1996 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL Customer Assistance Guide

How to take care of and clean the CD Changer and
discs
To ensure the continued performance of your CD
Changer carefully read the following precautions: Always handle a disc by the edge. Never
touch the playing surface. Before playing, inspect all discs for any
contamination. If needed, clean discs with an
approved disc cleaner, such as the
DiscwasherÒ Compact Disc Cleaner or the
AllsopÒ 3 Compact Disc Cleaner, by wiping
from the center out to the edges. Do not use
a circular motion to clean. Do not clean discs with solvents such as
benzine, thinner, commercially available
cleaners or antistatic spray intended for analog
records. Do not expose the discs to direct sunlight or
heat sources for an extended period of time.
174 Do not insert more than one disc into
each disc slot of the disc magazine.
Doing so may damage the discs, disc
magazine or the disc changer. Do not insert anything other than discs
into the disc magazine./! WARNINGThe laser beam used in the compact discplayer is harmful to the eyes. Do notattempt to disassemble the case.CD Error Messages
Your system is equipped to diagnose
certain problems you may experience.
The error codes are:
-CD El - Mechanism error.
-CD E2 - Focus error.
-BAD CD - Disc unreadable.

- TOO HOT - Mechanism over 167' Farenheit,
allow to cool before playing.
- NO CD - Empty slot or magazine.
- NO DJ - CD Changer not connected or not
communicating.
Common Operating Conditions of the
CD Player
The following information is designed to help
you recognize typical situations that could be
mistakenly interpreted as mechanical
malfunctions of the disc player. A disc is already loaded. The disc is inserted with the label surface
downward. The disc is dusty or defective. The player's internal temperature is above
167°F (75°C). Allow the player to cool off
before operating. Different manufacturers of compact
discs may produce discs with different
dimensions or tolerances, some of
which may not be within industry
standards or in accordance with the
CD format. Because of this, a new
disc that is free of dust and scratches
could be defective and may not play on
your Ford Compact Disc Player.
If play does not begin after the CD button
is pushed: The radio is not on. The unit is in the stop mode. Moisture may have condensed on the
lenses within the unit. If this occurs,
remove the disc and wait
approximately an hour until the
moisture evaporates.
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If the sound skips: Badly scratched discs or extremely rough
roads will cause the sound to skip. Skipping
will not damage the disc player or scratch the
discs.
Common Radio Reception
Conditions
Several conditions prevent FM reception from
being completely clear and noise-free, such as the
following:
Distance/Strength
The strength of the FM signal is directly related
to the distance the signal must travel. The
listenable range of an average FM signal is
approximately 24 miles (40 km). Beyond this
distance, the radio is operating in a "fringe" area
and the signal becomes weaker. Also, "Signal
Modulation" is used by some stations to increase
their "loudness" relative to other stations. The
difference in loudness can be a result of signal
modulation as well as signal strength.
176Terrain
The terrain (hilly, mountainous, tall buildings) of
the area over which the signal travels may
prevent the FM signal from being noise-free.
Repeated pops and hisses which are heard during
an otherwise clear broadcast can occur near the
station because of the "line of sight"
characteristic of FM radio waves.
If there is a building or large structure between
the antenna and station, some of the signal
"bends" around the building, but certain spots
receive almost no signal. Moving out of the
"shadow" of the structure will allow the station
to return to normal.
When the radio waves are reflected off
objects or structures, the reflected signal
cancels the normal signal, causing the
antenna to pick up noise and distortion.
Cancellation effects are most prominent in
metropolitan areas, but also can become
quite severe in hilly terrain and depressed
roadways.

To minimize these conditions, a stereo/mono
blend circuit has been incorporated into this
system. This feature automatically switches a
weak stereo signal to a clearer monaural signal,
which improves the quality of reception.
Several sources of static are normal conditions
on AM frequencies. These can be caused by
power lines, electric fences, traffic lights and
thunderstorms.
Another reception phenomenon is Strong Signal
Capture and Overload. This can occur when
listening to a weak station and when passing
another broadcast tower. The close station may
capture the more distant station, although the
displayed frequency does not change. While
passing the tower, the station may switch back
and forth a few times before returning to the
original station.When several broadcast towers are present
(common in metropolitan areas) several
stations may overload the receiver,
resulting in considerable station changing,
mixing and distortion.
Automatic gain control circuitry for both AM and
FM bands has been incorporated into this system to
reduce strong signal capture and overload.
All About Radio Frequencies
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
and the Canadian Radio Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC) establish the frequencies that
AM and FM radio stations may use for their
broadcasts. The allowable frequencies are, AM:
530, 540... 1600, 1610 kHz in 10 kHz steps; FM:
87.9, 88.1... 107.7, 107.9 MHz in 0.2 MHz steps.
Not all frequencies will be assigned to a given area.
This radio will time to each of these frequencies
using manual tune and no fine tuning is necessary as
radio stations may not use other frequencies.
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Some FM radio stations advertise a "rounded-
off" frequency which is not the frequency they
actually broadcast on. For example, a radio
station that is assigned a frequency of 98.7 MHz
may call itself "Radio 99" even though 99.0
MHz is not an allowable FM broadcast
frequency.
178Important Warranty and
Service Information
About Your Warranty
Your sound system is warranted for four
years or 50,000 miles (whichever occurs
first). Consult your vehicle warranty booklet
for further information.
Servicing Your Audio System
At Ford Electronics, we stand behind our
audio systems with a comprehensive service
and repair program. If anything should go
wrong with your Ford audio system, return to
your dealer for service. There is a nationwide
network of qualified Ford authorized repair
centers to assist you.

Driving Your ContinentalYour vehicle has an automatic overdrive
transaxle. You may be familiar with the term
"transmission." We use transaxle because it is a
more accurate term for vehicles that have front-
wheel drive.
Driving with an Automatic
Overdrive Transaxle
Your automatic overdrive transaxle provides
fully automatic operation in either (Overdrive) or D (Drive). Driving with the shift
selector in (Overdrive) gives the best fuel
economy for normal driving conditions. For
manual control, start in 1 (First) and then shift
manually.
Your vehicle is equipped with an Electronic
Powertrain Control Module that limits engine
and/or vehicle speeds with a cut-out mode to
promote durability.Putting Your Vehicle in Gear
Your vehicle's gearshift can be on the column
or on the console./! WARNINGHold the brake pedal down while youmove the gearshift lever from position toposition. If you do not hold the brakepedal down, your vehicle may moveunexpectedly and injure someone.179

To operate:
1.Start the engine.
2.Depress and hold the brake pedal.
3.Depress the thumb button (console-mounted
gearshift only).
4.Move the gearshift lever out of P (Park).
Your vehicle is equipped with a Brake Shift
Interlock safety feature. This feature prevents
the gearshift from being moved from the P
(Park) position until the brake pedal is
depressed. This feature is active when the
ignition is in the ON position. If the gearshift
lever CANNOT be moved from P (Park) with
the brake pedal depressed:
1.Turn the engine off and remove the ignition
key.
2.Apply parking brake.
3.Reinsert the ignition key and turn clockwise
to the first position (OFF).
1804.Depress the brake pedal, depress the
thumb button (console-mounted gearshift
only), move the gearshift lever to N
(Neutral) and start the engine.
If you need to shift out of P (Park) by using
the alternate procedure described above, it is
possible that a fuse has blown and that your
brakelamps may also not be functional.
Please refer to the Servicing Your
Continental chapter for instructions on
checking and replacing fuses./! WARNINGDO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLEUNTIL YOU VERIFY THAT THEBRAKELAMPS ARE WORKING.

Using a column-mounted gearshift
If your gearshift is on the column, you can use
any of the following positions:Park neutral reverst overdrive drive first
The positions of the column-mounted gearshiftOnce you place the gearshift securely into
position, gradually release the brake pedal and use
the accelerator as necessary.
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