I hate not knowing

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bajaoutlaw

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My 01 LS V8 w/ 54,000 had a distict miss, then CEL came on, steady. This began Monday evening, Went to Autozone, code said P 0301 Cyl 1 missfire. Bought the NEW valve cover gskt w/ the seals today, 4 plug boots just in case (all of my 5.4 tritons have burned through the boots @ 70K plus.
Anyway, all today ran better w/o doing anything, but not 100% and CEL is off. On the way home today on freeway decided to WOT, after slowing down CEL began flashing, ran rough, then after 2-3 minutes CEL went off and smoothed out. Pulled all the coils from pass. side, no oil, plugs look average. Put back together, no difference. The miss I had under load on Monday and Tuesday is now not a miss, just real bad power. Slight miss when in 5th gear under load.
I built both of the 540 CI 610 Dynoed Hp engines my boat, so I am not dumb, but I do not know what to buy next. 8 Coils, 8 injectors. Run a tank w/ Sea Foam, I give. Any suggestions before I ..... I ...... take it to a shop.....
Stop the madness & help a brother out.
 
You have the classic symptoms of one or more fried COPs (coils). Since it's the one that threw the error, try replacing the COP on cylinder #1 (passenger side front) and see if the problem gets better. You can replace all eight and have all known good COPs, if you feel like spending the money.
 
The coils can get fouled from an oil leak, maybe the spark plugs. I'm just throwing easy stuff out that you might have forgot, you're better off on this than I am.
 
More info

Gave in today and took it to the shop that fixed my 5.4 that burped a plug last year. In depth analizer showed a high Co level, a lean condition. Fuel pressure is @ 38 psi. He said that is to low. Tomorrow he will check the fuel pressure regulator and the pump. He said it is not ignition, it is fuel delivery. This makes sense due to no oil leaks ---- yet. Probably cyl 1 injector and something else. The filter is less than 1500 miles new. I will post answer tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks for all the input..
 
The diagnosis of your shop doesn't quite sit right with me. The fuel system on this car is returnless and the fuel pressure is controlled by the ECM using modules and an FRPS on the fuel rail. 38 psi IS in the proper range under certain conditions, so I'm not sure if you have a problem with fuel or not. Besides, poor fuel volume usually is indicated by the car falling on it's face rather than in intermittant miss. If I were you, I would try replacing the #1 coil since that type of problem is well documented with your problem. It really sounds ignition related to me.
 
It doesn't set right with me

I purchased a Fuel preesure Sensor today and installed w/o any difference.
I miss going to my local Ford dealer back in AZ. I had a close friend who is a service writer. She would gather info for me. Now I am in So Cal I do not have that connection. Oh well.
I cannot find any factory or non factory manuals to confirm the fuel pressure is correct. I tried checking with the local ford dealers to see if they sell alot of coils, fuel pumps, or injectors. They really do not sell an alarming amount, if fact one of the larger stores in Orange county have only sold 3 coils since last May. My hesitation on purchasing a coil is that the car does not have any oil leaks as the other threads elude to. All the plug holes are clean.
It is only money, but that is not as much of an issue as not knowing and the LS is slow now.....
 
my car had the exact same problem so i changed coil 1 and still shaking so i took it into the shop and all 4 coils were bad. it will only throw one code so u wont be able to tell which one is bad. your better off changing them all
 
Same problem in mine about a year ago, replaced all eight coils, under warranty that is, cha ching :) been running great so far. The fuels pumps were also replaced but that was because as I would drive the gas gauge would go up to full, then would go down to empty, then back up, so on and so on. Change the coils, there expensive, might want to have your friend buy some and then ship them to you. I think they billed the warranty company over a 1k for it, although that did include the updated gaskets and o-rings, 8 plugs, and 8 coils. Cost me a 100 dollar deductible.
 
Honestly I think you're looking way past what you see. you had a cyl 1 misfire which is most likely the coil. I don't know why some think that the coils only go bad if there's a oil leak thats not the case. If you've never changed any coils in your car then you're due since you will have the first run coils in your car. the reason is Ford did a crappy job in designing the first set of coils that came on our cars hence the reason there has been so many updates to the coils and so many people needing them changed. And now the price went from $50 for a coil to $100 a piece. I replaced all the coils in mine over time I had 2 go bad from the VC leak. 2 went out because of water getting in there some how (I had to put gasket sealer around the coil covers per Ford TSB) and 4 just go bad (poor design and heat don't mix). twice but not at the same time I noticed hesitation while driving once when I would get around 45mph and once around 25mph and both times i had to go to the dealer and have them put the car on the computer and see which coil was going bad because it didn't throw the CEL. And twice I noticed skipiping while it was idling but they eventually threw a code. Now if your sure you put the coil back in #1 when you took them out go buy a coil and replace it but if you didn't put it back in the same then you would probably benefit by going to the dealer and have them do the load test on your coils and you may even find out if you have more than one bad coil or it will throw a code for a different cyl. :runaway:

Now if the shop you took to read the codes in your computer then they're probably wrong since you said your CEL was flashing that means stop and with that coil being bad then it will throw your O2 sensor way off. I bet it backfired and trip the code bank 1 sensor 1 or 2 lean condition. And your feul pressure and pump are fine. Sorry for the long post but sound to me that you have a simple coil problem:Bang
 
bajaoutlaw said:
. They really do not sell an alarming amount, if fact one of the larger stores in Orange county have only sold 3 coils since last May.
Click to expand...

That's because they're $100 bucks a piece when you can get them for almost half that online and at autozone and Advance
 
I do have a habit of analize to paralize. I went down the fuel road due to the shop seeing a lean condition in the recent computer history. I was unaware of the original coils having issues, I thought their failure was only from the oil / VCG situation. I will write the check for 8 coils and install the VCG kits I bought from Ford.
In the back of my head I just did not want to believe at this young age it would need this type of attention.
Thanks for your input and patience with a newby LS owner.
:(
 
ovsims said:
That's because they're $100 bucks a piece when you can get them for almost half that online and at autozone and Advance
Click to expand...

The problem with getting them from there is are you getting the latest design or are you getting one of the older designs that we know has a reliability problem. I don't have the answer to that... That is why I would probably pay the freight for the ones from Ford.
 
bajaoutlaw said:
I went down the fuel road due to the shop seeing a lean condition in the recent computer history.
Click to expand...

I figured thats where you got the lean conditon from because mine did the same thing. But I would buy the oem's from ford if I had the money even if I had to buy a one or two at a time. And yes the aftermarket coils will work if you need a quick fix to buy you some time but they're probably based on the old design, I can't say for sure. But poeple have had good experiences with aftermarket and some have had bad. If you have the money to do all eight then I bet you will notice your car running a heck of a lot smoother :cool:
 
2001LS8Sport said:
The problem with getting them from there is are you getting the latest design or are you getting one of the older designs that we know has a reliability problem. I don't have the answer to that... That is why I would probably pay the freight for the ones from Ford.
Click to expand...
One of the big auto parts chains (I want to say NAPA) is selling Visteon COPs for the LS at $39-ish. I think Visteon OEMs the COPs for Lincoln, so I would expect them to be the new design. (Visteon is Ford's spun-off, bailed-out, stapled, spindled, and folded parts manufacturing operations.)
 
Gave in

I called Lincoln customer service this morning. They pulled up my 'profile'. found an embarrasing long list of Fords. Also saw no complaints, although there were a few that I should have placed. She said take it to the selling L/M dealer and have them diagnose. Then they will call the dealer and discuss. I shared my fear of getting only the one or two replaced when all 8 are suspect, due to design changes and revised VCG. She said she understood, but the dealer will be the deciding judge. I said all I want is assistance w/ the parts. She seemed interested. Probably due to never complaining and owning 7 Fords since '97.
I might place vent holes in the coil covers or maybe run w/o, just like my 5.4 is.
I will keep posting progress unless you say STOP.
Again thanks for your help.
 
The plot thickens

I kept a date with the local L/M dealer today. The friendly service writer said the deductable for the ESP is $100. OK, what extended warranty. Seems I bought a certified used car that not only I was not aware of, but the brilliant salesman was unaware of as well. It has a 6 year 75k warranty. Yeah me. They diagnosed the CEK, Cyl. 1 misfire. Replaced the Coil and plug. To bad, the CEL is off, it idles better, but still no match for a misguided Yugo. So as I was getting on the wonderful 405 freeway trying to do 75 I called 'Jim' the service writer. Hey Jim, no work. Now they are getting me a loaner LS to drive and will keep mine until it is right. I think it may work out. I will bore you with the details when they are available, film at 11:00.....
 
20,000 left on the unexpected warranty, can't beat that. Glad things are getting better for you.
 
We will see

L/M dealer did check out, #3 cyl. misfire and VCG & O rings leaking. Warranty will take care of this, but service manager will call Ford tom. Am and try to get them to do all 8 since he knows I will be back before the 75k mark for more. More tomorrow. If I am bothering anyone, sorry, I just have never had such positve results in a case like this.:)
 
Latest

:) L/M is replacing both L & R VCG & O rings, Passenger side coils & all plugs. Should be done tomorrow afternoon. N/C :cool:


:( ps. they have three others in for same issue, one warranty, 2 customer pay. :(
 
:) All done. Both sides VCG, 4 coils on pass. side 8 plugs. $100.00 dollars in deductable later and having to drive a Chevy Aveo, it is back. I missed it. Thanks again for your help, you guys were right about the total fix. Thank goodness for certified used cars...:D :D
 
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