New owner 98 Continental

[allornothing]

Hi all,
Just found this thread and it seems like a terrific source of information. I just bought my wife a Pearl white, 98 Continental with all the bells and whistles, and garage kept. Driven by older women who passed away, only has 27k miles on it, I don't think the back seat was ever sat in, and the paints immaculate.

I was alittle concerned since the car wasn't driven very much about dry rot on the rear airbags, I know they can be a problem. After checking the best I could they seem fine, although I guess there's no easy way to know for sure.

Anyway the wife loves the car, it just cruises down the highway and gets 25mpg doing it.

Any tips on maintenance or must do's would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Tom

 

[zolemite]

I have a 1998 as well and they say it is one of the best years. Good luck with the car sounds like a gem

 

[ground_zero298]

welcome to LVC! Just keep up on the oil changes, trans fluid flush every 30,000 and air filter and cabin filter. Besides that you should be good to 100k.

 

[allornothing]

Thanks guy there's alot of information here to read. I'm hoping I can get 5-6 years out of this car till the kids are out of college. They're already fighting over who gets it when the wifes done with it!

It certainly is a fun car to get to know

 

[krowleey]

the only complaint i have on these yers of lincolns is certain parts are discontinued, and obsolete, ask me how i know. anyway not only that by certain things like altenators are also once again hard to get, unless you go with aftermarket parts and even then alot of times have to be special ordered. other than that i love my cont.

 

[pokeeto2]

The 98 is the best year despite it not having the 15hp boost in 99.

Just lift the rear of the car with a jack & having both tire hanging is the best way to find a leak.

But the 97-02 Continental are the most reliable when it comes to air Ride since the front uses regular springs & the back with bags. Most of the weight is in front & little is in back which really make little stress to the rear air suspention. The air compressor is also heavier duty than that of the Town Car. When there is a leak, you will know it, & they aren't expensive. You can change them yourself ( About 30-60 minutes each side. )

So, You are good & take good care of it. With those miles, that car will seriously last.

I had 98 Conti with 118k & sold it with 150k. 32k of trouble free service ( aside from brakes, tuneups, & fluids.) Sold it for a 2001 but I enjoyed the 98 more for some reason.

 

[priestview]

Hi guys. I have my first Lincoln, a 2000 Continental. Got it w/ 87k on it and I reeeally like this car. I thought it woukd be cool to flare the nostrils a little so I put a 80mm MAF and got a Snyper tuner, both from Lincoln Motorsport. The tuner doesn't work on it because Snyper hasn't kept up with Ford's program upgrades, and the MAF isn't much good without tuning tweaks, so I'm stuck for now with degraded performance, and mpg. Tweakers beware!

 

[priestview]

I must add that the guys at Snyper are working now to get a template made for my program, which should also cover a lot of other Continentals out there. It works great on my '98 F150 4.6. I can change everything in small, or large incriments, and I can use it on any Ford OBDII computer, not just mine like the other tuners out there. It comes w/ the ability to do two tunes, which was great for me, then if your buddy wants you to do his Pony he just purchases a "Bullet" and you can read his PCM and do all the tuning you want from there.

 

[ground_zero298]

I'm a firm believer in a custom tune with some dyno time.