I wanted something to drive in traffic to work every morning other than my 84 Firebird. I don't like putting the miles on it (It's up to 45.5K from 44 already), and while I like the 5-speed, driving a 5-speed in heavy traffic on the highway every morning at 6AM isn't so great. And I wanted something with AC. I was looking for a truck or a van (for hauling TVs), but came across this Lincoln on craigslist yesterday and couldn't pass it up.

It's got the 302 (with the tbi) and a 4-speed auto, disc brakes on all 4 wheels, and these weird aluminum/spoke wheels (those aren't hubcaps). It's not very big for a Lincoln, I'm almost positive its built on the same chassis as an 86 T-Bird I used to have. It's also low milage for its age (88k). I like the unusual colors (the two tone gold and yellow/cream-color). Its got every accessory known to man: power door locks, windows (2 out of 4 work), seats, trunk (not working), gas cap, mirrors, antenna, cruise control, tilt wheel, leather seats, ps, pb, ac, rear window defroster, light-up thermometer mounted on the side mirror, fully digital dash with this clock/ milage calculating computer in the center.

The stereo (with cassette) is the best sounding in any car I've ever had. The controls are scratchy though. I haven't tried the cassette yet - I probably won't until I take the radio out to clean the controls rather than just putting in a tape and probably watching it get eaten.

It's got some minor issues: I had to put a new battery (It almost didn't start back up after stopping at a gas station when I was driving it home.) The parking break won't stay engaged unless I push some lever way up under the dash, and won't release unless I pull it. And I sometimes hear this awful high-pitched whining sound from behind the dash (only if the car is in forward gear). I'm wondering if these issues aren't related and there's some kind of leaky vacuum operated switch that releases the parking break when the car is in drive.

pics...

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Lincoln Ownership. All the nigglin' problems you mention are likely nothing serious. Just be glad that Ferd Motor Co. doesn't install the back doors Bassackwards like they did on my 3-'69 sedan, '67 convertible, & '65 Limo...

Nice luxe-boat for the commute!

Power doors?

Nice. Thermometer sounds interesting. My parents had an 88 Town Car but I don't remember that, although theirs wasn't nearly as fancy as your Continental.

I meant power door locks:D

I've always liked those suicide door era Lincolns, and with that 462 they'd run circles around mine with only a 302. My favorite Lincolns have got to be the 58-60 models though, great looking cars.

.... The stereo (with cassette) is the best sounding in any car I've ever had .....

I agree about the stock Lincoln sound systems , they really do sound great and got better & better as the years went on . While my 89 Firebird is my #1 daily driver , I also have an 03 Towncar Cartier for rainy days with ALL the bells & whistles including the premium JBL sound system with factory subwoofer , this Lincoln was the first car I ever owned that I absolutely loved the factory stereo in :thmbsp:

I think the tranny is called AOD, automatic over drive. they were the predicessor to that piece of crap computer operated one they started using in 1991??? in trucks, unsure of when in cars. Ive been told they were similar to the C4, and about the same toughness. Not as good as a C6 but ok.

Good cars. you may have trouble with electronics but mechanics are good. I would figure out that vacuum leak pronto is its related to the tranny. The AOD's are great if not abused but those kinds of problems can be pretty serious if not fixed.

Theres some crazy cable... I think it goes from the carb to the tranny. (my memory is foggy) Make sure you never leave it unhooked as it wrecks the tranny if unhooked.

im jealous. I'd love one of those cars. Im fond of any large Ford.

"It's Evidental, I LOVE my Continental..."

A very rare car today! I'd actually forgotten about this version. I used to have a customer that loved the car that replaced this; he owned several. Yours reminds me of an updated Versailles.

Will the power windows run at all? The typical failure mode is the motor would run but nothing moved. The clutch mechanism in that motor consists of a 3 nylon "bushings" that will self destruct. You can buy replacements for a reasonable price. At the shop we would buy them in a box of a dozen.

Theres some crazy cable... I think it goes from the carb to the tranny. (my memory is foggy) Make sure you never leave it unhooked as it wrecks the tranny if unhooked.
.

The cable runs from the throttle linkage down to the transmission, and controls transmission pressure. If left loose, the transmission will be toast in less than 40 miles.

The cables themselves don't go bad, what breaks is the little plastic fitting on the throttle body linkage that the control line attaches to. The replacement is brass with a metal "c" clip to hold it on (so it never goes bad). Most 80's models have already had this part replaced with the updated version by now. If the plastic part breaks, it's easy to tell because the accelerator pedal will suddenly become really easy to push, and the transmission will shift through all the gears by the time you get to 20 MPH.

I've replaced many of them on the Town Cars I've drove down through the years.

"If the plastic part breaks, it's easy to tell because the accelerator pedal will suddenly become really easy to push, and the transmission will shift through all the gears by the time you get to 20 MPH. "

It's not doing this at all, so at least I know that cable's fine. A little googling did confirm that it does use a vacuum switch to disengage the parking brake when you shift into drive, so I'm betting that leaking is the source of that awful sound. I'm also hearing something rattling around under the car. It drives fine, so I'm betting it's just a loose exhaust pipe banging against the bottom of the car. I also just noticed there's a sticker on the window saying when the oil was last changed -- in 2012! But it's only been driven about ~2k miles since. I have the week after next off, so I'll have time then to work on this (I'll definitely be changing the oil) - and maybe also figure out why one of the headlight motors quit working in my Firebird.


"The typical failure mode is the motor would run but nothing moved. The clutch mechanism in that motor consists of a 3 nylon "bushings" that will self destruct. "

That's exactly what's happening, but I'm lucky in that the drivers window is one of the ones that are working.


"I agree about the stock Lincoln sound systems , they really do sound great and got better & better as the years went on . While my 89 Firebird is my #1 daily driver , I also have an 03 Towncar Cartier"

I love my 84 Firebird, I'll never sell it, and plan to eventually put a 350 in it ... but I'm so tired of driving a stick in stop and go traffic 5 days a week and having no AC in 100+ degrees . The stereo in the '03 Grand Marquis I had was also very good, but I think the one in this Lincoln sounds better.


"Im fond of any large Ford."

I've always considered myself more of a GM guy, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a great car like this one. Of all the Ford products I've had: 65 Mustang, this 83 Lincoln, 86 T-bird, and the 03 Grand Marquis, this is my favorite by far (the Grand Marquis is the runner-up). It's weird... back in the 90s when I first got into cars I didn't like the digital dashes and only wanted cars with all analog gauges, but now I think the digital dash is really neat. The letters that say "continental" over the glove box even light up in green to match the rest of the dash at night.

I'm surprised they even put parking brakes on cars with automatics...The park position has never failed or even malfunctioned on any car I've been in, and most cars the parking brakes even when new have so little effect that you'd probably still hit whatever you were stopping for if your regular brakes failed and you remembered to engage the parking brake...

I'm surprised they even put parking brakes on cars with automatics...The park position has never failed or even malfunctioned on any car I've been in, and most cars the parking brakes even when new have so little effect that you'd probably still hit whatever you were stopping for if your regular brakes failed and you remembered to engage the parking brake...


The reason is this ;

If you park on an extreme hill without using the parking brake the pressure of the car trying to roll down the hill can be so great as to jam the park pawl and make it impossible to shift out of park . Whenever parking on an extreme hill your supposed to set the (properly maintained & working) parking brake first , and then put it in park . Conversely , your supposed to take it out of park before releasing the parking brake when leaving .

On the hills that 99% of us drive and park on this will never be a problem , but I'll bet drivers in places like San Francisco are very well versed in parking brake use with automatic shift cars ;)

Thanks for the right description of the cable davet753. its been a long while since i saw one.

The parking brake is for the reason init4fun wrote, plus in case of full or close to full brake failure. Also Ford had issues with trannies popping out of park into reverse so some people used the brake everytime they parked there autos. Unsure if other makes had that problem. There may be other reasons too.

Make sure you turn your front wheels into the curb facing downward before setting the brake. Relieves pressure on the pawl when parking and prevents the car from rolling down a hill with pawl failure.

I'm wondering if these issues aren't related and there's some kind of leaky vacuum operated switch that releases the parking break when the car is in drive.

You hit the nail on the head. Most of these Lincolns, if not all, have a vacuum actuator that releases the parking brake whenever you put the car in gear. A very nice feature that's sadly forgotten in cars today. Likely, the vacuum actuator's rubber diaphragm is torn and leaking vacuum, so it won't auto release. And because it's meant to be automatic, the manual release is, as you say, way up under the dash. My advice: don't even bother applying the parking brake... unless you are parking on steep hills, but even then, it's not really necessary. At least until you get a replacement actuator. You might want to remove the vacuum hose from it and plug it, to silence the noisy leak. Be careful though, those plastic vacuum hoses are very brittle now.

The whining noise under the dash is probably the vacuum operated Prk Brake release switch, it's part of the neutral switch as I recall and is mounted on the lower end of the column.

Not using the parking brake on a hill is really hard on the drive train, everything from the U-Joints to the Motor Mounts is under a strain.

Yeah-My '69 Sedan, which I used as my 2nd car for the 1st several years I had it, had "Issues"... I got it in '83, it had an indeterminate no. of miles on it at the time, but I felt it was around 100K.I had the tranny rebuilt in it, but it had the Ferd habit of slippin out of park & into reverse, even after the rebuild. It was my 1st"Tomcat" car, I'd load it up w/buds-An' Hopefully a few Feminine Women of the Girlish Persuasion as well, & we'd turn it into a Rolling Den of Iniquity... Lotsa BEER was drunk in it, not necessarily much by Moi-SOMEBODY had to Ride Herd over the Screwballs 'n' Knotheads who rode around in it w/me.. Still have it, last time I looked at it, if I spent a day or so "Spiffin' it up" it would look GREAT...

This has two drain plugs in the oil pan - one in the front and one on the bottom towards the back.

I didn't notice this at first, only drained about 1 qt out of the engine, thought the oil light must have been malfunctioning to have not been on, and started worrying something might have happened to the engine from driving it with such little oil.

Then I change the filter, put about 3 quarts in, and check the dipstick and find it to be way overfull. Then, I figured I had to be missing something, looked around and noticed the second drain plug. Then, I had to drain out all the new oil I just put in along with the rest of the old oil, and go get more oil.

Two drain plugs in the same oil pan ... never seen that before. The lower portion of the pan must be somehow subdivided into two sections.

It helps to have an idea of the volume of what is in your catch pan and how much you should be putting in...if it wasn't low before the change and noticably less was in it than specified something ain't right.

I spent all day working on this. I changed the spark plugs (those were the original plugs in there). I've never seen plugs with the electrodes actually worn down so much. There was a noticeable increase in performance with the new plugs. And some of those plugs were really really hard to get to (reminding me of why I'm always saying I prefer cars of the 60s and 70s).

The problem with the parking brake/vacuum switch is the switch. I removed the vacuum line and plugged it, and the sound went away. One of the two screws that hold it in is on top of the column and really hard to get to, so I haven't removed the switch yet, but I have ordered another one.

What I heard bouncing around under the car is an about 1" diameter metal tube which is supposed to connect to the catalytic converters (It has 2 catalytic converters which then feed a single muffler), but is rusted through and bouncing around under there. It leads to a mess of smog hoses on the right side of the engine. I'm not sure what it is or does, but in the Phoenix area all cars newer than 66 need to pass smog, so I need one.

(There is a loophole in that if you register your car as a 'classic' and get special insurance you don't need smog no matter what the year (but it's more expensive and limits how much you can drive the car per year - and seeing I bought this to be my daily driver, I don't want to be limited in how much I can drive it).

I plugged in a loose connector I noticed under the dash when I was trying to remove that vacuum switch, and now I get beeping every time I start the car. It seems to be beeping because it thinks it's out of gas. The display says DTE (distance to empty) miles = 0, even though that isn't the case. For now, I'm just going to unplug that cable again, but I'd like to find out why it always thinks it's out of gas. (The fuel gauge works fine - this is that computer that calculates gas milage, distance travelled, avg speed, ... in the center of that dash that thinks there is no gas)

What I heard bouncing around under the car is an about 1" diameter metal tube which is supposed to connect to the catalytic converters (It has 2 catalytic converters which then feed a single muffler), but is rusted through and bouncing around under there. It leads to a mess of smog hoses on the right side of the engine. I'm not sure what it is or does, but in the Phoenix area all cars newer than 66 need to pass smog, so I need one.

That pipe that feeds the converters is the secondary air injection. Basically, the system pumps fresh air into the exhaust to aide in the catalyzing, usually during cold weather. If the inspectors see that it's broken, they'll fail you. But if they don't check, and the pipes on the converter side are plugged, it's entirely possible it won't affect a tailpipe gas analyzer test.

I don't know much about how inspections work in Phoenix, but I'd wager nobody even has an exhaust gas analyzer anymore, anyway. Likely their inspections (on pre-1996 cars) are visual only - but don't take my word for it.

That pipe that feeds the converters is the secondary air injection. Basically, the system pumps fresh air into the exhaust to aide in the catalyzing, usually during cold weather. If the inspectors see that it's broken, they'll fail you. But if they don't check, and the pipes on the converter side are plugged, it's entirely possible it won't affect a tailpipe gas analyzer test.

I don't know much about how inspections work in Phoenix, but I'd wager nobody even has an exhaust gas analyzer anymore, anyway. Likely their inspections (on pre-1996 cars) are visual only - but don't take my word for it.


https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=760335

Colorado still tests , this thread is not me or my car , but I feel bad for anyone who owns a vintage car in a place that still tests pre OBD2 cars .

:D Thankfully where I live it's a visual safety inspection only on anything pre OBD2

Try owning a 79 pinto in CA. Still under emissions testing... Been non-oped since.. :D

SR

Wew I'm glad there's no smogging in the county I live in. The truck had its cat deleted long ago, egr was rusted out (in NM, How?!), air pump seized, evap is intact but I don't think it works (can smell it sometimes), air preheater missing.... So I trashed all the smog equipment (except the evap).

The Pug also had most of the emissions deleted due to vacuum leaks, because vacuum leaks+Bosch k-Jet=a bad time. cat is till there for now......

The Miata had an emergency cat delete because the ground strap and ignition coils took a crap and ruined the cat. The downstream O2 is just zip tied to the body braces :D

I've seen dual drain plugs on 5.0 LTD Crown Vics (or was it a Town Car) when I used to work for Jiffy Lube, I think we took out both to be safe.

Yeah thankfully in Chicago, they don't test pre OBDII cars.

They don't test NOTHIN here in Bugtussle, thank the Lord....Just what we need-Another layer of Gummint busybodies pokin' around stuff that ain't Nunya gotdam Bidness..

I washed and waxed both cars yesterday. Both these cars, even if I repainted them, I'd keep these colors. Not since I had that avocado green 72 Impala (which I sold back in 06) have I had cars for which I really liked the colors they came with.

I put a full tank of gas in the Lincoln and that problem with the milage-calculating computer being stuck on 0 and beeping fixed itself.

It doesn't need to pass smog for another 2 years, so for now I just tied that air tube up to the exhaust pipe so it wouldn't bounce around. I can't locate another one (I figure in two years I can come up with something even if I have to get a piece of straight pipe and figure out a way to bend it).

This car is nearly impossible to locate parts for: car parts stores don't stock parts for it because it's too old, and online parts stores for older cars don't stock parts for it because it's too new! I'm going to have to start looking around for junkyards (I quit doing it when I lived in the midwest, but back when I lived in Los Angeles it was one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday morning - wandering around the U-pull)

When I lived in CA I used to always try to get cars older than '75 so they wouldn't need smog. But here in AZ, the cutoff being 66, I just can't find a pre-67 car that doesn't either need lots of work, or isn't super expensive. It is nice that they have that 'collector car' exception here, and I will eventually go that route with the Firebird because I want to swap out that 2.8 V6 for a 350. For now the 'Bird is still registered in WI (it doesn't expire until next August). I don't plan on swapping the engine for a few years, so whether or not I try the 'classic car' registration right away depends on how hard it is to get it to pass smog when I finally get around to it. All the stuff's still there, so it probably will.

I'd consider moving somewhere just to get away from the smog checks, but I've done 6 long-distance moves in the past 10 years (and I just don't want to ever do it again.) And I like the Phoenix area, and would like to stay in the general vicinity. (Even though AZ seems to be a complete wasteland in terms of TV-collecting activity, in comparison MI was a real hub of TV collecting activity, and even WI had the warci swap meets) I do plan on moving locally, because I want to eventually buy a house rather than renting forever. But for now, I absolutely hate the job I moved here to take, and am desperately trying to find something else.

Wow, both cars look great!

I MUST admit,I was NOT a big fan of these when they came out, but YOURS, especially its color scheme, is rather "Regal" looking-More like a Lincoln oughta be ! STILL not quite as nice as my Suicide Door Specials-but to MY feeble little mind, you'd have to go back to the great bespoke bodied cars of the Twenties, Thirties, the great KA & KB Lincolns, the Judkins & Lockes, Willoughbys, to surpass modern cars.. Guess I'd have to include Derhams, too, I think they made a few bodies for Lincoln, but mostly they worked for that damnable Generous Motors "Off-Brand"...(Grin)

That photo looks like an advertisement piece.

If I knew how to do it better, I'd edit out the modern cars, so I'd look like the picture was taken back in the 80s.

I've never been a huge fan of the downsized cars that came out in the late-70s and early-80s either. I was actually looking for a truck when I saw this on craigslist: but the price was good, it was in good condition, and I was attracted by the long list of options and features, and while the 302 is no 460 or 462 I like driving it. And that digital dash looks good at night. The really old Lincolns I always thought were neat were the ones with the V12s in the late-30s - 40s.

And I'll eventually get around to fixing all those extra features - that beeping computer started flashing "DTE 0" and beeping again when I went over a bump - probably some nearly impossible to track down bad solder joint somewhere or maybe I'll get lucky and it'll just be an easy to find loose wire.

A good obsolete Ford parts depot:
http://www.greensalescompany.com/
Kinda neat to just browse around their website. I think they only time I bought anything was when we were fixing up a late 70s Continental and needed a piece of body side molding. It wasn't overpriced.

So I'm driving down the highway with the AC cranked, and I start seeing mist coming out of the vents and smelling coolant. So the first thing I think is that I have a leaky heater core. The coolant level was low, but I found a leaky hose - it's a smaller diameter hose that connects from a T-junction in a heater hose to the intake manifold (not sure what it's for - I have to get a service manual for this thing, I know the cars of the 60s and early-70s inside and out, but even by 1983 I come across a lot of stuff that I'm not familiar with). There's tight 180 degree bend in it and I couldn't find a pre-bent one anywhere so I just got a longer hose and ran it a goofy way to avoid having the tight bend in it. I'll try that Green Ford parts next week and see if they have one.

But that is not the end of my problem - I drove around with the AC cranked up for a while after I changed that hose to see if it would happen again, and I did still get that white mist coming out of the vents after a while (but it didn't smell of coolant anymore). The carpet under the dash was also wet with the stuff (and there was a big puddle of it under the car) - it was clear but sticky. At first I thought it was leaking freon, but then I thought if it was leaking that much freon - how's the air still blowing cold? But if its just water, it's the wrong consistency, too thick and sticky. What do you guys think is going on?

Might be refrigerant oil. Refrigerant itself has no odor and is a gas, but the oil smells and it's oily.

As for the hose, they sell things that look like a spring, you put it on the outside of the hose, and you can bend it and it will force the hose to keep that shape.
amazon link (https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Brand-Unicoil-Stainless-Bender/dp/B0027YTB2U/ref=asc_df_B0027YTB2U/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312131715276&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1320447001183634020&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021748&hvtargid=pla-584651112236&psc=1)

For a smaller hose, like 3/8" you can use my trick - get the same size metal brake line, make the bend in that, cut out only the bent section, grease it liberally, and shove it into a regular hose up until you get the bend where it needs to be. Careful not to leave any sharp edges on the metal tube ends.
Also, is this the hose? (https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/lincoln,1983,continental,5.0l+302cid+v8,1187883,co oling+system,bypass+hose,2155)

The old diesel GMC van I had used several odd hoses in the EGR system, all very obsolete. The previous owner replaced them with pieces of straight hose and PVC elbows which worked very well. Later in another vehicle I needed to temporarily bypass the heater core and just used a short length of PVC for the short circuit.

Another story: had an aging Dakota and I started noticing a foul, oily smell & I could feel some slight dampness on the carpet just to the right of the transmission hump. I really thought it was freon but the AC worked. Then one day I figured it out: I had one of those old compasses, from the 60's, that I'd mounted to the dash. It was leaking-I always thought it was full of alcohol but it was mineral oil, and stank!

Chicka-Boom, Chicka-Boom, doncha jes' LOVE IT ?!? Grrrrrrrrrr..

I overcharged my truck and it dumped some oil out of the rear seal of the A/C compressor, right on the intake manifold, a stinky mess! I've never heard of oil leaking out of the evaporator side, but it's certainly possible :scratch2:

An oil leak that large should give a LOT of noise as the AC system vents. Are you positive the AC still works?

When you mention a T-junction though, I know some vehicles (my eagle included) shared the heater core in the same cavity as the evaporator and thus used a bypass valve to shut the heater core off whenever the AC was turned on. Due to the high heat and the mechanical nature they are famous for leaking.

Edited: one other thing. Are you POSITIVE it's not just condensation dripping off the evaporator? It is Arizona but one good rainfall is enough to crank the humidity up to 80% for an afternoon.

I've never heard of oil leaking out of the evaporator side, but it's certainly possible :scratch2:
Happens all the time. I've replaced lots of evaporators. It's always nice when you have the smoking gun of bright neon yellow UV dyed oil is dripping out of the condensate drain under the car.
An oil leak that large should give a LOT of noise as the AC system vents. Are you positive the AC still works?
Eh, it's possible. I've seen a few evaporators fail in that manner. They leak just enough to get the oil smell through the vents when running the a/c, but slow enough that the a/c works at least through a season.

So, this car was having trouble starting when the gas tank was down to less than 1/2 a tank or so. After a while, I spotted a slow leak from the fuel pump (It's a frame-mounted electric unit sitting just in front of the gas tank.) I got a new one, but I had siphoned the tank down to just a few gallons before I swapped it because I was worried about fuel leaking out when I disconnected the pump, and the car wouldn't start at all afterwards with the new pump.

After doing a little research I found out that this car actually has two fuel pumps. The other one is located inside the gas tank. I think it makes some sense if it is the pump in the gas tank causing the trouble: if some seal on the pump is not really sealed I can imagine that it works ok only when it is submerged?

I have a replacement second fuel pump, but I haven't dropped the gas tank yet, which it looks like I have to do to replace the second fuel pump. What worries me about this is the weird fuel lines this car uses.

Weird fuel lines:

They are made of some kind of hard plastic with ends that look like several rubber washers stacked up. Whatever you hook the line onto slides through the middle of the washers. A plastic clip fits in-between the rubber washers (which I have yet to figure out how to remove without breaking), and these fittings can rotate freely around whatever they hook onto even after they are clipped in.

Now I'm fairly certain that the leak that I saw earlier wasn't from the outer fuel pump, but from one of these fittings (the one on the gas tank side of the frame mounted pump). Does this type of line only come in set lengths (if I can even get it), or can you get any length of line and put on your own fittings with the right tools? Or if that's possible, can I just keep the line already in there and change the fittings?

I'll try to post a pic of these weird fittings I'm talking about later today.

I dropped the gas tank yesterday. Now I have a replacement fuel pump to put in it, a new second (frame-mounted pump), and a new fuel filter. But I can't get the fuel lines. The fuel lines were leaking at the fittings where they attach to the second (the frame-mounted) fuel pump so I want to change them, but I can't get pre-made pieces sized to fit this car. Has anyone worked with fuel lines like this? Can I just get the fittings and some line and make one?

The first pic shows one of the fittings from the line that goes from the gas tank to the second fuel pump.

The second pic shows one of the fittings on the line that goes from the 2nd pump to the filter (they're the same but have that 90 deg angle.)

The third pic shows the different kind of clip that holds in the vapor return line where it attaches to the tank (I picked up a box of the more common kind of clips, but I now need this one too).

4th pic is the gas tank itself.

http://www.lincolnsonline.com/forum/index.php

Adam if no one here has your answer try posting your fuel line question over at this website (that I use for my 03 towncar) . It's not a very busy site over there but there are a few people who really know Lincolns ;)

But I can't get the fuel lines. The fuel lines were leaking at the fittings where they attach to the second (the frame-mounted) fuel pump so I want to change them, but I can't get pre-made pieces sized to fit this car. Has anyone worked with fuel lines like this? Can I just get the fittings and some line and make one?

Yes, you will have to make your own. The fittings are not the easiest to find, but they can be had, usually NAPA or Carquest (now Advance) will have them, sometimes Autozone, usually in the "Help!" section, but in some stores you may have to ask (and keep telling them that yes, they do in fact carry them). They come in two common sizes: 5/16" and 3/8" and usually come in either right angle or straight. They will come in some different connection types, however, they are almost always interchangeable with each other. They have the old fashioned metal connectors that you need that special tool to release, and the metal ones that have the release tool built in. Then they have three or four different plastic types. Just use what you can get as they should all work. The only times they won't interchange are when the metal line has two beads in it (because some engineer wanted to make your life difficult).

Yes, you technically can make new nylon hoses, but good luck finding the nylon hoses, and even then, it's a huge pain in the ass to work with. Also, yes, technically, you could 'repair' your existing nylon hoses by heating the ends with a heat gun and pulling out the connectors and replacing them with new ones, but see the earlier note about the difficulty. Rubber hoses are much easier to acquire and work with. For the pressure lines, you probably want to buy actual "fuel injection" fuel hose, which is a more expensive rubber hose that has a liner inside of the hose to handle the high pressure. The return and vapor lines will be fine with ordinary "fuel hose." Ideally, you'll also want to use "fuel injection" hose clamps on the pressure line as well. Those kind of suck, because they're very particular about the size of hose to the clamp. In a pinch, however, you can get away with regular fuel hose and clamps. The hoses I replaced on my LeBaron lasted about 8 years with regular stuff (I just replaced it with regular stuff again lol).

If you need a long run of tubing (say, going from the pump to the engine), and you don't want to run a rubber hose that long, you can buy a steel brake line of the same diameter, and use that. I like to make bubble flares on the ends (because good luck finding an affordable hose bead making tool) and just put the rubber hose over the ends to make the connections to whatever.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/tools/hoses/lines+&+clamps,fitting+-+connector,fuel+hose+/+line+connector+-+straight,1001128
Note the categories for fuel line connector are "90º" and "straight." You'll also see that they are named like this: "5/16 Nylon to 3/8 Steel" where steel is the diameter of the fuel pump metal pipe, and nylon will be the hose diameter that you can connect to the connector. Also I'd definitely recommend buying them online, just because the stores usually only have one of each in stock...

(I'm a mechanic!)

EDIT - I have a hack to connect a nylon hose to a rubber hose. Get a metal brake line of the same diameter. It needs to have a good double flare on the end of it, just like it has when you buy it from the store. Cut the flared end off of it, making the piece about 1.5". Ensure the cut end is flat and round off the sharp edges. Warm the end of the nylon with a heat gun and shove the metal line piece into it, with the flare end out. Now you can shove a rubber hose over the flare and you can tighten a hose clamp over it, as the metal will support it!

Thanks for the info. I'm fairly certain the line from the external pump to the filter is ok, but it was leaking from the fitting on the fuel line that goes from the external pump to the in-tank pump where it attaches to the external pump. So I'm just going to replace just the one line now, especially because I can still get to the external pump to filter line after I put the tank back, but will have to lower the tank again to replace the one going to it.

If I do have to replace the external pump to filter line, I might try the rubber hose method, but for this one I can't get to again without lowering the tank I want something permanent so I've been experimenting with removing and attaching the fittings from the line I have and am fairly certain I can do this with the heat gun method now. The hard part actually seems to be not overheating the line.

I cut up my existing fuel line doing it, so I had to order more. I ordered 5/16 nylon fuel line, fittings, clips, and a new seal for where the filler neck goes in the tank (I figured why not replace it while I have the tank out). Once it all gets here I'm going to try to make that fuel line.

Honestly, I would consider a rubber hose permanent if you used actual fuel injection hose and clamps. But hey, if you've got the heat gun and the lines, I guess it's worth a shot.

The new in-tank electric fuel pump is identical to the old one, except for where the filter attaches. The old one is 1/2" in diameter on the end and the new one is 3/4", so the filter won't fit. I see a lot of these filters for sale online, but most don't give the diameter of the hole. Anyone know exactly what filter I need here? Pic of both pumps below and the old filter...

Whoever sold you the pump should also be able to supply the filter screen. Kind of surprised it didn't come with the pump really.

It's likely a design change, so the screen part number was probably superceded. TBH, you should change that old strainer anyway. Looks like crap.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/lincoln,1983,continental,5.0l+302cid+v8,1187883,fu el+&+air,fuel+pump,6256

Yeah, they all look small :/ Let's do some sleuthing. Look at the fuel pump and housing assy. SPECTRA PREMIUM SP2493H - the strainer on that looks exactly like SPECTRA PREMIUM STR08. Then, the rest of the strainers look similar in size, except AIRTEX FS184, which looks like a male connection instead of female - that one is probably a replacement for the old screen. So I'd say it's a safe bet the rest of the strainers are going to fit. Especially since the in-tank pumps on RockAuto all look like yours.

Looking on advance auto parts' website, FS0177 is listed for you cars, as well as FS260336, which interestingly says 'new number.' The pump also says 'new number,' which goes back to what I said about the pump being superceded / design changes. The FS260336 also looks exactly like the Spectra part. Some Advance stores seem to have the strainer in stock, about $10ish.

I ended up buying several of those filters, they were all slightly different shapes, but they all fit. I picked the one closest in shape to the original. I put the pump back in the tank tonight, and also replaced the seal on the tank where the filler tube goes in.

I made the new fuel line last week. I came up with a method of putting the fittings on that didn't require heating the line so much. The new fittings I got are way better than the ones original to the car. The clips are a permanent part of the fitting, and you just push the two sides together to take them on and off (you can do it with your fingers). I have pictures of the new line and fittings below (my phone seems to have eaten my pics of the filters).

Tomorrow night I'm going to try to get the new external filter and pump installed. And hopefully I'll put the gas tank back in on Wednesday.

Nice work.

Thanks. I put the external fuel pump and filter in last night (things always go more slowly than you think). The fuel filter had never been replaced, the original one was still in there.

I put the gas tank back in last night. When I did I realized I should have also gotten a new rubber seal that goes around this vent that attaches to the top of the tank (the old one is cracked and hard), but for now I just want to see if I can get this car to run and don't want to wait another week for another part to arrive by mail. I just ordered a new seal this morning, and I'll replace it later.

I also couldn't stuff the filler tube in while holding up the gas tank at the same time. Now I can't get it up high enough to line it up with the hole in the tank with the tank already installed, but it looks like I can remove the piece the filler tube slides through that attaches to the rear fender, if I access it through the trunk. Then I can remove the tube entirely, so I can lined it up correctly and push it in with the tank already installed.

For now I have to use a piece of wood to hold the trunk lid up. Those hydraulic lifts that hold up the trunk lid aren't working anymore. But I also ordered those this morning.

When I first bought this car, I just thought it would be an interesting driver that I sold after a few years. But after I keep having to put so much work into it, I figure I'll either sell it sooner because I get fed up with stuff breaking, or I'll fix it all and want to keep it because I finally get everything to work.

I haven't worked on cars much in the past 10-20 years, but I used to work on cars all the time back in the 90s and early 00's - but back then all my cars were from the 1960s or 70s. When I looked for a car from that era last year, I discovered that now they're all either super-expensive, super-broken, or both, so I went for 80's cars (and now I have 2 of them: the 83 Lincoln and 84 Firebird). I like cars from the 80s, but I still have a lot to learn about them. But that said, eventually, I'd still like to pick up something from the super-broken category and restore it - I've always wanted a finned GM car from 1959-60.

It's alive!!:D

I had to drop the tank again to get the filler tube in, but it's running now. It started up with only 1 gallon of fuel in there (before it would only start with the tank more than 1/2 full), and no leaks.

Next up, I have to take the dash apart and fix (in order of priority):

1. The AC - Strangely, it's not loosing it's charge, but it's leaking a puddle of a clear liquid onto the carpet whenever I run it. (There's a sticker under the hood that says it was converted to R134, so at least if I do have to replace the evaporator, I don't have to track down cans of R12)

2. Replace the vacuum operated switch that releases the parking brake. I just disconnected it and plugged the hose. It was leaking vacuum. I have a new one, but there is one screw that holds it in going into the firewall, located directly above the steering column, that I just can't get to from below the dash.

3. Heater - the heater core is leaking, and I bypassed it last winter.

4. Radio stuff - Replace the 2 blown speakers on the left. In the radio itself: clean dirty controls, cassette player.

5. The computer that calculates DTE "distance to empty" always thinks I'm out of gas and beeps and flashes 0. The problem is intermittent (occasionally it just starts working), and isn't a stuck sending unit because the fuel gauge works. Also, the mpg calculator works, so at least part of the computer knows there's gas.

That computer that beeps 0 and thinks I'm out of gas seems to have fixed itself. And if it is accurate, with my new fuel pumps my average mpg has gone up from ~14 to ~18.

And I've used the AC two days in a row now, and it's worked fine: cold air and no leaking fluid.

1. The AC - Strangely, it's not loosing it's charge, but it's leaking a puddle of a clear liquid onto the carpet whenever I run it.
That's just condensate. The condensate drain is clogged with leaves and crap. Blow it out with compressed air.

It's developing another weird problem. Sometimes after it sits outside in the parking lot all day (only on a really hot day), it won't start. It will turn over, but it won't even try to start. Then if I let it sit 20-30 min and try again it starts right up. (It still won't start after just 5 or 10 min).

So it has to be something that effects all the cylinders at once, and something that can fix itself.

possible fuel-related problems?
I know it's not the fuel pumps, because I just changed those. Maybe something to do with power getting to one or both of the fuel pumps or to the injectors in that 2 barrel tbi unit? A relay? Couldn't be a blown fuse, that wouldn't repair itself.

I was talking to some guy in the parking lot while I was fooling with it and he said sometimes there's a solenoid operated valve in these tbi units and the solenoid sticks and the valve stays closed and the fuel doesn't get to the injectors.

possible ignition problems?
It couldn't have to do with a spark plug or wire, because that wouldn't effect all cylinders at once. The cap and rotor are new. Ignition coil?

Anyway, any ideas? I have no time to work on anything right now, but I'll have a week off in two weeks from now and I hope to get this sorted then.

Two things I'd investigate is if the coil is firing at all (or run a coil resistance check) and verify pressure at the injector. A thermal condition is certainly possible for both the coil or a sticking solenoid valve.

You should be able to simulate the problem by running it and getting it very hot then turning it off and letting it hot soak.

I don't know anything about a fuel valve on these, but I'm not that familiar with them. Having a solenoid valve not work sometimes is common, but for it to not work in heat only, and not just randomly is a bit odd.

At any rate, next time you experience the problem, try cycling the ignition on and off, waiting at least 5 sec between them. That should prime the fuel pump several times. Maybe you're simply losing prime, or getting vapor lock, and that should take care of that.

Also, depending on the car's design, if it has an intake air temperature sensor (unsure) that may get super hot on a hot day, and the computer will think it should use as little gas as possible. That's a thing that can happen.

If it's like the old Chevy TBFI, you can watch the injectors spraying fuel as the engine runs (or cranks).

Put 4 new tires on the Lincoln. The ones on there weren't out of tread, but they were old and brittle, the rubber was cracking. The Lincoln sat in a garage for nearly 10 years before I bought it, and I suspect the tires were at least 10 years old then.

And my floor jack quit working when I was putting the wheels back on, after nearly 30 years...:sigh:

So yesterday I was about an hour away taking some of my students to a 'robot competition' (I think the word robot is stretching the truth a bit, but they make remote controlled machines that have to perform some task). Anyway, on the way back we pull into a Dunkin Donuts and my muffler falls off in the parking lot :worried: (I was driving my Lincoln with all their stuff in the trunk, and the Bio teacher was driving all the students in her van.)

The main problem was that the pipe was flopping around loose and hitting up against the driveshaft, so I tied it up with some surplus metal from the students' robot spare parts kit and drove home. I would have rather just removed it and tossed it in a dumpster somewhere, but I didn't have the tools to detach the exhaust clamps holding it in on me (I really need to start keeping some tools in my trunk).

Unfortunately, in the Phoenix area any car newer that '66 has to pass a smog check, otherwise I would just replace the whole exhaust system with dual exhaust and no catalytic converters. (There's a loophole but it requires you get this classic car insurance which limits how much you drive the car usually to 5K miles per year. I eventually want to go this route with my Firebird - but it doesn't make sense with the Lincoln which I got for a daily driver).

It uses 2 catalytic converters (which are pretty rusty too), which feed into a single muffler. I'm thinking I should just replace everything (or maybe I could get away with just replacing the catalytic converters and everything behind them). I'm trying to find all the parts in one place and having no luck, I'm looking around online and I see catalytic converters, tailpipes, mufflers that might work, I don't see the pipes that join the cats to the muffler anywhere at all.

Throwing the loose muffler away is a big mistake that I've had too many customers make! The guy making a new exhaust for your car needs a template! KEEP IT.

Also just go to a muffler shop and let them remake it from scratch. The car is old enough that locating all direct-fit exhaust parts is not necessarily viable.

I got the muffler, tailpipe, and piece that goes from the y-pipe following the two cats to the muffler. That's all I absolutely need to replace now.

It really doesn't need the pipes going from the manifolds to the cats, but if I keep driving it for a while I will eventually have to replace the cats and that y-pipe. After searching more throughly, the y-pipe appears to be the only part that is not available.

There are 3 things I have to repair in the dash, which I am taking apart now.

1. The radio: already cleaned controls, and replaced belts (now I have a working cassette player :yes:) This car came with a nice stereo: six speakers, 4 front (2 in the dash and 2 in the doors) and two rear, and the rear speakers are run off a separate amp mounted near the speakers in the trunk. The cassette player even has noise reduction.

2. I need to change the vacuum-operated switch that automatically releases the parking brake. It was leaking vacuum, so I had just plugged the line. I have a new one, but the switch is mounted to the firewall directly above the steering column, and there was one screw I just could not get to from below - so I'm hoping to get to it from above.

3. Heater core - currently leaking and bypassed.

4. I'm enjoying those Perry Mason tapes I picked up last week ....

I was just talking about how great the stereo sounds, and I take out the speakers in the dash this morning and see that they are nearly disintegrated... But, surprisingly I was able to locate replacements.

Nice.

So this week I've:

1. Now got a working cassette player with new belts and new speakers in the dash. (I think I'm going to need to replace the speakers in the doors too. I'll get to it when I take the door panels off to figure out what's wrong with the power widows.)

2. Replaced the heater core - but haven't hooked it up yet.

3. Replaced the tailpipe, muffler, and short exhaust pipe which bolts to the y-pipe following the two cats and connects to the muffler. - Which makes this the only one of my 3 cars with no exhaust leaks. I want to put a nice set of duals on the Ranchero - but I just noticed a crack in the right exhaust manifold, so I'll have to replace that when I do it too.

4. I replaced that switch which releases the parking brake, but found out the actual device that does the releasing is leaking vacuum too (It's sort of a vacuum powered solenoid).

5. I'm going to change the oil and filter today - at least I'll be able to drive this to work again next week.

I hooked up the heater core, so now that I don't need it anymore because it's getting hot again, the heater works.:D

There's a T-fitting which attaches to a 3/8" hose which goes to a built-in oil cooler. I couldn't get the 3/8 hose which I needed to replace it (it has a sharp 180 deg bend in it), so I just ran a longer hose in such a way that I didn't need to bend it sharply.

I finally figured out the reason it was having trouble starting after sitting outside on a hot day was due to the electronic ignition control module ("Duraspark III" as Ford calls it). Put in a new module, the problem went away.

So last week I swapped my 72 Ranchero for a 52 Lincoln Cosmopolitan (Not even close to running (the insulation on all the wiring is bad) - but a very straight body with original paint, no rust, it's all there).

Then I crashed my 2004 Chevy truck, which I'd been using as a driver. The rear suspension is completely ruined, I'm considering just parting it out or selling it as is.

The 83 Lincoln still isn't running, and now the only running car I have is my 84 Firebird with no AC (even the '52 Lincoln has AC! - but it's missing the 2nd radiator), in this 115 degree heat.

I've been trying to fix this '83 Lincoln but I can't figure it out. It runs fine for the first 5 minutes or so until it warms up (it doesn't overheat). Then it starts to miss usually when I'm idling at a stop light - if I turn off the AC it improves it a bit, but it will still eventually get worse, until, if you keep driving it, it will eventually stall. If you let it go on long enough it won't start again. Then if you let it sit for a few hours it starts fine, and you can repeat the process.

If it won't start, spraying starting fluid down the tbi unit does no good, and it appears as if there is no spark - I pulled a spark plug wire and tried to see if I could see it arc. So I replaced the: rotor, cap, wires, plugs, coil, ignition control module, and crankshaft sensor which is mounted hear the harmonic balancer. I tried multiple coils and ignition control modules.

After I just replaced that crank sensor and drove it around a bit the problem reoccurred, and I noticed one of the catalytic converters was smoking. But I had tried removing them and just driving with straight pipes before and it made no difference (except for a slight increase in power - it still started missing after a few minutes).

Since I've had this car I have also replaced the fuel pumps (there's 2 of them one in the tank and one below it).

I can't take driving in this 115 degree heat with no AC anymore. I'm at the point where I'm considering selling the Firebird, just so I can buy another truck with AC (this time I want one of those small trucks). But this would probably take longer than just fixing the '83 Lincoln if I could only figure out what was wrong with it. Anyone know these cars well enough to have a guess?

Is there any additional computer or sensors related to the ignition? I'd assume if it still uses a distributor the engine goew back to the points era, and there's probably a late 60s points dist that will drop in.... I'd be tempted to drop in a points dist, manually wire it to the battery with a switch, and see what it does...(Also look at the slot on the oil pump grear if it's that style and see if it wallowed out).
I've never had issues with the duraspark module in my 78 Lincoln (knock on simulated wood dash), but I've seen others cuss them out for failing and new ones not always being good.

With this system - the Duraspark III, unlike the earlier Duraspark II, the advance is entirely computer controlled, and it uses the crank sensor, so there's nothing to the distributor but the cap and rotor.

If I still had the '72 Ranchero with the 302, I could have just taken the distributor out and tried that. (But I always preferred the way GM did their distributors so you could adjust the points with a dwell meter connected and the engine running - as opposed to Fords where you had to use the feeler gauge)

I'm tempted to try converting to the earlier electronic ignition system (the Duraspark II with an ordinary vacuum advance distributor and no crank sensor) - Looking around online I see people have done it, but I doubt that's something I could sort out quickly.

...Or I could get a points distributor and a 2 barrel carb (which I believe will fit on the same intake as the tbi), and just be done with this whole mess.

Does that year/model system employ an oxygen sensor?

jr

So last week I swapped my 72 Ranchero for a 52 Lincoln Cosmopolitan (Not even close to running (the insulation on all the wiring is bad) - but a very straight body with original paint, no rust, it's all there).

Then I crashed my 2004 Chevy truck, which I'd been using as a driver. The rear suspension is completely ruined, I'm considering just parting it out or selling it as is.

The 83 Lincoln still isn't running, and now the only running car I have is my 84 Firebird with no AC (even the '52 Lincoln has AC! - but it's missing the 2nd radiator), in this 115 degree heat.

I've been trying to fix this '83 Lincoln but I can't figure it out. It runs fine for the first 5 minutes or so until it warms up (it doesn't overheat). Then it starts to miss usually when I'm idling at a stop light - if I turn off the AC it improves it a bit, but it will still eventually get worse, until, if you keep driving it, it will eventually stall. If you let it go on long enough it won't start again. Then if you let it sit for a few hours it starts fine, and you can repeat the process.

If it won't start, spraying starting fluid down the tbi unit does no good, and it appears as if there is no spark - I pulled a spark plug wire and tried to see if I could see it arc. So I replaced the: rotor, cap, wires, plugs, coil, ignition control module, and crankshaft sensor which is mounted hear the harmonic balancer. I tried multiple coils and ignition control modules.

After I just replaced that crank sensor and drove it around a bit the problem reoccurred, and I noticed one of the catalytic converters was smoking. But I had tried removing them and just driving with straight pipes before and it made no difference (except for a slight increase in power - it still started missing after a few minutes).

Since I've had this car I have also replaced the fuel pumps (there's 2 of them one in the tank and one below it).

I can't take driving in this 115 degree heat with no AC anymore. I'm at the point where I'm considering selling the Firebird, just so I can buy another truck with AC (this time I want one of those small trucks). But this would probably take longer than just fixing the '83 Lincoln if I could only figure out what was wrong with it. Anyone know these cars well enough to have a guess?

I'll bet these guys can help ya, especially Dereck & Gadget ..... :thmbsp:

https://www.lincolnsonline.com/forum/index.php

.

Hi - You have a nice looking car. The problem you have sounds like possibly you are
loosing energy in your spark, or it's intermittent, and then quits as it gets hot.... It
looks like there are 2 engine modules in that EEC III system from what I have found
online... We have had a number of Fords of those years and never any ignition
problems.... I did find a few resources you might find helpful...
Also check out fuel pump relay, & power to the EEC be sure it's
getting to the modules & staying on and steady.... (Possible relay there too).

YT video to get codes off computer... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puAEJ3BYFeY

I bet there are many more... as a matter of fact YT should be the best place to look
for help with this as it's an old and well known system.

A few forums that have posted about the EEC III System.

This pic shows 2 modules in the system....
https://www.mustangevolution.com/attachments/durasparkiii-gif.31991/

Forum questions about EEC III Gen Diag.
https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/#nabble-td75706

1982 engine emissions diag.
https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/1982-engine-emissions-diagnosis.html

Ignition Systems.
https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/ignition-systems.html

All EEC Systems Ford Used.
https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/electronic-engine-control-eec.html


My Dad had a '86 T-Bird with 302, spit injection, & AOD trans, it lasted over
150K miles until sold for a newer car and the new owner kept it for
many many more miles....

My '88 Dakota has spit injection too - Very good!

Good Luck.

I would not change out the system to something older.

.

Whether there was still power getting to the fuel pumps was one of the first things I checked.

I got a free rental car for a month through my job, so I have time now to figure this out. I'm hoping I can just sell my Firebird and buy another truck before the rental runs out.

This only has 97k, had 86k when I bought it in 2019. I like this car, but it's hard to work on. Took me over a week (working on it all day, every day) to replace the heater core. But I repaired the cassette deck and put new speakers in the dash when I had it apart - then this problem developed shortly afterwards and I didn't get to enjoy it.

This has always had ignition problems, it seems to eat those modules. Thanks, I'll check out all that info in a few days when I have time. (I'm working one job, and applying to another and this stupid application is eating all my time right now)

So I did the self diagnostic procedure and I got - code 12 engine RPM out of spec, and code 32 EGR valve position sensor shorted, open, or out of range.

I pulled the EGR valve and it wouldn't hold vacuum, but it wasn't stuck. I read that some of them won't hold vacuum unless there is pressure already coming in from the exhaust side, but didn't know if this was one of those or not so I replaced it anyway. (When I got my new valve it didn't hold vacuum either, so the old one might have been good.)

I checked the sensor with an ohm meter (it has 3 connections, and I don't know why 3 and not 2?), but I could see the resistance going up and down as I pushed it in and out.) But I replaced the sensor too.

And it's running way better. I need to drive it around to be sure, but I think that might have been it.

I removed the battery tray so I could trace some wires, so the battery is just sitting in there loose, and so is the radiator (for the same reason), so I have to put some stuff back together before I can drive it around.

When I removed the EGR valve I broke one of these hard plastic vacuum lines, and I noticed break in another one of those lines too. I repaired them by slipping heat shrink over the line and holding the two sides of the broken plastic line right next to each other before I heated it up, so there wasn't really any portion of vacuum line that was only made of heat shrink, but still I don't think those repairs will hold up, is there a better option?

I just replaced those broken hard plastic vacuum lines with rubber ones. With the new EGR valve and sensor, and vacuum lines it runs much better, doesn't stall at all.

But I do notice that after it warms up, if I'm sitting at a traffic light for a while, it will miss occasionally. It doesn't idle rough, it idles smooth, then misses once or twice, then goes back to idling smooth. It will do this a few times if you sit at a traffic light long enough.

.

I don't remember you saying the car had O2 sensor or not. If not, then there is no way
the car can run in closed loop - so it depends on stored look-up tables for engine
parameters - This can result in a possible miss. Also don't forget ethanol fuel most
likely did not exist back in '83. There are so many little things that can cause
a miss in those older cars.

Any sticking valve (electric, temperature, or vacuum) can cause a miss, or stalling.
My parents had a 1979 Ford LTD back in the day and it would stall getting off the
freeway, turns out a sticking EGR valve was the trouble. Otherwise it ran great
for years.

Your best bet is to get the original 3" thick manual written by ford, and get to
know the system inside-out.

Also - the thin hard plastic vacuum lines were to get a faster response from the
item at the end of the line. Hard walls, thinner line, all for less volume in the
line to change when vacuum was applied. I have them on my 88 Dakota,
I think it helps the HVAC stuff respond fast.

.

.

I don't believe there is an O2 sensor. There is an engine coolant temperature sensor (which I presume is working because the temp gauge works), a manifold pressure sensor, a throttle position sensor (which I replaced), an air charge temperature sensor, and the EGR valve position sensor (which I replaced).

The gas in there was 3 years old, but now I burned it all off and put in new and it didn't seem to make a difference.

The catalytic converters smoke and put out an awful smell after I drive it around for a while, I wonder if they are getting clogged up. They unbolt, I might take them off and drive it around with straight pipes and see what happens.

.

You need the book.... My 91 accord has 3 coolant temp sensors, 1 turns on fan,
I goes to computer, and 1 goes to the needle on the dash. + Cars of that
vintage usually have an alignment procedure for throttle position sensor.
My Dakota has an alignment for the TPS, If you mess with yours
you might have to do it to fix it right. I cleaned my TPS with
tuner cleaner a few years ago, had strange stalling, and
a dead spot as you moved the gas pedal....

Some of the fine points of diagnosis are only covered in depth in the
OEM service manuals.....

.