Great... my ride has come to an end it seems

steagle

steagle

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wow it's been a long time since i posted here. probably because i wasn't having any LS issues, lol. well my good fortune seems to have come to an end. just got back from a long road trip up to the Sierras and back, and once back in my garage, the LS started shaking BAD and i'm hearing clicks coming from the front of the engine every few seconds. immediately brought it to a mechanic down the street who did a diagnosis today and found that one of the coils was broken (just put in a new set 8 months ago), there were two codes stored in the computer related to my bad catalytic converter on bank 2 and lean mixture on bank 1, and the scary part, what he thinks is the real reason i am getting these serious shakes: timing chain or related components. he quoted me 4 hrs to take apart the engine to see if that is indeed the culprit, and if it is and requires a total timing overhaul, 14-16 hrs of labor, plus parts, putting me in the 3k range. :q:q:q:q

since i don't exactly feel this is the best mechanic in the world and certainly not the cheapest i'm going to take it to my guys back in LA who have worked on the car multiple times and get their opinion. and replace the broken coil. but assuming they think it's a problem with the timing as well, what do you guys think... worth fixing? i still owe money on this car, i can't imagine going further into debt, especially in the neighborhood of 3k... but i can't sell it in this condition either... not sure what to do at this point :( oh well just wanted to vent.
 
Just figure out what is really wrong with her and go from their. Worse come to worse, ask some friend to help ya do the fix, or engine swap.
 
I'm in the same position as you kinda.... I freakin love driving the LS and its worth every penny in my opinion. I drove 30k miles with no problem and then the transmission burnt out on it. I think every LS owner should have a parts car sitting around just incase :)

Sorry about your luck though. I'd get a second and even a third opinion cause these are tricky cars.
 
When missing the car will shake like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
 
yeah i'm bringing it in for a second opinion in a few hours. only thing that scares me is it's a 25 mile drive so i'm going to take it slow. we'll see what they say later today, all i can do is wait.
 
steagle said:
yeah i'm bringing it in for a second opinion in a few hours. only thing that scares me is it's a 25 mile drive so i'm going to take it slow. we'll see what they say later today, all i can do is wait.
Click to expand...

14 hours labor is a lot considering the car is still running. I just did a complete overhaul on my timing assembly and it only took about 14 hours but that's because I had to pull the head too. With your car still running you shouldn't have to pull the head. So if he quoted you 4 hours to take the timing cover off and check then it should only take another two hours to replace everything in the timing assembly.
 
my other mechanic quoted me 15hrs of labor for the whole job. and he echoed the speculation from the first mechanic, that is indeed my timing system. seems like one of the rails has worn down and is making noise. eventually will lead to the rail breaking entirely and the chain coming off and all the possible damage that could cause with the valves. not to mention an engine that won't turn over. looking at $500 in parts and $1100 in labor give or take. that's less than the first mechanic who quoted me $1000 in parts and $1400 in labor. but still, OUCH... :(

also catalytic converter prices just went up at the beginning of the year (at least here in CA) so my $479 quote from last year is now $871, before labor... sweet... god i love California sometimes... these emissions standards can blow me...

oh well for now i swapped the bad coil, put in all new Motorcraft spark plugs cause the Bosch ones were crap, and am waiting to hear for an official estimate to do the timing chain work. i would rather get that done now than have a nasty surprise in the future, as much as it sucks to go further into debt on this car...
 
yeah whereabouts? i would consider that but you also have to factor in the cost of labor to do the swap. there's no way it would end up being cheaper than this repair.
 
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