Well I am looking to buy a new car for college and I have been looking at a LS for $3500. It has 130K miles on it. The only downside is there is a misfire in cylinder 8 and it needs an alignment he said. Other than that the car is immaculate. Would it be worth the risk to buy it? Is it probably just a new coil pack that is needed? Or could it be something extensive like no compression? What are your guys thoughts? I asked if he knew what the problem was, and he even said the shop he took it to said it's usually just the coil packs from the code that was given.
Buying 2000 LS- Cylinder 8 Misfire-Is it worth it?
- Thread starter wade0731
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joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
It certainly could be a skipped timing chain due to bad timing tensioners. On the 2000 at 130K miles, either the timing tensioners have already been changed, or you will need to soon.
That said, it probably is a bad COP (Coil-On-Plug, the LS does not use coil packs). The reality with the LS is that you would want to replace all eight COPs and all eight Plugs. Experience is that once one starts to go, the rest will be close behind. It sounds like this one has a complete coil failure. Usually, they are marginal for a long time before failing completely. There's a good chance that damage has been done to the catalytic converters, and they made need to be replaced too.
That said, it probably is a bad COP (Coil-On-Plug, the LS does not use coil packs). The reality with the LS is that you would want to replace all eight COPs and all eight Plugs. Experience is that once one starts to go, the rest will be close behind. It sounds like this one has a complete coil failure. Usually, they are marginal for a long time before failing completely. There's a good chance that damage has been done to the catalytic converters, and they made need to be replaced too.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
I can't recommend what you should do. For myself, I would only get a 2nd gen LS (2003-2006). In fact, I have two. However, I wont be buying anymore. I love the cars, but parts are getting harder and harder to get for them.
You would be buying a $40K+ (when new) car for $3500. That sounds good, but you need to realize that it will still be just as expensive to maintain and repair as a $40K car. It will be more expensive than if you bought a car for $3500 that was $18K new.
You would be buying a $40K+ (when new) car for $3500. That sounds good, but you need to realize that it will still be just as expensive to maintain and repair as a $40K car. It will be more expensive than if you bought a car for $3500 that was $18K new.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
I didn't say it was skipping. I said it might have skipped. Skipped once, and now the timing is off. Anyway, yes if you know what you are doing, you can hear when the valve timing is wrong.
jolinc01
Dedicated LVC Member
An alignment is $75, coils are roughly $45 each, plugs are $6 each. So that's almost $500 in parts right there, and that's assuming the valve cover gaskets can be reused. You never know if you'll have to turn around and put more into the next day either. The LS is unpredictable and repairs vary from person to person. I'm at 150k and going strong, but that doesn't mean it won't **** out tomorrow and need $600 dropped on it. So I would barter with the guy on price, get him to fix it, or walk away and find another car.
chocolat1701
Dedicated LVC Member
jolinc01 is right so If I was you I will give him 3k so with the remaining 500 you can fix it and also start looking at the timing belt replacement and vcg replacements. replace all the coils and spark plugs at once. don't get the ebay ones they are all crap unless they are Visteon coils. I would suggest the autozone or advance auto parts coils only because they offer a 2 year warranty so you can replace it when they go bad again and they fail often.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
No timing belt on the LS.
chocolat1701
Dedicated LVC Member
what I meant was the timing chain with the updated tensioners. been here long enough to make that rookie mistake LOL