1990 lincoln towncar

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perichbrothers

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Hi guys.
Got a '90 lincoln towncar from the tow yard a couple months back.
In (to me) great shape, a little beat, looks good from 30 ft though, was an old mans car for sure.
And it drives like a Town Car should, I'm instantly converted,
my first low budget luxury car was a '77 mercedes 280se a good car too.

balluh01.jpg


I figured why the owner let it get impounded,
it seems like every engine seal was fried. Way fried.
Oil was streaming from the engine, coating the whole underside.
I've already replaced the valve cover gaskets, waterpump/gaskets, distributor 0-ring.
(yeah it sounds simple but takes a while having to dismantle the FI etc!)
and tried to clean up everything while putting it back.
Even polished the aluminum cover.
At least oils not dripping on the headers anymore...
(its actually saved the underside,
I powerwashed it and its pristine under there!)


Anyway now I'm on to the oilpan.
its a pain since the engine has to be raised up since its a double hump oilpan.
On the freeway especially uphill, the oil just drips right on to the exhaust.
I jammed RTV in the front and rear for a quick fix but it only lasted a couple months,
long enough for me to forget about it than get bummed now that its leaking again!

Anyway i've read thru some of these posts,
and am more concerned about making it a good efficient driver not really a hot rod.
Was wondering a couple things,

-is there a chip mod that makes it more fuel efficient?
-is the rearend ratio stamped somewhere on the rearend or on the vin tag?
-whats the best for mileage?
-would lowering it a little bit help fuel at all?

(yeah boring I know, but I use it for 200 mile stretches from san diego to ventura, and its adding up!)

I've read some of sixliters suggestions and will try the timing and plugs too, anything else?

thanks guys!

TP
 
Looks awesome to me. & that 95 Town Car Grill looks great ( Much better that the flatter original.

Always remembered in 1990 when I was 3, my dad bought a New 90 Bronco 4X4 Black Eddie Bauer & a 90 Town Car Signature with that Silver color. & to me it was the coolest thing to ride in these huge cars. My dad used to adjust the timing by turning the distributer somehow to get more Horsepower out of the Town Car..

You should get 17-24 MPG . What more can you ask for an 18 y/o car.
You can put a K&N Air filter which might help.
 
MAN enjoy that '90.
My first Lincoln was a 90 TC and man that five liter is bullet proof.
A well tuned 5.0 should get decent mileage, I'd say 15+MPG city 20+MPG HW. Keep filters clean, etc. Check your hard to reach PCV valve. I think u may find the axle stamp on the drivers door pillar along w/ some other info.
I dropped a 5.0 H.O. motor in mine when I had the tranny out (the motor in it was fine but I just had a fresh H.O. laying around) and it got better mileage than the stock engine, probably because I didn't have to mash the pedal to get it up to speed. Anyway man, I'm on my 4'th Lincoln and first cadillac and none of them ride as good as my '90 did. Enjoy it.
 
you're going to probably have to rebuild the engine to get it to stop leaking and get decent mileage, but it should be worth it. I will say though that it won't stay clean long as those 5.0's like to leak.

Your car has 3.08 gears in the back. You could probably put 2.?? gears in it, but you will lose serious acceleration from a dead stop. My suggestion is to get it running perfect. That will give you the best fuel mileage improvement.
 
90

Thanks guys for the replies.

Since I last posted decided it was easier to pull the engine & tranny
than lift the engine up 3 inches and do a half-ass job of replacing that gasket.

It was something I wasn't really ready for,
but now I am glad I did it.
The older rubber style gaskets were seriously brittle,
just filling the space not sealing oil out, both the intake and oilpan gaskets.

The new gaskets are made of a silicon coated rubber,
and the technological advancements in the past 18 years are obvious.

Right now the engine and tranny are back in,
but I ended up cracking the ignition module,
so hopefully that will be the only f*ck-up so far.

When someone says "I dropped in a 5.0" I now really know what it means!
I'll get some pics soon...

TP
 
looks like a lot of fun I wish I had a garage like that
with the motor out why didn't you pick up a cheep mustang 5.0
 
If you get the Mustang 5.0 you will be greatly disappointed when you first start the car as the firing orders are different and the sequential fuel injection will feed some of the cylinders at the wrong time. The cure is to rewire the injector harness so they fire at the right time, but the car will still never really run right. I know because I did it, but hey, the extra power was nice!
 
abe_lincoln78 said:
If you get the Mustang 5.0 you will be greatly disappointed when you first start the car as the firing orders are different and the sequential fuel injection will feed some of the cylinders at the wrong time. The cure is to rewire the injector harness so they fire at the right time, but the car will still never really run right. I know because I did it, but hey, the extra power was nice!
Click to expand...

why didn't you use the ECU from the mustang
 
It requires a mass air flow sensor, which the 5.0 TC doesn't have. The cruise control for the TC is also inside the EEC module and external for the Mustang, requiring you to either buy aftermarket or somehow retrofit another Ford cruise module to your TC. Thirdly, you'll have to rewire the harness that goes into the EEC module because the Mustang has a different ordering of the wires (don't forget you have to add the wires for the MAF). I also think the injectors are different on the Mustang so you will have to switch those out for it to run correctly. In all, its a LOT of time and money, both of which I didn't have as a 17 year old Wal-Mart employed member of the marching band.

Your best bet would be to go with a Mark VII EEC which would only require you to rewire the EEC connector and change the fuel injectors, but then you lose the ability to just add bolt ons as you please like you would be able to with the Mustang unit.
 
From your pic above it looks like it already has mass air. Take a look at the airbox. I too have a 90 w/5.0, but its still speed density(from a mk7). Maybe its a California thing. I know that they started off early in putting mass airs in the mustangs. Mine is Rebuilt to stock 5.0 H.O. spec, 1.7rockers, duals. Tranny is redone with wide ratio gears. I get 15 in town w/ac or 16.5 w/o ac. 20-21 on hwy, but haven't driven it much on higway. 99% is in town.

Good luck.
 
strange. . . . that one does have mass air. . .

but even with that hurtle crossed you still have the different wiring schemes for the EEC, and the lack of cruise control. If the injectors are different you'll have to change them and the mass air sensor as well.

horsepower for the 88 was like 195. . . 30 less than the mustang had in 89-93. Torque curves are probably fairly different on the bottom end too.
 
87-93 mustang had 225hp and 300ft/lb rated and most people got more power out of the speed-density cars cause they had better air flow
 
I beleive up through 88 was rated at either 185 or 195. 89-95 were the years with 225hp, 300 ft-lb rated.

If you want to upgrade the engine beyond stock with speed density you will have to reflash the computer to have the correct fuel curves.

I don't know why we're arguing this anyway though because I already showed at least two other good reasons why swapping a mustang computer into a towncar is a pain in the a**.
 
5.0 lincoln

The engine was tight enough to not want to even attempt to swap engines.
I'm trying to do this on the cheap,
just $70 so far in oil pan/intake/tranny gaskets, tranny fluid, oil and filter.

I'm bummed cause I lost the top-hat bushing for the TV cable-throttle.
Parts stores don't have 'em so I gotta go to the dealer I guess...:confused:

The good news is the thing runs.
At first it ran like :q:q:q:q,
had some hoses not attached,
and the worst was some tranny fluid got into one of the catalytic converters.
The thing smoked for a good while but now its cleared up.

It sounds great, have only the exhaust connected before the muffler flanges.
Would love to just run it straight piped!

Now about that bushing, then I can drive it...

TP
 
Ac

Oh yeah the one thing that made the install alot easier,
was I ripped out all the AC stuff.

It had never worked, and I've never owned a car with working AC,
so its not a big loss.

The tubes/hoses took so much space though,
that it made it difficult to take apart,
but without all that junk the engine slid in and it was alot easier to hook up.
I just unbolted the piece behind the compressor,
so now its just a heavy freewheel pulley.

We''ll see if it cools off more without that AC radiator too.

TP
 
icm

Dang it I lied,
I forgot that the engine hoist chain broke the distributors ignition control module.
It only lightly cracked it,
but the heat sink separated and cracked the chip.

Kinda a bummer but a new cheapy was $45.
Add in about 4 cans of engine degreaser and 3 of brake/carb cleaner,
and my $ total is about $140...
(-$10 if I ever send in the oil rebate!)

TP
 
hose

Dammit the post above reminded me of the plastic line hose I cut up.
Stuff was expensive (kragen) with the blue insides but it works so...

3 feet at $4/ foot...

$142

TP
 
smog

So didn't have alot of time to work on this lately.
Had some serious holes and broken mufflers,
first thought to buy them but then decided to reweld them and save the $140!
Just took one evening, they weren't that bad.
Hard to TIG on thin aluminized muffler steel though!

Anyway it was running alot better than before I tore it out,
no check lights,
but when checking the timing it was a little sporadic, the light was.
Also it would stutter when the plug was taken out (for computer)
Also the gas would get sucked out fast at idle,
although it ran great on the freeway.

So took it in for smog anyway,
and it didn't pass :(
Really nervewracking ordeal.

Took it to the shop and was pretty frustrated.
I looked online and found some tricks to check,

One being the IAC, the other the TPS.
Took off the IAC and it was super carbonated, lotsa hard deposits.

Also swapped the plugs, which were very worn, not bad they were also mismatched!
And the rotor, which was again not bad but had signs of wear.

Jeez that thing idles great now!
And it will run fine without the plug (for timing)

Today or tomorrow i'll have to recheck it, still stressful though,
but I think there's a good chance.
It passed great on the high revs, just the HCMs were 150 on the idle (max 120)

Anyway that's all...

TP
 
I have a 90 that I'm trying to fix up myself, of course with no knowledge of how to actually fix an engine and no tools to really do it, it's expensive.. I just stated yestrday actually, (the car has been siting for awhile) first came the new battery... coming soon is
new pcv, new iac, new tps, new 02 senors, tires, proably look into the seals that you mentioned, and possible replacement of break lines... sorry for going on, you have any photos of the interior?
 
smog

Passed SMOG!!
So stoked that it did.
I screwed up though and drove it to the shop without really warming it up,
so it passed on the second time after the 3 minute hi-rev.

All it took was replace the spark plugs and rotor
and clean the IAC valve which was super carboned.
It ran like a totally different car.

Yes!

TP
 
Yup. . . gotta warm up that catalyst before it starts working.

Congrats dude. . . I never got my old 5.0 perfect (probably due to the reasons I mentioned above.)

I hope your Lincoln enjoys a long and healthy life in your hands!
 
posi!

Hey guys.

There is a dirt lot next to the shop,
got kinda soft with the rain that was down here.
So for some reason I did a dirt burnout,
and low and behold,
2 "skid" marks!

I tried it again just to make sure, and sure enough, 2 longer skid marks!

Never checked when it was up on stands.
Kinda cool its a real hot rod lincoln!

I've looked in the manual, and it shows pictures of a normal one-legger.
Anyone know if its typical for this year, or ?

Thanks guys.
TP
 
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