failsafe mode!

myfirstlincoln

myfirstlincoln

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So I did a search but am having a slightly different problem than what I read. So i was cruising at about 35-40 mph and I wanted to pass a slow truck so I punched it and it immediately stuttered, and went into failsafe mode. It felt like it had no idea what gear to shift to, so it basically just shut off power. I slowed down (obviously since it kinda forced me to) and pulled over immediately. Restarted the car and drove it home (about 30 minutes). Started fine and drove fine all the way home. I read it could be a coil or the throttle body? My question is has anyone ever gotten ETC failsafe mode in a similar way and was this just some freak occurrence? Should I ignore it and not worry, or should I expect it to happen more and more until I have to take it to a dealer? I have about a 40 minute commute to and from work each day and I have to get on the turnpike, so I'd rather not drive down the turnpike at 40 mph in failsafe mode.
03 V8 with about 70,000 miles.
Thanks!
 
+1 coils.

I just had 1 and 3 replaced on mine. My car only has 34xxx miles on it. :(
 
twice i have had a hard start and shaking at start up .. only twice though and it happened about 2 months apart. no cel . how do i know which coils are going bad?? also a few days ago i hit it pretty hard on high way and it seemed to stutter and lose power a bit almost felt like an extra shift if that makes sense
 
The coils have to be threshold tested by your dealer to identify failure.
 
Alright. Thanks everybody. It was just in for service so I'll probably drive it for a while and hope it doesn't become a major issue and then take it in in the middle of June when I'm off from work (teacher).
 
hmmm.. sounds expensive these tests?? i guess i should prob just replace them all ya.. and plugs
 
Ok, to all you jerks saying most definitely a coil, it most definitely might not be a coil. I say this especially because I notice he has an '03. With my '03, I had failsafe sometimes when accelerating (after having already been driving the car a while), but I never had any other symptoms of going coils.

Long story short, ended up replacing the coils and still had this issue. It turned out it was part of the electronic throttle body computer, it was faulty and overheating and sending bad messages sometimes when it would really heat up (it never did this within the first 10 mins of driving, only after it was driven for a while).

From research (what I was able to find on the subject on this board, and a conversation with a guy who claimed to know at a local dealership) the '03's had some issues with the first-gen electronic throttle body. The parts weren't all good or something, and there were failures. Haven't seen or heard anyone mention this issue for anything but an '03. I had to go back about a million pages 6 months ago to find this info, so you'll probably have to take my word for it at this point.

So there's that. But it's still probably your coils! :p
 
Again, thanks for all the help everybody and I definitely am considering your point pagluy. Thanks for the info. In fact, when I searched, I saw some of the stuff about the 03 throttle bodies and it was actually my first thought. However, this happened today after no more than five minutes of driving and it was a pretty cool day. If I continue to have problems, I'll just take it to a dealer and see what they say.
 
i just had the same problem last week, a couple of times after accelerating it went into failsafe mode. took it to the dealer and they replaced two coils under the extended lincoln warranty (and got me a car).

i also have an 03 with just under 70k on the clock. i havent had any other problems yet to make me think it was the throttle body.
 
I've got an 03 V8 LS with 58K on the clock. This just started happening to me. I've been needing coils but have neglected to do so after replacing a coil at my friend's shop failed to fix the misfire. After seeing the article about how its free for 03's at the dealer im bringing it in there asap.

Specifically, i've had my car go into ETC Failsafe mode 3 times.
1. In cruise control at 65 mph.
2. Accelerating onto a highway
3. Passing someone accelerating over 30 mph.

When it has happened so far I would throw the car into neutral, turn off the ignition and then restart it while still rolling, then put it back into drive. A dangerous maneuver esp if im turning and lose power steering while the car is off but its worked. Long Island highways dont always have good shoulders. Gotta get to the dealership!!
 
Since I posted, it has not happened to me and I drive my car at least an hour and a half every day....
 
It's happened 3 more times since that post. I have an appointment to bring it to the dealer thursday morning. I hope the coils (and the free warrantied repair) fix the problems and the stealership doesn't go to town on me. I dont think I could swing a 4 figure car bill right now.
 
Thanks NYC. I'll bring that along with the PDF that King03LS8 linked to. I talked to the manager of the dealership before scheduling to make sure the repairs would be free and after verifying my VIN he said they would be- if the coils are causing the problems. Now im just praying its just the coils. I'll let you know how it goes. Any idea how many days they'll have my car for?
 
Depends. The first time I brought mine in, I was without a car for a week because they had to order the parts. The second time I was going out of town for 3-4 days, so I figured I'd drop it off then. They had it done in a day and the car sat in the back of their lot the remainder of the time. :lol:
 
Ok I just got the call from the dealership. They had to replace both valve cover gaskets (they were leaking oil), all my spark plugs, coils 2 and 4, and all the covers? Not exactly sure what the covers are, maybe the boots on the coils? Anyway its all covered under the warranty and free! It'll be ready tomorrow morning they say. Hopefully no more ETC Failsafe Mode when its done.

Thanks everybody I wouldn't have known about that warranty and woulda kept driving around and restarting every 35 minutes if it wasn't for you. Thanks!
 
Well they had to replace another coil as well- so 1,2 and 4 are new. The car felt awesome on the way home from the dealer but it was raining pretty hard so I didn't really test drive it too much. After a 30 min drive yesterday I felt it missing again when i got to a stoplight. Maybe they didn't clean the oil out of the plug wells or something. Ugh I dont know when I'll be able to go back either..
 
Don't get me wrong- it is a LOT better than it was. Acceleration is a lot smoother with less hesitation. There's just a little shake every once in a while when idling.
 
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