Questions and Answers
Lincoln Town Car Starts By Itself
Q. It seems like you are the perfect one that could help me out. If you could, I would really appreciate it. I have a 1986 Lincoln Town Car Low rider. It has hydraulics, etc.. the engine is a stock 302. I THINK its fuel injected. Anyways, my problem is that one day here in Minnesota (its really cold now) my battery was dying, because I don't drive it much, but I'll turn the key over so the radio will turn on, and play some tunes for a while. When I charged up the battery, and TRIED to hook the wires back on, the car tried starting by itself with no keys in the ignition. I replaced the battery with an Everlast 850 CCA battery and a new alternator. Any information or help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
AaronA. I'm in Minnesota also and yes, it is getting cold. I was looking at the wiring diagram of the starting system for that car and it is pretty simple. Assuming the cables are in their proper places, that narrows it down to two possibilities. One, you have a shorted starter solenoid or two, a shorted ignition switch. Unplug the small wire at the solenoid and hook up the battery cable. if it still tries to start, then the solenoid is shorted. If it doesn't, then plug the small wire in and if it starts, then the ignition switch is shorted.
