Just bought a 2002 LS V8 looking to mod.

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Thislifeishard

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Just picked this bad boy up. Where do I start? I need helps!

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To translate ^^^ what he is saying is this is NOT the car to mod.

You can do some things to clean it up, like effects and wheels which I wouldnt think you need much help with, but if you read these forums you will see more 'fails' than success with mods. All successes were costly too - and that was when Ford supported parts. They dont anymore, in so far as new parts, existing stock is systematically going discontinued.

Probably the best mods you can do is get the car mechanically sound in all aspects with parts that you scrounge now, then you can enjoy it for as long as you can - like we all want too.

Good luck with whatever you do! Enjoy the ride!
 
Oh Ye Of Little Faith! Buy a 4.2 Jaguar engine with a blower on it complete, used, for less than $5K. It's close enough to the factory Lincoln 3.9 that with a simple swap of some exterior parts you can bolt it in place. Use all the engine sensors that came on the 3.9 and the ECM won't know about the blower engine. Use a water/methanol 'fogger' to keep the boosted charge under control. You can easily come up with 400 HP+. Or put a 'spray' system on for another couple of hundred HP. Blowers and spray are a wonderful combination.

See 'Land Speed LS' in the HP section for more info.

KS
 
Where do you start with what? You need "helps" with what...?
 
G-RELL said:
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Man, thats cold but man i feel it's so true!! I always wanted the LS and bought one October 5th. LS 2002, mint body, blue, 123K miles... 24 hours after having it. The common over heating issues started. As of today I've spent $1100 on hydraulic fan motor, radiator and fans. Last week car still ran hot so i bought a motor craft coolant cap. Overheating stopped(???) Yesterday, the CE light comes on and i have 3 codes. Again, the common 0171, 0174, 0402 codes!! After researching all day it could be 10 different reasons!! Oh yeah, did i fail to mention my 12 volt outlet went out but the fuse is still intact. I feel like i definitely bought a classic jaguar with all those engine problems. I'll spend another $1000 before i resale it and just try to break even.
I hope you have better luck.
This is a very problematic engine. It's a car for mechanics. Yes, there are very few mods available.
 
You made the 1st step, joining the my LS keeps overheating, the Horn does not work, Suspension parts worn out, the Heats not working, its using a lot of Gas, Check engine light not on yet, but skipping like coils are bad, and asking here.

But the 02 V8 is a good ride. IMO the Best Year and engine. I own a 52k 06 LS also. Had my 02 from 04, and has 217k drive it everyday. And fix it every time it breaks. Original Engine and Trans.

Stay Tuned. Lots of help here. Oh yeah, how many miles on the Bad Boy, and what's wrong with it currently. Or maybe you don't know yet. WELCOME!
 
jgscott said:
You made the 1st step, joining the my LS keeps overheating, the Horn does not work, Suspension parts worn out, the Heats not working, its using a lot of Gas, Check engine light not on yet, but skipping like coils are bad, and asking here.

But the 02 V8 is a good ride. IMO the Best Year and engine. I own a 52k 06 LS also. Had my 02 from 04, and has 217k drive it everyday. And fix it every time it breaks. Original Engine and Trans.

Stay Tuned. Lots of help here. Oh yeah, how many miles on the Bad Boy, and what's wrong with it currently. Or maybe you don't know yet. WELCOME!
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Believe it or not, it has 165k miles on it. I picked it up for 1600.00 and has no mechanical problems at all. I bought it from a diesel mechanic who said he was surprised that for the year he had it, he didn't have any problem with it either. He did a lot of really good routine maintenance on it. Hoping it holds up for awhile. I just want to add a little HP, and make the outside look better. Didn't realize that so many people in the forum apparently hate this car. Lol
 
Ah, there we have what you are looking for. More HP. When I had my 2002 I figured that out, these cars are a little under powered. I came back and bought again originally thinking that I would go 2003 and later for the extra hp. Even would have got the V6 since it was near same HP as first gen V8. I found this 2001 so close to my first I decided to buy it anyhow.

Anyway, if you look closer, or get to know these threads, you will see what we mean there are no mods for a little more HP. Good parts and maintenance/refresh is the answer to that.

But like cammerfe suggests, there are ways - they just not cheap or easy.
 
grizzlyls said:
Ah, there we have what you are looking for. More HP. When I had my 2002 I figured that out, these cars are a little under powered. I came back and bought again originally thinking that I would go 2003 and later for the extra hp. Even would have got the V6 since it was near same HP as first gen V8. I found this 2001 so close to my first I decided to buy it anyhow.

Anyway, if you look closer, or get to know these threads, you will see what we mean there are no mods for a little more HP. Good parts and maintenance/refresh is the answer to that.

But like cammerfe suggests, there are ways - they just not cheap or easy.
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Actually, a 'spray' system will add anywhere from 50 to 500 HP. 100 HP added is easily done without too much spending and the internals of a solid engine will hold up all right. My own system will add very close to 500, including the methanol I use as the extra fuel when the spray is activated. But I've not ever used more than 175 HP, including the methanol, out of respect for the internals that had something over 100K miles when I set the still-standing records. And, in fact, I only used a nominal 100 HP of nitrous oxide to set the records. I moved the record four times and every time it was by adding more methanol.

I'm sure you can buy a basic 'wet' 100 HP system for $500 or so. It'll take a Saturday morning to install it.
 
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'For Sale'. True enough. Start saving for the repair bills. Read this forum.
My 2000 LS has had all the common failures except the hydraulic fan.
Over $5K in repairs for 160K miles.
 
cammerfe, keep in mind some of us have no clue what you are talking about - wet or spray. :) To us old folk, mods are CAI, turbos, superchargers. Daily driver kind of stuff. ThisLife asking like this has me thinking he is like me. He can say.

I did attempt something like with a speed shop on the V6 84 ranger i customized. Being a daily driver it became far to finicky and I had them pull it and put in a supercharged v8. much more stable and far more powerful, had to change the whole driveline on that one.

All that said, I think the point about that this is not the car for pushing the limits is valid, unless you have skills like you and some money.
 
Learn to get creative. There is no to VERY little aftermarket for the LS. I have manage to get very creative with my gen 1.

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grizzlyls said:
cammerfe, keep in mind some of us have no clue what you are talking about - wet or spray. :) To us old folk, mods are CAI, turbos, superchargers. Daily driver kind of stuff.
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interesting... superchargers and turbos (especially the latter) are vastly more complicated than an form of spray kit...

dont know a lot of people that mod their anything with a supercharger or turbo for just daily driving... those kind of mods tend to be the most extreme, along with the kind of supporting work needed to make them not grenade.
 
1LoudLS said:
interesting... superchargers and turbos (especially the latter) are vastly more complicated than an form of spray kit...

dont know a lot of people that mod their anything with a supercharger or turbo for just daily driving... those kind of mods tend to be the most extreme, along with the kind of supporting work needed to make them not grenade.
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My DD has a turbo.....
 
Ya, back in the late 80's it was a whole different game. 302 block, 351 Windsor heads, roots supercharger on top with a good mechanic - no worries. Now all these electronics and emissions worries, thats why we probably say mods are hard to do - but again mods is relative to what is meant by the person.
 
Sorry---hot-rodder shorthand. (And by the way, I probably have a fair number of years on you.) 'Spray' is shorthand for a nitrous oxide system. 'Wet' means that the nitrous oxide system adds gasoline along with the nitrous oxide instead of simply richening the gasoline/air mixture normally going into the system through the engine injectors.

In my own case, since I did the mods with the intention of running 'top-end' and trying to set land speed records in ECTA competition, I put together a system that uses methanol instead of gasoline in my 'wet' package. It has a capability of adding between 450 and 500 horsepower. But due to the stock engine internals such as cast pistons and powdered-metal rods, I've only ever tried between 150-200, and actually set the records using a nominal 100 of nitrous oxide and increasing the methanol load.

I did a bit of looking at some of the big on-line hot-rod catalog companies and found that you can buy a 'wet' package for less than $400. Easily-enough installed in just part of a day.

KS
 
Stop it Cam, you making us all 'wet' with that spraying talk.

Grizzl, that hard life lad could install a CAI, open up the exhaust and reboot on a tune, couple of stickers and some fender vents and he'd be good for at least 50+hp

Joe King, cept the tune, I was no Joe King about that.
 
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