Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||||
| 6110 | 05/01/1999 | 6092661 | Some vehicles may exhibit a grunt or groan noise when the steering wheel is returned to center after a full right hand turn. *tt | 01/24/2001 | |
| 9911998 | 08/01/1999 | 608960 | Some vehicles may exhibit high steering efforts due to damage to the cam and / or rotor in the power steering pump. *tt | 12/06/1999 | |
| STEERING - COLUMN LOCKING - ANTI-THEFT DEVICE | |||||
| 97111097233 | 11/10/1997 | 53659 | Some vehicles anti-theft system may self-activate. *yc | 03/30/1998 | |
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | |||||
| 98232 | 11/23/1998 | 603716 | Information on reduced power steering assist during humid conditions. *yc | 03/03/1999 | |
| BC3240970210 | 02/10/1997 | 51862 | Brief grunt from the steering system when returning the wheel from a full right hand turn. *tw | 07/17/1997 | |
| BC0306970201 | 02/01/1997 | 51614 | Increased power steering effort and no communication with the vehicle dynamics module (vdm). *tw | 06/27/1997 | |
| BC0306972301 | 01/23/1997 | 51413 | Increase in power steering effort. *jd | 06/27/1997 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||
| 01/08/2001 | 3 | ||
| When consumer turns vehicle power steering goes, and he would have to turn vehicle off to restart for steering to go back to normal. consumer took vehicle to dealership, and mechanic said that they couldn't find the cause.*ak the dealer could not determine the cause of the problelm and the vehicle is unsafe. *yh | |||
| STEERING - COLUMN LOCKING - ANTI-THEFT DEVICE | |||
| 06/24/2002 | 12/01/2097 | ||
| Anti theft alarm would activate on its own - while parked in garage at shopping centers, in the driveway. this was reported to dealer in june 2000 and was told if we can not duplicate the problem we can not do anything about it. during 2001 and 2002 the problem worsened often going off 5 to 6 times per day. hatfield is no longer in business so car was taken to krieger ford on sawmill blvd. in columbus, ohio. they had the car for 4 days and the alarm did not activate so can't duplicate so can't do anything about it. we picked the car up and 4 times that day the alarm activated on its own. so, i called ron rush motors on morse road and they had heard of the problem so took the car there the first part of july. they had the car for 2 weeks and finally found the problem in the steering column to the tune of $270. i feel that this problem was brought to the attention of a ford dealer while the car was covered with warranty and i should not be responsible for the charge. i have been in contact with the lincoln customer relations department to no avail. i was told the district manager made the decision not to pay and i have no recourse. i tried repeatedly to talk to the district manager and i cannot get this number. now to the question of mirrors: the right exterior mirror will not move up and down and the interior rear view mirror is dark gray at the top. this happened in july 2002. i parked the car in the garage and the next morning the mirror was the dark gray and full of bubbles. i feel this creates a dangerous driving situation. the price quoted to fix this mirror is $570. once again i contacted customer relations to no avail. i do not feel a car with only 36,000 miles should be having all these problems. also, it has taken me a year to get the ac working and we have had the car back only one and half months since repair and once again it is throwing warm air.*ak | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST - PUMP | |||
| 12/30/2003 | 54000 | 3 | 11/07/2000 |
| While driving a noise came from the steering wheel when making a right turn. also, vehicle had to be started several times before power assist pump would operate. consumer stated that vehicle had been repaired on two separate occasions under tsb 6092661. dealer refused to repair the vehicle again because the warranty expired. *ak *mr | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | |||
| 05/15/2002 | 1 | 12/01/2096 | |
| No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak | |||
| 10/23/1998 | 10 | 03/01/1998 | |
| While in reverse only power steering assist sometimes is lost. if i stop, turn off the ignition, restart and go forward the problem goes away. the dealer has tried several times to fix the problem to no avail.*ak | |||
| 06/15/2000 | 15 | 10/01/1999 | |
| Repeat failures, repaired 08/30/2000, more failures, repaired 10/21/2000, more failures. no safety defect mentioned in summary. *ak | |||
| STEERING - LINKAGES - TIE ROD ASSEMBLY | |||
| 12/12/2003 | 59075 | 1 | |
| When turning there's a groaning noise. left outer tie rod seized to a lubrication issue. dealership replaced the both outer tie rods. *ak | |||
| 04/08/1999 | 1 | 08/01/1997 | |
| Tie rod ends replaced, front end realigned, steering making noise and dealer claimed that steering rack needs replaced to cost $500.00, dealer claimed repairs not subject to warrantly nor recall. upon research, i find that lincoln has issued service bulletins for both defects. i paid for the work to replace the tie rod ends and have not have had the steering work done as i think it should be lincoln's responsibility. these failures were at low miles 51,408 and because of the service bulletins, lincoln is aware of these problems. *ak | |||
| Owner states while driving down road the tie rod end broke. owner notes when he went to look at the problem he noticed that there was no lug: nut holding rod. *ak | |||
| STEERING - RACK AND PINION | |||
| 03/01/1998 | 1 | 01/05/1998 | |
| Rack and pinion assembly failed. nlm | |||
| 12/10/1998 | 1 | 03/01/1998 | |
| Steering rack is cracked, could lead to an accident. dealer ask not to drive it | |||
| STEERING - RACK AND PINION - RACK | |||
| 12/14/1998 | |||
| When making a right turn the gear rack in the steerinc column makes a grinding noise. the gear rack is cracked. dealer has been contatced. *ak | |||