95 Conti won't start at times

[vt52now]

I have a 95 Lincoln that starts up just fine. Then I go somewhere and when I come back out and get in car, it will not start. It is so frustrating and would like to know if anyone else has this problem. The car cranks and even comes on then I drive a little and it cuts off again. I then have to hold the accellerator down to the floor to get it going again. It sort of feels like its flooded. Can anyone help me, and I am a novice so need extra clarification if anyone knows what I can do.

[Towncar]

Have you tried Lincolns Online yet ?

[cbittick1]

I have the exact same problem with my 1995 Lincoln Continental! It has done this about four times in the last two weeks, and it is very frustrating. I asked various friends in the mechanical field, and their number one suggestion is to replace the fuel filter. It makes sense to me since my gas mileage has gone way down recently as well. So, I went to a local auto store and bought the fuel filter, which was only $7! Now I just have to figure out how to install it. There are no easy books you can buy for this car to tell you how to fix things. It's all shop manual language, and you have to be a certified auto mechanic to understand it...I am a novice as well.

Once I figure it out and get it installed I'll let you know if it resolves the problem. In addition to the reduction in gas mileage and starting problem, I've also noticed some hesitation on full throttle. Fuel filters are cheap, and recommended to be replaced regularly anyway. I have about 135,000 miles on my Lincoln and wonder how many times it has been replaced. I've put about 40,000 miles on the car since I bought it so I'm going to give it a shot.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one with the exact same problem. Mine also dies after it starts sometimes too. I put a nice aftermarket air cleaner and had the air flow intake setup checked out, and it was fine. I also had to put new catalytic converters on the car because the person who owned the car before me never put premium unleaded in the car, which consiquently clogged the cats. There are three cats on this car, by the way...it's a really weird set-up. I'm surprised the car breathes at all with the three cats, one resinator and two mufflers!

Heath

Originally Posted by vt52now

I have a 95 Lincoln that starts up just fine. Then I go somewhere and when I come back out and get in car, it will not start. It is so frustrating and would like to know if anyone else has this problem. The car cranks and even comes on then I drive a little and it cuts off again. I then have to hold the accellerator down to the floor to get it going again. It sort of feels like its flooded. Can anyone help me, and I am a novice so need extra clarification if anyone knows what I can do.

[jkrus10414]

Replacing the Fuel filter is the first step. If this problem continues after fuel filter replacment then this is signs of the fuel pump starting to go.

The best way to determine this is get a fuel pressure guage and hook it up to the fuel injection fuel rail take a reading. There is a fitting somewhere on the fuel rail that you hook the guage to. The fuel regulator trys to maintain anwhere between 35-50psi. I would double check this spec with the dealer to see if you can narrow this range further. Check the pressure at idel and then check several times while reving the engine. If the fuel pump is on its way out you will get readings in the 5-15 psi range.

The problem here is that sometimes the fuel pump does not "die suddenly". It may read in the normal range at times and then it may dip below the normal range (say 15-20 psi). In this case the computer trys to compensate and keep the injectors open longer. At times it may go in the (5-15psi) range. This is when it won't start or has a hard time starting. To prevent from being stranded when this happends you can try turning the ignition off and then turning in the ON postion for 5 seconds without starting the car. After 5 seconds turn the igniton off and then "on" again for anothe 5 seconds.

Do this about 10-20 times before trying to start the car. Everytime you do this, the computer activates the pump for a few seconds before stopping it when the computer detects the engine wasn't started. Turning the ignition on and off like this about 20 times forces a weak fuel pump to build pressure in the fuel rail. With good luck the car will start after 20 times of cycling the ignition as mentioned above.

Another way of diagosing fuel pump weakness is to borrow the diagonsing computer from Murrays. Not the the simple code scanner you need the real-time code scanner.

Hook it up to your diagnosing port under your dash and you can read your sensors in real-time as the engine is running.

the Only values you are interested in looking at are the "Fuel Trim %" for Bank 1 and Bank 2.

Although this sounds very technical it is not. The Fuel Trim is the computer telling you how much in percent it has to modify the fuel-mixture to keep the motor running. This perecent could either negative or positive. If I remember right a negative number means the computer is compensating by RICHENING the mixture and positve is Leaning.

There is a Fuel Trim % for Bank 1 and Bank 2. Bank 1 the cylinders on one side of the motor and BANK 2 are the 4 cylinders on the other side.

When you watch the fuel trim for both banksyou will see your car's computer will be within + or - 10% at all times. This is normal. If you see your computer going higher say + or - 20% for both banks then it the computer is trying very hard to compensate and there is a problem when it is compensating this much.

The computer will ALWAYS try to compensate by richening the mixture when there is a weak fuel pump. I don't remember if the richening produces a negative or positve Fuel Trim Value. I believe this would be a high negative perecantage.

I Hope this helps.