Lincoln/Mercury Repair: Problem with engine tempature sensors, ford lincoln mercury, mercury vehicles

Question
Dear Steve; I have a 1992 Lincoln Continental that is in excellent condition, however, I lost an engine recently and could not find a replacement. I found a 1994 engine (3.8L V6) which Lincoln says is exchangable with a few notes.  I purchase the engine (40,000 mile engine), I have had it installed by a company that primarily work on Ford, Lincoln, Mercury vehicles and have an excellent reputation.  Upon installing the engine everything runs fine and all computer printouts find that everything is working properly except the engine temperature sensors which cause the check engine light and bell to go off in the car.  They have checked the engine temperature sensor and replaced it. Now when you start the car the check engine light comes on and stays on until the car warms up to standard operating temperatue and then goes off.  One of the men thinks that it might have a wire loose or broken but I wanted your opinion as to what else they should check and what other possibilities that may be causing this. Is there a diffrence in the 1992 and 1994 engine temperature sensors? The car was put on their Ford computer and checked for the 1992 3.8L V-6 engine and everything from the computer on the car read out ok on the shop computer. Any assistance that you can give me will be greatly appreciated. The car is still at the shop and they are waiting on me to see what I can find out. (I find used parts on the computer for them in exchange for a reduction in labor cost). Thanks in advance for you thoughtful consideration in this matter and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Barry Scott Ratliff
barrysr@netscope.net


Answer
since you are still using the origional computer for the car the scanner should not be able to tell the difference in the motor change. if you are using the sensors from the new motor it is likely the values are different. the first thing to do is look for a ripped or broken wire to the sensor. it can commonly happen with an engine change. if you still have access to the sensors that came out of the origional engine use them. past that it requires hands on inspection and testing.   good luck.