New 03 LS V8 Introduction and a couple questions.

[boku]

Hello all,

I just got a Red '03 V8 LS Sport from my Mother in law. It is has been garage kept and all service has been done the local Lincoln dealer. (except tires) It has 123,000 miles on it. I have had it for a total of 3 days and simply love it! I have just started doing my own repair work on cars so i'm sure that I'll have a lot of questions in the future. I would say that I am extremely mechanically inclined as I am in I.T.

My first project is the brakes. When thinking ahead, the largest wheel I am willing to go to is 18" Just large enough to get some Michelin Super Sports on (from what I have found they don't make them in 17's but do for 18's" so, for better stopping power I have ordered EBC Super Sport Rotors and EBC Red pads for all 4. They will be here monday. I will probably paint the calipers at the same time. Red or Black G2 paint. The previous owner said there is an issue where the electronic emergency break will not disengage correctly. I have been a passenger when this has happened and upon exiting the car I noticed the driver rear rotor was glowing red.... Does anybody have advice?

Also, what do I need to be watching for due to its age, and is there anything I should do as preventative maintenance?


Thanks for the time!

 

[1LoudLS]

preventive: the message center buttons and the traction control buttons seem to get brittle over time, I would pop out and reinforce with epoxy.



watching out for: kinda a lot, better to read through the stickys... with it being an 03 (first year of 2nd gen) a lot of them seem to have very common quirks even more so than the other 2nd gen years...


off the top of my head...

leaking Valve Cover Gaskets can allow oil to leak down into the spark plug wells causing coil failure (on top of the other reasons for coil failure...)
if when changing plugs, you notice oil in the wells, you will need to replace the VCG

Overheating... you're getting right into the prime zone for failure of any (and all) plastic parts of the cooling system, luckily, you don't have to worry about the common hydraulic fan failure with the 1st gens, but sooner or later, the plastic just get brittle and starts to develop micro cracks that are near impossible to see but big enough to let air in.

transmission solenoids (harsh shifts into reverse or drive) and possible bad fluid from the factory.

coils

coils

ETC issues coil failures masquerading as throttle body failures (with a very very small chance of it being an actual throttle body issue since it is an 03)

clunks over bumps are bad anti-sway bar bushings

anti-sway bar end links (front and rear)

rear tie rods/adjustable links that age can cause an unstable feeling or swaying motions while driving

leaking AC compressor destroying AC compressors.

DCCV failure causing AC air to be heated either across just one side or both.

 

[chocolat1701]

when changing the brake you may need a new caliper for that one that's sticking.