Lincoln Mark 8 Problem

[Calrobowiz]

O k, I have a 1995 Lincoln Mark 8 with some series problems. Just today the engine began to die. Just moments later the top left corner under the hood began to smoke. I looked down there and noticed an orange glow. There were no sing of flames but it continued to smoke. So I turned off the car and it still continued to smoke. About 45 minutes later I finally had to call the fire dept. and they sprayed it down and disconnected the battery. A couple of days earlier there was no sign of air coming out of one of the tail pipes. (2 total) If someone has any idea about what the problem is I would appreciate it.

http://ecarthage.com/~robowiz/000_0005.jpg

The red arrow points to the location where the glowing and smoke was located.

http://ecarthage.com/~robowiz/000_0004.jpg

Here is a closer view. (from the top) I couldn’t get the camera much closer to the location, because the location was much farther down.