Ten problems related to front suspension have been reported for the 1997 Lincoln Town Car. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Please reference identical odi case# 815394. No safety defect listed in summary.
Front right and left tires wore out due to alignment problems. Yh.
The water leak is coming in from the windshield wiper motor assembly. I have talked with other 1997 Lincoln towncar owners and they all have the same problem. The water enters the car under the windshield wiper motor and runs down the firewall underneth the carpet and forms a pool of water underneth the carpet in the rear passenger compartment. The dealer tries to sell you an undercoating and does not guaratnee this will fix the problem.
At 1500 miles front end of vehicle felt like it was going to collapse or fall apart whenever hitting bumps or pot holes, it was very hard to keep control of vehicle when this happened. Consumer has contacted dealer. Dealer has made several attempts to correct problem, however problem still occurs, consumer is afraid to drive this vehicle.
Vehicle is unstable on the highway.
While driving vehicle experiences front end shimmy. Took to dealer 4 different times. Had tires/brakes changed.
While driving the vehicle began swerving across the road. Took the vehicle back to the dealer and they replaced the steering box. Then vehicle started doing it again, and they took it to the dealer, engineer told the consumer that it was his driving habits that was causing the vehicle to swerve. Dealer fixed the problem, but since then it has started again.
When driving at high speeds and hitting a small bump vehicle wanders over to next lane. Dealer has seen vehicle 4 or 5 times. But, problem still exists.
Front end shimmied, making it difficult to steer and handle vehicle when driving at highway speeds, and on rough roads. Dealer has replaced idler arm . Also, consumer replaced tires and shocks, but defect still occurs. Cause is still unknown.
The car will drift to the right or left. When the driver tries to steer straight, the vehicle goes to the extreme in that direction. Dealer cannot fix vehicle.