Another Conti Surprise......

[Missing Linc]

I have discovered yet another surprise with my recently acquired 1996 Conti. Yesterday I noticed that when you put the car into reverse it silences the radio. Put it back in neutral,park or drive and the sound returns.I checked the owners manual but didn't see where it was supposed to do this.I didn't notice this when I was evaluating the car for purchase as I usually check the radio fuctions and then turn it off so I can listen to the running of the car. Also, concerning the radio....of the two pictures of the radio/CD players in the book(mine is only a cassette)it appears that the buttons are slightly different than the two pictures shown.Mine has a DSS button that's not shown on the standard radio, only on the CD radio....the tape player button is also in a different position....kind of like a hybred. Also when turning the the ignition on to the ACC position I hear a fan running...is this normal.( even when it cold)
Aside from these items the car looks and runs great. As far as my previous post concerning the 2800 RPM @ 60mph(is it in OD or not??) the car lot owner ( who I trust and is also a friend, this is my fourth car from him) said that he would have it fixed although he hadn't noticed it when he drove the car. I guess when your not really familiar with a certain model, the ins and outs of the operation of the car really aren't that noticeable at first, as the car is otherwise so smooth. It really only struck a chord with me when I looked at the tack as to guestion whether or not I was in third or OD.
I was told by the independent garage that installed the new airbags on the front that the car had had the "forward pump"?? in the tranny replaced. Could this effect the shifting in to OD and radio muting due to a selector misalignment as suggested by pro-five-oh in my Conti RPM post.
Sorry, folks, about the length of this but I just want to understand the car and work the bugs out. I really do love the vehical.
Thanks for any help !!!!

[pro-five-oh]

The only thing that I know is activated in reverse is the auto dimming mirror (it goes back to regular not matter how dark it is outside) and the sideview mirrors. I have no earthly idea how this relates to the stereo. :confused:

If the "forward pump" on the tranny was replaced, the tranny has been worked on significantly. As long as it has a warranty, you should be fine. Trannies are complicated so don't get overwhelmed in the parts, just get it working right!

The fan running when you put the key on should be the engine fan. It is electric. Not a big deal. smile.gif

[JustinMarkVII]

OMG! Our '97 Conti did the same thing. We never could figureo ut why, because it only astarted it at about 65,000 miles. Thank God it's gone..

[Missing Linc]

You are correct,pro-five-oh, in that the fan was running and that's what I heard. I was confused at first as I don't recall the fan ever running on a car I've owned when the engine was cold and the ignition was in the ACC position. I read somewhere in one of the posts something about a fan ???? running for the ABS and I imagine I had that on my mind.
JustinMarkVII and pro-five-oh....I experimented with the gear selector today and found that when the selector is moved and "locks into" the reverse position the radio goes out...but if you pull the (console) mounted lever back towards "N" and wiggle it a bit the radio will come back on even though the car is still in reverse. There's no static or electrical interference in the audio of the radio during this "wiggleing" excercise so I guess it will be O.K. I guess if I want to listen to the radio,I just won't back up !
Hmmm...pro said something about the side mirrors moving and the rearview mirror lightening when in reverse....since these are activated (most likely) by the movement of the "stick"...maybe all of this is tied together someway.I guess it's not a really big concern anymore but initially it was as I couldn't figure out what was going on.I know there's a switch or something (I think) located in the linkage that activates the idle speed when the selector on an automatic is moved in order to kick up the RPM when it goes in gear...maybe there's something else in there to.
Sorry you had the same problem with the radio,Justin, but am glad to hear I'm not the only one. Mine has 80k on it but other than the tranny problem which only involves OD the car looks and runs great. I still love it..the last Conti I had was a '71( I think) that I got in '74. Glad I'm not putting gas in that one now !!!!!! About 9mpg with that 460 !!!!
Thanks to All for the info.

[pro-five-oh]

quote:Originally posted by Missing Linc:
Hmmm...pro said something about the side mirrors moving and the rearview mirror lightening when in reverse....since these are activated (most likely) by the movement of the "stick"...maybe all of this is tied together someway.

If this car is a "keeper" it would behoove you to get a set of Ford manuals for it, including the EVTM manual. With the EVTM you could trace the reverse circuit and see what might be causing the problem.

BTW, do your reverse lights even work??? smile.gif

[Missing Linc]

Yes.... all systems seem to work really well...including the reverse lights. A manual is the next step....with lots of pictures and large print !!!! Something I can understand !!!! tongue.gif
The car is a keeper for sure....a nice mix between luxury and sportiness....something that fits my image....whatever that is !! Now if you ask my ex wife about my image (just kidding) ....cool:

[kr98664]

Dear Missing Linc,

Hmm, that's a strange one. Does the radio appear to be from Lincoln, or could it be aftermarket? I have the cassette player in my '96 Continental, and there is a tiny Lincoln logo on the cassette door. Maybe somebody else with the CD player can chime in, but I'd imagine there'd be a Lincoln logo somewhere on there, too.

The reason I ask is that with an aftermarket radio, it may not have been installed properly. Rather than plugging into the factory harness under the dash, the installer may have tapped into whatever power or ground wires were handy. It's kind of a long shot, but perhaps worth investigating.

What happens if you disable the reverse mirrors function? Play with the buttons to the right of the instrument panel, and one of the features is that you can disable automatic tipdown of the mirrors when in reverse. I'm still scratching my head whether the radio could have been miswired so this would cause the problem, but it would be simple enough to do for troubleshooting.


Karl w/ a '96 Continental

[kr98664]

Hmm, more deep thoughts here. When you say the radio doesn't work, do you mean just the sounds stops, or do the panel lights also go out? I double checked on my '96 Continental, and when the starter is engaged nearly all of the panel displays (radio, clock, climate control, message center, etc.) are disabled so max battery power is available for the starter.

I'm not sure how all this would tie together, but am curious what is happening. With your foot on the brake, try to start the engine with Reverse selected. Also try it in Neutral, Drive, etc. You should only be able to start the engine when in Park or Neutral, but none of the other positions. Nearly all of the dash displays should turn off during engine cranking like described above. Maybe the shift linkage is out of whack like previously mentioned and the computer brain is getting confused.

There is also a fuse #29 through which an engine start signal is sent to the radio system. I'm not sure about the purpose of this signal but it may be a command to turn off the radio during cranking? This seems more complicated than merely taking away power, but who knows. If the transmission range selector switch (or shifter linkage) were out, this might 'splain everything, including the fact that your transmission doesn't seem to be going into overdrive.

I think trying to start the engine in all of the available transmission positions might yield some valuable troubleshooting clues.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted.

[Missing Linc]

Hi All,
I have the factory cassette player and all of the electronics work on the car. I'm not using the "reverse mirror" option and have noticed no flukes in any other of the electronics.
The radio sound is the only thing that goes away. As I said in an earlier post, the problem only occurs when moving the stick. When the stick is in the reverse position and when pulling it toward neutral (downward and while still actually in reverse)and wiggled a bit the radio will come back on.
I want to investigate the relationship of this to the OD problem. I need to find out if there is some adjustment in there to be made. As pro-five-oh suggested...I need to get a book on the car.
But....there are some good suggestions here and I'll go out in the garage and investigate...."Film @ 11"!!!! :D

[Missing Linc]

Well..the trip to the garage to check on things yielded the following....the car will not start in any of the engaged positions....the only thing that changes when the selector is placed in the reverse position (other than the sound) is that the stereo (ST) light goes out...the stations digits,etc.,all remain lit. Maybe the selector is hitting the antenna lead coming from the rear window. I'll check tomorrow to see if there is any access to the surrounding area of the selector...maybe by removing the ash tray...to see what type of wiring is running inside of the console.
We'll see what I can find. ;)

[kr98664]

quote:Maybe the selector is hitting the antenna lead coming from the rear window. I'll check tomorrow to see if there is any access to the surrounding area of the selector...


Before going to all that work, how about selecting reverse with a tape playing? That might save a lot of time and effort by ruling out physical interference with the antenna lead.


Karl w/ a '96 Continental

[Missing Linc]

Karl,
I actually thought of that but haven't tried it yet. I removed the ashtray and wiggled what I could get my fingers on and it seems to have stopped. I recently( before I did this) noticed a slight click/pop when I moved out of park into reverse. Like something was catching on something. Doesn't seem to be doing it since I wiggled the wires/cables that I could reach. Will keep a watch on it.
Thanks.... ;)

[Missing Linc]

Tried it with the tape..nothing happend. Seems to be O.K. now...famous last words !!!! :D