Does this sound about right?

[92Continental]

Hi everyone!

I've come over from the land of older RWD Volvo's hoping to find some info to help me get our 92 Continental signature back on the road. I've been reading through the forums most of the morning and i've been quite impressed with how easy all the annoying problems i've been having could be to fix.. Anyhow, onto the problems.. Does it sound like i'm on the right track?

As most lincolns of this vintage the air ride is acting up or rather down... A few years ago we had a front passenger side strut replaced and paid a hefty sum at a dealer.. now it seems with online prices from americanairsuspensions.com or strutmasters.com we could replace the entire suspension setup (excluding labour) for the price of that one new dealer installed strut.

As the car sits the rear end is on the ground, and if memory serves it wouldn't pump back up. Once i get a new battery i'll test it out and check the switch in the trunk. If nothing happens i figure i'll need a new compressor/dryer setup, and look into an o-ring kit or new solenoid valve as well as the new rear air setup.. If it wasn't for the newer front end components i'd be getting a conventionnal spring conversion. I still might swap out for the springs but if i can get a properly working air ride setup for the same price then it would be a hard sell..

Another problem it the trunk latch.. i assume the motor is dead as it latches but doesn't pull down. How much do these motors typically cost? Price depending i'd probably try lowering the latch position to snug it up so it closes like a normal trunk.

Due to the rear suspension, it seems that the scraping on the driveway or some other cause broke one of the hard brake lines underneath the rear drivers door area.. what would be best to fix it? a whole new line or some kind of inline repair?

Drivers door handle.. both inside and outside handles stick.. is there an easy fix or does this need to be replaced?

Rear driverside door has no power to it.. locks, wondow.. nothign works.. I am assuming theres a broken wire there, somewhere.. Is there a common place where they break? Where should I look first?

Last but not least we've been getting the annoying check DCL/oil pressure warnings, but thankfully that seems like an easy fix if that DCL service/contact cleaning procedure works out..

If you have any tips, tricks or suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.. Afterall a FWD lincoln is quite different then a RWD Volvo so i'm a little out of my league...

Great website!

-Jonathan

 

[MichiganTeddyBear]

quite a list there.. here goes....

replacing the air suspension with springs only replaces the struts units (which contain the air bags for the suspension). so all the other parts remain the same. no removal of any other parts involved (to the best of my knowledge anyhow).

if your compressor dont run, check the relay and fuse of course.. if it does run, but dont fill the struts.. there is a leak somewhere... its possible that the vent valve inside the compressor is rusted open. that will mean new compressor, and might as well replace dryer too.

whatever it takes to get the compressor to run again, be carefull, if you have a leak someplace, it WILL cause early death of your nice new compressor... they are built for about a 5-10% duty cycle (at most). it should only run a few seconds on startup, and to trim height depending on load changes, THATS IT.

brake line... hmmm I seem to recall (may be wrong) that they are not the lowest point on the car.. but they are close... either way, if the line is rusty, it might be worth a whole new line (not hard to do, you will have to bend it yourself or the shop will have to bend it). Otherwise, if you can get to it so you can put a decent double flare on the ends, you could just patch it.. I would go with the full replacement myself.

door handles.. probably dried up lube/dirt in the hinges and springs, or in the latch itself... if that dont do it, let me know ASAP... I have those avail in my 90 parts car, which is going away sooooooon.

Rear door no electrical.... NOTHING works. look for busted ground in the harness from the door to the body, or inside the door itself. However, since the window dont work, you may have more than one wire broken (the window switch goes thru the driver's controls).

The check DCL/oil problem.. your on the right track... if that dont fix it, lemme know, I will give you a more detailed and involved solution..