Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM | |||||
| 9849 | 03/02/1998 | 601270 | Concerns with coolant may leak from the head gaskets and / or the vehicle may overheat. *yc | 07/16/1998 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||||
| 9811329 | 02/01/1998 | 607497 | Information regarding the the availability of the revised headgasket for coolant loss conditions on some engines. *tt | 09/24/1999 | |
| 9874 | 04/13/1998 | 601343 | A new silicone gasket and sealant. *yc | 07/24/1998 | |
| 97610 | 03/17/1997 | 51990 | Blower motor- chirping or squeaking from blower motor at low speeds. *jd | 07/17/1997 | |
| 9743 | 02/17/1997 | 51682 | Blower motor- chirp or squeak from blower motor at low speeds. *jd | 06/27/1997 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||||
| 99816 | 05/03/1999 | 606420 | Ford motor company now recommends sae 5w-30 viscosity grade for servicing any ford gasoline-powered vehicle regardless of model year. *tt | 08/19/1999 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM | |||||
| 9864 | 03/30/1998 | 601312 | Information on a buzzing or rattle noise from the exhaust system. *tt | 07/21/1998 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - EMISSION CONTROL | |||||
| 982310 | 11/23/1998 | 603724 | Mass air flow (maf)- sensor contamination- service tip. *ak | 03/03/1999 | |
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | ||||||
| PE96033 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 05/02/1996 | 09/30/1996 | ENGINE COOLING FAN FIRES | 97V019000 | |
| Bad weather may cause the engine cooling fan to freeze the fan shroud. | ||||||
| EA96024 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 09/30/1996 | 04/15/1997 | ENGINE COOLING FAN FIRES | 97V019000 | |
| Accumulation of ice, snow, or slush could cause the engine cooling fan to freeze to the fan shroud.automatic or manual actuation of the cooling fan motor when the fan is frozen to the shroud may cause the fan motor and wiring to overheat and cause a fire in the engine compartment. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 12/04/2006 | 39800 | 1 | 04/16/1991 |
| 1991 lincoln continental with 39,800 original owner miles. head gasket blew. coolant coming out of exhaust pipes. *nm | |||
| 08/15/2003 | 0 | ||
| I had just bought this car from a private owner for my sister to drive to work. well not even before we got home the main eec iv computer died so the car would not run. once we figured out it was the main computer and replaced it it ran fine. but we still had two bad front air struts to fix. after all that she finally got to drive it to work and the first day she drove the car she did not even make it home because the transmission just stopped working. so she is out a car and we do not have the money to fix it. because of all the other cars my poor sister has owned drained us. | |||
| 01/15/2003 | 0 | ||
| I blew a head gasket & the dcl went out. lincoln says that they cant replace this part (dcl) | |||
| 12/15/2002 | 0 | ||
| Peeling paint and head gaskets failed possibly a cracked head | |||
| 05/16/2003 | 1 | ||
| Without warning the vehicle caught on fire while parked. *nlm *tt | |||
| 04/06/2000 | 1 | ||
| Experienced a blown head gasket and could not operate the vehicle | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM - FAN | |||
| 01/01/2000 | 10/23/1999 | ||
| Air conditioner's compressor seized, was glowing red & fan belt was burning. also, serpentine belt & unit was bright red. had a short warning prior to problem. consumer was smelling something burning. pulled over & checked under the hood. vehicle towed to dealership. *ak | |||
| 06/19/1997 | |||
| Engine cooling fan: sitting at drivethrough window at mcdonalds when the lady at the window said to driver that vehicle was on fire. fire was coming from both vents by the windshield. got out of vehicle, grandson threw sand on vehicle to put the fire out. *ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 1 | ||
| 1991 lincoln continental motor mounts failed.***no answer required***.*mr recall for motor mounts, sub-frame support plate, transmission cable, and mount corrosion. dealership willing to fix sub-frame plate and cable, but will not fix motor mounts, stating that the 6 year or 60,000 miles has expired and that the car is too old. please help investigate this matter. *tt *nm | |||
| 2 | 08/01/1998 | ||
| Request for database info with history resolution attempts. *mr there was a design flaw in the 3.8 liter v6 engines. the consumer found that the original aluminum heads for the engine had an additional flaw which was a sharply machined transition line running the full length of the heads, which caused the heads to crack along that line when overheated. *sc *jb | |||
| 10/30/2000 | |||
| Survey of ford dealers and local repair shops indicate head gasket and transmission failure very common with 4.8l, v-6 engines in 1991 through 1997 continental, tarus and sable. ford refuses to assist or accept responsibility for failures exept 1994 recall on engine head gasket.*ak | |||
| 10/01/2000 | 1 | 08/01/2000 | |
| This is a typical example of ford not covering their customers for a defect they have known about for years. they claim they are covering 1994 and newer vehicles, yet the tsb 98-4-9 specifically states they have been fully aware of the problem from 1988-1994 on these cars. i purchased the car used for $3200, have a loan on it, just spent $990 for the head gasket, $400 to get the plates and title transferred, and now i am told the engine will probably go next, which is common for this car. ford refuses to speak with me about an agreement. i get the it's out of warranty story. head gaskets are supposed to last 120,000 miles. my vehicle has 72000 at time of head gasket replacement. i want ford to stand behind their product!*ak | |||
| Due to improper head gasket for the engine, head gasket blewout twice at 70 thousand miles and around 100 thousand miles. manufacturer has replaced a recall for other car models for the same type of problem. however, this vehicle was not included. dealer has replaced head gasket and engine. please provide any further details.*ak | |||
| 07/01/2000 | 06/01/1995 | ||
| 1991 lincoln continentals are reported by all repair shops in this area to have known head gasket problems along with rear strut and air suspension problems. many people are losing their shirts and ford has done nothing to handle this problem. they have recalled 1994 lincoln continentals but have not addressed any earlier years.*ak | |||
| 12/11/1999 | 1 | ||
| Front motor mount broke. nlm | |||
| 12/11/1999 | 1 | ||
| Head gasket, r&r head gasket, valve cover gasket, timing cover gasket and crank seal gasket leaking. nlm | |||
| 12/11/1999 | 1 | ||
| Front motor mount broke. nlm | |||
| 12/11/1999 | 1 | ||
| Head gasket, r&r head gasket, valve cover gasket, timing cover gasket and crank seal gasket leaking. nlm | |||
| 04/12/2000 | 8 | ||
| Intermittently vehicle will stall and die without warning. dealer has determined that engine interlock was the cause of vehicle's unexpected shutdown. manufacturer has been notified. *ak | |||
| 03/06/1998 | 1 | ||
| While traveling at highway speed of 55 mph, noticed smoke from tail pipe. dealer notified, and informed consumer of a blown engine head gasket. *ak *ml | |||
| 04/22/1999 | 04/01/1993 | ||
| Shortly after complete transmission, motor mounts, and power steering replaced,the engine head gaskets failed, once again contrbuting to a potential accident. while rturning home from babtsitting my granddaughter i was alarmed by drivers going the opposite way beeping at me. one finally rolled down his window and yelled that i was smoking so badly i was blocking everyones view. i looked back to see a dense cloud of steam covering both lanes of traffic behind me. cars were at a standstill until the steam dissipated. i pulled over and shut down. water was pouring out of one of the dual exhaust pipes. a motorist stopped and offered a lift but i was only a few blocks from home. he went on to tell me his sister had the same thing happen to her windstar minivan on a trip to maine and the car was only 45 thousand miles old. he said it was definitely my head gasket, which turned out to be correct. he also said that the ford 3.8 liter engine is a defective disaster especially when used with front wheel drive. with respect to the underdash electrical problem it was a distracting warning chime and oil pressure indicator which would beep without proper cause on an intermittant basis. oil pressure was indeed okay and the sending unit was replaced to no avail. only when an entire instrument cluster was replaced did this longstanding distraction go away. my son-in-law in october of '99 took out the original cluster which had the odometer reading of 64740 original miles and replaced it with one from an auto wrecking yard which was possibly from an earlier year car. the replacement module read 131200 miles. in february of 2000 i gave the car to my daugter and son-in-law. the title has been anotated with the new odometer reading as not the actual mileage. this faulty chime / gauge is also a common defect in these cars i am told. it can be a dangerous thing when it occurs without warning (no pun intended) . | |||
| 01/19/2000 | 12/01/1999 | ||
| Blown head gasket, talk to 5 different repair shops all said typical of the 3.8l v6, the man who sold me the vehicle know their was some problem ,he dropped the price from $5995 to $3950. | |||
| 09/24/1999 | 1 | ||
| Head gasket failure caused the vehicle to run rough and loose coolant. yh | |||
| 07/25/1995 | 4 | ||
| Motor mounts replaced four times ,and currently motor mounts went out again, causing the vehicle to smoke. also,power steering fluid is leaking, and vehicle is jerking. dealer has repaired the vehicle four times. *ak | |||
| 3 | |||
| While driving original engine head gaskets blew. were blowing smoke & leaking fluid. took vehicle to dealer & mechanic replaced engine. head gaskets blew on the 2nd engine also & engine was replaced once again. *ak | |||
| 05/25/1999 | 2 | 05/01/1999 | |
| Apparently the ride height sensors failed, this caused the motor mounts to fail because of improper height ride, this put undo stress on front axel and wore out cv joints. also probably caused failure in struts. | |||
| 07/20/1999 | |||
| Consumer complained that dealer repaired rear surfame corrosion, but refused to correct the same problem to front motor mounts. can nhtsa help in this matter.*ak | |||
| 05/08/1998 | 5 | 04/01/1993 | |
| While returning from vacation with 3 occupants, pulled off i-95 at maryland house near aberdeen for coffee. no problems with car for previous 1000 miles of trip. was negotiating head-in parking spot with cars parked on either side. brought car to a full stop with my front wheel even with rear wheel of car parked to my left. went to resume forward motion for the 12 ft. or so to complete parking and car wouldn't move. thinking i may have accidentally shifted the lever into neutral, i worked it through forward and reverse gears to no avail. i was stymied since until that time the car had worked flawlessly. went through gearshift positions again. again nothing. engine began hesitating with car making a surging motion. fearing a stall i made sure gearshift was in neutral and i revved the engine. something engaged -i can only assume it was the transmission- and the car jerked violently forward about 8 ft. before i could stop it. checked lever again and it was in neutral. i, my wife ,and sister-in-law heard something break when the car lurched. a bit embarassed,i showed them look, it's in neutral! whereupon my wife said a few more feet and you might have hit one of those people! she was referring to some passersby walking on the median which served as the far limit of the parking stall and which people use to walk to the coffee house. the car was flatbedded to hinder lincoln mercury in aberdeen. the diagnosis was transmission, motor mounts, and damage to an axle. i had the car shipped home to long island where my own mechanic replaced both axles, both mounts, and rebuilt the transmission. i am told in all likelihood the bang into gear destroyed an already weak or failing mount and/or axle. m.. . | |||
| 06/24/1997 | |||
| Engine head gasket blew out and burned water and gas. dealer not aware of problem, and repairwork done at owner's expense. also abs lightcontinuously flashes on and off, dealer not aware, problem still exists. provide further information. *ak | |||
| 02/23/1999 | 11/01/1998 | ||
| Head gaskets are blown. coolant coming out of exhaust system. | |||
| 1 | |||
| Motor mounts failed. | |||
| 1 | |||
| Head gaskets failed. | |||
| 09/20/1998 | 1 | ||
| When vehicle's running hot, would start to make noises. water would come out of tail pipe. mechanic said head gaskets had blown & had a cracked engine block. *ak *nlm | |||
| 05/01/1996 | 1 | 11/01/1991 | |
| Head gasket failed causing vehicle to continually overheat with exhaust fumes entering into the coolant system. | |||
| 08/01/1991 | |||
| Head gasket failed. | |||
| 05/28/1997 | 1 | ||
| Rear motor mounts broke causing front wheels to lock up, injuring consumer's back and neck. | |||
| 05/28/1997 | 1 | 01/01/1995 | |
| Motor mounts failed causing engine to drop onto the front wheels. | |||
| 1 | 09/01/1991 | ||
| Motor mounts failed. | |||
| 03/11/1997 | 1 | 06/24/1996 | |
| Head gasket failed. | |||
| 11/01/1994 | 1 | 12/01/1991 | |
| Motor mounts replaced twice. | |||
| 08/08/1994 | 1 | 06/19/1991 | |
| Motor mounts broke. | |||
| 07/16/1996 | 6 | ||
| Vehicle vibrates when driving at cruising or passing speed since having motor mounts replaced due to recall. *dh | |||
| Purchased car used, the head gasket blew , please describe . *ak | |||
| 05/01/1996 | 1 | ||
| Head gasket failed, causing overheating. *sd | |||
| 07/01/1995 | 1 | ||
| Front motor mount failed. *sd | |||
| 05/01/1996 | 1 | ||
| Head gasket cracked. *sd | |||
| 10/01/1995 | 1 | ||
| Head gaskets replaced due to leak. *sd | |||
| 12/22/1993 | 2 | ||
| Valve cover gasket replaced. | |||
| 03/28/1995 | |||
| Engine head gaskets are defective. tt | |||
| 11/01/1994 | 1 | ||
| Oil seals leak. | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||
| 04/14/2001 | 2 | 09/01/1999 | |
| This is the third(3) continental we have owned and air suspension has failed of all three. the 3.8 cui motor in this car and other ford models has benn notorious for leaking head gaskets. *ak | |||
| 04/05/2000 | 1 | ||
| Engine rebuilt. nlm | |||
| 04/01/2000 | 0 | ||
| Mechanic said engine was not equipped to be in the car . while driving on the freeway everything froze and consumer was stuck. recall on the 1994 lincoln continental mentioned the same problem as consumer was having on her 1991 vehicle. yet, consumer's vehicle was not covered by the recall. vehicle has under 100000 miles on it. *ak | |||
| 3 | 02/01/1992 | ||
| During the initial warranty period at 45000 miles the heads on the vehicle were blown due to the manufacture problem which was found out through the dealer. and after 40000 miles the problem is ocurring once again. although the vehicle has 84000 miles, the engine should not have this much of a problem. lincooln has nothing but problems with the heads on these 6 cyl vehicles. please help | |||
| 1 | 07/18/1991 | ||
| Vehicle experiencing speed decrease with out warning, engine begins to vibrate and there is no way to continue driving by using the accelerator, vehicle has to be turned off and re-started. *yc | |||
| 02/01/1998 | 3 | ||
| While driving the vehicle it just stopped, and it was put into gear and nothing happened, dealer has been contacted and aware of a defect in car. three times in three months the car has been in for service of transmission, chips of metal was found in the transmission fluid, transmission was rebuilt, problem still exists. *ak | |||
| 1 | |||
| Engine shudders/vibrates intermittently at speeds from 45 to 65 mph. | |||
| After parking the vehicle, it caught on fire in the engine comparment. cause unknown. please provide details. *ak | |||
| 04/15/1998 | 05/30/1996 | ||
| Vehicle fire. cause undetermined. | |||
| 01/04/1995 | |||
| After recall corrected, vehicle start vibrating, motor mount failed, put on wrong part. | |||
| 1 | |||
| Loud bang followed by vehicle jerkig forward and swerving out of control. | |||
| 11/01/1993 | 1 | 12/01/1991 | |
| Oil leaks. | |||
| 07/24/1995 | 1 | 02/24/1993 | |
| Engine fire. *aw | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE - BELTS AND ASSOCIATED PULLEYS | |||
| 01/01/2000 | 10/23/1999 | ||
| Air conditioner's compressor seized, was glowing red & fan belt was burning. also, serpentine belt & unit was bright red. had a short warning prior to problem. consumer was smelling something burning. pulled over & checked under the hood. vehicle towed to dealership. *ak | |||
| 04/25/1998 | |||
| Vehicle's problems started the day after consumer bought the car. the dealer was notified and consumer corrected the following: oil change, belt, speeding balance, tires were checked, all at consumers costs. vehicle is still shaking, and vibrating when driving approximately 35-45 mph. dealer was contacted again, and cannot duplicate the problem. also told consumer that there was a 15-day warranty that was expired. consumer was unaware of the 15-day warranty. *ak | |||
| 09/01/1994 | 1 | ||
| Fan belt worn/cracked., *sd | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - EMISSION CONTROL - GAS RECIRCULATION VALVE (EGR VALVE) | |||
| 05/15/1997 | 1 | ||
| Received recall notice (#97v025000). called dealer for appointment & took vehicle in to service department. was supposed to do recall. drove vehicle home & check engine light came on. took vehicle back to dealer. was informed the problem was the exhaust gas recirculation valve (eger valve). was not satisfied w/recall. *ak problem was taken care of by dealership. *slc | |||