Lincoln Continental 1991 - Power train - car safety information, failing parts, recalls, bulletins, complaints

Lincoln Continental 1991

Technical Service Bulletins
Consumer Complaints

Bulletins

Bulletin	Bulletin date	Item no.	Summary	Added
POWER TRAIN
12178	11/01/1998	613234	Information regarding tsb 98-5a-12 (transaxle/transmission/transfer case-vehicles towed behind recreational vehicles-recommended guidelines) does not list towing information for certain model vehicles. *mjs	06/19/2000
97111097237	11/10/1997	53663	Concerns with harsh engagements and harsh shifts with diagnostic trouble codes (dtcs) 628, p0741 and/or p1744. *yc	03/30/1998
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
99152	07/26/1999	608431	Information on the new flush and fill tool available through rotunda. *tt	01/05/2001
0015	01/10/2000	612203	Information regarding the new transmission cooler flusher- service tip. *mjs	06/06/2000
9888	04/27/1998	601238	Information on a new transmission fluid usage chart. *yc	07/10/1998
97511	03/03/1997	51945	Fluid- transmission fluid usage charts. *jd	07/17/1997
BC101209702	01/02/1997	51184	Verify the transaxle installed in the vehicle is the correct model and model year for the vehicle. *jd	06/27/1997
ONP/94M84	11/01/1994	37812	Vehicles may exhibit erratic transmission operation. *tw	01/10/1995
94247	11/01/1994	37759	The forward clutch piston may crack on its outside diameter. *tw	01/06/1995
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - LEVER AND LINKAGE - COLUMN SHIFT
14811	04/01/2001	619293	Information on additional parts required when replacing transfer case on vehicles equippped with ax4s transaxle. *tt	05/23/2001
12616	03/01/1999	605338	Information on transaxle service case replacement with oss (output shaft speed sensor) hole. *tt	06/08/1999
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - TORQUE CONVERTER
962612	12/16/1996	50997	Transaxle - torque converter replacement guidelines and torque converter/transaxle cooling system cleaning procedures - service tip. *tw	06/17/1997
96249	11/18/1996	50908	Torque converter - leak test procedure - service tip. *tw	06/17/1997
95157	07/01/1995	45937	The torque converter identification codes have been revised as of 3/1/95. *sd	04/25/1996
POWER TRAIN - AXLE ASSEMBLY - AXLE SHAFT - SEAL
982675	04/01/1998	603573	A revised forward clutch inner seal for the axod, axode, ax4s & ax4n transaxle is available with improved sealing and reduced chance of the seal rolling during installation. *yc	02/25/1999
POWER TRAIN - CLUTCH ASSEMBLY - PEDAL/LINKAGE
12559	03/01/1999	605294	Concerns with reverse clutch that could become sheared or torn in extremely cold temperatures. *tt	06/07/1999
POWER TRAIN - MANUAL TRANSMISSION
9802169838	05/27/1998	600591	Transaxles use a new transmission fluid. *yc	05/27/1998

Consumer Complaints

Fail date	miles	occurences	Purchase date
POWER TRAIN
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.
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
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
08/11/2003	133451	1	07/23/2003
	Transmission sudden failure with no warning. it happened right after we exited the freeway.*ak
05/23/2003		2	02/21/2003
	Failure: 05-23-03 i was driving on i-475 north in the fartherest left hand lane, when there was a stalling motion. it was so unexpected that it made my 10 year old daughter and myself jump. i managed to slow down in traffic and pull to the right hand emergency lane. when i tried pulling back into traffic to make it to the next exit, the lincoln would not move. luckily, i had my work cellular telephone and called 911. 911 transferred the call to the sheriff's department, and someone came to try to help. i have only had the vehicle for 3 months. the original owners were in their 70's. prior to selling the lincoln a motor had been installed. *ak
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
10/04/2000		2	09/01/2000
	No summary
12/05/1996		3	09/09/1993
	Transmission failed three times in 23 months.
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) .
02/03/1995		1	01/01/1995
	The transmission was replaced when i bought the lincoln in 1995, with 47,746 miles. another transmission was replaced in feb. of 1997 with 68,982 miles on the car. the ford motor co. said the one yr. warranty had expired. the car now has 94,000 miles and begins to sound as if another transmission is needed. do you smell a rat? *ak
09/10/1994		4	10/01/1990
	No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

	When traveling on the highway at 50 mph the vehicle decreased in speed, would not accelerate. vehicle also continued to jerk. *ak
07/22/1999
	Consumer had transmission overhauled by the dealership. the problems was that transmission oil was leaking ,and the car would not go into proper gear while shifting. *ak
05/28/1999		2	06/01/1993
	No summary
01/04/1998		1
	Transmission repaired. mjs
01/22/1999
	The dealership replaced my transmission when the recall happened. however, the car does not shift properly at times and when i called they indicated that the new transmission only had a 12 month warranty? i know that lincoln warrants their vehicles longer then 12 months on replacement when it was a recall / a defect in the original part? please let me know what the warranty should be. thank you. *ak

	Vehicle was experiencing a high idle problem because of the throttle body sticking. the throttle was replaced at owner's expense. throttle body problem was caused by transmission failure. transmission covered under warranty, but not the throttle. please provide any further details. *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.. .
02/23/1998
	Transmission suddenly ceased to operate due to a defective support which caused a gasket to blow out and oil was shut off, causing the transaxle to break down. dealer contacted and cannot remedy the problem. provide further information. *ak
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
	Transmission failed.
12/24/1997			09/02/1991
	Transmission problems.
11/07/1995		1	09/01/1991
	Transmission hesitates/leaks.
12/13/1996
	Automatic transmission: forward clutch piston cracked.,vehicle shifts out of gear when approaching a stop. *ak
06/20/1996		1	03/01/1995
	Transmission failed.
06/27/1993		7
	Transmission makes noise when engine is engaged. *sd

	Upon shifting into drive, transmission malfunctioned when vehicle exhibited grinding noises before going into gear. *ak
06/01/1995		1
	Transmission failed. *sd
11/01/1994		1
	Transmission replaced. *skd
06/11/1995		1
	Automatic transmission failure at 85k miles. tt

	Vehicles automatic transmission slips and does not go into gears intermittently with no warning.mfr is aware of problem and had tsb bulletin on it. tt
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - COOLING UNIT AND LINES
04/10/1999
	Immediately after wife and kids got out of the vehicle, it caught on fire and burned. this happened about 10 to 15 seconds after occupants got out of the vehicle. fire dpeartment stated that the fire was due to the leakage of transmission fluid. the vehicle was totalled. please provide any further details. *ak
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL)
		1	09/01/1991
	Shift indicator misaligned.
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - LEVER AND LINKAGE - COLUMN SHIFT
03/23/2002		2	04/01/1998
	While putting the shift lever in park the shift lever broke, as a result the consumer was unable to put the vehicle in any gear. nlm
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - TORQUE CONVERTER
12/14/1993		1
	Replaced torque converter.
POWER TRAIN - AXLE ASSEMBLY
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.
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.. .
02/23/1998
	Transmission suddenly ceased to operate due to a defective support which caused a gasket to blow out and oil was shut off, causing the transaxle to break down. dealer contacted and cannot remedy the problem. provide further information. *ak
POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE - CONSTANT VELOCITY JOINT
03/01/1995		1
	Vehicle experienced transmission problems and cv joints required replacement. *mjs 01-mar-95
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.
06/14/1995		1
	Replaced cv boot. *ak
02/20/1995		0
	Right inner cv joint failed, causing vehicle to vibrate at speeds of 43-45 and 63-65 mph.
12/08/1994		8
	Cv joints/boots replaced.
POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE - DRIVESHAFT
12/08/1994		8
	Half of shaft assembly replaced.
POWER TRAIN - MANUAL TRANSMISSION
10/03/2000		2
	Transmission failed.*et
07/24/1997
	Thumping noise in front end from day one. several mechanics found no transmission related problems. transmission developed leak at 82,000 miles; fluid and filter were replaced. complete transmission failure at 86,000 miles.
12/06/1994		1
	Transmission rebuilt.