Having problems need help!!!

stankinls

stankinls

Active LVC Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2008
Messages
88
Reaction score
0
Location
OKC
i have a 2002 ls v8 and it has ran great since i have owned it (for about 2 years) until a couple of weeks ago when we had a bad snow storm (i live in oklahoma we dont usually get those)

the roads were too bad for me to get home so i left it at work. it sat outside for 2 days once the roads were fine i started it let it idle for 15 min so it would be warm and then drove home on my way home it had trouble shifting into 2nd or 3rd gear and the idle was very high even in park.
i let it sit in my garage and then a couple of days later i tried again to drive it and when i hit the gas it boggs down and wont go and some times dies. the check engine light came on and it said it was the throttle position sensor which made sense...kind of...

i have replaced the throttle position sensor and the light went off
i thought it may be a fuel problem so i have replaced the fuel filter and put in fresh 5 gallons of premium fuel with heet just incase there was any water in the old gas.

now its running better but when i accelerate it cuts in and out and shifts in and out of gears. it sometimes revs on its own too.

while rolling i can floor it and there is no change in RPM at all.

if its in park i can rev it almost like normal but it stays high for a while before it gets back to a normal idle

some one help me please!!!

i did read one of the forums talking about cleaning the IAC, maybe its my problem too?
:confused:
 
You may or may not have IAC problems. However the IAC couldn't cause it to bog down when you floor it.

The first thing to check with an LS is always to check for misfires. A few bad coils and/or plugs could explain it all. Also check/clean the MAF.

If not those, then see the suggestions below.

It seems like the things to look for would be airflow restriction, fuel flow restriction, or exhaust restriction for the problem when you floor it. For the idle problems, it could be the IAC or carboned up throttle body.
 
joegr said:
You may or may not have IAC problems. However the IAC couldn't cause it to bog down when you floor it.

The first thing to check with an LS is always to check for misfires. A few bad coils and/or plugs could explain it all. Also check/clean the MAF.

If not those, then see the suggestions below.

It seems like the things to look for would be airflow restriction, fuel flow restriction, or exhaust restriction for the problem when you floor it. For the idle problems, it could be the IAC or carboned up throttle body.
Click to expand...

think again. iac could almost directly be affecting the boggin. the iac is a common problem in honda accords and although they might be 2 different vehicles the iac pretty much controls the same things on both cars. in normal conditions you may not notice it but when it gets cold it might take a couple of cranks for your car to even start, you might have a rough idle and/or high idle with a constant high and low of rpms with the car almost feeling like its going to shut off and sometimes it even does. it gets ev en worse if you have a misfire and it sounds like you may have both. cant really tell just by the symptoms but you may want to get it checked. all that jerking is also bad for the motor mounts a well, and with the lincoln ls having gas charged mounts, you might now want to damage it.
 
oh yea, could also be vacuum leaks and brake booster hose mine popped off one time and it did that but i knew it was the booster cuz brakes didnt work....duh!!
 
thanks for those ideas to check but i do have a couple more questions

wouldnt the coils throw a check engine light on? or have a code?

what about the random shifting of gears?

i definately have some things to check/ clean tomorrow
 
Simplist things

This car can drive you nuts with all the strange symptoms. Is your battery old? Sometimes a failing battery can cause some serious problems. You probably don't have an AIC like the V6. Look for vacuum leaks after the MAF. Look for loose hoses and cracked rubber boots. Joegr knows these cars pretty well, if he says coils and plugs, I would check there first.
 
Last edited:
stankinls said:
thanks for those ideas to check but i do have a couple more questions

wouldnt the coils throw a check engine light on? or have a code?

what about the random shifting of gears?

i definately have some things to check/ clean tomorrow
Click to expand...

1. not always

2. sometimes the coils cause a feel of a weird shifting trans.

3. good luck and let us know...look real close for vacuum leaks too.
 
djknowledge said:
think again. iac could almost directly be affecting the boggin. the iac is a common problem in honda accords and although they might be 2 different vehicles the iac pretty much controls the same things on both cars. in normal conditions you may not notice it but when it gets cold it might take a couple of cranks for your car to even start, you might have a rough idle and/or high idle with a constant high and low of rpms with the car almost feeling like its going to shut off and sometimes it even does. it gets ev en worse if you have a misfire and it sounds like you may have both. cant really tell just by the symptoms but you may want to get it checked. all that jerking is also bad for the motor mounts a well, and with the lincoln ls having gas charged mounts, you might now want to damage it.
Click to expand...

The IAC is really just an extra, small, throttle. The PCM opens and closes this valve to adjust engine idle speed. It certainly can cause problems at idle. However, once you put your foot on the gas, the IAC is no longer a part of the equation. If can be functional, stuck open, or stuck closed and it will make no difference. There is no way a failed IAC can cause the engine to not respond to full throttle, which is one of the issues the OP describes. A disconnected hose (to the IAC or to anything else) could cause problems like this because the MAF would then not be correctly reading the airflow into the engine, but I wouldn't count that as an IAC problem.

Summary:
Problems at or near idle -> could be IAC.
Problems at or near full throttle -> could not be IAC.
 
stankinls said:
thanks for those ideas to check but i do have a couple more questions

wouldnt the coils throw a check engine light on? or have a code?

what about the random shifting of gears?

i definately have some things to check/ clean tomorrow
Click to expand...

The four coils that failed on my 04 (one by one) never turned the light on or set a code. They did set some misfire counts (not always on the correct cylinder), but you need a Ford specific scanner to read those.

Misfires can seem like transmission problems, or you could have separate transmission issues too. With the LS, it is always best to eliminate the ignition problems first, before trying to troubleshoot anything else.
 
WOW, someone close to home!

I would check out vacume leaks. I had a similiar problem with mine sat in the shop for about 3 weeks, I didnt drive it and a rat though that it was hungry and chewed a vacume line. It reved iregulary, high idle, wouldnt shift right, slam into gear from drive, but it really never cut out when driving, just the exact time that I would push the pedel, but it would clear up with all the other symptoms still.

Good luck
 
marco93L said:
WOW, someone close to home!

I would check out vacume leaks. I had a similiar problem with mine sat in the shop for about 3 weeks, I didnt drive it and a rat though that it was hungry and chewed a vacume line. It reved iregulary, high idle, wouldnt shift right, slam into gear from drive, but it really never cut out when driving, just the exact time that I would push the pedel, but it would clear up with all the other symptoms still.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Okay, that was a tough one. Here's the translation for the rest of you...

I would check for vacuum leaks. I had a similar problem with my car. (Either: 1. It sat in the shop for about three weeks and during this time the problem happened, or 2. It took the repair shop three weeks to find and fix the problem.) I didn't drive it and a rat (that thought it was hungry -- I'm sure it was) chewed through a vacuum line. The engine revved irregularly (or erratically) and the idle was too high. The transmission wouldn't shift correctly, and there was a jolt when putting it into drive (like slamming it into gear with the accelerator pressed down). The engine never really stalled while driving... (Sorry, can't quite figure out the last bit...)
 
joegr said:
Okay, that was a tough one. Here's the translation for the rest of you...

I would check for vacuum leaks. I had a similar problem with my car. (Either: 1. It sat in the shop for about three weeks and during this time the problem happened, or 2. It took the repair shop three weeks to find and fix the problem.) I didn't drive it and a rat (that thought it was hungry -- I'm sure it was) chewed through a vacuum line. The engine revved irregularly (or erratically) and the idle was too high. The transmission wouldn't shift correctly, and there was a jolt when putting it into drive (like slamming it into gear with the accelerator pressed down). The engine never really stalled while driving... (Sorry, can't quite figure out the last bit...)
Click to expand...
First part is #1 is the right answer
Sorry, I was in the middle of trying to mulit-task here at work, taking a boring phone call and typing on the computer:D

After I read it, I see what I did. I appoligize if all I did was make things more confusing and thanks for cleaning it up for me!:Beer
I have to stop drinking before I go to bed:)
 
ok, if it is the coils how can i tell which ones or do i just replace all of them?

is it weird for them to not give any trouble and then just start screwing up?

where is the best place to get the best deal on them

thanks for all of the help!
 
best way....replace all 8

cheap way...buy 1 or 2 from parts store and replace...if it doesnt fix it, move to the next coil...so on, and so on. keep moving the known good coils until mis goes away.

or pay somplace to put it on a machine to tell you which coil it is...go home and fix it.
 
stankinls said:
where is the best place to get the best deal on them?
Click to expand...

-On eBay you can find the full set of 8 for about $120. Be aware that it's a gamble and the quality may reflect the price.

-Autozone sales the OEM motorcraft for $50 ea. I went with them. That price may be less, I got mine 2 years ago.

-And then you have the dealer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 84 (members: 1, guests: 83)
Back
Top