Long time Lurker....first time questions.

[AngryCanuck]

Hey all,

First the car:

Been around here for a couple of years now(great info), only now looking for some opinions or suggestions. A little back story, purchased a 97 Lincoln Continental last year was a great car, however a few months ago i was rear ended by a 90 year old lady doing 60 kph - car was written off. Bought a 98 Lincoln Cont with all the bells and whistles , looked good however some things have cropped up that I had to replace.

Replaced the Serpentine Belt as it started to squeal quite badly. The previous owner lubed up the belt so I didn't see or hear the issue until I bought the car.

Replaced the Tensioner Assembly as it was still the factory part. It was also giving off a squeak/squeal itself as per this video:

98 Lincoln Continental Tensioner Squeak - YouTube

Did other minor maintenance on the car including, brakes, oil change, and engine coolant change. There are three other issues however that are of concern to me:

1) From a cold start, going from Park to Drive or Reverse to Drive when the car goes from first to second there is a audible grind. This only happens the first time the car goes from 1-2(not at stops) and it can sometimes happen a second or two after the car engages 2nd gear. to recreate the issue you need to stop the car put it in park and let it sit for 5 minutes or so.

Im going to be getting the Transmission Fluid changed this week. I know that any grinding causes damage to the transmission, however hopefully this will help. My question is whether to do a pan drop and filter change - changing 50% of the fluid or going for a fluid flush - I have heard the good and bad for both.

2) After the car warms up, there is a clicking noise that I can hear from within the car, its not that loud however it matches the revs of the car. Aka when I idle the clicking is slow, and when I rev its faster. I tried opening the hood, however I can't hear anything over the fuel injectors. I have heard some suggestions that it could be one of the pulleys which I wonder how much that might cost to replace. The other thing I've heard is that it could be the rocker arms and rods

3)Least of my concern are squeaks that come from the front end when you go over a bump or push on the front end. The noise is a "rubber" noise which makes me think its a bushing of some sort. I believe its the strut rod bushings which go from the sub frame to the lower control arm since they are pretty bad, however when I greased all the bushings on either side the squeak persisted - so i'll probably have to take it to a mechanic.

The pics of the bushings (sorry for the bad quality - camera on my phone):

I know the underside is kinda rusty :\

If anyone has some suggestions or idea - that would be great.

Thanks

AngryCanuck

 

[Danglerb]

Wow, salt is a fierce thing.

I was always told to drop the pan and replace the filter, and ONLY use the flush machines on cars you can't drop the pan on. Tranny issues can get REAL expensive fast, beyond the fluid change which I would do asap, I would have somebody that knows this specific transmission well look it over.

Serpentine belt can be a pain, my mechanic made three trips in before I was happy, and I am not entirely happy still.

We bought ours new, and planned from the start to keep it a long time, so about 7 years old we replaced ALL of the hoses.

Clicking could easily be an exhaust leak, but doesn't sound like a good noise to let go. Take care, but a section of plain rubber hose like used on the vacuum and breather lines held up to one ear can have the other end used as a listening probe when held close to various likely spots. Caution regards moving parts.

Good luck on the squeak and click hunting.

 

[bradyelich]

Sounds like one of the accesories has a bad bearing. I use a stick to listen to the bearing individually, or you can go hi-tech and get a stethoscope. Take a stick, small wood dowel, place it on the bolt and put your ear to the other end and listen. Just be careful around the spinning belt.

Serpentine belts can be removed and cleaned using dish soap and I take a screwdriver and clean the tiny rocks out of the groves. Have to do this if you spill antifreeze on it.

1. Do a pan drop and use Mobil 1 atf and change the filter. Quite easy to do and if you do it right there is no spillage. Take the bolts out except the 4 that are on the shorter straight end. Then loosen these gradually and the oil will pour out of the pointed end into your bucket.

2. you hear your tappets meaning they are not getting enough oil or are worn out. Use a top qualtiy synthetic engine oil like Mobil 1 or Castrol Edge or Amsoil. These cover all oil specifications, some cheaper brands do not cover the oil specifications your lincoln requires.

3. check the sway bar links - they might have a grease zerk on them

 

[heebzman]

I dont have any answers for your questions, but I would like to comment on how nice your particular car looks...I have wondered what mine would look like with a moonroof