What did you do to your LS today?

Swapped in a mint rear subframe along with a 80K mile 3:58 gear carrier after new seals and fluids. My old frame had two rot areas.

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Yesterday, I installed a new driver's side front upper control arm and stabilizer bar end link. Of course, the end link was thoroughly rusted and had to be cut out. Nothing is ever easy on this LS. The challenge with the control arm was accessing the nut under the brake fluid reservoir. LOTS of patience required.

Also installed a new aux water pump. Last month, I installed a new DCCV and FOOLISHLY did not replace the aux water pump at the same time. If the DCCV in your car goes bad (and it will), I strongly recommend replacing the aux water pump as well. If you remove the electric fan and upper radiator hose, access to the DCCV and aux water pump is a breeze and well worth the effort. The fan pops right out. I can speak only of 2nd gen cars. When I replaced the DCCV, it was clearly obvious that the aux water pump was on borrowed time so I ordered a new one. This week, I lost air conditioning and knew right away it was that pump. Now, the AC is colder than ever before. Lesson learned: change the pump if you install a new DCCV.
 
Over this weekend I installed 4 new blaupunkts speakers. They sound awesome. Also the regulator in the drivers door broke two weeks ago so I ordered and replaced the clips. But the cable started making a grinding noise so I replaced the regulator.
 
Pretty basic and boring compared to very recent posts, but cleaned & oiled the K&N intake filter.

New fuel filter, along with coils & plugs are next on the list.
 
Got the P1401 code, oh hum, another EGR issue. Ok, installed a new FOMOCO DPFE, same code came up. Hmm, keep digging I guess, Checked the rubber hoses but they seem ok. Removed the TB and EGR valve, tried some compressed air thru the EGR opening. Hmmm, not much action. So worked on carbon clearing of the TB air corridor opening to the EGR. Lots of buildup of carbon,,removed AIC valve and cleaned carbon, cleaned EGR carbon buildup, new EGR gasket installed, put it all back together nice and clean. Runs good, cleared code, now we wait.
 
Dan Ireland said:
Over this weekend I installed 4 new blaupunkts speakers. They sound awesome. Also the regulator in the drivers door broke two weeks ago so I ordered and replaced the clips. But the cable started making a grinding noise so I replaced the regulator.
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My 2001 V6 LS could use some new speakers too. Would love to try some infinities.
 
Installed new rear brake calipers, pads and rotors. The drivers side caliper was leaking and the passenger side caliper was completely non functional. The hardest part of the job was removing the parking brake cables. Sprung a leak in the radiator during the test drive. It never ends.
 
My wife said the LS was shifting hard. I thought it might be low of fluid. Being it's a sealed transmission I had her take it to the local dealer. 130.00 to diagnose it. Yep it's low of fluid. 250.00 for flush and fill. They then handed her an estimate for 2500.00 to replace a arms,front and rear sway bar links and an oil pan gasket.... Really glad those are thing I can do myself. lol
 
Dan Ireland said:
My wife said the LS was shifting hard. I thought it might be low of fluid. Being it's a sealed transmission I had her take it to the local dealer. 130.00 to diagnose it. Yep it's low of fluid. 250.00 for flush and fill. They then handed her an estimate for 2500.00 to replace a arms,front and rear sway bar links and an oil pan gasket.... Really glad those are thing I can do myself. lol
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I have the same problem with my Lincoln LS 2002. It shifts hard could that be the problem? Fluid as in transmission fluid?
 
Moneybagzz87 said:
I have the same problem with my Lincoln LS 2002. It shifts hard could that be the problem? Fluid as in transmission fluid?
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It's usually problems with the solenoid assembly that cause hard shifts. Of course, valve body problems can do it too. The transmission isn't really "sealed." None are. It just doesn't have a dip stick. You can still check the fluid level by removing the inner part of the drain plug, while the engine is running and the car is level (easier said than done).
 
So there IS a drain plug.... I was told by a guy where we get the oil changed that there wasn't one . Just a port in the pan where dealers can use a special tool to pump fluid in. No dipstick has to be one of the top 10 dumbest ideas these car manufacturers ever came up with. Almost as bad as Dodges idea to put the Intrepids oil pump in the timing cover.smh. lol
 
Just finished Instaling a new radiator in my 2003 LS. Whew! What a job that was. The accessibility to the different component parts is so difficult, I'm amazed they could even build such a car on a moving production line. I would love to have been able to watch that process. How on earth were they able to have built such a needlessly complicated vehicle?

If you go and do this repair, I suggest you give yourself twice as much time as you think. I found both a long and short 8mm ratcheting wrench to be a necessity. And finally, you better have the ability to exercise a LOT of patience. If you have a quick fuse, this is not the job for you.

I bought an aftermarket radiator from Summit Racing. The brand name is "OSC Automotive Radiators". It was exactly like the original and fit perfectly. Everything went back together like it was supposed to. At least I didn't have to fight making parts line up and fit.
 
Robert Crain said:
... I'm amazed they could even build such a car on a moving production line...
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It assembled pretty easily. It's all in the order of assembly.




I've certainly worked on some cars where the radiator was very easy to change out, but I wouldn't say that the LS is that difficult. I did remove and install them from the bottom, as is recommended. I think that from the top would be pretty hard.
 
Sorry Joegr, there was no way that radiator was coming out through the bottom and nowhere in my 2003 factory shop manual any mention of that. Besides, I ‘m just a driveway mechanic and I wouldn’t have been able to lift the car high enough to gain the clearance needed to pull it out from the bottom. Interestingly, the new radiator went in much easier than the old one came out.
 
Robert Crain said:
Sorry Joegr, there was no way that radiator was coming out through the bottom and nowhere in my 2003 factory shop manual any mention of that. Besides, I ‘m just a driveway mechanic and I wouldn’t have been able to lift the car high enough to gain the clearance needed to pull it out from the bottom. Interestingly, the new radiator went in much easier than the old one came out.
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Your 03 is just like my 04 and my 06. They didn't make any changes there. Here's the factory manual on it.
2006 Lincoln LS Workshop Manual
You don't have to raise it very high. I did it with the front wheels up on ramps (just like doing an oil change). Trust me, it will come out the bottom, and do so much easier than out the top. I don't know if you caught in the video, but they lowered the car body onto the radiator.
 
Anyway, the old radiator is out, the new one is in, and hopefully, I'll never have to think about doing it ever again. LOL

I was astounded at the amount of debris and decayed crud wedged in between the combination cooler and the radiator. It's amazing the darn thing worked at all.

A most interesting video. Thanks for posting. Rob
 
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