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2002 Lincoln Town Car Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 65 complaints with NHTSA about the 2002 Lincoln Town Car, most often about the air bags (31% of complaints, typically around 68,000 miles). It is 8th of 12 Town Car model years by number of complaints.
Most common 2002 Lincoln Town Car problems
Air bags
20 complaints · 31%Half of these problems showed up before 68,000 miles. Parts named most often: frontal, side/window.
: the contact stated the passenger side air bag deployed for the 2nd time. On each incident, the contact was driving 40-45 MPH on a dry country road. The dealership determined that gravel caused the deployment. The dealership also said there was a ding on the belly pan of the body of the vehicle. The contact stated…
(1) 2002 Lincoln Town Car, VIN# [] with approximately 76,000 miles and out original warranty. No previous warnings were given. (2) passenger side air bag inadvertently deployed without being involved in an accident or impact. This incident occurred while driving approximately 45 MPH on a gravel county road in cotton…
Speed control
12 complaints · 19%Parts named most often: accelerator pedal, cruise control.
The consumer had the cruise control engaged at 70 MPH. The cruise control failed to disengage when the consumer attempted to resume regular driving.
The vehicle accelerated without warning. The manufacturer attached a recorder to the computer and it showed no defects. The vehicle accelerated at full throttle when first starting and would be extremely hard to stop.
Brakes
11 complaints · 17%Parts named most often: pedals and linkages, foundation components, antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip.
2/20/2007. Contact replaced the master cylinder. The master cylinder had to be replaced twice, once at 1090 miles and again at 1529 miles.
Tl contact owns a 2002 Lincoln Town Car. Whenever the contact depresses the brake pedal, the accelerator pedal is depressed instead. This causes the vehicle to unexpectedly speed up. The failure recently occurred while driving 15 MPH. He has taken the vehicle to the dealer numerous times, but they stated that nothing…
Doors and locks
4 complaints · 6%Parts named most often: doors.
Upon starting and putting vehicle into drive, the automatic door locks engaged and locked all 4 doors. Upon stopping and putting vehicle into park automatic doors locked, only unlocked front doors. Rear doors had to be unlocked manually by the driver.
2002 Lincoln towncar car has auto lock feature locking all doors when moving forward. After stopping those in the front seat can exit by using door handle. Those in rear seat must first use the unlock plunger. In event of accident if rear passengers do not know this they are trapped in car.
Engine
4 complaints · 6%Parts named most often: engine, exhaust system.
The contact owns a 2002 Lincoln Town Car. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle began jerking excessively and exhibiting loud, abnormal noises from under the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was discovered that one of the cylinders malfunctioned and caused the…
Visibility and wipers
3 complaints · 5%Parts named most often: sun/moon roof assembly, windshield wiper/washer.
We were traveling the I-40 in az behind a tractor/trailer rig. The rig threw up a rock. It hit our car. We looked at our windshield thinking the rock hit there and saw nothing so we proceeded. Later, we heard a strange sound. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw something fly off. We stopped and discovered part of…
: the contact stated while driving 30 MPH on a city street, smoke erupted from all of the air vents on the dash, and from underneath the hood. There were no visible flames present. The contact turned the engine off, which stopped the smoke. Afterwards, as soon as the engine was restarted, smoke was again present. The…
Suspension
3 complaints · 5%Parts named most often: rear.
While driving in inclement weather the vehicle would wander to the left and right. The consumer believes this problem occurred because the vehicle was manufactured without a rear stabilizer.
Steering
3 complaints · 5%Parts named most often: linkages.
The contact owns a 2002 Lincoln Town Car. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the steering wheel suddenly became loose as the vehicle became uncontrollable without warning. The vehicle also went airborne, rolled over and spun three times before coming to a stop. The front windshield was fractured and the…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2002 Lincoln Town Car recalls
NHTSA lists no recalls for this model year.
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
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
Questions about the 2002 Lincoln Town Car
- What are the most common problems with the 2002 Lincoln Town Car?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: air bags (20 complaints, typically around 68,000 miles); speed control (12 complaints); brakes (11 complaints).
- How many recalls does the 2002 Lincoln Town Car have?
- NHTSA lists no recalls for the 2002 Lincoln Town Car. Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls in case one is issued later.
- Is the 2002 a bad year for the Lincoln Town Car?
- It is 8th of 12 Town Car model years by number of complaints, with 65 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.