Audited US model-year file
Exact make, model and year evidence from official US sources. Recall campaigns, ODI investigations, complaint allegations and EPA estimates remain separate.
A campaign may cover only certain production dates, plants or equipment. A zero result here is not safety clearance. Use NHTSA’s official VIN tool for the individual vehicle.
Official VIN lookup ↗01 · Safety actions first
Exact model-level NHTSA results for 1986 LINCOLN Continental. Campaign records are official safety actions; applicability to a particular car still requires its VIN.
AN ALUMINUM CASTING FLASH ON THE FACE OF THE THROTTLE BODY MAY BREAK OFF AND BECOME TRAPPED BETWEEN THE THROTTLE PLATE AND THE BORE IN THE THROTTLE BODY. CONSEQUENCES OF DEFECT: THROTTLE MAY FAIL TO RETURN TO IDLE POSITION WHEN RELEASED AND COULD RESULT IN LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL WHICH MAY CAUSE AN ACCIDENT.
REMOVE EXCESS CASTING FLASH.
SPRING LOCK FUEL LINE COUPLING MAY NOT BE PROPERLY ENGAGED.
COUPLING COULD DISENGAGE DUE TO FUEL PRESSURE,VIBRATION, AND ENGINE MOVEMENTS; THIS WOULD CAUSE LOSS OF FUEL WHICH, INPRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE, CREATES A FIRE RISK.
INSTALL RETAINER CLIPS OVER THE COUPLINGS TO PREVENT COUPLING SEPARATION AND FUEL LEAKAGE.
WIRING CONNECTIONS IN AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR TO THE MASTER CYLINDER RESERVOIR FLUID LEVEL SENSORS WERE REVERSED AND FAIL TO INDICATE LOW FLUID LEVELS AS SPECIFIED BY FMVSS 105, HYDRAULIC BRAKE SYSTEMS. CONSEQUENCE OF DEFECT: SENSOR WILL NOT TRANSMIT SIGNAL TO BRAKE WARNING LIGHT WHEN THE FLUID LEVEL IS LESS THAN ONE FOURTH FULL. WITHOUT THIS WARNING SIGNAL THE FLUID LEVEL MAY DECREASE TO THE POINT WHERE PARTIAL OR COMPLETE LOSS OF BRAKE WOULD BE EXPERIENCED AND MAY LEAD TO AN ACCIDENT.
RE-CONFIGURE WIRING TO THE FLUID LEVEL SENSOR CONNECTOR.
UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, CONTACTS IN BRAKE SYSTEM RELAY COULD REMAIN CLOSED, CAUSING THE BRAKE PUMP MOTOR TO RUN CONTINUOUSLY, CAUSING IT TO OVERHEAT AND EVENTUALLY FAIL. CONSEQUENCE OF DEFECT: SHOULD THE BRAKE SUPPLY MOTOR FAIL, THE POWER ASSIST TO THE FRONT BRAKES WILL BE LOST, AND AFTER ABOUT 10 TO 15 NORMAL BRAKE STOPS, LOSS OF REAR BRAKE FUNCTION WILL RESULT, CAUSING INCREASED STOPPING DISTANCE. HOWEVER, THE INSTRUMENT BRAKE WARNING LIGHT WILL ILLUMINATE PRIOR TO REDUCED BRAKING CAPABILITY AND IF WARNING IS NOT HEEDED, AN ACCIDENT MAY OCCUR.
REPLACE PUMP MOTOR RELAYS.
THE IGNITION LOCK CYLINDER MAY HANG UP AND NOT FULLY RETURN TO THE "ON" POSITION FROM THE "START" POSITION AFTER STARTING THE ENGINE. IF THIS OCCURS, THE ENGINE WILL REMAIN RUNNING, BUT THE BATTERY CURRENT TO THE BRAKE SYSTEM SUPPLY MOTOR WILL BE INTERRUPTED. CONSEQUENCE OF DEFECT: WITH POWER TO MOST ACCESSORIES AND THE BRAKE SYSTEM SUPPLY MOTOR INTERRUPTED, THE POWER ASSIST TO THE FRONT BRAKE WILL BE LOST AND AFTER ABOUT 10 TO 15 NORMAL BRAKE STOPS, LOSS OF REAR BRAKE FUNCTION WILL RESULT, CAUSING INCREASED STOPPING DISTANCE. HOWEVER, THE INSTRUMENT BRAKE WARNING LIGHT WILL ILLUMINATE PRIOR TO REDUCED BRAKING CAPABILITY AND IF WARNING IS NOT HEEDED, AN ACCIDENT MAY OCCUR.
REPLACE IGNITION LOCK CYLINDERS WITH REVISED DESIGN CYLINDERS.
02 · Owner allegations
Counts are not adjusted for sales, vehicle age, mileage, publicity or reporting behavior. They are allegations, not defect findings or a reliability score.
Totals for the same nameplate, scaled against its highest year here. They are not adjusted for how many were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received — an older or better-selling year will usually carry more reports. This shows where the reporting sits, not which year is better.
A dash means NHTSA holds no complaint record for that exact year, make and model. See all Continental years with specs and fuel economy →
03 · Agency review
An investigation means ODI reviewed a possible safety issue for this exact model-year identity. Opening one is not a defect finding; closing one does not by itself clear a vehicle.
SUSPENSION · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.
STRUCTURE · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC · Associated recall campaign 86V108000.
04 · EPA configurations
FuelEconomy.gov records are summarized as ranges where this model name has multiple engines, drivetrains or trims.
05 · Evidence strength
No opaque score. Evidence strength is expressed through source availability, exact match method, jurisdiction and honest empty states.
5 exact US model-year records in this bounded view.
8 exact US model-year allegations; narratives and VIN fragments are omitted.
4 exact US model-year action numbers in the approved import snapshot.
Only the exact NHTSA vPIC model name is published; unverified aliases are not merged.
No rights-reviewed official ownership record is joined to this exact model-year.
The canonical URL is this file’s permanent public identifier. Source IDs and timestamps show exactly what was matched and when; they do not turn the evidence into a verdict.
Model identity
Open official source ↗Owner allegations
Open official source ↗Official safety actions
Open official source ↗EPA efficiency estimates
Open official source ↗Action number, component, subject and open/close dates from the approved bulk import; long summaries omitted.
Open official source ↗Only NHTSA vPIC, NHTSA ODI complaints and investigations, NHTSA recalls and FuelEconomy.gov contribute to this vehicle claim. CPSC equipment notices are searched separately and never joined to vehicle fitment. UK MOT, Canadian, New Zealand and European records are not merged into this US claim.
06 · Research paths
These are transparent searches, not diagnoses or endorsed parts. Recall remedies come before purchases; exact part fitment requires VIN, trim, powertrain, production date and OE number.
Check recalls and diagnostic information before replacing anything.
Check recalls and diagnostic information before replacing anything.
Check recalls and diagnostic information before replacing anything.
Check recalls and diagnostic information before replacing anything.
Awin US and R2 affiliate inventory are not published until a US programme, merchant and exact-fitment projection are approved. No offer currently has both merchant approval and exact vehicle fitment, so commercial links never count as evidence.