Greetings & questions from the Netherlands

[Baris]

Hello everyone,

Thought I should finally start posting after months of only reading and not seeing many people from Europe.

Bought a '95 Continental half a year ago after crashing an '01 Seville SLS.
The caddy was an amazing car and faster despite the small difference in power output.
But the conti is just awesome too. It may be a bit slower but it just feels so different, feels more American .

When riding it it just feels like I'm driving a yaught on 4 wheels going 80mph.
The interior is much more roomy too and I love the column shifter.

It's quite a rare car in the Netherlands and in Europe in general.
Parts are a bit of a pain to find locally.

It's a bit harder on gas than the Seville but it makes up for it for not having to fill up a quart of oil every 10 miles like with the northstar

The air ride was really nice but unfortunately had to do a coil spring conversion.
Am determined to keep it running as long as possible.
Beats the hell out of all the boring euro cars and asian dinky toys.

Will be adding some more pictures later on.

I do have 1 question:

I have noticed on pictures of american owned conti's that the sidemarkers/cornering lights seem to be on continuously.
Mine does not have that. The low beams are always on and I can not switch them off.
I don't think it is an electrical problem because the rear lights only go on when I or the auto light function turns them on.
Would this be some kind of re-wiring/programming of a previous owner or is this standard on certain types?
My conti for example also has an KPH speedo instead of MPH.

 

[MooJohn]

It looks like your car has Daytime Running Lights (DRL). This is more common on newer cars in the US today but they have been required in Canada for 20+ years. The fact that your speedometer was already in kilometers also suggests you have a Canadian car.

The front turn signals (next to the grille) should be on when the lights are on, and the proper one would still blink when the turn signal is activated. This may not be the case on your car because it could lessen the "effectiveness" of the DRLs.

This may be part of the DRL programming. You may find that changing the car's lighting control module with another one without DRLs would put it all back to normal. There's a chance that a dealer could program it too but I doubt you'll find one near you! Maybe some of our Canadian owners can chime in with suggestions.

 

[Baris]

Ahh, I understand, that's too bad.

Yeah, unfortunately no Lincoln dealers over here.

Thank you for the info MooJohn.
You sure got a sweet ride btw, the tinted windows really make it look even more classy.

I see that you have a modded air box.
Did you simply remove the silencer box?
Was it worth the effort in terms of changes in sound & performance?

 

[bradyelich]

Yes, sounds like you have a Canadian car, DRL's started in 1991. I am Canadian, but I have a California car. It had to have DRL's installed and the previous owner had a kit hacked in (I unhooked it and drive with my lights on). From my understanding the light module controls the security and the lights and I was unable to find out if the car is programmable by the dealer like I had done to my 1999 Windstar. DRL is for only the front lights at 80% power and the rear lights are not on. People now never turn on their lights at night and get hit from the rear if they stop on the side of the road. On my American car, the side lights only come on when I signal. If you change the light module you would have to reprogram your key fobs which is described in the owners manual. On some cars, setting the Ebrake turns off the DRL's, so you can drive with the Ebrake on the first click as long as it does not turn on your dashlight.