I've had no trouble yet, but having now turned 100,000 miles I am concerned about the timing belt.

l wouldnt worry about it they very very seldom got out on a lincoln. save yourself the money . if your not mistreating the car u should be fine.

l am not familiar with the '97 Lincolns, but l would think they have a timing 'chain' instead of a belt. In my years of auto repair, the only 'V-8' engine, & ur 'town car' has a V-8, I've never seen one with a 'belt' instead of a chain was a Ferrari. Then again, I've not been working on those type autos in quite awhile.
If ur Lincoln has OHC(s) [ over head cam(s)] , yeah, with that many miles it would be wise to not only change the belt/chain, but have a thorough maintenance 'job' done as well.

You have a timing chain on this 4.6 motor. There is no time or mileage Ford has to change it out. They have two chains & two tensions. One per head. l have seen them go for over 200,000 miles & never had anything done to the motor other than tune-ups. l have seen a chain break on the older 92 models but only 2 times. The car drove in like this running off 4 Cyl. Tough motors. l can not say it wo not break but with that year the only time l would change them, if u had to have motor work done, Do it then when a mechanic has to work inside the motor, Other than that l would not worry about it.

The Town Car does not have a timing belt, it has 2 timing chains, and they seldom go out.

You must be bored but keep in mind if it ai not broke do not try fixing it.

This car does not really have a timing belt. You have a serpintine belt that drives all the the accessories, and l have seen those last 200,000+ miles, and you have timing chains under the front cover that drive the two camshafts. The easist way to tell if your serpintine belt needs replacing is to look for crracks and splits, and more the 5 cracks per inch needs to be replaced.

you lincoln doesnt have a timing belt and depending on which engine you have will dictate which style of timing chain you have just refer to the owners manual

Naw you should never need to change the timing belt, Muffler Bearings, Blinker Fluid, and the normal 7000 mile rotate the air in the tires, and you should be all set.

steve. l have to give you a hand on that last answer. but no.. like everyone said.. you dont have a timing belt.. you have a chain.. l have a mercury cougar with the same motor as your lincoln.. l have also seen these motors go over 300k .. they are jam up motors you cant kill them.
also l wanna see this serpentine belt that last 200k can l please get a few of them???lol