Dt*: the contact stated while driving 4 MPH under normal road conditions, the vehicle made a loud noise. An independent mechanic determined that the lower ball joint separated.
1997 Lincoln Town Car suspension complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 50, newest first, as owners wrote them.
1997 lincoln town car front control arm lower ball joint failed, puncturing tire and driving lower control arm into asphalt. Speed of accident 15 MPH. Numerous complaints on lower control arm failures for lincoln, crown victoria etc. Manufacturer claims the specific VIN is not under recall criteria. I suspect this is an oversight by the manufacturer. I am thankful that I was not taking my child on the highway when this occurred at highway speeds. There would have certainly been a wreck and the way the failure occurred, I am not sure how the car could not have spun and rolled if the failure would have occurred at a higher speed. The control arm left a groove in the asphalt and halted the car instantly throwing everyone forward when it occurred. It would be advisable to have these recalled to avoid potential litigation and law suits. I have seen several instances of this in this complaint database as well as on the web. I have not seen any class action suit and can only find the recall on the lower control arm that apparently does not include my specific VIN number (and a lot of others apparently as well). I have asked several mechanics and they are aware of this and suspect a manufacturing defect and they also say that it is pretty ridiculous to have a control arm go out so soon in a vehicles life. There are cars that still have their original control arms and twice the mileage of other manufacturers. The repairs are expensive, the failure is dangerous, and I honestly have problems trusting whether the dealer will use parts that have been re-engineered to overcome this failure. Especially since we are seeing that some of the replacement control arms appear to have the same failures or same defect. How can I be assured that this will not occur again? And will I be just as lucky as I was this time in that the failure occurred at extremely low speed?
Heard a popping in the front end of my 1997 lincoln towncar and it was pulling to the left when I would apply the brakes. I took it to the garage and had the tires rotated and the front brakes replaced and the rotors were replaced and brake pads, nothing was noticed at this time. The car was still pulling to the left when the brakes were applied. I was driving to my job which is about 10 miles from home and when I pulled in to the drive and went to back up I heard a loud pop, I called my husband and told him about it and when he looked underneath the car he found that the lower control arm bracket that was factory welded to the frame had come loose. The popping noise was obviously flexing of the bracket that was welded to the frame and when the brakes were applied the flexing of the bracket was causing the car to pull to the left. My husband call the local lincoln dealership and explained what had happened and was told that they had never heard of this happening before. I then went on line to carfax and researched the history of my car to see if it had ever been wrecked and the results were clean, no wrecks or service history of any problem. We have had several people look at the car and each and every one expressed that this was a first for them, that they had never heard of this happening before and that they feel like it was a factory default on the welding and that I must have had an angel on my shoulder because this could have been very dangerous. As it stands right now I am at awe as to what to do because I have been advised to not have anything done to the car till someone from ford/lincoln looks at. I feel that this could have been a life threatening situation and that ford/lincoln should take some responsibility for this problem. This vehicle is used on the road only and not used as an off road vehicle and it has not been abused in its use. I would very much appreciate some kind of response or help with this problem as soon as possible.
Dt: 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.*ak it was determined that the upper and lower ball joints had failed.
Dt: the driver's side lower ball joint fell off on september 24, 2005. The vehicle just had an oil change the day before, and they did not see anything at that time. There was no accident. The consumer had the vehicle towed to the mechanics. The consumer found that there was a recall for this problem but this vehicle was not involved due to VIN. *ak updated 12/07/05.
Dt: a recall was issued for the same type of vehicle the consumer owns, however his vehicle was not included in the recall. Without warning the vehicle lurched forward and the front of the vehicle collapsed and spun around. When the consumer exited the vehicle, he discovered the ball joint punctured the tire on the front passenger side. The vehicle was towed the dealer and they said the consumers vehicle should be included the recall. The manufacturer said his car was not included in the recall. The consumer stated his vehicle had the same symptoms as stated in the recall # 98v322000. *jb.
Driver noticed that both frontal seat belts do not retract back. While driving driver noticed fluid leaking from underneath the vehicle. Driver took vehicle to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the intake manifold needed to be replaced. *ak updated 12-12-07. *kb the consumer stated while driving, coolant leaked from the vehicle. The consumer was informed the vehicle had a defective intake manifold. The ball joints were defective and one of them had already failed. Updated
Erratic steering and noise at the passenger side front end. Approaching a stop light at less than 15mph the ball joint fell out. The vehicle was repaired by fiesta ford lincoln mercury in indio ca.at my expense by replacing the lower cotrol armand shock absorber. A week ago the same noise developed on the driver side and the car was sent to fresno lincoln mercury for repair yesterday. I was told by the mechanic the left lower control arm needs replacing.
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. *la the failure caused the front end of the vehicle collapsed to the ground. The manufacturer refused to honor recall 98v322000.
1. The ABS lamp remained on and my cost was nearly 1000.00 to diagnose a faulty module,and have it replaced. The lincoln towncar is a 97 with only 73k miles. 2. There is a suspension noise in the front driver side which I was told would cost nearly 600 dollars because they have to break the seal to access the area and that it is not a simple lubricatiion job. 3. I have seen several recalls associated with the ABS and front suspensions yet I have never received any by mail.
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. *ak the consumer replaced the upper and lower ball joints. *cb
Vehicle description: certain 1996-1999 ford crown victoria police, fleet/ natural gas, and 1996-1999 lincoln town car limousine vehicles that were produced with a lower control arm ball joint containing a one piece bearing; and 1990-1996 ford crown victoria police fleet and ngv vehicles, and 1990-1996 lincoln town car limousine vehicles that have been serviced with either a ball joint containing the one-piece bearing or a front lower control arm containing a ball joint with a one-piece bearing. The one-piece bearing within the lower control arm ball joint can weaken slowly during use and eventually crack. This could result in separation of the ball and cap of the joint, allowing the control arm to drop to the ground. Consumer has the same problem. A recall has been issued on similar makes and models, however this vehicle is not included due to VIN.
While driving consumer hears a "squeaking" noise coming from the left side. Consumer suspects that bushing and/or ball joint is defective and poses a safety hazard. Related recall 98v322000, consumer's v.I.n. Is not included.ts
The lower control arm disengaged from the lower ball joint, and dropped to the ground, tearing a large hole in the front tire, this caused complete loss of control of vehicle.
While driving vehicle at 10-15 MPH left front ball joint broke, and vehicle could not be controled. Contacted dealer, and dealer was not willing to do anything because of the mileage.
Vehicle is experiencing the same problem as stated in recall #098v322000 for lower control arm. Please provide further details.
While traveling approximately 5 MPH front/right of vehicle crashed to the ground unexpectedly. An unknown component of front suspension disconnected from vehicle. Dealership has not examined this vehicle to diagnose the problem. Please provide any additional information / documentation.*ak additional note: the vehicle was examined by the dealership and it has been determined that the right-front ball joint broke and separated from the control arm. The manufacturer informed the consumer his vehicle is not included in recall 98v322000.
On december 14, 2001, while parking my car with my granddaughter buckled in her car seat in the back, I suddenly heard a loud crashing sound and felt the jolt of the entire right side of my car collapsing. I immediately removed myself and my granddaughter from the car only to see that the suspension on the right side of the car had simply fallen off. As a mechanic in my younger years it was very obvious that my grand daughter and I would have been severely injured-even killed- had this occurred on the highway. There were no warning signs at all. In over 50 years as a safe driver and operating a variety of trucks and automobiles, I have never before encountered such a defect with such high potential for lethality. The dealer has already insulted my intelligence by trying to minimize the significance of such a defect and suggest that I would pay for the damage and feel comfortable ever driving this vehicle again. Please investigate as soon as possible. The lincoln towncar tends to be very popular amongst older/elderly adults who may not have the resources to confront any attempts to coverup/conceal the magnitude of this problem. Please call me any time for any further clarifications. Thank you
Prior to recall the lower ball joint separated while the consumer was driving resulting in loss of steering control and the front end dropped onto the pavement shredding the tire, consumer was not notified of the recall.(recall # 98v‑322)
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. *ak dealer has made several attempts to correct problem, however problem still occurs, consumer is afraid to drive this vehicle.
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.
Vehicle was parked, consumer noticed that front left side had dropped to ground, towed to dealer who found front lower control arm had fallen off. There was a recall 98v322000 on this component in 1998, but this vehicle was not affected.
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.
Please reference identical odi case# 815394. No safety defect listed in summary.
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.
Front right and left tires wore out due to alignment problems. Yh
Lower control arm broke, dropping vehicle to the ground, and consumer lost power steering. Also, while applying the brakes, brakes failed due to a broken brake line. *ak consumer stated carburetor is stuck causing engine to race at high RPM, intake manifold failed causing engine damage.
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
Rear suspension does not turn as the front end does causing poor directional control and well as poor stability.
While going around a corner the front of the car goes with the turn, but the rear of the car does not.
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