Lincoln Newbie

[MuckFace]

First I wanna thank everyone on the forums for their inputs and info on this site. It has been extremely helpful.

I just purchased my first Lincoln LS. 2001 V8 w/ 150k for $850. Tranny was rebuilt 4 years ago (have papers), no rust underneath, recently repainted, no accidents, and very good condition interior.

The bad: Previous owner said the head needs a rebuild due to a bad valve(unverified, just a thought). Car has a lumpy idle and misfire (sometimes), but drives normal under acceleration. Currently throwing codes p0174, and pending p0351 and p0113. Airbag shows a 3-2 code (clockspring). Before I start buying parts, i'm slowing tearing everything down. I'm ruling everything out systematically before I start pulling heads and an engine out. I have the willingness and time to rebuild this, but sometimes I get lazy and projects seem to get forgotten. So we'll see how far this goes.

Picture time.

My brother does body and paint work. He says he can take all the swirls out.

Engine is really dirty inside. Injectors and plugs. Injectors are getting cleaned and checked for spray consistency. I cannot flow rate test in my garage, but I can test for leaks and check if they are opening and closing properly.

So far a compression test shows low compression in cyl #1. I'm going to do a leak down test sometime this week.

All input (positive and negative) is appreciated.

 

[voyeur]

Looks like a nice car. Congrats!

Look at timing chains. They are known to be an issue with the older LS models.

Parts can be hard to come by as the LS has been out of production for over 7 years now. Little to no aftermarket for most parts.

Last, this is a premium, luxury car (when new) and not a cheap car. There are many precise details and particulars to maintaining these cars. Just do not cut corners.

Good luck !

 

[jjcool00]

Best advice anyone can give you about this car:

Replace all of the coils and plugs with OEM. No off-brand POS. Make sure you properly gap the plugs according to OEM specifications.

 

[msgtusmc]

Looks like a nice car. Congrats!

Look at timing chains. They are known to be an issue with the older LS models.

Parts can be hard to come by as the LS has been out of production for over 7 years now. Little to no aftermarket for most parts.

Last, this is a premium, luxury car (when new) and not a cheap car. There are many precise details and particulars to maintaining these cars. Just do not cut corners.

Good luck !

Outside of filters, if you have to replace parts under the hood, "TRADE THE CAR", LS is a NITEMARE to maintain the V6 engine. The 3.9 V8 is a lot worst to work on and to damn costly to maintain with high mileage! By a Toyota and save a lot of $$$$$$$$ !!

 

[joegr]

Okay, I'll post a counter to that.
I have two LSes, an 04 and an 06, both V8s. I've had both since new. They've been great cars and have been fairly inexpensive to maintain for the 265K+ combined miles and 18 combined years that I have had them so far. The only long term concern that I have is the increasing difficulty getting parts when they are needed.

 

[LS4me]

Okay, I'll post a counter to that.
I have two LSes, an 04 and an 06, both V8s. I've had both since new. They've been great cars and have been fairly inexpensive to maintain for the 265K+ combined miles and 18 combined years that I have had them so far. The only long term concern that I have is the increasing difficulty getting parts when they are needed.

Ditto. My 2000 V6 (purchased new) is still going strong with almost 185K miles on it; it is now my daughter's car. In fact, she's taking it off to college in a couple of months and all we're doing for preparation is changing the fluids! Some repairs on the V6 can be a challenge to complete, but if one is at all mechanically inclined it isn't too hard to figure out. BTW, ALL our previous V6 FWD cars were even worse for repairs!! My wife had an '01 V6 for about 40K miles that only saw the dealer when we purchased it (used) and traded it in on her '06 2 1/2 years later. Her LS has had a few weird issues, but they could have happened to ANY car. She has 67Kish miles on hers (purchased new) and I have put about 90K on mine since we purchased it in '09 (now has just over 123K miles). That's over 410K miles and I'd buy another if, as Joe said, parts weren't becoming scarce!

 

[Ranchero50]

Looks like you got a decent deal. Low compression in one hole means burnt / sticking valve, blown head gasket or busted ring package. I'd pull the valve cover to isolate the sticking valve and check the overall condition of the engine. If the inside of the cover and head is covered in gray gunk then usually you are getting coolant into the crankcase, expect a head gasket or worse. Ring package will show up with excessive blow by, pull the PCV valve and see how much smoke is coming out at warm idle.

I'd look to swapping in a decent engine or even a remanned one since you have so little invested in the car.