Info about aero town cars

[Clutch22]

Hello everyone,

I had a few questions about aero town cars that I was hoping you guys could give a hand. I may be interested in picking up an aero town car as my only car and therefor my daily driver.

I'm looking at models between 93 and 97 with anywhere from 85,000 miles to 130,000 miles.

• What year did these cars get the 4R70W transmission? I've read that the AOD-E transmission isn't very good. I keep seeing conflicting years (starting with 93, 95) so I was hoping to get an accurate response
• What are common problems with these cars? What kind of budget would you recommend setting aside before purchasing one?
• Aside from common problems, what could I expect to replace upon buying one?
• Are the digital dashboards reliable? You hear nothing but horror stories of 80s and 90s digital dashes completely failing
• Is a price point of $2,500 to $3,000 realistic for a good, reliable one? The prices of these cars seem low to me (one I'm considering is a 97 with 120,000 miles for $2,000) seeing as I read about how darn reliable these cars are but but all of them, no matter the condition, seem to be around this range (in my area anyway)

If you need more information then please let me know. I appreciate any and all help .

[Mr Bean]

95' was first year for 4r70w
common problems for pre 96' cars include clogged EGR passages and leaky valve seals. After 95' blown plastic intake crossover. Blown/leaky RAS for all years. These should be worth up to 4k.
digital dashes are pretty reliable in these. I don't think I've ever heard of one failing

[LithiumCobalt]

Full OBD-II started in 1996. However, in 1996, they also started using the plastic intake manifolds which were subject to an extended warranty because of consumer complaints. Unfortunately, even the extended warranty has run out on these due to time. I had two 96s, both with the original intakes and both were still going just fine. My guess is, though, many have been changed over already. If you're somewhat mechanically inclined, these can be changed at home. Gives peace of mind when travelling 100 miles from any civilization in the middle of the night....once the crossover blows and starts pissing hot coolant all over the car can't be driven.

4R70W is definitely better than the AOD-E. As stated, started in 1995 model year.

In addition to what has already been mentioned, blend door actuators are a common failure item as well as the window regulators. Changing the blend door actuator is a royal PITA. $30 for the part and about 4 hours to do the job at home. Expect quotes of $700-800 if you have to pay a shop. As for window regulators, there's lot of aftermarket junk that lasts for six months and then breaks. I only replace with Motorcraft units, but they are spendy if you can find them.

You should be able to pick up a really nice, clean mid-90s Town Car for around $4-5k. Anything for $2,000 is going to have problems and probably be a rusted out shit box.

Oh, and you should probably budget for a front suspension rebuild. Both of my 96s required new ball joints and control arm bushings well before 100k miles. There's many running around with marginal parts holding together vital front end components.

[Clutch22]

95' was first year for 4r70w
common problems for pre 96' cars include clogged EGR passages and leaky valve seals. After 95' blown plastic intake crossover. Blown/leaky RAS for all years. These should be worth up to 4k.
digital dashes are pretty reliable in these. I don't think I've ever heard of one failing

Good to hear about the digital dashes. Thanks for the info about the other common faults! And thanks for the first year of 4R70W, it's nice to actually know now!!

Full OBD-II started in 1996. However, in 1996, they also started using the plastic intake manifolds which were subject to an extended warranty because of consumer complaints. Unfortunately, even the extended warranty has run out on these due to time. I had two 96s, both with the original intakes and both were still going just fine. My guess is, though, many have been changed over already. If you're somewhat mechanically inclined, these can be changed at home. Gives peace of mind when travelling 100 miles from any civilization in the middle of the night....once the crossover blows and starts pissing hot coolant all over the car can't be driven.

4R70W is definitely better than the AOD-E. As stated, started in 1995 model year.

In addition to what has already been mentioned, blend door actuators are a common failure item as well as the window regulators. Changing the blend door actuator is a royal PITA. $30 for the part and about 4 hours to do the job at home. Expect quotes of $700-800 if you have to pay a shop. As for window regulators, there's lot of aftermarket junk that lasts for six months and then breaks. I only replace with Motorcraft units, but they are spendy if you can find them.

You should be able to pick up a really nice, clean mid-90s Town Car for around $4-5k. Anything for $2,000 is going to have problems and probably be a rusted out shit box.

Oh, and you should probably budget for a front suspension rebuild. Both of my 96s required new ball joints and control arm bushings well before 100k miles. There's many running around with marginal parts holding together vital front end components.

Thanks for the info. It seems like no matter what car you get, power windows are always a common failure and always a complete painful experience!

I just took another look on my local CL and the most expensive aero town car I could find was $4,000. The next most expensive, $3,000, followed by a few at $2,500. Just going by price, they seem to either be very, very cheap in my area or they're appropriately priced and are all just a bunch of crap. Most of them priced $2,000 to $3,000 have nice interiors (leather seats only just starting to crack) and great looking exteriors with no hints of flaws from the pictures. No visible rust but I don't know of any common rust spots. Miles ranging from 85,000 to 120,000. Is it possible that they're this cheap? Here is one example. And another. Another. Andddd one more for $2,000.

Do you think you could give me an estimated cost of a front suspension rebuild? I believe I'd have to get a shop to do it as I don't have many tools (not even a jack!) I usually have to borrow tools from friends so I do have some ability to wrench on my own car but I think rebuilding the suspension would be out of my skill set and tool set.

Thank you both!

[Piece-it pete]

Howdy!

Lucky you, you live within a couple hours of Lincolnmania. I'd PM him for a quote. Good luck.

Pete

[miamibob]

+1000 on this info. Scotty is a GREAT guy in addition to REALLY knowing his stuff!! If the distance is not an issue at least you will have an honest person doing your work. VERY difficult to find now a days!!!

[Clutch22]

Howdy!

Lucky you, you live within a couple hours of Lincolnmania. I'd PM him for a quote. Good luck.

Pete

Do you mean within a couple hours of a member here or just where Lincolns are very common? And I didn't mean for him to do the work - does he do that kind of thing?! If so, that's awesome! I just wanted an idea of how much you guys think parts/labor would run me. Thanks

+1000 on this info. Scotty is a GREAT guy in addition to REALLY knowing his stuff!! If the distance is not an issue at least you will have an honest person doing your work. VERY difficult to find now a days!!!

Apologies but is LithiumCobalt Scotty? Thanks!

[miamibob]

I was referring to "lincolnmania" in PA.

[LithiumCobalt]

Watch for crusty rotten brake/fuel lines too, if the vehicle is from the north and was driven year round.

[gadget73]

You want a 96+ if you can help it. The front suspension is better and it won't chooch the oil out from the bad valve seals. The intake is a stupid problem, but given the choice of an intake vs valve seals and a trans, I'll do an intake swap. That, and you can easily upgrade the front brakes to the 98-02 stuff for better stopping power. I think the 95-97 has better cosmetics than the 91-94 anyway, but thats largely my own opinion.