looking at a 01 town car

[TicTacTone]

came across a 01 town car, my friend is looking into buying it, it feels like the tranny is slipping, the seller says it's just bad gas from sitting but it has almost 400k on it, chugs on the highway and around 30 mph after you get off of the highway. it was low on tranny fluid (and oil) so we went out, got some, put it in, and it helped out but it wasnt completely gone, it still chugged a little bit. it does need o2 sensors but its only $300. buy it or :q:q:q:q it?

 

[pepperman]

It may just need a tranny flush.

 

[Lincoln Pimpin']

Maybe try putting some premium gas in and take it for a lil spin.

If the car is only 300 bucks you really can't lose too much unless you put alot of money trying to fix it up (with that many miles don't do it lol).

With 400k miles you'll really have to baby it.

If all fails you could prolly sell the tires and make a couple hundred bucks then sell the car to a junk yard for some money too.

But if it seems to run pretty good and if he needs a car might as well go for it and drive until something goes.

 

[TicTacTone]

he decided to buy it tomorrow...the engine runs great, a little rich because of the o2 sensors (already scanned it) but aside from smelling a little bit of gas at idle its smooth and clean, and it has the updated intake manifold on it. doesn't burn or leak anything, doesn't smoke, it just chugs and it feels like tranny slip. we're gonna put in some dry gas, seafoam it, and change the tranny filter and go from there. 4r70w's are cheap enough to the point where if he does need to get another tranny he'd still be getting the car for under a grand so he's going for it. thanks for the input, and you might see a tranny swap thread up in the next few months lol.

 

[Lincoln Pimpin']

Sounds good. Can't really go wrong with a price like that, especially for a Lincoln.

I hope it works out good.

I still have to find out if my car has the metal manifold lol.

 

[TicTacTone]

heres some pics...he parked it infront of my garage for now lol...i shouldve taken a pic of my driveway/parking lot...

 

[Lincoln Pimpin']

Doesn't look half bad at all I'm sure it was used as a limo as all those TCs with that many miles have been used for lol.

Definately not bad at all for the money.

 

[TicTacTone]

the guy and his brother are both asian and live in connecticut. they would drive to about a dozen different stores in state monday through friday to prepare sushi and to new york on saturday and sunday with it. they guys wife also lived in maryland and they went down there twice a month, his brother also took it to virginia once or twice a month...it wasnt a limo but it was damn close lol. the first thing i thought was that it was a limo but after meeting the guy he told us all about his trips, we were at his place for 2 1/2 hours.

 

[TDUB]

For $300 and in that condition hell yeah I'd buy it. Even if the damn thing doesn't run you can part it out for a lot more than you paid.

 

[TicTacTone]

i'm doing a tranny filter change this weekend and dropping in some lube guard (i've had good luck with it in the past on my old room mate's crown vic) and seeing if that helps. probably getting to it saturday because i work tonight and still have to get to sleep sometime today. otherwise he's just going to buy another tranny, even after that the price of the car is still really low.

 

[Lincoln Pimpin']

For $300 and in that condition hell yeah I'd buy it. Even if the damn thing doesn't run you can part it out for a lot more than you paid.

This.

 

[ChuckSomerville]

Sometimes when the symptom is O2 Sensor the problem is actually the Mass Airflow Sensor carboned up. (O2 sensors rarely fail on these cars) - I've had a '94 and a '91, 200K on the one and 150K on the other, and had this issue once in a while.

A Security Torx bit (number 20 size) is needed to get rectangular plate off the about 4" long tube containing the MAF sensor (output side of Air Cleaner housing, 2 screws). Attached to the inside-side of this plate is a little "goal post" assembly with two uprights and a tiny thing suspended between them that looks like a little resistor. It will probably be black with carbon. DON'T TOUCH IT! (It is fragile). Spray it with non-residue-leaving electronic part cleaner and let it dry. It should then look shiny silver. You're done.

That has cured really rough-running for me several times (and a replacement for the tube and the sensor is $70 at AutoZone after getting the core charge back for the old tube). This method is nearly free.

Security Torx bit set at AutoZone is $10. Large Security bit set (Torx and other types) at Harbor Freight is $5.

Cheers,

Chuck Somerville
Dayton Ohio