Owner-reported complaints naming the engine system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming the engine itself — including stalling, misfires, oil consumption, cooling and internal engine components. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 1989 Lincoln Continental submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 26 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 26, in the owner's own words
THE HEAD GASKET IS BLOWN. I AM LOSING COOLENT AND THICK WHITE SMOKE IS COMING OUT AT THE TAILPIPE. I HAVE NOT TAKEN IT TO THE MECHANIC YET BUT I AM CONVICED FROM THE COLOR OF THE SMOKE AND SMELL OF THE SMOKE.
CONSUMER STATES THAT THERE WAS A FIRE IN THE VEHICLE WHICH STARTED IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT WHILE THE CONSUMER WAS DRIVING. CONTACTED DEALER. MR FUEL RAIL EXPLODED 3 INCH HOLE. INSTANT FIRE IN BACK OF ENGINE.
WHILE DRIVING ALONG THE ROAD VEHICLE OVERHEATED. PULLED OVER ,AND HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE DEALER. THEY REPLACED THE HEAD GASKET. *AK
WHILE DRIVING GAS PEDAL GOT STUCK TO THE FLOOR, CAUSING SUDDEN ACCELERATION. CONSUMER PRESSED THE BRAKES, BUT BRAKES FAILED STOP VEHICLE. VEHICLE FINALLY STOPPED AFTER DRIVING 4 MILES. GAS PEDAL STUCK AT LEAST FOUR TIMES *AK
REPLACEMENT OF FUEL TANK DID NOT RECTIFY ROUGH RUNNING CONDITION, FOUND SHORTED WIRING IN THE ELECTRONIC ENGINE CONTROL CAUSING PROCESSOR TO SHORT OUT AND EGR TO STAY OPEN. MJS
I FIND I'M ONE OF MANY FORD 3.8L ENGINE OWNERS WITH FAILED HEADGASKETS
NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR THIS VEHICLE. *AK
WHEN DRIVING LONG DISTANCES VEHICLE WILL STALL AND SHUT DOWN. THE DEALER IS WORKING ON THE VEHICLE. *AK
MOTOR MOUNTS LOOSEN CAUSING VIBRATION, THEN MOUNT BREAKS FROM VIBRATIONS. *YC
WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE IT WILL STOP AND GO. ENGINE IS VERY NOISY. ONLY TWO GEARS WORK AND DOES NOT GO INTO OVERDRIVE. DEALER NOT AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. PROBLEM STILL EXISTS. PROVIDE FURTHER INFORMATION. *AK
STRUTS HAVE BEEN REPLACED TWICE, TWO ENGINE MOUNTS REPAIRED, AND THE AXLE DESTROYED THE BRAKE SENSOR.
VEHICLE STARTED SKIPPING AND ALOT OF OTHER PROBLEMS. IT WAS TAKEN TO THE MECHANIC AND TAKEN OUT/TESTED AND REPLACED THE HEAD GASKETS. MECHANIC STATES THAT THE 3.8 ENGINE VEHICLES HAVE THE DEFECTIVE HEAD GASKETS. *AK
THE ENGINE GASKETS HAVE GONE BAD ON THE VEHICLE . CONSUMER HAD VEHICLE INSPECTED BY AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND WAS INFORMED OF THE PROBLEM. THE MANUFACTURER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED. *AK
ENGINE MOUNTS FAILED, RECALL ITEM ,HOWEVER VEHICLE DOES NOT FIT WITHIN THE GUIDELINES FOR RECALL WORK.
MOTOR MOUNTS FAILED.
REAR STRUTS REPLACED.
AUTO CAUGHT ON FIRE AFTER BEING DRIVEN 5 MILES- NO INJURIES. *AK
SHUT ENGINE WITHIN 5-15 MINUTES VEHICLE WAS IN FLAMES BY WINDSHIELD. WHEN FIRE DEPT ARRIVED ENGINE RESTARTED. PLEASE DESCRIBE DETAILS. *AK
ALTERNATOR FAILED.
ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE WHILE VEHICLE WAS PARKED, UNKNOWN SOURCE OF FIRE. *AK
WATER PUMP FAILURE.
WHILE DRIVING, HEAD GASKET BLEW OUT WITHOUT WARNING. PLEASE DESCRIBE. *AK
HEAD GASKET REPLACED.
POWER STEERING HOSE FAILED 3 TIMES, ONCE RESULTING IN A FIRE DUE TO LEAKING FLUID ON THE EXHAUST SYSTEM
AIR CONDITIONER REPLACED.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .