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Lincoln Town Car Maintenance & Repair

1109 messages,  Last post on Apr 19, 2013 at 3:53 PM

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What is this discussion about? Lincoln Town Car, Auto Body, Engine, Suspension, Sedan

Messages Page 109 of 112

#1078 of 1109 Good luck in your travels.. by 99towncarexec

Oct 14, 2012 (5:59 am)

I used to be in the Limo Business in NYC thru the 80's and 90's using Town Cars and Grand Marquis'. Since then I've had a 91,94,99,2002,2005 and 2 2007's,one of which I still have.Leaks were an issue on a few of them and in the 91 ( I knew of the engine issues with that 1st year 4.6 but it was ok while I had it) it's air ride went shortly after I gave it to a kid around here.The 05 had a noisy sunroof issue.That was the only suspension problem in all the lincolns.They are all over the place out here and the nice thing is it doesn't matter if it's a 95 or 05,the ride quality is excellent anyway!I actually like that 90's style a little better then the current version but I like some features in the newer ones that the oder ones don't have.A classy car no matter what year!Good luck and hop you find another one out there!CARS.COM and AUTOTRADER have many,many Lincolns.

#1079 of 1109 Re: air ride.. [bremertong] by lesterman

Oct 14, 2012 (9:43 am)

Replying to: bremertong (Oct 14, 2012 12:17 am)
I just sold my 99 Town car with 140,000 miles. It was my first Town Car which had 99,000 on it when I bought it. I loved it and its great ride. The only reason I sold it was to get a newer one with lower mileage and possibly take advantage of a better resale value. I found an 03 with 64,000 actual miles that I bought from a 90 year old widow whose husband had just died 6 weeks earlier. She did not have a drivers license so couldn't use the car. I only did a short test ride (10 minutes) and did not get to a freeway. Car looked and felt like a new car. Bought the car and then felt this car did not have the ride quality of my 99. I stopped at a dealer to get there opinion as to whether something was changed in ride design between the 99 and the 03. He told me the only thing he could think of was the 03 has 17 inch tires to the 99s 16 inch. I'm not sure this is it, but I know I'm feeling bumps more and also some roughness coming through from the road itself or the drive train that I didn't feel from the 99. I'm wondering if the tires themselve's could be the problem. They only have around 6000 miles on them and are "Good Year Weatherhandler ES". I'm also wondering if it could be a difference in air pressure in the air bags of the 2 cars. I did have a bad rear shock that I found right after I bought the car. Installed new rear shocks which helped take care of that problem. Thanks

#1080 of 1109 Re: Good luck in your travels.. [99towncarexec] by euphonium

Oct 15, 2012 (3:20 pm)

Replying to: 99towncarexec (Oct 14, 2012 5:59 am)
Our 94 Sig has an underhood light, automatic trunk pull down, cornering lights, & the parking brake releases when you put in Drive. These are not even available on the 11 MKS so we are learning to do without.

#1081 of 1109 Re: 2006 Lincoln Towncar Ac Problems [nsarafia] by nvbanker

Oct 22, 2012 (1:32 pm)

Replying to: nsarafia (Aug 08, 2012 7:54 am)
High humidity will drastically "warm up" your cool air produced by the A/C, as much as 20 or degrees. On an aging system, what you experience isn't all that unusual. Best remedy would be to switch to recirculate to block out the wet outside air. Should help a lot.

#1082 of 1109 Re: JITTERY RIDE 2004 LINCOLN TOWN CAR [bremertong] by nvbanker

Oct 22, 2012 (1:56 pm)

Replying to: bremertong (Oct 01, 2012 9:07 pm)
Jittery ride sounds like the tires to me, and if the inflation doesn't seem to make a difference, the actual tires may. Some discount brands, particularly those made in China are not at all ride or road noise engineered, and can mess up the ride on luxury cars noticeably. Now, maybe you have Michelins on the car, in which case, I'm all wet. But it's worth a shot. If the tires are cheap ones, you may consider upgrading. May help a lot.

#1083 of 1109 Re: air ride.. [lesterman] by bartbarter

Oct 30, 2012 (6:51 am)

Replying to: lesterman (Oct 14, 2012 9:43 am)
Howdy!
 
The dealer was seriously uninformed. The entire panther front end was completely redesigned in 03.
 
The standard 'recirculating ball steering, suspension being bolted to the frame with a stamped metal crossmember supporting the engine' (like your 99) was put to pasture.
 
In its' place, a marvel really: a big cast aluminum rail runs from one front tire to the other, with the engine sitting on it, the control arms (upper forged, lower aluminum!) are bolted to this rail. The shock and spring setup was changed to a coilover unit (looks like a strut, but there's still an upper control arm/ball joint), and the old recirculating ball was changed to rack and pinion steering.
 
Handles better, and it's a much more planted car (it's hardly the same car!), but much stiffer overall as you noticed. It is radically different. Some prefer it - I prefer the old front end.
 
Just one example - this is similar to the lower control arm on the 99 -
 
http://www.carsteering.com/data/all_images/93-00265.jpg
 
And this is the control arm on your 03.
 
http://images.oreillyauto.com/parts/img/large/rap/11264.jpg
 
This is the new front end:
">
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq11/mlevario99/Truck12-28-08001.jpg
 
Bart

#1084 of 1109 Re: air ride.. [bartbarter] by 99towncarexec

Oct 30, 2012 (8:21 am)

Replying to: bartbarter (Oct 30, 2012 6:51 am)
Bart,thanks for the wealth of knoweledge man!I didn't know about those changes.I'm an old ex NYC limo driver from the 80's and 90's and I expect to be driving my couch when I get in a Lincoln!As well as expecting it to handle like the Titanic in rough seas.I love the old swaing front end but this newer handling stuff isn't to bad either.My 07 is slightly more responsive then my other ones were.Another thing I miss more is the old seats they had in the 90's versions.Much more comfortable then these new ones.

#1085 of 1109 Re: air ride.. [bartbarter] by lesterman

Oct 30, 2012 (8:43 am)

Replying to: bartbarter (Oct 30, 2012 6:51 am)
Thanks Bart for the great response. I knew there had to be something different about this 03 from my 99. The feeling I get from the drivetrain in this 03 I never had in my 99. (maybe poor motor mount isolation or exhaust isolation) I'm with you, I prefer the old style for smoothness. Your right though, the 03 does seem like a better handling car.
 
Lester

#1086 of 1109 hugioadg by bartbarter

Oct 30, 2012 (11:40 am)

You're welcome guys, it's nice to be able to tell some folks who haven't heard it from me 100 times
 
I went from a 97 MGM to a 85 TC and then to a 03 MGM in the last couple years (I've owned many panthers). The 03 LOOKS like the 97, but the 97 is closer to the 85.
 
And even though it's still being fixed up I'd usually rather take the 85. Not to slam the 03 though, it's a great car, and I prefer it in bad weather. I can see why some would rather have the 03. Different strokes etc.
 
Agreed on the engine feel/noise. Maybe the one piece front end has something to do with it. And for some reason the 03 has a lot of valvetrain noise too, more than the 97, and I already fixed the tensioner issue.
 
Bart

#1087 of 1109 Suspension Stabilizer Bar, ?? by gregp_117

Nov 27, 2012 (1:38 pm)

I believe this is what it is called. My rear suspension stabilizer bar has come down from the car (just the ends where bolts go) and the two bolts have come out (while driving I suppose). The actual bar seems fine but I am not sure if two new bolts screw into the holders. Do I just need the bar to be held in place, (maybe with clamps)? Or should I get the whole thing replaced?

Messages Page 109 of 112

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