TC shopping! Common problems to watch for?

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the_continental_kid

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Hi everyone - I've been browsing for a long time but I just regstered and this is my first post. I'm 19 and driving a 1992 Continental, 3.8L V6, 140k, green exterior with gold kit - its a pretty sharp car that my grandparents gave me (Grandma: 98 Conti Sig., white, 60k AND Grandpa: 92 TC Exc, silver, 90k) but anyway - I have loved the car for the past 2 years and 40k miles. However - as is very common with the Ford 3.8L - the head is now shot. The head gasket blew out already and was repaired by my girlfriend's uncle (for free - he's a great guy) he did whatever he could to get it back on the road but the car has serious engine problems still, the engine has sustained heat damage and its all-around a bad situation (leaves puddles of "hot chocolate" everywhere - you know... a tasty mixture of coolant and oil, and I can pop open the coolant resiviour and their is oil floating around in there, and I'm putting in 3 quarts a week).

SO NEEDLESS TO SAY... I'm currently Lincoln shopping.

I'm staying away from the 88-94 Continental as well as any other Ford vehicle with the same engine. I LOVE Lincolns - I have ever since I was a little kid - from around the time I was 10 years old I can remember being in love with Lincolns (grandpa always had one). I KNOW I want a Lincoln but... I'm a full time college student and I also work full time (so I have NO FREE TIME) but, I'm currently Lincoln shopping on a budget.

I live in North-eastern Pennsylvania where Lincolns are not exactaly flying of the lots, so the prices are pretty good. I wanna just buy with cash rather than finance anything and I'm looking to spend in the $3,000 range.

I'm looking at the Mark VIII 93+, the Town Car 92-94, or a 95-97 Continental. Because of my price range I really have to shop around to get a deal somewhere - probably will be buying directly from another person. My dad is going to be helping me check out vehicles - I know about most of the "Lincoln stuff" (air shocks, electronics, digital dash, etc, etc...) while he knows a good deal about general mechanics of cars.

To get down to the point... the reason for my post is... what are some common Town Car issues I should check for? I know that the intake manifold is totally plastic but I don't know how common cracking is - anyone here with that problem?

What other common trouble spots have you all seen? And also... what about the Mark and the Conti?

A dealer near me has a 93 TC JN for sale its white ext and white int, dual exhaust, gold trim, one owner (I Carfaxed it) 93k he's asking $2995 (this is at the local Lincoln Mercury dealer). Also there is a 96 Conti for sale from a private indivdual with 106k, he's asking for $3500. What do ya think?

(sorry for being so long winded) :rolleyes:
 
A few things I can think of are make sure all the windows roll up and down and also make sure the power locks work. Meaning test that they actually lock and unlock all doors. Test the A/C and Heating to make sure it works otherwise the blenddoor could be bad which is a pain to change. Some (I forget exactly which years) have the EGR channels clogged and you might need to clean them, This will also cause a check engine light to come on. also make sure the car is warm and then give it some gas and if blue smoke shoots out the valve seals are bad. that is all I can think of at the moment and I forget to mention these are for Town Cars never owned a conti or mark viii yet :W
 
Thanks!

Thanks for the input! Those things are all on my list of things to check. Any serious mechanical trouble spots?

What do you guys think about the 93 TC JN vs the 96 Conti - price is similar - TC has 93k Conti has 106k.
 
They only used plastic intake manifolds on towncars 97' and up, now sure when or if they stopped using them but they started in 97'. Towncars are pretty damn reliable, the major thing I would look for would be blue smoke coming out of the exhaust, which would mean bad valve seals. I personally think this is because of not changing the oil or using the wrong kind of oil. The 4.6 is not designed to run on 10-30oil, which is a very common weight. I would stay away from a continental though, look how many problems you've had with yours. If you buy a towncar or Mark VIII you'll be like "what the hell was I doing with a front wheel drive car". And yes the Jack Nicholas looks like a good deal.
 
the_continental_kid said:
Thanks for the input! Those things are all on my list of things to check. Any serious mechanical trouble spots?

What do you guys think about the 93 TC JN vs the 96 Conti - price is similar - TC has 93k Conti has 106k.
Click to expand...

I would go for the TC I have a TC and my uncle has a Conti and even though mine is older I still like it better. plus if you plan on working on it yourself a v8 shoved sideways in a small compartment isnt always easy to work on. Plus I think Rear Wheel Drive just has a more luxury feel. And if you have any transmission problems Rear Wheel Drive is half the cost to fix as front wheel drive from my expierences.
 
I would make sure there are no tranny problems make sure it shifts in and out of all gears well. Then try it with o/d off. When I was looking I ran into several that had towed or had been treated poorly and they shifted poorly out of a gear or 2 in one case and another hesitated whenever you stepped on it. Try and look for dual exhaust if you can, a bit quicker and may also have abit higher axle ratio as well (better acceleration). A 96 cont would be nice but there are more maintnance items to watch for. There are 4 wheel air suspension, 2 shocks horizontaly mounted by the rear wheels which are about 100 a piece depending on dealer. They may not look blown but all they would need to do is wipe off the oil. If they go often a clunky ride can occur. The shocks are also electronically controlled on all 4 corners. The tranny is often a trouble spot on the car as changing the fluid isn't something everyone does and the tranny has trouble handling 260hp if not treated well. My dad has a 97 and when you slow to a stop sometimes it drops into 1st around 5 or so mph. Also I have gotton a chirp from the serpentine belt and somewhat of a rough shift out of 1st. But it looks I think more refined inside and has much nicer seats. Some people say its just a expensive taurus saince they share a chassis. However a look underneath the hood or car shows different. The shocks don't even mount in the same place in the rear they are inside access on the tauri and in the trunk in the conti. My mom has a 99 sable my dad a 97 conti they couldn't be more different.
 
Lots of great info...

Lots of great info here, thanks folks!

I am leaning more towards the Town Car - even though my Conti rides great - I like the RWD feel of the Town Car. And the more hood the better. I like the feeling of endless hood infront of me - but I guess we all do, that's why we're in this forum in the first place.

The 95-97 Contis do look more refined inside, the seats are nicer and I like the "two-tone" look to the dash... the darker layer on top, and the dash console is real nice. I also like that the Contis are available with the center console and the shift on the console. I like that the dual exhaust is standard I don't have to look around for it. On the 94 Town Car its standard, but the 93 Jack Nicklaus I'm looking at also has dual exhaust. I really want the dual exhaust, I just like the way it looks on big cars especially.

I DO want to do some work on it myslef so I guess the Town Car will be easier to work on, the Conti's is cramped for sure.

Anyone ever have problems with oxygen sensors in Town Cars?
 
Valve Stem Seals?

What about problems with the valve stem seals? Just exactally how common is it? Should I expect to have problems? How serious?
 
If the car you are looking at does not blow blue smoke then you should be fine. My friend has had two 4.6 Towncars with around 200,000 miles and neither one of them smoked. He also drove both cars like he hated them. Personally I think it happens because people either don't change their oil and/or use the wrong type of oil. 10W-30 is not the correct oil for this engine but it is the most common type of oil. They are most likely to blow blue smoke during takeoff so have someone observe behind you to make sure. I think that if the car has been taken care of properly you should not have the valve seal problem.
 
Test drive today!

Thanks for all your help everyone!

I'm test driving the 1993 Town Car Jack Nicklaus later today! Wish me luck!

If everything checks out as good I'm going to try to talk the dealer down as much as possible (since I'm a poor college student)! lol

I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes!
 
I want to cry... but

Okay - so I got to the Lincoln Mercury dealer and the Jack Nicklaus was sold! I could have broken down and wept right there in the lot.

BUT - about an hour away from my house there is a Mark 8 for sale that I'm going to go to see sometime next week (hopefully its still there).

The guy tells me its well kept and in very good condition - body has 150k he replaced the engine recently with one from another Mark - the engine only has 70k on it. Black inside, powerder blue/greyish outside. He says he just put a new started and battery in, has a remote starter and new tires too. He said its also got a sound system he put in.

Hopefully I can work something out with him.
 
The valve stem seals goign bad really doesn't have anything to do with what type of oil you use or how often you change it... it has more to do with the fact that the seals Ford used out of the factory are crap...

The main thing to look for in TC are the Air Suspension, check both bags, air lines, and compressor to make sure they are in good condition, motor; does it look used and all beat up, history of maintenance, and overall look of the vehicle...

Remember, a TC that has been well taken care of will last you up into the 400K mile range on the original tranny and engine...
 
A TC is the way to go. Stay away from the 6 cyl stuff. We have a local company that gives their sales people TC's for company cars and most of them have 200-400,000 on them. The 4.6 is the best thing Ford has done since hookin up with Shelby.
 
im currently going through oxygen sensor woes. ive replaced them 2 times and now i have to check on my cat convertor or egr valve. because the bank 1 is still way too rich. i will say this installing a cdplayer on a 94 is hella easier than on a 96. the air ride is an easier repair than you would think. just dont go to arnott for your selenoids. i think 95 is the year for the town car. you still get the odb2 but you dont have to comply with emission standards for 96 and above cause odb2 didnt reach most cars till 96. and you dont have the plastic intake manifold. sorry for the horrible spelling and punctuation.
 
Geezer said:
A TC is the way to go. Stay away from the 6 cyl stuff. We have a local company that gives their sales people TC's for company cars and most of them have 200-400,000 on them. The 4.6 is the best thing Ford has done since hookin up with Shelby.
Click to expand...

462k.jpg


its at 473k now ........ and when is C. Shelby going to make a few Town Cars? :D
 
They only used plastic intake manifolds on towncars 97' and up, now sure when or if they stopped using them but they started in 97'.
Click to expand...

1996 model year was the first year for the composite intake manifold.



Clogging EGR channels and leaking valve stem seals is extremely common on 1991-1995 Town Cars. I'd look for a deal on a '96 or '97 if you want that body style, though they have the possible coolant crossover issue they are overall a better car.
 
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