally straight! What a great looker.
what the 3.73s have done is bring cruise rpm into the peak torque range. a much better deal for going up the Rocky Mountains. also makes in town driving somewhat more interesting with this heavy car. at the lower end of the peak torque rpm range, the engine is making a more efficient use of the fuel consumed. The 3.08 ratio from the factory had the car downshifting out of OD so often. not so much now. loveland pass is 11,000 feet. a supercharger would be a nice addition.
 
I spent some time up in the MT Bitter root back in the 70's and yeah, even 4.10's is a good go for a 3700 lb car up in those Rockies. Now I live on the TN Cumberland plateau so not even close to your situation! It sure is nice to be able to tune these cars for every situation.... gotta love em!
 
She's gorgeous!! Hopefully we'll get to meet you in person some day. :D

Thanks for the shout, Svets96!!!
 
the aluminum housing is going to require a case stretcher when you shim the gears and bearings. the t-bird uses a cast iron housing, the mk8 uses aluminum other than weight differences, they are interchangable. I used 0.008" as my final backlash setting and it has been quite peaceful back there. synthetic gear oil is a must. be advised that a limited slip diff would be an excellent upgrade when you change the gears. get rid of the pegleg rear diff and you will be a happy camper with higher gear ratio installed. be sure you spec IRS side gears as they are bevel cut to retain the spring ring retainers on the axle shaft ends, if you chose to renew them. the live axle 8.8 side gears are straight cut and you will not be able to remove axles once installed into them.
working on gearboxes is fun but dirty. make sure you have the right tools and measuring devices. and have fun.
 
Evap Vent valve at back of car clogged!!! Pulled the hose to let it vent out into the outside for now. No more gas smell! Already have part from junkyard my friend pulled for me. I also moved the grey mechanism for the vent under the glove compartment. I now have ac again!!


So you don’t think the gas smell could be coming from the canisters them selves ? Since a lot of 97-98 viii’s have this issue
 

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