1992 Lincoln Town Car Automatic Transmission Shutters When it Shifts

Reader Question Hello – I have a 1992 Lincoln Town Car Executive with well over 200,000 miles on it. Transmission was rebuilt about 6 years ago. About 11 months ago started having troubles. Took it back to the shop that rebuilt the transmission to be checked. They couldn’t find anything wrong by doing a test drive. Basically said it was just shifting normally.

Took it to my Lincoln dealer repair guy – he said it was the torque converter. We replaced the fluid with Mercron as recommended. Seemed to fix the problem, but it is still doing it. I don’t think he replaced the transmission filter. I put some stuff in the transmission called Transmedic from PepBoys – that fixed it immediately but now it has returned.

I never replaced the transmission fluid after the rebuild – they didn’t tell me to.

What do you think the problem might be? Would replacing the filter help?

Sometimes it feels as if the car is “shuddering” as i excelerate.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks.
Cathy

Hi there Cathy

These cars are notorious for spark plug wire failure. I would replace the spark plugs and spark plug wires FIRST, but if they have more than 50,000 miles on them….they are due for a replacement as part of maintenance anyway.

Worn out spark plug wires will cause the symptom you mention.

Keep me posted.

BTW…..you should replace the transmission fluid AND the filter every 25,000 miles. If it has not been more than 100,000 miles since the filter was changed……you are probably safe to replace it now, but I would bet you have an engine misfire problem more than a transmission problem……although they both feel similar. Just my guess!

Blessings,
Austin Davis