Most common 1998 Lincoln Town Car problems
Share of the 154 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
Lincoln Town Car complaints by model year
Best Town Car years: 2009, 2011, 2010. Years to avoid: 1997, 1996, 2003, 1998, 2001. Compare all years →
1998 Lincoln Town Car recalls (7)
Vehicle speed control
On certain pickup trucks, passenger vehicles, sport utility vehicles, and motor homes chassis, the speed control deactivation switch May, under certain conditions, leak internally and then overheat, smoke, or burn.
Remedy: Dealers will install a fused wiring harness. Owners of the passenger cars included in this campaign will be instructed to return their vehicles to their dealers to have the speed control deactivation switch disconnected…
Tires
Vehicle description: certain limousines stretched over 60 inches fail to comply with the requirements of FMVSS no. 109, "new pneumatic tires," and no. 110, "tire selection and rims."
Remedy: Dealers will replace all 5 tires (including the spare tire) with Michelin tires (225/70r16 107t reinforced white sidewall) with a sufficiently higher load rating. Owner notification began January 10, 2001.
Equipment › Mechanical › Integrated jack/leveler/stabilizer
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. These vehicles have jacking instructions which, if followed, could cause the vehicle operator to place the jack on a frame weld when attempting to raise a rear wheel.
Remedy: Owners will be provided with a revised jack instruction and stowage card and jack warning label, as well as a supplement to the owner guide.
Seat belts › Front › Anchorage
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles using aftermarket driver's seat belt assemblies that were sold by Ford parts departments from January 1, through June 13, 2000. These seat belt assemblies fail to comply with the requirements of FMVSS no.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect these vehicles and replace the service seat belt assemblies that were installed in these vehicles from January 1 through June 13, 2000.
Seat belts › Front › Anchorage
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles using aftermarket front passenger side seat belt assemblies that were sold by Ford parts departments from January 1, through June 13, 2000. These seat belt assemblies fail to comply with the requirements of FMVSS no.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect these vehicles and replace the service seat belt assemblies that were installed in these vehicles from January 1 through June 13, 2000.
Suspension › Front › Control arm › Lower ball joint
Vehicle description: certain 1996-1999 Ford crown victoria police, fleet, natural gas, and 1996-1999 Lincoln town car limousine vehicles that were produced with a lower control arm ball joint containing a one piece bearing; and 1990-1996 Ford crown victoria police, fleet, and ngv vehicles and 1990-1996 Lincoln town car…
Remedy: Dealers will replace the lower control arm ball joints (2).
Show 1 more recall
Exterior lighting › Headlights
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. The text and/or graphics for the vehicle headlamp aiming instructions provided in the owner guides are not sufficiently clear. This does not meet the requirements of FMVSS no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment."
Remedy: Owner guides containing revised aiming instructions will be mailed to owners of these vehicles.
NHTSA defect investigations
Federal safety investigators have looked into 5 possible defects involving the 1998 Lincoln Town Car:
Post rear end collision fires
There is no summary currently available
Fuel spit back during refueling
The subject vehicle is fitted with an onboard refuelig vapor recovery (orvr) system, as required by the epa.the epa safety requirements, prepared in cooperation with ,and approved by NHTSA, require vehicles to be refueled at a rate of 10 gallons per minute (the maximum rate allowed to be used in refueling stations, by epa regulation) without fuel being forced out the fuel filler pipe.this requirement was based on a…
Fuel spit back during refueling
There is no summary currently available
Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
On September 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 Ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or…
Fuel-fed fires
The fars data shows that the risk of fire from impact in all directions in the subject vehicles is the same as all other sedans.the subject vehicles are not over represented with respect to the risk of fire in real-world high-energy crashes.a further discussion of issues related to post crash fires in the subject vehicles is set out in the closing report for sq 01-014 and that report is in the docket for this…
What 1998 Lincoln Town Car owners say
Engine & cooling all 34 →
Tl contact owns a 1998 Lincoln Town Car. While driving approximately 20 MPH the vehicle over heated and the manifold cracked. The vehicle was towed to his residence. The vehicle had not been taken to the dealer for the failure. He called the manufacturer and was advised that he had to pay for the repairs. He referenced an unknown manufacturer's recall. The vehicle was purchased used in 2007. The vehicle had continued to overheat since he purchased it. The failure and current mileages were approximately 90,000.
Vehicle began to over heat.once it got hot, the power of Car is,was lost. After happening a few times,I found a very small [pin size] hole in the thermastate recieving unit.this is a part of the manifold it self. All attemps to repair this problem has failed.! Trying to fix this proved impossible.this part is in fact made of some type of plastic.as it heats up the plastic exspands, and re-opens the hole,which has now become a crack. All effords to find a sealent to stop the leak,has failed. To have this crack repaired means that the entire top of the motor [manifold] must be re-placed. Ford re-placed the termastate housing unit in 2000-2001, with an aluminum piece,problem solved.there are no re-calls,nor even a notification,sent out, to address this problem. …
Brakes all 20 →
Accident 7/11/04 wife rear ended a Dodge dorango and totaled her Lincoln Town Car. She didn't see thr Car stop in front of her quick enough when applying the brakes the Car went in a nice straight line but did not have good braking . I found this to be true when driving this Car myself . Now we have to pay the price of increased ins. And a bad mark . My wife has never had an accident but there is no room for this in the ins. World even though the Car had a engineering problem as so recorded by mycarstats.com and others.this Car and Ford products were ===improved=== in 1999 or 2000 but of course there is no problem.
My 1998 Lincoln Town Car (approx 35,000 miles) dramatically pulls to the right during braking when road conditions are wet and the Car is travelling in excess of 40 miles per hour. This problem is addressed in fordmotor company's repair bulliten 98-13-4 dtd 07/06/98. Notwithstanding having the Car repaired by an ase certified mechanic (napa approved) in accordance with the service bulliten the problem has reoccured after 3,000 miles. This is an extremely dangerous condition which could result in a serious accident, particularly since the problem only occurs at highway speeds when traffic conditions are already dangerous because of wet conditions.
Suspension
While driving 20 MPH, the ball joint snapped. This caused the consumer to go into a ditch, which avoided a severe collision. Vehicle was towed to a dealership, who did not resolve the problem.
Tl contact owns 1998 Lincoln Town Car. While driving at any speed, the contact hears a squeaking sound coming from the front end of the vehicle. The dealer stated that the dust cover on the lower ball joint of the front passenger side was worn, and the ball joint was cracked. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign id number 98V322000 (suspension:front:control arm:lower ball joint). The failure mileage was 168,000. Updated 10/14/08. Updated 10/16/08.
1998 Lincoln Town Car engines & fuel economy
| Engine | Transmission | Drive | MPG city / hwy / combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.6L 8-cyl | 4-speed automatic | RWD | 15 / 22 / 18 |
EPA ratings. Class: Large car.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1998 Lincoln Town Car a good car?
Based on 154 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 1998 Town Car rates use caution: 1.6× as many complaints as a typical year of the Town Car at the same age. It is one of the Town Car years we suggest avoiding. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.
What is the most common problem with the 1998 Lincoln Town Car?
The engine & cooling — 34 complaints, 22% of all complaints for this model year, most often about engine › gasoline. Next are the brakes (20) and suspension (19).
How many recalls does the 1998 Lincoln Town Car have?
There are 7 recalls for the 1998 Lincoln Town Car, the most recent from August 3, 2007 (vehicle speed control). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the Lincoln Town Car?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2009, 2011 and 2010. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 1997, 1996, 2003, 1998 and 2001. See the full Lincoln Town Car years comparison.
At what mileage do 1998 Lincoln Town Car problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 84,000 miles; 19% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.