2006 Town Car

[HyundaiAbuser]

My father has bestowed to me the right of first refusal on his 2006 town car with 150k miles on it. Overall it seems in really good condition, he does yearly oil changed with mobil 1 EP which usually equates about 6-7k of all highway miles. Transmission fluid still has a solid amount of red in it and I know the 4.6 drive trains have a bit of a cult following. What might I need to be weary in checking and what common problems may come up down the road on these vehicles?

 

[bdcardinal]

Town cars will have issues with the air suspension. Check the rear bags if it has them because a leaking bag will make the compressor run non stop which till burn it and the relay out.

 

[Legal Eagles]

Under the skin, they are all panthers...

I found the below videos helpful before I bought my 2006 Grand Marquis...





My biggest bugaboo is failing EATC vacuum o-rings resulting in floor or defrost only, no vent...

The rocker panels rusting behind the plastic cover...

The blend door actuator behind the dash failing resulting in hot (or cool) air only... this is a beast to replace... I suppose if you were a hobbit you could reach in with removing only the airbag, but for me it means taking the dash off...

When filling the gas tank, sometimes the pump repeatedly clicks off at high flow... this is something to do with the emissions recovery unit under the trunk... I just fill the tank more slowly or twist the pump handle until it faces up... it looks weird, but it works...

I love the Panthers, mechanically they go forever, and who does not love a RWD, body on frame, V8 sedan... but there are gremlins...

 

[Legal Eagles]

Town cars will have issues with the air suspension. Check the rear bags if it has them because a leaking bag will make the compressor run non stop which till burn it and the relay out.

This is true as well... you may be inclined to go with replacement coils, but if you take care of and check and replace the air suspension system it is not that expensive to keep it running and it does make a difference in ride quality.

By the way, my first upgrade was a transmission pan drop, filter change, and replacement with a Dorman pan which has a drain plug.

 

[atikovi]

There is a reason taxi companies and police departments all used this platform. Not a whole lot to go wrong, and anything that does, isn't too significant to it's driveability. Is this going to be another car or will you be replacing a current one? It's a good long distance cruiser, but for an around town daily driver, it's just a big old boat.

 

[HyundaiAbuser]

There is a reason taxi companies and police departments all used this platform. Not a whole lot to go wrong, and anything that does, isn't too significant to it's driveability. Is this going to be another car or will you be replacing a current one? It's a good long distance cruiser, but for an around town daily driver, it's just a big old boat.

this is the general sentiment I’ve heard. In about a year my commute is going to turn into 30 minutes one way and comfort + reliability are the top priorities

 

[HyundaiAbuser]

This is true as well... you may be inclined to go with replacement coils, but if you take care of and check and replace the air suspension system it is not that expensive to keep it running and it does make a difference in ride quality.

By the way, my first upgrade was a transmission pan drop, filter change, and replacement with a Dorman pan which has a drain plug.

I’d looked at the dorman pan too and can’t help but think that’d be the first thing I do

 

[meep]

This would be a hard car to turn away. Definite cult following. Lincoln version would be enticing.

 

[Falcon_LS]

Not a whole lot to go wrong, other than the rear suspension airbags, which bdcardinal already pointed out. The same applies to Crown Victorias and Grand Marquis' equipped with the Handling and Performance Package. If they are bad, Arnott makes a decent replacement that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Other than the usual stuff you'd check when buying a used car, you should be fine. 2006 is the second year for throttle-by-wire on this platform and they had the "bugs", such as throttle lag, pretty much figured out by then. Just change all the fluids (ATF, PSF, axle fluid, brake fluid and a coolant flush) and keep on trucking. This would also be a good time to replace the brake hoses, if they are original to the vehicle.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I just recently sold at auction my sisters 2005 Town Car. It had less than 13K original miles. Was Ford serviced every spring and fall. In fantastic shape. It sold for $13200. State took her license away after she had a wreck in her Mazda CX5. She was too afraid to drive the Lincoln

 

[Lubener]

By the way, my first upgrade was a transmission pan drop, filter change, and replacement with a Dorman pan which has a drain plug.

ATP makes a better one for his 4R75E transmission..Heavier and a little deeper.

 

[supton]

I love the Panthers, mechanically they go forever, and who does not love a RWD, body on frame, V8 sedan... but there are gremlins...

What would be a good scan tool? most any, depending on the fault?

I toy with the idea of a Panther, but I suspect I would want to regear into 3.55’s as 2.73 just sounds too tall in my hills... which would trash my mpg… and then there is snow driving on top of that. Yes on snow tires, but still…

 

[Legal Eagles]

What would be a good scan tool? most any, depending on the fault?

I toy with the idea of a Panther, but I suspect I would want to regear into 3.55’s as 2.73 just sounds too tall in my hills... which would trash my mpg… and then there is snow driving on top of that. Yes on snow tires, but still…

Any scan tool works... rear gears are easy to change, but as you note with most things there is a tradeoff in mpg... honestly, most of the time, if I am not on the highway at 70mph or higher I just turn off the overdrive.

You make another good point... even with snow tires and weight in the trunk, these cars can be "touchy" when driving in snow.

I live in Maine so we have 9 months of winter and three months of "darn poor skiing", and I do not drive mine between Dec and March...
The state police previously drove Crown Vics all year round... no idea how they set them up for winter driving... but they did it...

 

[supton]

I have a decent incline on my driveway, good sun exposure but it has times of “fun” in winter. I also buy my cars as all purpose, no parking in winter—it was nice when i had my truck, only it it had snows out of my fleet, and i would drive that in the bad weather, but didn’t take long before i realized how sketchy that vehicle was in the snow. Its fun to go through an intersection sideways only when it was intentional.

 

[Falcon_LS]

What would be a good scan tool? most any, depending on the fault?

For FoMoCo vehicles, my go-to is FORScan.

 

[Fordiesel69]

I have had panthers since 2005 and dad has had them since the 1980's.

Basically in 2006, here is the list:
-Very common blend door stem and actuator failure
-Climate control orings and solder joint failure.
-The blower motor resistor card has a circuit board that stuff desolders itself. Very easy to fix when you pull it off.
-Exhaust manifold studs rot off
-Intake manifold can crack on the heater core nipple, or up front on the crossover.
-Air springs will dry rot.