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Jim Grant's Tech Tips
90
Lincoln Town Car, Display Failure
Q: Two years ago, the
computer driven dash board display, in my '90 Lincoln Town Car, started
to act up. It started with the outside temperature display which was okay
for about 20 minutes and then suddenly would drop to 38 degrees below
and stay there. I had a sensor replaced and drove the car for about 10
minutes and it did the same thing. I was told that the display needed
to be replaced or it would go dark in about three months. It still has
not gone dark, however, during this two-year period the "door ajar"
warning lights up and stays on, also the "air bag" warning lights
up and blinks. The average gas mileage, miles traveled and miles left
have all become erratic. Last month the speedometer would stop working
then drop-down, back up and then would wind up at 0. It would suddenly
start working again into the same thing. The dash display for fuel and
temperature are still working. When I fill the tank now it registers full
on the gas gauge but the miles left to empty which use to register about
400 miles now registers erratically. Could it be a sensor or module?
A: It's
possible that your digital dash may have to be replaced. You want to have
some other items checked first. For example, the signal for the speedometer
is created by a signal generator mounted in the transmission. It's not
uncommon for these signal generators to fail, resulting in erratic m.p.h.
reading. The computer also relies on the speedometer signal to calculate
average gas mileage, miles traveled, etc.. Has anyone asked the air bag
computer if there is a problem? The warning light is supposed to come
on when there's a system problem. The digital dash relies on information
from other components. Verify the quality of the information the digital
dash is receiving before replacing it.
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