Just plain sick and tired of my LS!

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03LS-sport

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Hey everyone it's been a long time since I have been on here. In the year that I have owned my 03 LS sport and it has given me more grief and problems then every other vehicle I have owned combined. Here is a list of issues I've had and some that I have solved (for now at least).

-the notorious coil packs. Spent a while finally getting the bugs out of them. Had to eventually switch to excel coils that I managed to connect to the stock bolt holes. I've had a few issues with moisture getting to them but a good coating of dielectric grease has helped.

-had to replace the cats because they were shot due to bad coils dumping fuel into the exhaust. Those weren't cheap because I was living in communist California at the time

-when I gun it to get onto the freeway or just have fun the car will sometimes sputter at first then the whole car starts to smell like un burnt fuel. This one is confusing because even if the windows are down it smells stronger then my '79 f150 did with no cats. The smell goes away after about 5 minutes.

-when cruising down the freeway at over 70 the whole car starts to shake. I have had the tires balanced and rotated and it didn't help at all.

-fuel pump is going out I think. Sometimes the car just won't start and when it starts it sputters and putters and sometimes dies. Then decides to run great for a while. But will then just go back to sputtering really bad at idle. (I don't think it's the coils because no codes pop and it seems to run fine once I start moving)

-the transmission is having issues. The hard shifts from 2-3 and then sometimes when it goes to shift into other gears it's like the transmission forgets what it's doing and pauses then goes into gear.

-the driver door handle doesn't like to work from the outside. It's about 50/50 chance you will get it to open without having to reach in from the passenger side and open it.

-when I start or turn off the car the steering wheel jerks and sometimes just stops moving when it tries to go to the pre set position.

-the clock spring is starting to go out so I sometimes lose steering wheel button controls

Is anyone else having as many issues as I am?!?!

I have always wanted one of these cars since they came out and it's a great looking car and it has a good sounding magna-flow exhaust so I enjoy the V8 sound. So far the interior stuff hasn't given me issues and I like all the features. But I just do not trust this car. Every day I drive it I am expecting something else to stop working or fail. I don't let my wife drive it unless she is just going 2 miles into town because I'm afraid it leave her stranded. I am a die hard Ford fan and lincoln fan but this car is poorly designed. When everything works it's awesome! But then the problems come back and I hate it. I highly doubt I'll have this car much longer because I want something I can just enjoy instead of stress out about.
 
Did you buy it new or are you really recounting problems passed to you from previous owners?

The only completely trouble-free car I've ever owned was a '72 Pinto. I took it back to the dealer the next morning after I picked it up because one of the heater hoses had been installed twisted and it wasn't flowing water properly. It took twenty minutes to fix it and it never again went back to the dealer.

In its final iteration several years later it had a full frame, a roll cage, a 4" chopped-top, and a 466 SCJ engine residing under the original dash; attached to a C-6 and then to a Versailles 9-inch. The only seats were moved back to the back-seat footspace.

My own '02 LS has 154K miles and hasn't been back to the dealer since it was given its last free oil change at 40K miles. I do my own maintenance.

Like most cars, an LS DOES require regular maintenance.

KS
 
cammerfe said:
In its final iteration several years later it had a full frame, a roll cage, a 4" chopped-top, and a 466 SCJ engine residing under the original dash; attached to a C-6 and then to a Versailles 9-inch. The only seats were moved back to the back-seat footspace.

KS
Click to expand...

Did that happen to be a cammed FE?
 
If you love the car, take care of her. If you don't love the car, sell it to someone who will. There aren't an abundance of LS's. They deserve to be loved and pampered.
 
Actually, that engine was based on a 429 SCJ that'd had a 460 crank put in it. I'd originally built it in order to run a local variation of 'Late Model' at a 1/2 mile track. It made about 600HP. All-up the Pinto weighed 2260.

My first new car was a '64 Ford 'Custom', the bottom-of-the-line version of the Galaxie. It had a 427-T dual-quad engine. I didn't get 'Cammer FE' parts for another year beyond that.

KS
 
I haven't had as many problems as you've had, but it's just a matter of time.

Also having a 2003 retro TBird just doubles my concerns.
 
I know very well that vehicles require maintenance and there's things here and there that can go bad but I bought this car with 94k miles and it now sits at 107k miles and the only original issue it had was the coils. When went to eccel coils I did have to reverse the plugs. All the other issues have come up since then. My 01 F150 was bought from family and had 100k miles on it. Had it a year and sold it back to my dad and it's still a ranch truck with 200k miles it now. Only issue it ever had was coils/plugs at 140k and replacing breaks. My 07 mustang I had it 4 years and put 80k miles on it and other regular oil changes and tires the only problem I ever had was a burnt out tail light. My wife's old Toyota highlander had 180k miles on and worked perfect. Our '11 f150 was bought new and now has 50k miles and never had an issue. My '89 ford bronco is jacked up on mud tires and had the piss driven out of it and I trust it more then this lincoln.

What I'm getting at here is I know vehicles can have their own little problems. But to have one thing after another after another start failing on a car with barely over 100k miles is just sad. If it had 200k miles on okay understandable... Hell just today I had to explain to a co worker why I was crawling through the passenger seat to open up the door of what should be a nice luxury car. I think lincoln could have done a whole lot better when they made this car. I love the concept of a sport v8 powered rear wheel drive sedan. They could have just chosen something better then a rebadged jaguar to do the job.
 
03LS-sport said:
I know very well that vehicles require maintenance and there's things here and there that can go bad but I bought this car with 94k miles and it now sits at 107k miles and the only original issue it had was the coils. When went to eccel coils I did have to reverse the plugs. All the other issues have come up since then. My 01 F150 was bought from family and had 100k miles on it. Had it a year and sold it back to my dad and it's still a ranch truck with 200k miles it now. Only issue it ever had was coils/plugs at 140k and replacing breaks. My 07 mustang I had it 4 years and put 80k miles on it and other regular oil changes and tires the only problem I ever had was a burnt out tail light. My wife's old Toyota highlander had 180k miles on and worked perfect. Our '11 f150 was bought new and now has 50k miles and never had an issue. My '89 ford bronco is jacked up on mud tires and had the piss driven out of it and I trust it more then this lincoln.

What I'm getting at here is I know vehicles can have their own little problems. But to have one thing after another after another start failing on a car with barely over 100k miles is just sad. If it had 200k miles on okay understandable... Hell just today I had to explain to a co worker why I was crawling through the passenger seat to open up the door of what should be a nice luxury car. I think lincoln could have done a whole lot better when they made this car. I love the concept of a sport v8 powered rear wheel drive sedan. They could have just chosen something better then a rebadged jaguar to do the job.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Well I didn't read your entire post. However I read enough to tell you your problem.

You bought a $50k luxury sport sedan that was of limited production. You more than likely got what you thought was a "great deal" on it. You also bought the car with 96k miles.

Not all cars, but these as well as several others require a good amount of maintenance at or shortly after 100k miles.

Sorry you feel you bought a crappy car, but, you're in the wrong forum for sympathy. Do some research before you buy next time.
 
I have a 2000 LS - v6 and I'm happy to say that it has been essentially trouble free. I bought it new in 2000 and now have 145,000 miles on it. The following issues are all that I've had over the 16 years of having the car.

I have had coil pack issues - but mine were mostly related to the fact that I liked to keep the engine clean and when water gets inside the spark plug well - the coils short out - which if you run the car too much with the non-working cylinder - does usually lead to cat failure - which I had one of mine replaced under warranty years ago.

I did have starter trouble - which ended up being a $15 relay in the engine compartment fuse box. Big deal.

I've had to replace a few of the O2 sensors - which I think should be done after a while anyway. Its a maintenance item.

Something else that I had to replace was the crank shaft sensor. I had a no-start condition and it was pretty cheap ($30) and easy to replace, too. The car wouldn't start until I replaced it, but once I did - it was fine. I think they can fail if they get a lot of oil/debris on them.

If regard to your driver door issue. Your LS should have the feature (mine does and its a 2000) where you press your unlock button on your key fob 3 times and hold it the third time and it should lower your windows - which would give you access to open your door from the driver's side inside handle - instead of climbing through. Plus - it cools the inside of the car - which is good for sunny/hot climates like CA anyway. I think I had to replace the inside handle at one point due to something plastic breaking. It wasn't too difficult to get the inner panel off - just find all of the screws to remove - otherwise - there are a lot of plastic clips holding the rest on.

As for your current engine issues - if the coil packs are all firing ok - there could be a vacuum leak somewhere causing the issue, too. There was a helpful write-up on LS misfires in another forum (taurusclub.com) with the title How to Understand and Diagnose misfires - it may help.
 
Lincmark6 said:
... Your LS should have the feature (mine does and its a 2000) where you press your unlock button on your key fob 3 times and hold it the third time and it should lower your windows ...
Click to expand...

There's no need to press it three times. Just press and hold unlock until the windows start to go down. This also works when putting the key in the driver's door and holding it in the unlock position. Also, with the key in the driver's door, turn it to the lock position and hold it there to close all the windows.
 
I replaced the 02 sensors right after the coils were fixed. I forgot about the window truck with the fob. I used to use it last summer but with winter I haven't exactly wanted all my windows rolling down in the rain. But that's a pretty good idea for now to open the driver door. I have to do it at the bank today after work and was getting a couple funny looks. I absolutely love this car when everything is working correctly but as stated above after 100k apparently it goes down hill. I know some people have had great luck with their cars and I'm glad they are. Anyone who asks about my car I tell them it's an awesome fun car just be prepared to be fixing a lot of things. It's funny that SoulSoak mentioned do your research because I'll be very likely trading or selling this car in the near future and just getting into a 2010-2012 v6 fusion and doing some research found the 2010 models are known for having a fair number of issues. On that note does anyone want to buy a used LS? I'll sell it for $4k or maybe less just so I don't have to deal with it.
 
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