Hey guys and gals I'm new to this. Few questions...this is an awesome car, need some direction with low beam replacement and blend accuator arm replacement. Car only has 89k miles any other surprises I should expect?
98 mark VIII
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Lownslowlsc
Dedicated LVC Member
Welcome to the site. 
1: Yes it is. :hump:
2: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2522432
98lincmk7lsc on here sells the adapter rings
3: Top 3 topics-
http://www.lincolnsofdistinction.org/lincolntech/modrepair/index.html
And a thread w/ pics-
http://www.lincolnsofdistinction.or...al-and-Repair-(Write-Up)&highlight=blend+door
1: Yes it is. :hump:
2: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2522432
98lincmk7lsc on here sells the adapter rings
3: Top 3 topics-
http://www.lincolnsofdistinction.org/lincolntech/modrepair/index.html
And a thread w/ pics-
http://www.lincolnsofdistinction.or...al-and-Repair-(Write-Up)&highlight=blend+door
dnsherrill
Dedicated LVC Member
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:W:V
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I may be mistaken, but:
for the low beams, you can remove the oem bulbs, get adapter rings to use an aftermarket 9005/6 HID kit; go with DDM, VVME, or Kensun kits
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for the blend door actuator/motor, it's a bear to change it and reinforce the linkage, the part is available new, but since it's a gen 2 you can reach behind the glove box push a lever to go from cold to heat, I think some guys have propped it up to stay in place
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other surprises? wait for your neon ballast to die...get a Glitch ballast
- telescoping column malfunction?
Nice that you found a low mileage car, and those two items are just the tip of the iceberg.
I had this list of things to check when hunting for my Mark VIII (and really none of them was a deal breaker but I factored them into what I was willing to spend):
low beams (mine worked for a year, then one died, I swapped in some 9006 aftermarket capsules and ballast)
neon center on trunk (mine didn't work, and was full of water and much of the silver is gone, bought Glitch ballast)
blend door (mine was/is broken, I don't really have a time where I use only heat or only AC, so this is next on my list)
rippled surround on rear window (mine has 2 sections of 3 inches where it is rippled)
air suspension not holding overnight, not pumping up (mine was converted to coils already)
chrome on wheels flaking off (mine has the 10 spoke chrome, in great shape but swapped to my 89 Cougar)
front suspension in need of total replacement (mine rattles, all the boots are cracked, and I will be doing it at same time as blend door)
door switch covers fallen off (mine has all covers, but it was obvious they were glued on, and not on the correct switches)
seats no longer moving (my passenger one does 95% of the time correctly, my drivers seat about 5%, but I can brake to move it forward, and leg assist it back, I took it apart and cleaned up the motor and swapped it with one of the others, and it still doesn't work well)
gold or tinted drivers outside mirror (mine worked for a year, now it is gold and tinted, and doubles everything)
door panel separation (everyone drives with a leg touching the door panel, and it separates under the door switch panel)
door sagging (these are seriously long and heavy doors, and they eventually sag, mine has one replaced hinge, and they did a good job aligning the door after)
missing a key (they are expensive, and tougher and tougher to get, I only have one key)
telescoping/tilting wheel (mine behaves okay, it goes up a little then down when I command down, and same for telescope)
that is all I can remember for now. Quite a list, for for a 17 year old car, you have to expect that. I still enjoy and get more out of my car than many of my friends with 3-4 year old cars, but you have to be willing to work on them or pay to get them worked on.
I had this list of things to check when hunting for my Mark VIII (and really none of them was a deal breaker but I factored them into what I was willing to spend):
low beams (mine worked for a year, then one died, I swapped in some 9006 aftermarket capsules and ballast)
neon center on trunk (mine didn't work, and was full of water and much of the silver is gone, bought Glitch ballast)
blend door (mine was/is broken, I don't really have a time where I use only heat or only AC, so this is next on my list)
rippled surround on rear window (mine has 2 sections of 3 inches where it is rippled)
air suspension not holding overnight, not pumping up (mine was converted to coils already)
chrome on wheels flaking off (mine has the 10 spoke chrome, in great shape but swapped to my 89 Cougar)
front suspension in need of total replacement (mine rattles, all the boots are cracked, and I will be doing it at same time as blend door)
door switch covers fallen off (mine has all covers, but it was obvious they were glued on, and not on the correct switches)
seats no longer moving (my passenger one does 95% of the time correctly, my drivers seat about 5%, but I can brake to move it forward, and leg assist it back, I took it apart and cleaned up the motor and swapped it with one of the others, and it still doesn't work well)
gold or tinted drivers outside mirror (mine worked for a year, now it is gold and tinted, and doubles everything)
door panel separation (everyone drives with a leg touching the door panel, and it separates under the door switch panel)
door sagging (these are seriously long and heavy doors, and they eventually sag, mine has one replaced hinge, and they did a good job aligning the door after)
missing a key (they are expensive, and tougher and tougher to get, I only have one key)
telescoping/tilting wheel (mine behaves okay, it goes up a little then down when I command down, and same for telescope)
that is all I can remember for now. Quite a list, for for a 17 year old car, you have to expect that. I still enjoy and get more out of my car than many of my friends with 3-4 year old cars, but you have to be willing to work on them or pay to get them worked on.
98lincmk7lsc
Dedicated LVC Member
I sell the adapter rings to get rid of the factory HID bulbs, and use cheaper, more readily available aftermarket HID bulbs.
The adapters go for $50 shipped. I can also sell you a fully plug-and-play kit complete with soldered-on OEM Ford harness connectors. The full kit is about $160.
A picture for you of one of the kits I've sold in the past....notice the OEM Ford plugs and the adapters over to the side of the picture.
The adapters go for $50 shipped. I can also sell you a fully plug-and-play kit complete with soldered-on OEM Ford harness connectors. The full kit is about $160.
A picture for you of one of the kits I've sold in the past....notice the OEM Ford plugs and the adapters over to the side of the picture.
Is there an issue with the color of the a/m HID bulbs??? My car has newer lamps per the PO and he said that it was hard to duplicate the blueish tint of the headlamp. I guess the PO had to do a locate for NOS oem bulbs. He claims the OEMs were over $150 each.
I know one of my lamps fires up blue instantly, the other is orange for a while, then in about 30 seconds it fades to blue. I assume I'll need one of your kits in the future, and the lamp that is slow to fire is on its way out.
I know one of my lamps fires up blue instantly, the other is orange for a while, then in about 30 seconds it fades to blue. I assume I'll need one of your kits in the future, and the lamp that is slow to fire is on its way out.
Lownslowlsc
Dedicated LVC Member
Anything between 4-6k seem to be what most people use, oems were 4300k.
That is a common problem with HID in general, and more with the age and design of what is used with ours.
OEM 9500 used (as not available new) can be spendy, but less so now that most opt to put in aftermarket setup. I remember seeing them used on eBay for 200+ bucks a piece all the time. I finally had one of mine that was orange and replaced it with an aftermarket setup.
I unfortunately chose 6000k. I should have gotten 5000k or like OEM, 4300k. Light output is fine, and I like the whiter output, but 6000k is a little blue for me, not like 8000k, but still a little ricey for me.
OEM 9500 used (as not available new) can be spendy, but less so now that most opt to put in aftermarket setup. I remember seeing them used on eBay for 200+ bucks a piece all the time. I finally had one of mine that was orange and replaced it with an aftermarket setup.
I unfortunately chose 6000k. I should have gotten 5000k or like OEM, 4300k. Light output is fine, and I like the whiter output, but 6000k is a little blue for me, not like 8000k, but still a little ricey for me.
FrankAZ
Active LVC Member
Like you, I'm a new Mark VIII owner also (coming from a 1995 Thunderbird) - thankfully - the PO had already had the blend door done, but, one of the lights itself was starting to go. As I was looking for a Mark, I had already decided to replace the bulbs ASAP once a car was located.
I need to replace mine on the one I purchased on Saturday, but, one of the lights was randomly not going to white (was yellow) so I knew that was one of the first thing to fix.
I actually ended up making my own adapters out of delrin - They pretty much look like the ones that DLF was making, and I am using the HID setup I pulled out of my T-Bird, just buying new 9006 bulbs. I did purchase the 5000k bulbs as I had the 6k on a prior version in the T-Bird, and I like the 5k much better.
I need to replace mine on the one I purchased on Saturday, but, one of the lights was randomly not going to white (was yellow) so I knew that was one of the first thing to fix.
I actually ended up making my own adapters out of delrin - They pretty much look like the ones that DLF was making, and I am using the HID setup I pulled out of my T-Bird, just buying new 9006 bulbs. I did purchase the 5000k bulbs as I had the 6k on a prior version in the T-Bird, and I like the 5k much better.
98lincmk7lsc
Dedicated LVC Member
Yep, sounds like that one is getting close to retirement. Feel free to PM me when you're ready, and I'll get you taken care of. I used 5000k's and they were just a little more blue than the stock bulbs. I think the 4500k's that are commonly available would be pretty much spot on.