Extra hp?

[04_Sport_LS]

You have much more experience than I.......

And Joe has more experience than I do... but we are echoing the same points. This should be sage advice for you.

Joe can answer your thermostat housing fill level question better than I can. I have very little experience with the Gen 1 cooling system.

 

[joegr]

Quick question, how full should the thermostat housing be? Is this good?...

The answer is completely full. Some should spill out when you loosen the cap. After it's been filled and the engine warmed/cooled a couple of times, there should be no air anywhere except for the top of the degas bottle.

 

[04_Sport_LS]

Of course the photo above is from RigsLS's Gen 1 rebuild thread.

Cooling System 3.9L - 1st GEN Lincoln LS w/ PN's

 

[AmsterDutch]

I assume that means taking it to a mechanic or dealer and having them check everything? Them owner before me seems to have kept up on all maintenance, the trans shifts nicely, havent had the temp go above half, haven't had any check engine lights. I prefer to do as much work as I can by myself, is there a way to do a check on these, or should I just go dealer/ mechanic?

My ls has 170,xxx
I'm impressed you beat a coyote mustang, very nice.

If my memory serves me correctly...you're up in Saint Cloud MN ...I know it's a long drive but my Mechanic in Mankato MN is one of the few ppl who knows these cars well ...he had impressed me from day one with his knowledge...just saying if you would want to have him check it out ...PM me and I'll give you his Shops number

 

[The ls ss]

You know that the cooling system is failing, you just don't want to believe it.

How long can I go on the cooling system? Can I go until it has problems, or should I go full out now? The previous owner said he didnt do any cooling system work, and its at 170,xxx miles,

 

[AmsterDutch]

How long can I go on the cooling system? Can I go until it has problems, or should I go full out now? The previous owner said he didnt do any cooling system work, and its at 170,xxx miles,

The guy you bought the car from actually believed the LS you're driving was a special limited edition Lincoln LS SS with that being said he didnt know this car any better than a Chevy Impala ...he brought the car to the same Mechanic the entire time he owned it which is better than some but in reality him and his son didnt fo any of the work on it ...you would be wise to get the name of his mechanic and find out the true history of the car ...like Joeand 04_Sport_LS said ...with 170,000 miles on the car it's going to need a full coolant system rebuild sooner than later ...the plastic rots from the inside out ...micro-cracks in the plastic...you can run it as long as you like but get ready for a full rebuild soon ...I offered the guy $900 for the car but he said some other guy will pay his asking price ...that was you

 

[The ls ss]

I offered the guy $900 for the car but he said some other guy will pay his asking price ...that was you

That was me. Idk what good prices are for ls'es, did you offer 900 because it was only worth that, or because you didnt need a car ,but was up for a deal?

 

[AmsterDutch]

That was me. Idk what good prices are for ls'es, did you offer 900 because it was only worth that, or because you didnt need a car ,but was up for a deal?

I offered him $900 because at 170,000 I knew it was going to need a coolant rebuild

 

[The ls ss]

my center driveshaft support bearing is showing signs of age.

How do you tell when this is going?

 

[AmsterDutch]

How do you tell when this is going?

You will need to purchase a bluetooth OBDII adapter and download torque, forscan lite or if you have a laptop with windows download Forscan app for free and buy an ELM27 adapter to plug into the car under the steering wheel OBDII port in the Cabin ...and see what your true coolant temperature is registering...the coolant needle will stay in the middle when coolant temp is 190-239 but at 225 your car is already over heating because a proper running coolant system should be registered at 190-195 200-220 is actually running hot and 220-239 you might be walking home ....

 

[04_Sport_LS]

How long can I go on the cooling system? Can I go until it has problems, or should I go full out now?

Seems like you are already having problems... so that should answer your own question.

 

[04_Sport_LS]

How do you tell when this is going?

At colder temps... right around freezing and below... you will notice a vibration in the driveline between 40-50 mph. It's a low rumble that you will hear... and feel in your butt.

 

[04_Sport_LS]

The previous owner said he didnt do any cooling system work, and its at 170,xxx miles,

And you just answered your own question... again. And since I've never heard of an LS cooling system going for 170k... I imagine the owner before the last owner had cooling system work done. So all the plastic cooling parts have AT LEAST 70k miles on them... thus the reason you are starting to have problems now.

 

[The ls ss]

Seems like you are already having problems... so that should answer your own question

Not very big just not much heat. Although you are probably right, I will buy an elm27 and check temp, and probably replace cooling system.

And you just answered your own question... again. And since I've never heard of an LS cooling system going for 170k... I imagine the owner before the last owner had cooling system work done. So all the plastic cooling parts have AT LEAST 70k miles on them... thus the reason you are starting to have problems now

Here's the thing, the guy b4 me was no genius about his car (didnt know "ss" was dealer add on) , but he said he didnt have any repairs done to the cooling system( I hope he would notice a 1200 dollar bill) as for the person before him, the guy b4 me bought it in 2003 from a dealer in New York. It didnt likely already have cooling system replaced. Maybe he just didnt notice the bill or forgot, I asked for the name and number of the one mechanic he always took it to, so that I can give them a call and see what all has been done to the car.

 

[04_Sport_LS]

Not very big just not much heat.

Does the heat get better with higher engine speed? If so... it might be your Auxiliary Coolant Flow Pump.

 

[The ls ss]

It may improve, It is currently below freezing here. If I use recirculate air, it heats better. Idk if it changes with engine speed, always start up and drive 10 min later. Will try tomorrow and let you know. Somebody mentioned also an aluminum thermostat housing and maybe the dccv.

 

[04_Sport_LS]

Is your water/coolant mix strong enough. Has to be at least 50/50 mix of coolant and distilled water to protect down to -37 degrees.

 

[1LoudLS]

How long can I go on the cooling system?

Sometime you can get lucky like I did and drive it right until one of the pipes blows apart spraying all of your coolant out in a second or two leaving you stranded on the side of the road.

Can I go until it has problems, or should I go full out now?

My honest recommendation is to buy all of the parts once you know you have a problem, then find a whole day to burn replacing everything to minimize down time.

Or you can drive it until something big happens and then you can order all of the parts and do the work once they come in if you can afford to be with out the car for days.



FWIW
With that kind of millage, I don't know how you (or the original owner) got lucky enough to make it this far!


Also, I wish my LS was anywhere near as fast as a Mustang since the slowest 5.0s run low 13s. My LS is a full second slower than my Focus is, and my focus is still a half a sec slower than the slowest of 5.0s (and really gets embarrassed against a S550)

 

[The ls ss]

.

 

[The ls ss]

04_Sport_LS said: ↑
Is your water/coolant mix strong enough. Has to be at least 50/50 mix of coolant and distilled water to protect down to -37 degrees.

I dont know, havent replaced the coolant yet.

If my memory serves me correctly...you're up in Saint Cloud MN ...I know it's a long drive but my Mechanic in Mankato MN is one of the few ppl who knows these cars well ...he had impressed me from day one with his knowledge...just saying if you would want to have him check it out ...PM me and I'll give you his Shops number

I am around St. Cloud. At this point , I will probably just buy the elm27 and see how the engine temp is doing. If it is running hot I guess I have some repairs I need to do. Thanks for mentioning your mechanic, if I have problems in the future that I would like checked out by somebody who actually knows these cars, I will let you know. Better to have somebody who knows what he is doing do it once, rather than some random mechanic doing it twice.

 

[The ls ss]

You will need to purchase a bluetooth OBDII adapter

Where would I find one of these? Just buy one off Amazon, or is there a better place? What is the price range?

 

[AmsterDutch]

Where would I find one of these? Just buy one off Amazon, or is there a better place? What is the price range?

Panlong Bluetooth OBD2 OBDII Car Diagnostic Scanner Check Engine Light for Android - Compatible with Torque Pro

 

[AmsterDutch]

Where would I find one of these? Just buy one off Amazon, or is there a better place? What is the price range?

Amazon!
FORScan OBD2 Adapter, VINT-TT55502 ELMconfig ELM327 modified For all Windows compatible with Ford Cars F150 F250 and Light Pickup Truck Scan Tool, Code Reader MS-CAN HS-CAN Switch

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[AmsterDutch]

It may improve, It is currently below freezing here. If I use recirculate air, it heats better. Idk if it changes with engine speed, always start up and drive 10 min later. Will try tomorrow and let you know. Somebody mentioned also an aluminum thermostat housing and maybe the dccv.

Just make sure you buy MotorCraft Coolant Parts ....otherwise you'll be replacing the parts about a year later or sooner
Yes they are expensive ...but you get what you pay for!
Also I remember the previous owner of your LS tell me that it was stored in the winter...that is a huge bonus for you ...hopefully you won't need to do a full suspension rebuild for another few years....it helps that salt hasn't rusted the hell out of your suspension components
URO Parts NCE2247AD-PRM Aluminum T-Stat Housing Kit

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• Motorcraft YG355 Valve

 

[The ls ss]

Ok, went out and did the test. Started the car, turned on heat, let idle for 15 min. Hopped in drove 3 mi to get to running temp. Stopped in a parking lot, felt heat vent, just warm, revved engine, held at 2500 rpm with hand on vent, the fan speed and air temp went up noticably.

And I doubt this has anything at all to do with anything, but my memory seat buttons light up when pushed but it wont let me set memory seats. This has been on and off since I bought the car. Also when I shut ats off, it shuts off and the light on the button will indicate on or off, but the notice will not show up on the status screen in the instrument cluster, and the little bell doesnt sound when you shut it off. This also has been intermittent.