1997 Mark VIII LSC Blk/Blk: Finally here.

nobody_special

nobody_special

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So, I took delivery of my 97 LSC this afternoon, and I am thrilled. Its everything I wanted, but now its time to deal with all the problems that a 12 year old car has with it.

First of all, it has 101K miles. It does have a slight miss, I bought new plugs and plan on changing them out tonight, but don't know where to start! :D My last 4.6 was a 97 Cougar. Not quite the same. :) I also picked up one new coil (all they had on hand) in case the plugs don't fix the miss. I will find out.

Other than the miss, there are a few other issues I have found so far.

1. Check air ride message. I knew I would probably get that one, from all the research I did before I bought, so its not unexpected. Its supposed to have all new airbags, less than 1 year old. I haven't looked at them yet. Where should I start?

2. Low Coolant message. The coolant levels are normal, but I am still getting this message. Where is the sensor for this?

3. When braking, it pulls to the right. Alignment seems good, it drives down the road perfectly straight. Only pulls when braking. I will have to check it out.

Overall, I am very happy with the car, just needs a few fixes here and there to get it in ship shape.

Pics will follow (tomorrow) I am working on cleaning all the road junk and crap off it right now.
 
change plugs, wires, belt, oil, and air filter first. then, with the cheap stuff out of the way you can start on the fun stuff... also, when you do the plugs, use a locking ratchet extension because you dont want to drop the socket in the deep hole...
BTW, Summit Racing has Goodyear Gatorback Belts # 4060980 on sale for 22.99 right now. Goodyear stores charge 60-70 for the belts, so youll save big..:D
 
Did I say pics tomorrow? I meant right now.

On the trailer:
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Here is her traveling buddy. He wouldn't let me have both, for some reason:
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Front:
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Side:
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Look KK, no junk to scrape off! Is this clean enough for you?
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I also took some pics of the under body while it was on the trailer, I have never seen a car that clean in ND. Not a speck of rust anywhere. This car will never see snow. So, that means, in ND I will get about a week and a half every year to drive it! :D
 
ok so i see you already removed the wheel well trim, good job, now onto cleaning the headlights. looks good

as for the spark plugs, are you asking how to do them? under the cover in the center of the valve cover. also check the boots
 
Yep, I am just waiting for the thing to cool down.

Its too bad there are marks left from the trim. Its not horrible, but still needs to get fixed. will have to take it to a body shop, probably do that next spring. Have them fixer up.
 
im trying to remember i think its 11? dunno for sure its LOW, search the kid's posts, hes got it up somewhere
 
V12... lame... lets see some V16's!!

Car looks great... Now yank off those dam wheel trims, NOW!!!

Octastars look great, and yes the engine is cleaner than mine... but not clean enough yet :D

BTW... buff those headlights!
 
simmer down! and pay attention! do you see wheel trim in the pics after its off the trailer? I haven't even gotten all the body panels done yet! headlights will get done. If i get the engine to quit missing after the plugs, I am planning a trip to Minneapolis tomorrow to visit my g/f. If you are nice enough to me, maybe I will swing by. :D
 
Tomorrow eh... if you swing by my work I will bring my buffer and do your headlights for you :)

I work in Stillwater BTW... about a 20min drive from the cities vs 45min for North Branch...
 
For plugs, my 93 book calls for 7 Lb-Ft (9-10 Nm)

Do them cold, and if you feel you must use anti-seize, make it a very small amount.
 
BTW.... I'd throw all new COP boots at it if they even the least bit sketchy, and it's always good to have 1 spare coil....
 
DO NOT put antiseeze on those... put 1 or 2 drops of oil on the threads before torquing them in to prevent galling... that's it...
 
I don't use anti-seize anymore, either. Plug manufacturers typically recommend fitting plugs dry, so as to prevent over torque.

DO NOT Loctite spark plugs!!! Ever!!!
 
The only reason I use a drop of oil is to avoid galling.... but I wouldn't hesitate torquing them dry....
 
You won't overtorque if you use a torque wrench. When it comes to aluminum heads... I ALWAYS use a torque wrench, a bit of anti-sieze, and always change plugs when the motor is cold. If you don't use anti-seize, at least use some engine oil.
 
Thats a nice car! grats! saw a blk gen 2 yesterday on the hiway and wow thats a sharp car. youll be losing sleep the next few nights...lol thinking of all the stuff you want to do to it....wtg
 
So, I changed the plugs and found some moisture in the back two coils on the passengers side. My shop only had one coil on hand, so I replaced the back (worst) one. No miss while driving, and the miss at idle is noticeably better. I will have to get another tomorrow.

I am guessing that the previous owner hosed off the engine and it got in through the back, where the wires go in. The drivers side was dry.

Would you guys drive it with a miss, I will stop at a dealer at the next town tomorrow and pick up a new coil there and change it out. Would I hurt anything driving it like that?
 
Its so lame that the nearest place I can get the codes pulled is 40 miles away. :(

What kind of code reader do you need? I have an old OBD I reader, but that doesn't help me here.

I may just have to drive almost 200 miles to a place that will be able to get me in, and have them pull the codes and fix it.
 
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