The facts
My 1989 Lincoln Towncar has 151K miles.
Performance(power) slowly declining over the last month.
Prior four days was missing on maybe one or two cylinders at times.
Washed car in the morning and filled gas tank....
Then....going down road and it felt like power dropped drastically.
Came up to stoplight, idled with a noticeable miss.
Took off from stoplight to get out of road and it started bucking like a bronco(of animal variety).
Front of car bouncing up and down four inches and then smoothing out as it shifts into second, but power still down.
Pulled over and checked all fluid levels and they were fine, engine compartment did not feel overly warm. Could not check tranny fluid because it would not restart, had some muted rattling noises.
Had it towed to my garage.
Through all of this no check engine light. In fact I have not seen the light come on for the past 4 months. Pulled Key On Engine Off (KOEO) stored codes and they are
51 - ECT out of range 54 - Intake Air charge temp out of range 53 - Throttle position above max voltage 35 - EVP/PFE voltyage high Can't say when they might have occured.. No current codes...My ideas...
Water in gas from washing? Might have sprayed around filler door too much but gas cap is a tight fit and was on tight. Seemed to be a lip below filler hole that had water in it when I filled up with gas. Maybe throw in a can of gas dryer?
Fuel pump and filter. Filter less than a year old, pump is original. I guess the way to check pressure is to get gauge and put it on test valve.
Bad connectors located behind air plenum going to injectors, throttle , air etc.., had some problem in past, cleaned throughly and put in new dielectric grease. I will recheck.
Timing chain slipped? With 151K miles and the hot Phoenix weather its a possibility. Will check degrees of slop. Question???. is this 5.0L engine an interference or non-interference engine?
Distributor cap/rotor funked up? Will check.
EEC computer croaked???? Yikes!!!!! Arggghhh....
Bent rod(s) seized piston, etc???? RIP linc
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You, Bob