1996 Lincoln Town Car: headlights failing or too dim

13 of the 258 complaints about the 1996 Lincoln Town Car describe headlights failing or too dim.

owner complaints: 13
of this car's complaints: 5%
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 4 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Headlights failing or too dim by model year

2006
3
2005
2
2004
3
2003
2
2001
2
2000
2
1999
2
1998
10
1997
15
1996
13
1995
11
1994
7
1993
1
1992
2
1991
3
1990
2

What owners say

Filed Aug 17, 2011 · Electrical, Lights · 120,000 miles · MD

Headlights and dash panel cut off intermittently while driving on smooth pavement for past 10 years. I have had dealership experience this but they could not find any problem. Also, the speedometer shows car speed at 100 or more MPH when starting car but goes to normal when moving. I just replaced the motorcraft alternator with a rebuild version and the speedometer problem is gone. Can't be sure that the headlight issue is gone too, but this seems to be the magic fix. I'm wondering if a batch of intermittently defective motorcraft alternators were oem since this seems to be a problem for others. It is very scary to be driving 55 MPH and have the headlights cut off for a short time. Months go by and nothing happens; then there it is again. I was thinking that the car was haunted. I still have the old motorcraft alternator but I will return it to autozone to get my core back unless it can be used to determine it is defective. Over the years I have spent a lot at repair shops and the dealership trying to locate the cause of this. At the suggestion of the dealer service manager, I replaced the speed sensor twice over the years to "fix" the erratic speed at startup but without any change.

Filed Dec 9, 2007 · Lights · AZ

There is a very high number of vehicles of all types on the road on which the headlight lenses have become foggy or yellowed as a result of uv or chemical age. This results of loss of headlight range, clarity of vision and glare to oncoming vehicles as the result of scattered light rather than focused. I have experienced this problem on my 1996 lincoln town car and cleared it up to some extent using fine polishing cream but lens is not left clear and is getting more foggy as time passes. I consider this a hazardous fault and believe that all such headlight lenses/assemblies should be recalled and replaced.

Filed Sep 24, 2006 · Lights · 138,660 miles · MI

While driving down a narrow highway, using the high beams, the headlight system failed (no dash lights or headlights). I was using the autolamp system. I pulled to the side of the road, and tried to manually turn on lights to no avail. After waiting a minute with the car off, started it back up and headlights came back on. This happened again several times as I tried to get home. The 18 amp breaker for the lighting system was very hot. I traded the 20 amp circuit breaker from the power locks/windows system with the 18 amp breaker on the lighting system, and drove home. It did not act up again. I will try replacing the 18 amp breaker and check the load on the system with a multimeter.

Filed Aug 12, 2002 · Lights · NC

Headlights failed on five occasions in the last two years, both headlights have suddenly shut off, once even when traveling at 55 MPH. Lights come on intermittently, about every 10-15 seconds. Dealership has offerred to replace the present 18 amp headlight circuit braker with a 25 amp circuit breaker. However, owners manual indicates that using a circuit breaker with a higher amp could cause severe wire damage and cause fire.

Filed May 31, 2002 · Lights · NC

While driving, the headlights went off for about 10-15 seconds and then came back. *ak the consumer states that both headlights have suddenly shut off, once leaving the consumer deserted in a 2 lane highway with no other light sources.

Filed Mar 15, 2002 · Lights · NE

While driving with head lights on, the lights went out twice and the third time would not come back on.

Filed Oct 28, 2001 · Lights · NE

The entire light system fails while traveling. This has happened twice. We have had it checked and the headlight switch replaced. The incident still occurred after the replacement .

Filed Oct 25, 2001 · Electrical · NC

I was driving the lincoln on a moonless night on an interstate with the high-beams on and the cd player operating. Suddenly, the lincoln's headlights began to rapidly oscillate on and off. This continued for several seconds. To avoid a serious accident, I immediately turned off the cd player and the high headlight beams. Fortunately, the low headlight beams continued to burn, albeit dimly. I took the lincoln to the dealer listed above, but an electrical system diagnostic check did not find any problems. I reported this problem to the ford motor company, but they have refuse to take any action to correct this problem.this is a serious defect that, in my opinion, warrants a recall of this model.

Filed Mar 27, 2000 · Lights · NC

Headlights go out frequently at night, not allowing consumer to see. Dealer looked at vehicle and found nothing wrong with it.

Filed Sep 15, 1999 · Lights · VA

Whenever the high beams are in use, the entire electrical systems would shut down. Vehicle was taken to dealer & consumer was informed by mechanic nothing could be found to cause the electrical shut down.

Filed Jul 30, 1999 · Lights · AL

While driving at 2:00 am, without prior warning all the headlights went out. This is the fourth time this happened, and the dealer can't determine the cause.

Filed Jul 22, 1999 · Lights · AL

The headlights / dashboard lights are malfunctioning which could result in an accident due to poor visibility. Neither dealer nor ford has provided help. *yc