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2001 Lincoln Town Car Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 161 complaints with NHTSA about the 2001 Lincoln Town Car, most often about the air bags (34% of complaints, typically around 89,000 miles). It is the 2nd most complained-about Town Car model year since 2000 and has 5 recalls.
Most common 2001 Lincoln Town Car problems
Air bags
54 complaints · 34%Half of these problems showed up before 89,000 miles. Parts named most often: side/window, frontal.
Tl contact owns a 2001 Lincoln Town Car. While driving 40 MPH, the side air bag deployed for no apparent reason. As a result, the contact's wife was pushed across the front seat. The dealer and manufacturer stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA campaign id number 00v270000 (air bags). The air…
Tl contact owns a 2001 Lincoln towncar. The contact stated that while driving at low speeds, the driver side air bag deployed without any warning. The vehicle had not been inspected or repaired. The manufacturer was also contacted but they offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 89,000.
Speed control
26 complaints · 16%Half of these problems showed up before 32,000 miles. Parts named most often: accelerator pedal, cruise control, linkages.
When the car is stopped with my foot on the brake the idle speed will suddenly and uncontrollably jump to a very high RPM. It is difficult to prevent the car from suddenly surging ahead. I have discovered that the only way to stop it is to turn off the ignition. It has happened four times. The first time I was so…
The contact owns 2001 Lincoln Town Car. The contact stated that while driving in reverse at an unknown speed, the vehicle accelerated independently. The problem recurred five times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they were unable to locate a problem. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The…
Visibility and wipers
16 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 89,000 miles. Parts named most often: windshield wiper/washer, windshield, rear window wiper/washer.
The contact owns a 2001 Lincoln towncar. The windshield wipers, air conditioning and heater have failed. The speedometer sporadically fails. The ABS light was consistently illuminated on the instrument control panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealership for inspection. The technician stated that the wipers needed…
Tl contact owns a 2001 Lincoln Town Car. The contact stated that the windshield wipers failed intermittently. As of september 24, 2007, the dealer had not inspected the vehicle. The manufacturer stated that her VIN was excluded from NHTSA campaign id number 01v258000 (visibility:windshield wiper/washer:motor). The…
Engine
15 complaints · 9%Half of these problems showed up before 94,000 miles. Parts named most often: engine, exhaust system, cooling system.
Ford's plastic intake manifold is cracked. Is there any recourse still available for this problem? The manifold is still on the car and now leaking.
Engine started to make a loud clicking noise while driving 45mph down the block. Managed to pull into the driveway and when a opened the hood the coil pack had blown apart and the spark plug was sitting on top of the engine.
Brakes
13 complaints · 8%Parts named most often: antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip, pedals and linkages.
: the contact stated while driving 65mph, the brakes appeared spongy. Upon inspection by the contact, it was discovered the clamp that holds the brake line to the structure had rusted. As a result, the brake line began leaking. The vehicle is currently at the dealer for repair.
The contact owns a 2001 Lincoln towncar. The windshield wipers, air conditioning and heater have failed. The speedometer sporadically fails. The ABS light was consistently illuminated on the instrument control panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealership for inspection. The technician stated that the wipers needed…
Steering
10 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 83,000 miles. Parts named most often: hydraulic power assist system, hydraulic power assist, electric power assist system, linkages.
The contact owns a 2001 Lincoln Town Car. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the contact heard a loud metal dragging noise coming from the front end of the vehicle. The vehicle was maneuvered to the side of the road where the contact noticed that the front driver side completely collapsed. The vehicle was towed to an…
The car has developed poor return to center when turning. It also seems to be sticky in normal highway driving, that is, a minor correction seems to stay until corrected the other direction. This makes the car wander back and forth. I had one mechanic in town diagnose it as lower steering shaft and I have an…
Suspension
10 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 102,000 miles. Parts named most often: front, rear.
Tl contact owns a 2001 Lincoln Town Car. While driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle began vibrating. The tire dealer stated that the bushings have come off of the front lower ball joints near the front driver side tire. The failure is related to recall #00d159; however, the dealer confirmed that the VIN is not…
On july 16, 2017, I was traveling on interstate 70 east, near washington, pa. All of a sudden my 2001 Lincoln started shaking very violently. I managed to pull into a rest stop a few miles away, and noticed that the rear portion of my Lincoln was very low to the ground. I managed to drive into washington, pa, and a…
Electrical
9 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 56,000 miles. Parts named most often: ignition, wiring, instrument cluster/panel.
- the contact owns a 2001 Lincoln Town Car. The contact's vehicle was sitting in the driveway when it caught on fire. The vehicle had been driven earlier in that day, but had been turned off prior to the fire. The fire department was called and they were able to extinguish the fire. The computer was described as the…
Last wed., nov. 8th., 2006 my Lincoln towncar cartier died. When the tow truck came, he popped open the hood and noticed that a fuse had popped up. He pushed it down and the car strted. That same afternoon, it happened again, and I was able to fix it the same way. I had the car checked for electrical defects, as well…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2001 Lincoln Town Car recalls
Visibility and wipers: motor
Risk: Loss of visibility while driving increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the date code on the wiper motor. Motors built with the suspect time frame will have the wiper motor gear case cover replaced. Owner notification began august 20, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1-866-436-7332.
Full defect summary
Vehicle description: passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, and light and medium duty pickup trucks. A switch located in the plastic cover of the wiper motor gear case could malfunction and overheat, potentially resulting in loss of intermittent wiper function, loss of wiper park function, complete loss of wiper function, or ignition of the plastic cover material. Switch malfunction is most likely to occur when the intermittent setting of the wipers is being used, or when snow or ice obstructs the blades from returning to the "parked" position at the bottom of the windshield. These vehicles were built at the following assembly plants: atlanta plant from 2/11/00 through 7/31/00; chicago plant from 2/14/00 through 8/4/00; kansas city plant from 2/26/00 to 9/4/00; kentucky truck plant from 2/18/00 to 8/31/00; michigan truck plant from 2/23/00 through 8/3/00; norfolk plant from 2/21/00 thro
Seat belts: buckle assembly
Risk: In the event of a crash, the restraint system may not provide adequate occupant protection, increasing the risk of personal injury to the seat occupant.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the front outboard seat belt buckles and if the buckle fails the inspection process, it will be replaced. Owner notification began july 25, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1-866-436-7332.
Full defect summary
Vehicle description: passenger and sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, and minivans. Equipped with seat belts supplied by trw. It is possible that the driver's and/or front passenger's outboard seat belt buckle may not fully latch. Ford crown victoria built at st. Thomas assembly plant from 4/17/00 - 5/29/01 mercury grand marquis built at st. Thomas assembly plant from 4/17/00 - 5/29/01. Lincoln town cars built at wixom assembly plant from 3/27/00 - 5/30/01. Lincoln navigators built at michigan truck plant from 4/11/00 - 5/31/01. Ford windstars built at oakville assembly plant from 3/23/00 - 5/30/01. Ford rangers built at twin cities plant from 3/28/00 - 5/30/01, and also at the edison plant from 3/13/00 - 5/25/01. Ford f-150 truck built at norfolk plant from 4/18/00 - 5/25/00; at ontario plant from 5/10/00 - 5/28/01; at kansas city plant from 9/11/99 - 5/25/01; and at cuautitlan plan
Wheels and tires: tires
Risk: The vehicle weight could exceed the maximum load rating for the tire, increasing the risk of premature tire wear or blowout.
Fix: Dealers will replace all 5 tires (including the spare tire) with michelin tires (225/70r16 107t reinforced white sidewall) with a sufficiently higher load rating. Owner notification began january 10, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1-800-248-0186.
Full defect summary
Vehicle description: certain limousines stretched over 60 inches fail to comply with the requirements of fmvss no. 109, "new pneumatic tires," and no. 110, "tire selection and rims."
Air bags: sensor/control module-inactive
Risk: In some cases, less than the intended level of protection in the event of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the rcm and crash sensors and, if necessary, replace them.
Full defect summary
Vehicle description: minivans and passenger vehicles. A restraint control module (rcm) or a side or front crash sensor may have been assembled with one or more of the screws that mount the circuit board in the housing missing. If some or all of the screws are missing, the performance of the occupant restrains could be affected.
Air bags
Risk: This condition could result in personal injury.
Fix: Dealers will replace the rcm in these vehicles. Owner notification began september 14, 2000. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1-800-392-3673.
Full defect summary
Certain passenger vehicles, limousines, and mini vans were built with a newly designed restraint control module (rcm). In some cases, the rcm does not recognize certain system faults that could result in an air bag or seat belt pre-tensioner unexpectedly activating during the self-test sequence at vehicle start-up.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
Summary
On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehi
Front seat belt buckle assembly
Summary
During the initial recall campaign in 2001, the subject vehicles were inspected by ford dealerships using a test tool that would detect a defective front seat outboard seat belt buckle assembly.approximately one million vehicles passed the inspection test for one or both front buckles.subsequent to the recall service action, odi received 15 consumer reports alleging that a passed inspection buckle subsequently failed to latch or inadvertently unlatched during use.in addition, ford has identified 543 owner and field reports alleging buckle failure subsequent to passing the inspection test.ford tested and examined over 100 warranty-returned buckles and found that 44% of the buckles had no prob
Front seat belt buckle assembly
Summary
Under recall campaign (01v227), ford recalled approximately 1.3 million vehicles to inspect and if necessary replace the front driver and/or passenger seat belt buckle.approximately 1.1 million owners responded by taking their vehicles to a dealer for inspection of the buckle using a specialized buckle test tool.ford reported that 829,927 vehicles had both buckles pass the tool test and another 167,336 vehicles had one buckle pass.odi and ford received complaints alleging seat belt buckle failure shortly after passing the original recall inspection service.complainants alleged that the buckle failed by either not latching or false-latching (partial engagement of the latch to the latch plate)
Inadvertent side air bag deployment
Summary
This investigation identified a total of 182 reports alleging inadvertent or non-crash deployment of the side air bags.the data examined during the investigation suggest that the side air bag crash sensing system's algorithm may recognize certain non-crash incidents as deployable events.odi has not, however, identified any failed component that relates to the alleged defect in the subject vehicles.also, odi has not identified any trend in the manufacture dates of complaint vehicles that may indicate a component or vehicle-manufacturing problem.a safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time.further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.accordingly, this i
Inadvertent side air bag deployment
Summary
Odi has identified 173 complaints alleging inadvertent or non-crash deployment of side air bags on model year (my) 1999-2003 lincoln town cars.most of the complaints allege that one of the side air bags deployed while driving without any impact.analysis showed that my 2001 through early my 2003 town cars have much higher complaint and warranty claim rates (138 complaints and 120 warranty claims) than the remaining vehicles (35 complaints and 32 warranty claims).ford changed its supplier of the side crash sensors for the my 2001 town cars.ford states that the algorithm in the my 2001 town cars is different from the previous model year's design, and that it is designed to provide improved occu
Post rear end collision fires
Summary
There is no summary currently available
Questions about the 2001 Lincoln Town Car
- What are the most common problems with the 2001 Lincoln Town Car?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: air bags (54 complaints, typically around 89,000 miles); speed control (26 complaints, typically around 32,000 miles); visibility and wipers (16 complaints, typically around 89,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2001 Lincoln Town Car have?
- 5 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from August 8, 2001 (visibility and wipers). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2001 a bad year for the Lincoln Town Car?
- It is the 2nd most complained-about Town Car model year since 2000, with 161 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.