Locc
New LVC Member
Hi all.
I have a 87 Lincoln Town Car that I cannot get started.
I have replaced a variety of things, but I think the problem was a bad relay all along. In the meantime, things have been "monkeyed" with and need to be put back in correct order.
I have replaced the fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel pump relay, ignition control module, plugs, wires, cap and rotor.
I need to reset the timing and get the car to TDC. There are 2 firing orders, 1 for normal 5.0 and 1 for HO. How can I tell the difference between the 2? Are there HO markings on the engine or elsewhere?
And now the story...
On the Friday the 29th I could not get my car to start. I couldn't figure out what the problem was so I had it towed to a shop.
When I called Monday they stated the car fired up as soon as it got off the tow and they have not had any issues getting it to start, but they would run diagnostics.
They found no issues and stated he would test the fuel pump next. I had been having some fuel delivery issues, so I told him to just go ahead and replace the fuel pump.
2 days and $700 later he tells me the car is ready. I go pick it up and get back to work at 1 pm. At 2 pm the car won't start. I try many things and call him again at 4 saying hey the car won't start. He's baffled.
I figure I will try a few things before I send the car back to this (seemingly inept) mechanic.
When I'm speaking to the woman at O'Reilly's, she mentions testing my ignition control module. So while I'm fumbling for that and moving wires, I hear a "click-click" followed by a "whirr" from the top of the engine (my fuel pump kicking on). I immediately try to fire the car and it starts right up. I get in and drive the block to O'Reilly's.
There I find and replace the relay and sure enough, car starts right up.
At this point I'm giddy like a school girl.
Take the car home, park it.
Next morning, car won't start.
As of yesterday the car will start, and will run until it runs out of gas.
But, if I stop it it will not restart for atleast 10 minutes.
The "new" fuel pump whirrs like a vacuum and can be heard from 10 feet away from the car.
What I believe is this.
The relay was bad.
When the car wouldn't start I changed the cap, rotor, and spark wires. I believe I misran the spark plug wires during this and this may have caused issues down the line.
During tow it jolted the shorted relay, and the car started.
They "ran diagnostics", but did not locate the bad relay.
With no ideas, they ran with my idea of bad fuel pump and replaced that.
When I couldn't get the car to start upon returning home, I pulled the distributor to get the ICM out, I may have disrupted the timing when I put it back in.
Yesterday, someone tried to set my timing and goofed it.
Up until that, the car would start and would sound and idle like a champ, until I turn it off.
I am going to try to get the timing reset, and see what happens from there.
This is a long convoluted story, sorry for the rambling thoughts.
I have a 87 Lincoln Town Car that I cannot get started.
I have replaced a variety of things, but I think the problem was a bad relay all along. In the meantime, things have been "monkeyed" with and need to be put back in correct order.
I have replaced the fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel pump relay, ignition control module, plugs, wires, cap and rotor.
I need to reset the timing and get the car to TDC. There are 2 firing orders, 1 for normal 5.0 and 1 for HO. How can I tell the difference between the 2? Are there HO markings on the engine or elsewhere?
And now the story...
On the Friday the 29th I could not get my car to start. I couldn't figure out what the problem was so I had it towed to a shop.
When I called Monday they stated the car fired up as soon as it got off the tow and they have not had any issues getting it to start, but they would run diagnostics.
They found no issues and stated he would test the fuel pump next. I had been having some fuel delivery issues, so I told him to just go ahead and replace the fuel pump.
2 days and $700 later he tells me the car is ready. I go pick it up and get back to work at 1 pm. At 2 pm the car won't start. I try many things and call him again at 4 saying hey the car won't start. He's baffled.
I figure I will try a few things before I send the car back to this (seemingly inept) mechanic.
When I'm speaking to the woman at O'Reilly's, she mentions testing my ignition control module. So while I'm fumbling for that and moving wires, I hear a "click-click" followed by a "whirr" from the top of the engine (my fuel pump kicking on). I immediately try to fire the car and it starts right up. I get in and drive the block to O'Reilly's.
There I find and replace the relay and sure enough, car starts right up.
At this point I'm giddy like a school girl.
Take the car home, park it.
Next morning, car won't start.
As of yesterday the car will start, and will run until it runs out of gas.
But, if I stop it it will not restart for atleast 10 minutes.
The "new" fuel pump whirrs like a vacuum and can be heard from 10 feet away from the car.
What I believe is this.
The relay was bad.
When the car wouldn't start I changed the cap, rotor, and spark wires. I believe I misran the spark plug wires during this and this may have caused issues down the line.
During tow it jolted the shorted relay, and the car started.
They "ran diagnostics", but did not locate the bad relay.
With no ideas, they ran with my idea of bad fuel pump and replaced that.
When I couldn't get the car to start upon returning home, I pulled the distributor to get the ICM out, I may have disrupted the timing when I put it back in.
Yesterday, someone tried to set my timing and goofed it.
Up until that, the car would start and would sound and idle like a champ, until I turn it off.
I am going to try to get the timing reset, and see what happens from there.
This is a long convoluted story, sorry for the rambling thoughts.
