general problems of the 2000 Lincoln Continental

The contact owns a 1979 Lincoln Continental. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked and turned off, there was smoke coming from the vehicle. The contact stated that the rear end near the driver's side of the vehicle had caught on fire. The vehicle was extinguished by the fire department. A fire report was filed, and a fire report number was provided; however, the cause for the failure was not yet determined. A police report was not filed. No injuries were sustained. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 137,070. The VIN was not available.

The contact owns a 2000 Lincoln Continental. The power door locks engage and unlock on their own without warning. The doors normally lock automatically when shifting out of park. The interior lights also illuminated without warning after the vehicle was parked, which prevented the alarm system from engaging. The failure occurred February 5, 2008. The door is ajar warning indicator light indicated had illuminated; however, the door was secure. The abs warning light illuminated the week of January 28, 2008 when there was snow present and dimmed immediately after the contact reached his destination. The dealer had not yet diagnosed the failure. The current and failure mileages were 93,000.

Contact states the air bag light illuminated. Dealer repaired the problem numerous times, but after a short period of time, the air bag light came back on. Smoke emmitted form the vehicle's steering column at the flasher switch.

While starting vehicle dashboard indication lights/ air conditioner/ radio, and power windows worked intermittently due to an electrical short. After turning vehicle off and restarting, all function returned to normal. Dealer has been contacted. There was no lights at dashboard and no auto lamp. The power window and a/c failed. Am radio was inoperative. The power steering was very hard to turn.

While driving the electrical system experienced severe failure which caused the vehicle to loose power brakes, power steering, turn signals and instruments on the dashboard, the dealership did not located the failure.