Four problems related to front suspension upper ball joint have been reported for the 1997 Lincoln Town Car. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 1997 Lincoln Town Car. While driving 30 mph, the lower ball joint failed. The contact spoke in detail regarding the control arm. The vehicle was towed to his private mechanic and it was determined that the control arm was the cause of failure. The purchase date was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 153,000. The upper ball joints, lower control arm bushings and right lower control arm were all replaced. The mechanic also noted the rear main seal and transmission front pump seal was starting to leak. Update 09/11/07.
Contact stated the front driver's side wheel fell off on 8-5-05. It sounded like a flat tire and the front end was dragging. The tires were a few years old. He called Ford and asked about a recall and they told him no there had not been any recalls. It was determined that the upper and lower ball joints had failed.
While driving, a loud noise was heard from the front of the vehicle. The driver noticed that the noise level has increased enormously louder upon acceleration. The mechanic informed the driver that both driver, and passenger side upper and lower ball joints needed to be replaced due to corrosion. The failure caused the front end of the vehicle collapsed to the ground. The manufacturer refused to honor recall 98v322000.
While driving 25 mph, the front driver's side wheel fell off. The driver was able to pull to the side of the road and call a towing truck to have the vehicle towed to a dealership. The consumer replaced the upper and lower ball joints.