Can't seem to get it right!

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kingtonghsp

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Bought this 05 V8 LS, and the problems will not stop! Holy moly man. It's amazing, such a great car, and so many problems! I haven't gotten this thing to run like it should yet.

1. Bald Tires, New tires - 1600
2. 2 left rims bent, new OEM rims - 200
3. Shocks/Struts worn out, new Sensatracs - 1400
4. 4 bad coils - free, 4 more to go I suppose ...

The car still shakes in the steering wheel fast at 70 mph +, and i've got new tires, alignment, balanced, struts, rims...I just don't know what it could be, any suggestions?


And I still get a swish...swish...swish...swish sound going when I start the car in the morning, and it stops after warming up...wtf is that about? Timing belt?

Someone please save my LS!
 
Well i know it seems like you have alot of problems but all but the coils is just wear like any car, and the coils are a know problem with the car.

Also as far as the swish sound, you dont have a timing belt, there are two timing chains and a problem with them is that the tensioners wear out but I don't know that, that would produce a swich sound.
I am assuming the swish noise is coming from under you're hood seeing as you think it's something to do with a timing issue. If you want to try to pin point it pop the hood and listen to the engine when you start it up.
 
If you paid 1600 for new tires you got robbed and 1400 for new shocks you got robbed to hell and back.

I got performance tires for $700 total with certificates from discount tire. Oem shocks run way less than 1400 also.

The LS doesnt have a timing belts just chains.
 
BlackLS06 said:
If you paid 1600 for new tires you got robbed and 1400 for new shocks you got robbed to hell and back.

I got performance tires for $700 total with certificates from discount tire. Oem shocks run way less than 1400 also.

The LS doesnt have a timing belts just chains.
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Yeah, I bought them from Firestone, and got the sensatracs installed at Firestone also. From now on, i'll be buying my parts myself and doing them on my own on the weekends...no more robberies for me!

Also, im thinking about changing our the spark plugs and valve gaskets this weekend. It's weird, I use to get 21-24 mpg city, and 27-29 highway...now it's like 16-18 city, and 20 highway...:(
 
kingtonghsp said:
...
The car still shakes in the steering wheel fast at 70 mph +, and i've got new tires, alignment, balanced, struts, rims...I just don't know what it could be, any suggestions?


And I still get a swish...swish...swish...swish sound going when I start the car in the morning, and it stops after warming up...wtf is that about? Timing belt?

Someone please save my LS!
Click to expand...

Try road force balancing the tires. If that still doesn't work, the rims may be bent, or the new tires may be bad. I am assuming that the alignment was a four wheel alignment and was done correctly.

For the swishing sound, look at the serpentine belt and every pulley that it goes over (including the crank pulley). One of them is probably a little off axis. Ford's had some trouble with failing crankshaft damper pulleys.
 
joegr said:
Try road force balancing the tires. If that still doesn't work, the rims may be bent, or the new tires may be bad. I am assuming that the alignment was a four wheel alignment and was done correctly.

For the swishing sound, look at the serpentine belt and every pulley that it goes over (including the crank pulley). One of them is probably a little off axis. Ford's had some trouble with failing crankshaft damper pulleys.
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Thanks Joe. Where can I find a good place that does road force balancing?

If it's little off axis, what do I do?
 
Sounds like you did get robbed from my personal experiences firestone is a horrible shop and at those prices you should have gone to a local lincoln dealership they can pin point anything on the LS, All cars break and a Ls is not a cheap one to fix.
 
joegr said:
Try road force balancing the tires. If that still doesn't work, the rims may be bent, or the new tires may be bad. I am assuming that the alignment was a four wheel alignment and was done correctly.

For the swishing sound, look at the serpentine belt and every pulley that it goes over (including the crank pulley). One of them is probably a little off axis. Ford's had some trouble with failing crankshaft damper pulleys.
Click to expand...

To add to Joe's suggestion: Check your wheel's hub. These cars are hub centric which means that the center ring on the hub holds the wheel in place to have it rotate in a true arc. After a few years I found that I had just a little play in two wheels which would vibrate at highway speed when they were rotated to the front. Careful attention when mounting them cured my problem.
The other problem I had was the idler pully would squeal when I started the car cold. It would go away as soon as it warmed up. I isolated it by taking a cut off broom handle and carefully placing it against the retaining bolt while the engine ran. It acts like a stethoscope.
 
I had same problem after installing Kuhmho tires from discount tire I took to local dealer and had Road Force done and found 3 out of 4 tires were out of round it will also check your rims discount tire replaced tires and refunded the road force cost and now she is silky smooth
 
Find a local RoadForce here: http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm
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I looked, and the Firestone I take my car too that is on base has road force.


Wicked Ace said:
To add to Joe's suggestion: Check your wheel's hub. These cars are hub centric which means that the center ring on the hub holds the wheel in place to have it rotate in a true arc. After a few years I found that I had just a little play in two wheels which would vibrate at highway speed when they were rotated to the front. Careful attention when mounting them cured my problem.
The other problem I had was the idler pully would squeal when I started the car cold. It would go away as soon as it warmed up. I isolated it by taking a cut off broom handle and carefully placing it against the retaining bolt while the engine ran. It acts like a stethoscope.
Click to expand...


I'll definitely check that out, thank you. The idler pully squeal, kinda sounds like what is going on with my car. What did you to fix it? It swishes with the belts moving, I can see the print on one of the belts moving along with the swishing. Though it only does it on start up for a few minutes till it gets warmed up. I wander what it could be, and how I would go about fixing it. I'll definitely try to isolate the sound, and go from there. Joe mentioned a garden hose trick as a stethascope method once, Im going to go that route.
 
You can replace the idler pulley.

Also i would replace the belt tensioner and the actual belt itself since its all in the same area and those parts need to be replaced eventually.
 
BlackLS06 said:
You can replace the idler pulley.

Also i would replace the belt tensioner and the actual belt itself since its all in the same area and those parts need to be replaced eventually.
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How hard is the job? Have you done it? What tools will I need for all that?

Joe - I have oil somewhat coming out of my VCT plug area...is that bad?
 
kingtonghsp said:
...Joe - I have oil somewhat coming out of my VCT plug area...is that bad?
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It's more annoying than bad. I like a clean engine and no smell of oil burning, so when one side starting leaking on my 04, I replaced the o-ring.
 
kingtonghsp said:
How hard is the job? Have you done it? What tools will I need for all that?

Joe - I have oil somewhat coming out of my VCT plug area...is that bad?
Click to expand...

I have not done it myself but it isnt too difficult and can be done with the proper tools. I purchased the parts and had my mechanic do it in a day at his own pace.

If you have larger hands it can be a pain to get in there but any decent mechanic can do this job.
 
I have the shaking in the steering wheel as well. Road force balance did help. New tie rod ends helped a bit. New tires helped a bit more but I still have the shaking at about 60. I am thinking of trying a TSB for the 00-02 LS. TSB 01-15-1 lincoln ls. This says that the yoke spring in the steering column is not strong enough. Ford recommends replacing the 20lb spring with a 35lb spring. I am probably going to do this within two weeks.
 
joegr said:
It's more annoying than bad. I like a clean engine and no smell of oil burning, so when one side starting leaking on my 04, I replaced the o-ring.
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I don't smell the oil, but yes it did give me quite a scare.

I also have oil on my spark plugs. What do I need to fix this for a 05 V8 Sport. I've had 4 coils replaced in the last 6 months, hopefully Ford will replace the next 4 soon. It's becoming a nuisance taking it one by one...
 
kingtonghsp said:
I don't smell the oil, but yes it did give me quite a scare.

I also have oil on my spark plugs. What do I need to fix this for a 05 V8 Sport. I've had 4 coils replaced in the last 6 months, hopefully Ford will replace the next 4 soon. It's becoming a nuisance taking it one by one...
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this??

zsnygm.jpg



i need to fix it soon.
 
BlackLS06 said:
this??

zsnygm.jpg



i need to fix it soon.
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HAHAHAHA, I thought you extracted the pic from my phone magically, because I just took a pic of it to post here. Nice, and yes that's it. Is that bad?

I also have oil in the spark plug wells, and on my plugs. I read somewhere that I need valve cover gaskets for that? Can I get them any where or do they have to be Motorcraft?
 
Rockauto.com. They are Felpro. They even come with the rubber grommets that are essential to completing this task. If you have not done anything like this before, you might want a friend to help or take it to a shop that you can trust. This is a frustrating task for the driver's side.
 
kingtonghsp said:
I don't smell the oil, but yes it did give me quite a scare.

I also have oil on my spark plugs. What do I need to fix this for a 05 V8 Sport. I've had 4 coils replaced in the last 6 months, hopefully Ford will replace the next 4 soon. It's becoming a nuisance taking it one by one...
Click to expand...

You need a valve cover gasket set then. The o-ring for the VCT will be in the set.
 
rwurst918 said:
Rockauto.com. They are Felpro. They even come with the rubber grommets that are essential to completing this task. If you have not done anything like this before, you might want a friend to help or take it to a shop that you can trust. This is a frustrating task for the driver's side.
Click to expand...


I got a friend that knows a little to get around that's willing to help. After replacing the valve cover gaskets, how do I get the oil out of the spark plug well? Do I reuse the same plugs, or should I replace them with Motorcraft plugs? Mine say Motorcraft on one side, and NGK on the other.
 
kingtonghsp said:
I got a friend that knows a little to get around that's willing to help. After replacing the valve cover gaskets, how do I get the oil out of the spark plug well? Do I reuse the same plugs, or should I replace them with Motorcraft plugs? Mine say Motorcraft on one side, and NGK on the other.
Click to expand...

When you start to remove the valve covers, the oil in the wells will pour back into the engine. The sides of the wells are a part of the valve covers. The bottoms of the wells are a part of the heads.

Change all the plugs.
 
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