2000 Continental odd problems

[outsider]

Hi,

I have a 2000 lincoln continental with a little over 100k miles on it. It runs great.

Recently it developed a hard starting problem. It's a little more confusing than a basic hard start problem so let me explain...

We had a lot of rain and when my wife went to start the car up it wouldn't start. It would crank, but not start. Then it stopped cranking and starting making a clicking noise like you get when the battery is dead. This was followed by all of the lights flickering on and off and then all of the settings (trip odometer, seat position, etc) were all reset.

We took my car for the day and I went back to look at it that evening when we got home. It started up. It took a couple of extra cranks to start but it did start. Once started, it ran great. So I was thinking it must be a loose or corroded ground or connection from started to battery. I checked all of those and they're perfect.

The car continues to have a hard time to start and now a couple of very odd things have been happening. When the car is parked for the night (unlocked) over night it will lock all the doors and the trip meeter/ MGP readout will reset themselves. the rest of the settings stay...

We took it to a garage and they looked over the electrical system and could find nothing wrong.

I do a lot of work on older cars (I have a 69 and an 87 Cadillac that I do all of my own work on) but I am not very familiar with all of the newer modern electronics. I did buy a fuel pressure tester for fuel injected vehicles and I am going to test the fuel pressure and leak down this weekend. The fuel filter on the car is only about a year old so hopefully that is not the problem.

Any ideas or thoughts? The only trouble code is an evap code that has been on since we got the car and every mechanic we've taken it to has said it's no problem.

Thanks!

 

[Town]

Have you tried squirting some fuel into the throttle body with the throttle plate open. If it starts then you have ignition and compression but were missing fuel, so fuel pressure test would be useful. But it sounds more like an electrical problem. The crankshaft position (CKP) sensor can cause intermittent non starts. If the PCM does not get a signal from the CKP sensor it will turn off the fuel system. So you may want to check for an actual spark at some plugs.

Did you check the battery voltage when the hard starting was occurring? In your first instance it sounded like the battery voltage was very low or the starter solenoid had a burnt spot. The clicking is the solenoid engaging the starter drive gear with the flywheel that then allows direct connection of the battery to the starter motor itself. A bad ground wire inside the starter can do this too. Either the starter motor is suspect or the battery is suspect since later in the day (without charging the battery) the car starts. Your battery could have an intermittent short reducing voltage to 10/11 volts that is enough to engage the starter drive with the flywheel but not enough to turn it over. Have you checked the specific gravity of the battery to ensure all cells are up to charge since this is a better test that voltage alone.

Have you had the battery and alternator tested since they can cause odd electrical system operation, but more related to a running engine.

Have you checked the power distribution boxes for water damage that might cause a power short to ground. That kind of problem may explain the odd electrical issues and hard starting. The 1998 Town Car power box can allow water up into it from below and cause corrosion that does affect some circuits.

Depending on the particular evap DTC, it is usually caused by a hole in the system. These are hard to diagnose. Garages usually pressure the gas tank with smoke and look for it escaping or the sound of air escaping. The usual suspects are rusted steel gas tanks, vapour lines to vent the tank and fill tubes and fill tube vent. Look for surface rust bubbles. Gas caps can be tested to ensure a good seal since they often fail emission tests here.

Good luck.

 

[outsider]

Thanks for the info! I did check the battery and it was good. When I took it to the mechanic they also tested the battery and alternator and both were good.

Do you know what stores the memory for the trip meeter/fuel econ readout? That is resetting its self but the rest of the settings are staying the same? Maybe my PCM is going bad?

I will do the fuel pressure check and report back on that this weekend. Hopefully I will have some time to check other things as well.

 

[Town]

As far as I can tell the message center is part of the instrument cluster. There are a number of switches that control certain functions. Here are pertinent descriptions of some of the switch functions that relate to one of your problems:

"The TRIP switch provides access to two trip odometers.

The DISPLAY switch is used to toggle between a blank display and the previous display.

The RESET switch is used in conjunction with the TRIP and DTE/ECON switches to individually reset the currently displayed function of the trip odometer or the average fuel economy. The RESET switch is also used to individually reset most warning messages.

The DTE/ECON switch will display an estimate of the distance that can be traveled on the remaining fuel in the vehicle tank at an average rate of fuel consumption."

In your case the active display switch appears to be DTE/ECON and the RESET switch is designed to delete the stored info. I guess if the active display was the TRIP switch then your trip information could have been deleted by the electronic equivalent of pressing the RESET switch. It is not at all clear how the reset switch could be activated without pressing the button. There are some tests based upon the message center not operating correctly (but from what you have said it does work correctly). I can provide the tests if you are interested. The first is to listen for a tone when each of the switches is pressed, if heard then switch system and VIC should be working correctly. But if tone not heard then there are a series of electrical resistances to be measured for the switches that do not produce a tone. The end result of a failed test is replacement of the switch module or the virtual image instrument cluster (VIC). Replacement of the VIC is going to be very expensive and the dealer will have to do the job to get the modules programmed and the codes updated in the PCM.

Good luck.

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[outsider]

fuel pressure check came out to 30 PSI only. I believe it should be between 35 and 55 for key on and 35 and 45 at idle? Does that sound like the fuel pump is going out or just the fuel filter or strainer in the tank is plugged up?

 

[Town]

You are correct on the fuel specifications. I would have thought that 30 psi would be enough to start the engine though. So is the 30 psi at idle or fast idle or "key on engine off". According to Ford the fuel pressure and delivery will increase with the "key on engine off" mode after cycling the key several times.

I think that a partially blocked filter or fuel pump strainer would reduce fuel delivery flow and pressure, but then you would have problems when driving, which you don't. Since you have a returnless fuel system there is a module that controls pressure in the fuel manifold by varying pump "on" time. This must be working correctly too or you would have driveability issues.

Since the Idle Air Control (IAC) valve can prevent starting, have you tried a part throttle start. You will not need much throttle, just cracked a bit. Worth a try anyway.

Good luck.

 

[hmeister]

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be a bad alternator - 97 Lincoln Continental -

I saw you completed an alternator check. My mechanic told me to change mine at about 85k after running a detailed battery check. I told him that the car was running fine except for an occasional power steering issue throwing a computer error. And finally my battery went bad about 2k after he told me. I assumed it was time for the battery to go since I only get about 2 to 3 yrs. on battery's here in Florida due to heat anyway.

Part of what he also told me when he tested the battery was his tester - it was indicating the alternator was sending power back to the battery and the entire electrical system and suggested I change the alternator then. And I almost thought that he was trying to sell me a part since I had no starting issues and the car seemed to run fine. I ran the car with this same alternator without any issues except this nagging ps issue would show up from time to time and a few times the dash would flash and shut down 1 or 2 times. Restarting the car would fix the ps computer error and the error would disappear. Finally the alternator gave up at 96k and I had to change it. After that new alternator was installed no more power steering error and cranking has been better and no more flashing dash lights.

Since the new alternator was installed it seems the car has more pep and cranks easy. By the way as I indicated - I had the same blinking lights across the dash from time to time before the alternator finally gave up. Was this just a coincidence? I don't know - but everything seems to be better now with the new part.

 

[outsider]

Thanks for the reply. I forgot to come in and update this.

For my car it ended up being the battery, which we had tested multiple times.

The battery tested fine, but I had a spare and decided to try it out. After swapping it out the problems went away.

I have since sold the car to my mother in law and she has had no problems with it. Go figure?

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