Re-key 1996 Lincoln Town Car
Asked by Guru9BCYWD Jun 15, 2021 at 08:49 PM about the 1996 Lincoln Town Car
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I inherited a low mile 1996 Lincoln. Estate people threw away keys. I have
had a new key cut by locksmith. He says "any ford dealer can reprogram". I
have been to 3 so far. You would think I was asking for parts for a Graham-
Paige. I know most of the techs were in grade school, but does anybody
have any idea of how to get the transponder key reprogrammed? My 98
Mercury had a similar system and all you had to do was turn the key from off
to run 10 times!
7 Answers
Your car is probably too old for a dealer to be interested in working on. You probably have the PATS system A. A good locksmith can make you a key or you can pay them to do a PATS bypass.
https://www.georgelawsongallery.com/how-to-disable-ford-pats-system/
Guru9BCYWD answered 3 years ago
I had seen the "disable PATs site" but feared it was too current -also tampers with authenticity! As a Ford man and son of a Ford man, it is sort of absurd that a 26k mi Linc with half inch of wax on flawless original paint and new Vogue tyres would scare off mechanics! My money is as green as the next fellows, but you are probably right. It seems folks want money-but the work gets in the way! Many thanks!
check with some local mechanics, the'll have the equipment to do so.
Dealers have their mechanics trained on working on current cars, not cars that are 25 years old. People with old cars also don't usually take them to dealers because dealers are too darn expensive. I would call every Ford dealer in your area and maybe you will get lucky and find one willing to help.
Guru9BCYWD answered 3 years ago
Had a locksmith out. Money-no object. His answer "This car has NO transponder nor does it have PATS..." Had it hooked up to diagnostic tool that looked like NASA. He jumped the solenoid to the positive terminal. Made a clicking sound; either bad starter or bad solenoid. And this after 3 dealers AND FoMoco told me it needs programming. Locksmith was 65 and that helped. A man who refused to accept defeat. Charged me $50 for the call after 2 hrs in the heat. The accurate information was worth twice that. Shame on Ford for not even supporting rekeying anything prior to 2005. Thanks to all who helped me!
Auto_Centric answered 3 years ago
Welcome to the new age where most people DON'T think or do things. . . The Auto industry / service has been in decline last 12+ years. It's always a pleasure to encounter a knowledgeable person glad you did.
