About six weeks ago, my 100,000+ mile 1980 Lincoln Continental Mark VI 4- door was in the shop for repairs. Seems that it had a few problems that added up to a no-start situation. To make a long story short, my ace mechanic, Don, replaced a fuel injector (damn Ford throttle body system), the ignition coil, and a few other parts. I also had to invest in a complete exhaust system, so I ended up putting a few bucks into my old sled. But its part of the family, so it was worth it. My resurrected Mark VI ran just fine after the repairs...for about three days. Let me digress a bit. Both prior to and after the repairs, my fuel pump was functioning in a loud manner, almost like it was cutting in and out, so I thought that it was failing. The third morning that I had the Mark back, I went to start it and it just wouldn't go! Needless to say, I was quite frustrated. Don came out to the house, but couldn't get it to run either, so he towed it in to his shop. After going through the entire fuel system, it seemed that the fuel pump had failed. But Don, knowing that I was crazy over the whole situation, had a hunch that paid off. He crawled into the trunk, (the trunk???) and presto, the problem was diagnosed! It seems that the fuel cutoff inertia switch, a safety related item, had failed, thus disabling the fuel pump. The problem was corrected on the spot and my pride and joy was back on the road!
Ross Trimboli Mishawaka, Indiana
Message me at BobHewitt@Misterfixit.com
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