I know this sounds weird as hell but i need to know if i can swap a 302 from an 1980-85 F150 and put it in my 1981 Lincoln mk VI. The lincoln is giving me hell and i know my GF would kill me if i tried to swap the engine out of my 93 F150.

 

So you must have a 351w or 302 in the Lincoln. What's giving you so much trouble, the ignition?

 

It runs like crap, hesitates, and stalls for no reason even while driving down the interstate. Its got 160,000 miles on it and im thinking that ill just save myself some trouble and find a f150 302. I already checked the ignition and replaced all the seals and gaskets and i dont feel like getting it bored out but if you think its something else i'd love to hear other suggestions

 

First I would check your compression. If it checks out fine I would look into fixing that motor instead of replacing it. I would hate for you to go to the trouble of the swap to find out it was just the carb which would have to be replaced anyway if it were the problem.

 

The reason I asked if it was ignition problems is because Lincoln's of that year had EEC-III ignition systems. The ignition advance is controlled by the ECA computer and cannot be manually adjusted. The spark plug wires are arranged in the dist. cap in a completey different order than a DS-II distributor but the firing order is actually the same. To identify an EEC-III ignition, look for a brown grommet on the ignition module and the absence of a mechanical or vacuum advance on the distributor. It also uses a Crankshaft Position Sensor instead of a reluctor and stator in the distributor.

EEC-III also has a feedback carburetor, BMAP, TPS, ECT, EGO plus ACT on the EFI version. The EGR and thermactor system are actuated by solenoids controlled by the computer.

Does the Lincoln have any of that, or is it a straight DS-II system?

You might wanna start out by getting a vacuum gauge or a Mitey-Vac vacuum pump and start checking the manifold vacuum at idle and different throttle settings. If your EGR valve is leaking through or the solenoids aren't working right, it can make it run pretty crummy and it will have vacuum loss.

 

Thanx for the replies ill try all of the things you mentioned. I didnt want to replace the engine but now ill have a chance to take it to the dealer and get the ignition checked out and also the vacum advance. Im not good with all of the electronic stuff so i prefer to have someone else do that (way too confusin for a southern boy).