Hi from Germany

[Hillbillycat]

Newbie here.
IŽm from Germany and bought a 1984 Lincoln Town Car last week. Did some homework before thanks to your site, so I knew what to expect and how to check (ATC issues like TBL switch, ambient themp control sensor, auto park brake release)
Did the 250mile trip home at 75-80mph whenever possible but it rained almost the whole day. I fueled up before departure and when I got home: 19.3 mpg (US gal).

I knew the 302 was anemic but is it really normal that the TC slowed down from 75/80mph to 60mph on every slope? Tires properly inflated, new coil, wires plugs, distributor from previous owner. Fuel injection system serviced, too. I only noticed he PCV hose on the right valve cover wasnŽt connected to the grommet.

Many greetings and thanks for you help in advance.

[Arquemann]

Welcome to the forums!

Your MPG is excellent for those speeds, but the performance definitely doesn't sound right. You do know you have to give it more throttle when going up hills? At those speeds, a 302 "LoPo" is quite out of breath, so you really have to give throttle.
Does it just do nothing when giving it all uphill?

Does the engine sound and behave correctly otherwise, other than just slow?

[87gtVIC]

Welcome to the forum.

[VicCrownVic]

Welcome!

I second the MPG being impressive, performance does not sound right.
Has the timing been checked? As long as it is firing on all cylinders, hills shouldn't drop speed with no chance of maintaining that speed (with some help to maintain the speed, as mentioned.) Derek has a '79 G10 with a 6 cylinder engine that I drove once. That van had no chance of maintaining 70+ going up even the smallest incline, no matter how hard I tried. The TC on the other hand, a little (not excessive) bit of help and it should maintain speed going up hill. With no help at all and cruise set it shouldn't drop as much as you were seeing, but will probably drop a little.

[Hillbillycat]

Cruise doesnŽt work.
When "helping" the car it did somehow maintain the speed of course. But I needed to "help" quite before entering the slope and it needed a lot of accelerator pedal travel (to the point ot just not kicking down) to keep the speed. Shifting from OD only raced the engine but didnŽt help much when on the slope already.

IŽll check ignition timing

[Arquemann]

Accelerating from 70 to 80 mph in reasonable time usually means full throttle. But a 302 CFI should be able to keep those speeds relatively easily, and even accelerate on a bit of incline.

Checking the timing is a good start. Does the car idle smooth, is the idle RPM seemingly high or low maybe? Those could also indicate wrong ignition timing.
Remember to unplug the single pin connector on the yellow wire coming from the distributor before you check the timing. It's called "SPOUT".