Questions and Answers

Towncar Starting Problem Q. 1995 Lincoln Towncar with 4.6 liter V-8, automatic 79,000 miles with FI ABS brakes P/S A/C and Cruise. Randomly (or what appears to be randomly) the car will start but fail to reach idle speed. After about two hours the car will start and run normally. When checked by a local repair shop the car would not display the behavior and they found no current or latent codes. Fuel pressure checked and found to be normal.

There does not appear to be any consistent relationship to coolant temperature, outside temperature (though hot does seem to be more prevalent), humidity, time of day. The one possible constant is that the condition does seem to occur about one or more hours after shutdown and after short trips of 15 minutes or less. For now I am waiting for a complete failure.

Thanks for any help,
Dan

A. I think you will have to wait for the problem to become more consistent. Unless the car is exhibiting the symptoms when it is checked, everything will check out as good.

What you can do is the next time it happens, pull a plug wire off and check for spark. If there is no spark, at least you have narrowed it down to an ignition problem. If there is spark, shoot some carburetor cleaner into the intake and try it. If it starts and runs, then you'll know it's a fuel problem.