Hi there,

I'm in the middle of purchasing my "new" 98 Mark VIII LSC, and I should have it in a day or two. I have been looking for a car for about 3 months now, and finally landed on what I thought was a pretty good deal for an 80k mile, fantastic condition Mark VIII. As I usually do, I researched it to death before committing, and this forum has helped me a bunch so far.

It seems I may have some of the common issues, like the rear center light not working and of course it still has the original HID headlight setup (both low beams currently work), also a yellow driver side mirror. It is equipped with the Air Ride suspension, but I had a look at the bags and I didn't see any indication at all of cracks or deterioration. It does look like I need a set of gas shocks in the rear, but again all the airbags look really good. Not sure if I will keep it with air ride forever, since I have read about the benefits of the spring conversion.

I have noticed a couple of things that I haven't found info on yet. The driver side power lock/unlock button is stuck and won't move. It looks like there are at least three other ways to lock/unlock the doors though, so I'm not real concerned about that yet. When messing with the radio, I noticed that there isn't as much power coming through the passenger side speakers. If I adjust the balance far to the right, I can balance the sound in the car, but it obviously isn't too loud. I'm hoping I can resolve this one.

The AC blows COLD (great for AZ), the engine runs smooth as glass, and the interior is perfect. Aside from a minor ding on the roof and another 10x10 inch patch of lost clear coat on the roof, the body and pearl paint job are perfect too. The AZ sun is murder on paint jobs, so I'm surprised this patch is that small.

Can't wait to get my car, I have driven it a few times already and I can see I will be happy with it for years! I'm also very glad to have found this forum and I'll be checking it out constantly!

Welcome, and congrats on your recent Mark 8 find ! They are a great automobile in many ways, and the upkeep for them is not difficult, once you understand what they need..
After reading your posting, I'd like to offer a few comments which I hope will be helpful - On the headlamps: When one of your bulbs finally fails, there are some good aftermarket bulb/ballast replacements you can install quite easily, the ones I'm now using in one of my '98 Mk8s illuminate the road much better then the Gen 2 OEMs ever did.
Air Ride: visual inspection will generally not reveal whether any leakage is happening, just "time" will tell. A few days (or more) with the air ride switch off (inside the trunk) should allow you to see if your suspension is air-tight or not. As far as air-ride vs. springs, that is a matter of opinion, but for me, the air suspension is one of my favorite things about the Mark 8, and I would never replace it with springs on my cars. Changing an air shock or strut is about as easy as changing a tire. many auto repair shops will avoid repairing the air-ride, but they just don't understand how easy it really is. They seem to "fear" the unknown.
Side view mirrors: My local auto glass company special ordered and installed new glass for both of my side view mirrors, the new glass just glues directly to the old. Fits perfect, total cost was just $25.00 for both sides.
Rear neon lamp: it's not required to be D.O.T. legal,you can disconnect it if it fails. You can also opt to ship your neon lamp out for repair if you like, check with Glitch on this site.
Best of luck with your Mark 8 !
Lead Foot
Crazy 'Bout My Ol' Mark 8s

I went and picked up my Mark tonight! Obviously, I took the LONG way home, and stopped for a quick drink of about $55 in gas.

Thanks for the info. I pretty much research things to death, so I have seen a good bit of stuff about the "problems" I discussed. I have seen the recommendations about aftermarket headlight kits, but I haven't concluded exactly which one(s) people are using. I would prefer not to have to spend $500 on that if at all possible. I would kind of like to stick with HID as well, only with a kit where they actually still make the bulbs...

I am inclined to agree with you about whether to abandon the air ride or not. I do like it and want to keep it around, it would just depend on how expensive it becomes to maintain. I do notice one thing about it that maybe you could enlighten me about. After the car has sat for a bit, I can turn the key on and I hear the compressor fire up. It raises the car up a couple of inches or so. I have experienced this a couple of times now. This seems to indicate to me that it is losing pressure somewhere. Two mechanics have had the car up on the lift and inspected the bags. I saw them myself. They looked like they were in very good shape, and one guy even sprayed soapy water all over them to check for bubbles. He saw none. The other mechanic told me I could try a "smoke test" if I wanted but I haven't done that yet. They think the bags are ok, but there might be a slight leak elsewhere in the system. Does this sound possible?

The side view mirror is probably the least of my worries at this point. I realize that is a pretty easy fix, but I actually didn't mind the yellow tint to it.

I did check out the neon lamp, but not fully yet. I'm not sure if it flickers or not when I turn the lights on. I am familiar with Glitch, because it seems like he is the foremost expert on this. I don't see any black stuff or broken glass upon visual inspection, so I'm hoping that it is just the ballast. I realize I'm legal without it, but it just looks so damn cool WITH it! Since I just brought the car home tonight, I guess I have plenty of time to get more familiar with it over the coming days. Tomorrow will be spent registering, possibly emissions testing, and uh, "test" driving I think.

Also, does anyone know anything about the $139 gas shocks on this page ? http://www.suncoreindustries.com/LINCOLN-MARK-8-VIII-suspension.php (about 2/3 of the way down the page)I have gotten quotes of over $300 APIECE for replacements at a couple of different places. I know that the old gas shocks are leaking, and it feels to me like they need replacing. If anyone has a line on other possibilities too, I would love to hear it.

Tempus Fugit

You will find all you need on this blog. one thing no one ever has mentioned that I can recall is that there is a truly odd placement of a couple of fuses for the power seats. If you ever find your power seat just is not functioning at all then you may need to get to a fuse that is under your butt and I mean that literally.
The only way to replace the fuse when it goes is to remove the seat skin for the seat not the back. Once you do you will see that there is a fuse box in the center of the seat mechanism. Pull it and replace and hopefully you will be back to a fully functioning seat.
Put this aside for future reference as this does not seem to happen all that often.

TaxKiller
'97 RED LAZR Bright Toreador Red/Prairie Tan

Some excellent HID kits can be obtained for far less than $500.00, that's for sure. It really is worthwhile to comparison shop on this, as prices can (and do) vary a lot. When you're looking around, you'll notice that there are some different colors offered, in the spectrum of light. For mine, I went with 4300 K (Kelvin) which produce a very clean, white illumination when in use.
Some of the other HIDs available give off a "blue" (European style?) beam of light which I don't care to use on my vehicles, although some people seem to like 'em. These replacement HID kits are non-D.O.T. approved, and are marketed as "for off road use" only. So using the blue-ish beams might get you noticed by law enforcement, and a possible ticket which could've been avoided. If you use the white beams, and aim them correctly, you'll probably be delighted with them, compared to the factory bulbs.
About the air bags: when they begin to fail, the leak will most often be around the very bottom of them, where the rubber is "folded" under. Pinpointing exactly where your leak is can be elusive. That's why, on my cars, I judge whether an air leak exists, or not, by doing the "leak-down" test (switch off and leave the car parked that way for perhaps several days)
If your air bags are factory, they're shot, anyways, after 14 years in use. It is possible the leak could be elsewhere, but if the bags are that old, it would be a miracle if they're not leaking.
If your suspension is leaking down that much after sitting for the night, then your compressor will be called upon to run a lot more often, which would make it likely to fail sooner than it might have, otherwise.
Good Luck
Lead Foot
Crazy'Bout My Ol' Mark 8s

Thanks guys. I'll bear that in mind about the fuse under the seat. I guess it seems typical that there would be some crazy hard-to-find fuse stashed away in a place that was never meant to see sunlight after rolling of the assembly line.

Regarding the headlights, I looked at the 4300K systems as compared to the other levels on a couple of sites. It looked yellow in the pics. According to those sites, 8000k is their "most popular", but that was definitely starting to get a bit too much on the blue side. Anything above that looked downright silly. 12000K? Come on. I was considering something more in the 6000K range, or 5000K if possible. I do notice that my stock low beams certainly have a bluer look to them than the high beams.

As far as the airbags in the suspension go, the leak seems to be in the front. I went outside this morning and the front end was lower than it should be. I turned on the key and watched the front end rise while the back end stayed in the same place. It seems to be equal on both sides. I wonder if the leak might be coming from somewhere other than the bags.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but after seeing these symptoms thousands of time, it's a textbook example of a leaking air spring. Given the age, it's not unusual, replace in pairs.

Calvin Louie
1989 Porsche 928 S4 - Linen Metallic / Linen

>Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but after seeing these
>symptoms thousands of time, it's a textbook example of a
>leaking air spring. Given the age, it's not unusual, replace
>in pairs.
>
>Calvin Louie
>1989 Porsche 928 S4 - Linen Metallic / Linen


Hmmm, bummer. Well, in that case, how likely is it that they are going to "blow" or something like that? Other than the fact that it has to pump itself up a little in the morning, it doesn't appear to be a problem on the road. Should I be concerned or do I have a little time? Also, I would really like to keep the air ride if not too expensive, so any suggestions from personal experience on where to obtain reasonably priced replacements?

It's likely leaking more than you think, and the compressor is working far beyond it's design specifications. Whether that is a matter of days or weeks is anyone's guess, but plan on sooner than later. The cost only goes up if you continue to ignore the symptoms, the Mark VIII is pretty much a 'pay me now, or pay me a lot more later' type of car when it comes to maintenance and repairs.

Calvin Louie
1989 Porsche 928 S4 - Linen Metallic / Linen

I posted in the American Air Suspensions forum hoping to get some input on specific questions. I might give them a call too.

1998 Pearl Lincoln Mark VIII LSC purchased 4/24/12 with ~80k miles

2005 Yamaha FZ6