considering to buy a continental

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chappyviii

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Hello everyone,
I currently own a 97 Mark VIII and love it. But having a one year old daughter and a coupe doesn't go well together. I need a four door and I have always liked the 99-02 continentals but I am skeptical on its AX4N transmission which we all know is very unreliable and being hooked up to 275hp doesn't help either. Is there any other problems with the continentals? I know they are basically a Lincoln version of the ford taurus which also makes me doubt the car.
Thanks in advance!
 
If there is one thing, the transmission is the most weakest part. My conti reached 226k with the original transmission and engine. But there were little things here and there the would stop working which you don't get with the Mark VIIIs.

If you want a 4 door, I would go for a town car.
 
What were the little things? I would only get a town car is it was a 2003+ which are about 1500 more than a conti so I'm kinda stuck
 
What were the little things? I would only get a town car is it was a 2003+ which are about 1500 more than a conti so I'm kinda stuck
 
I have a 98 and the transmission is still good at 118k (original). Before buying it check the color of the transmission (it has a dipstick!) It will at least help you figure out if it's OK. Not a reliable way to check but at least you have an idea if it's maintained well.

Some of the electronics will not work well or fail. Window regulators, door lock actuators, tpms, rear view mirror leakage, switches. I have a 2002 mountaineer and LS and I'd say the conti is the most reliable of all the 3 FoMoCo vehicles I have.
 
When you find a car with a good transmission, throw a handheld tuner on it and firm up the shifts. That will extend its life a good deal. The slow, soft shifts are what really work over the tranny when it has a v8 behind it. FWIW, I bought my car at 80k miles and its trans was toast. Constant shudder at highway speeds was the main symptom. In a Town Car or Mark VIII it means you need new trans fluid. I found out the hard way that in this car it means you need a new trans! I had mine rebuilt with better parts for ~ $2800 (including new torque converter) and hope it will last another 100k+ miles.

Over the years I always suggested a Continental to people shopping for a sedan in this price range. When I needed a car for that price, I took my own advice and I still wouldn't pick any car over this in the $5-7k range.
 
Ok thanks guys. I won't be buying one for a while but I have alwsys been courious about the tranny. How did you add a k&n air filter? I plan on only paying about 3000 for one and I don't want to drop a 2k transmission in a car worth only 3k.
Did the 99+ continentals get the same improvements to its engine as the other 4.6 intech did like better intake manifold and broader powerband?
 
chappyviii said:
Ok thanks guys. I won't be buying one for a while but I have alwsys been courious about the tranny. How did you add a k&n air filter? I plan on only paying about 3000 for one and I don't want to drop a 2k transmission in a car worth only 3k.
Did the 99+ continentals get the same improvements to its engine as the other 4.6 intech did like better intake manifold and broader powerband?
Click to expand...

Air filter is easy, front drivers side of the engine bay, right in front of the battery. I think they got new c-heads or something like that in the 99+ 4.6L.

On the note of the transmission, I bought my car at 161k miles and am at ~171k, started having a slight shudder after the tranny got to full operating temp at first then a hard shift from gear 2 to 3, only paid $3000 for the car so I'm not gonna put another $2500-3000 for the tranny. Just gonna keep on driving her.
 
Well when he said k&n I assumed he ment CAI. From what I have heard and seem the 99+ contis. Are faster then the mark viiis even though they weight more and have alittle less power so they must have the new heads.


How much is the tranny if you put a rebuilt one in your self?
 
The actual rebuild wouldn't have been too expensive if I had done the trans R&R myself. That was probably 1/2 the price right there. Replace the torque converter too -- they're maybe $300 and you've got to remove all that stuff if it does fail later on.

My intake is really a kind of CAI; I have the stock-replacement-style filter clamped onto the MAF housing with nothing else around it. Many of my vehicles have had what others have termed a "hot air intake" with fine results, and I have datalogged this setup to find that temps are no different from ambient any time the car is moving.

Yes, the 99+ Continental has the C-head engine. I've never raced a Mark VIII (my dad owned a 93 and a 97 LSC) but I wouldn't be surprised to find my car isn't any slower at least. Other than the inherent lack of traction of a FWD car, these boats move pretty nicely from 30+. We have a 3.56 axle ratio which gives us an advantage in 2nd gear which covers from 35-85+ mph, and there was never a C-headed Mark VIII. I haven't had a chance to hit the track yet but I did play with a new Hemi Charger and we were dead even from 30-80, and they have more gears and almost 100 more hp.

To keep my evaluation in perspective, nearly every other car I've owned has been much faster than this so I'm not a high school kid bragging about his hand-me-down Lincoln. I have to put that out there because many times that's the case when you find people who are actually interested in Continental performance. I've got 12-sec timeslips from over 20 years ago so I've had the mod bug a long time, and I think these cars deserve a little aftermarket help too. I know this will never be a truly fast car (even though the stock Cobra blower setup theoretically could bolt on) but it's still a fun sleeper sedan.
 
I am scared sh*tless to work on the internals of a transmission haha but if I had help or a video to go off of I would do it my self.

On my mark viii I removed the intake resonator which was about the size of a 5 gallon bucket and I noticed a slight increase in power and sound past 3000 rpm.

Does the C heads manifold have 16 intake tubes like the B heads? I know they don't have the valves that open up past 3200 rpm and they have tumble style intake tubes. It bothers me that the mark viii didn't get the proper gearing like the continental did but it does help mpg on the highway.
I have always thought the dodge chargers were too slow for how much torque and horse power they had. And on top of that having a 5 speed with only one OD.
I have consitered the town car but I just love the way the 98+continentals look and I like the power of the intech in my mark viii
 
Me too - I wouldn't dare try to rebuild a trans, manual or auto. I leave it to the pros, and luckily I know some who took good care of my car. I've built a few fast cars but it's all been pretty much bolt-on. I can swap turbos and things like that but my driveway isn't the place for more involved mods. I'm not getting any younger either -- my back isn't as good as it was when I was 20 :D

We have the giant resonator in the fenderwell that you can remove. I didn't feel like yanking the wheel off so I just did what I could with the intake. At some point I may try removing the resonator and letting it pull from the fender area again. At least now I'll know if there is any power difference.

We still have the bundle of snakes intake manifold. The bold text in my sig is clickable and it'll take you to pics of my car; one of them is the engine. I almost went Town Car as well. I've had a couple of Grand Marquis but I couldn't pass up the engine in this car. It makes all the difference. I just couldn't find a better "cheap" car out there.
 
Yep yep same here I don't have the tools to do anything major. the most major thing I did to any car was the front conversion kit on my mark and the blend door actualator.
The resonator on the mark has a weird long inlet that looks like a horn that is about 3 inches in diameter. Talk about suffocating a engine. The one thing I can say about the panther cats is they are very cheap and easy to mod. You can make one haul ass if you dump 3k into one.Where as the continental you don't have as many options.
your continental is gorgeous! I've never seen a red one in person and I never see them for sale. I would love to get one just like yours but I highly doubt I will find one. What kind of tune do you have on it?
 
Just the Superchips canned tune that comes with the programmer - that I bought new for only $99 a few weeks after getting the car. It lets you adjust shift points and firmness, as well as getting rid of the top speed limiter. Now it drives like it should have and the firm shifts prolong the trans life.
 
I need to get one for my mark. It shifts way to soft and slow.
Was it hard to install your navigation? In the mark you have to trim the paneling about half a inch to make a double din fit
 
You have to trim the top of the opening maybe 1/8th of an inch all the way across. You can't see the cut area though so it's easy to do with a Dremel.

I was a professional car audio installer in the early 90s so all 12v work is easy to me :D
 
Damn I was hoping i didn't have to do that again. My dad and his brother used to have a audio shop back in the 90ss also so I let him do all the wiring and i do the installation. What installation kit did you use?
 
No installation kit - the double-DIN cage locked into place among the factory bracketry. It's very solid.
 
Only thing I had to modify when installing my double DIN HU was cut out a bit of the plastic below the head unit to get all the RCAs through, getting all the wiring situated perfectly so the HU would actually go in was a royal PITA.
 
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