Lincoln Town Car Head lights Flicker and Turn Off While Driving
Reader Question I have a 1996 Lincoln Towncar. After driving with the headlights on high beams for about 20 miles, they go out. Start blinking. I have replaced the headlight switch, the dimmer switch, and the lamp drive module. What is the problem?? Is there a relay or something that is overheating?
Help,
Cherokee
Hey Cherokee…..cool name!
My first suggestion would be to replace the headlight switch, but you already did that. I called my friend at Ford and he said the same thing, the headlight switch. He also asked if you might have had a burnt connector at the headlight switch, says they can overheat and melt the connectors. I have personally seen that as well. Make sure the wires and connections are in good shape and fit tight to the switch.
Also, there is a difference in automatic headlights and non auto with the headlight switch, make sure you got the correct switch.
Blessings,
Austin C. Davis
Reader Follow up
Austin, Thanks for the reply. I will tell you what I found. After replacing the headlight switch, the multi function switch (Dimmer), and the lamp drive module THREE times in the last four months, replacing the headlight bulbs (from talking to the Lincoln dealers who could tell me nothing else). I finally got a schematic of the system.
After searching, I found, under the dash a fuse box where the circuit breakers for the electric seats were. In it was a breaker for the lamp drive module. It was an 18 amp. I replaced it with a 20 amp and the lights are doing fine. So, why couldn’t the dealer tell me there was a breaker for the module??? They swore there was none for the headlights. Oh well…… Just thought you would want to know.
Cherokee
Thanks for your update Cherokee
Thanks for the update. I talked with the parts and service guys at my local Ford dealer about it, and they did not mention it either. It is a 10 year old vehicle, and the part is probably not something they see going bad very often….maybe never, so in their defense they probably did not know about it or forgot it was there in that year model.
I will post your answer on the website, thanks for sharing. Glad YOU fixed it. I learned something today!
Blessings,
Austin C. Davis
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Austin,
I’m having the identical problem with my ’88 Town Car. Could you possibly hook me up with Allen?
Thanks in advance for your attention to this request.
Mike
Mike, I would if I had his contact info….I don’t keep visitor personal information. Sorry.
the cheapest one I’ve come across so far is ~$200. For that I figure I can just pull back on the lever the whole time while driving to keep the lights on. giving everyone i pass the brights of course.
I did not recall they were that expensive maybe you can find ine at your local junk yard
I’m not sure if I have the auto-dimming feature or not, but my lincoln is a 1988. I’ve tried to follow Cherokee’s solution but so far I haven’t been able to find any other fuse boxes or circuit breakers other than the main fuse panel and there are no 18Amps in there. Not to say it is not there, I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for. What do the Headlight switch and the auto dimming sensor look like? and where are they exactly, if you know. Thanks for the reply Austin.
I would first start with the headlight switch…..the part you pull on to turn on the headlights. They are cheap and easy to replace, and a common failure on older vehicles. Inspect the wire plug connector on the switch for damage due to melting from overheating. another common issue.
Cherokee,
thank you thank you thank you thank you for posting online about your problem with the Lincoln! I too have a Lincoln town car and the headlights are doing EXACTLY the same thing. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to fix it for awhile now, same as you. I’m hoping you will by chance read this post, and if you do would you be so kind as to email me? I have not yet fixed the problem (although your post is like a godsend to me) and I would just ask you some quick questions on where exactly that fuse box is, as I don’t have that schematic. . So happy there are people like you out there that post blogs about how to fix their problems 😀
You might want to test the headlight switch, or if you have an older Lincoln with the auto dimming feature you could have a faulty auto dimming sensor.