How difficult is it to work under the hood

[LikeNew02]

i bought my ls in June to replace the 92 tbird sc that i had been driving for the past 6 years.

the tbird sc in known to be a rather difficult car to work on. most service stations wouldn't even touch it.

just to change the plugs it would take 5 hours. the job required removing the intercooler, and intercooler tubing, putting the car on jack stands, and installing the plugs from underneath. basically, the job was a real b*tch.

i consider myself pretty handy(i used to be an aircraft technician), but not the kind of person that could tear down and engine or replace a transmition. on the tbird, i was able to replace the water pump, power steering pump, fuel pump, alternator, and added several bolt on parts.

now with the ls, i pop the hood and say to myself "oh my god". I can hardly even see the belts.

i am wondering this because i am due for a 40k tune up, and i would perfer to do it myself. my money is tight, and i don't like to pay anyone for something that i can do myself.

my questions

is it worth my time to do the 40k tune up myself?

is this car more difficult to work on than a tbird sc?

thanks for any advice

i guess that i have to ask this because some times i wonder about the people on this board. most threads that are concerned with engine trouble, end in what the dealership charged, and what they replaced. so i start wonder, do these people have so much $$$ that they don't even consider doing the work themselves, or is it so difficult to work on this car that most do not even attempt?

 

[beaups]

I just did my belt (there's only 1 on mine) and plugs. belt was a pain to fish and plugs were a pain but neither required any major component removals. just scraped arms from tight areas and a couple tough bolts to get at.

 

[Ric]

I had a '90 SC and I remember well the headaches involved in working on that thing. The plugs were the least of the problems. My clutch was slipping and it had a broken motor mount. So, after the inevitable blown head gasket, I decided to take care of everything at once and pulled the engine. It was shortly after that experience that I bought a new LS. Now, if this thing needs air in the tires, it goes back to the dealer.

 

[HyeLifeLS]

I think LS needs tune up every 100000 miles no?

 

[LikeNew02]

I think LS needs tune up every 100000 miles no?

i just go something in the mail from ford saying that i am due to for my 40k mile tuneup/inspection, and they said that they would be happy to do it for me.

i haven't had the time to open up my owners manual and check what a 40k tuneup/inspection entails

 

[SoonerLS]

i guess that i have to ask this because some times i wonder about the people on this board. most threads that are concerned with engine trouble, end in what the dealership charged, and what they replaced. so i start wonder, do these people have so much $$$ that they don't even consider doing the work themselves, or is it so difficult to work on this car that most do not even attempt?

I had an '89 T-Bird SC, and I can completely sympathize with you on the plugs issue. That's by far the hardest routine maintenance operation I've ever done. (Fortunately, my brother got my SHO before the 100K major maintenance interval hit. ) I managed to run a couple of the plug wires in the process, adding a lovely $80 to the cost of the parts. And, to top it all off, the plugs were still fine--I only changed them because I was by God not going to put the old nes back in after all the trouble I went through to pull them.

Thus far, I don't have any basis to compare the two cars, underhood work-wise. I don't let anyone work on my cars, but this bad boy is still under warranty, so Lincoln can eat the costs of the repairs for now. The mechanical repairs don't really worry me; my major concern is the "electronic monster" nature of the beast--I just don't have the diagnostic equipment to test a lot of this stuff. (Fortunately, my cousin is a factory-trained BMW and Toyota mechanic, and he does--as long as I can get my car to Conway, Arkansas. )