Here We Go Again.

M

Macoffutt

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Today just sucked as a day. The girl & I take off to run some errands when I realize I forgot my wallet. So I pull a quick U-Turn at a light & punch it to stay in front of on-coming traffic, an thats when it happened.. The car seems a bit slow (could be the negative temperature weather also ) & then at about 45MPH it starts surging. I cuss up a storm realizing what it is. After the errands I run by the Lincoln dealership to have the codes pulled.. Sure as hell I get; PO308 & PO303. #3 & #8 Misifre. So, I ask the guy at the counter how Ford/Lincoln hasnt recalled these P.O.S. Coils & he tells me he hasnt seen many of these.. I laughed at him.. Another sales guy I talked to mentioned how he had an 01 that they kept going bad. Anyways, they give me the run down on parts & labor. Came out to $1000 to do both left/right gaskets, the 2 coils, 16 new boots & 8 new spark plugs to do a tune up also. Heres the layout of parts & prices for anyone who might be curious.

RH: XW4Z 6584 AB - $47.36
LH: XW4Z 6584 AA - $47.93 ( .27 more expensive. wtf? )
Coils: 2X4Z 12029 BD - $79.96 EA
Boots: XW4Z 12A402 BA - $18.80 EA
Plugs: AGSP 32F - $121.20 ( All 8 I believe. He didnt list EA price )

So after $$492.48 in Labor $422.00 in Parts, plus $60.00 in taxe and suplies I come out to 974.48.. Well there goes my taxes..:mad:
 
Sounds like if your going to keep the LS, you better learn how to work on it. I have had the same problems, but I always find deals on Parts. E.G. 1. coils, about 30 bucks for two of them from dooneybaby on ebay. they work great. 2. gaskets dealer gave me them at cost (just gotta know how to talk to these guys. about 60 bucks. 3.So far 2 door latches, once again dealer cost, about 150 bucks each. 4. resevoir for coolant, about 80 bucks from dealer regular about 110. 5. clockspring, forgot how much, just havent put it on yet somewhere around 80. 0.00 dollars in labor.
 
Actually, the coils themselves are not the problem. The root cause is the gasket that leaks oil into the coils causing them to implode. Just think, if they had better quality gaskets, you wouldn't have to spend thousands to fix this problem.

Speaking of gaskets, check your math. The right side is 57 cents more expensive, not 27. Why? Who the heck knows.

So you can use your tax refund to pay for this? Man, that sucks you have to spend it on that.
 
$121 for plugs?!?!?! WTF Over?!?!?!

That is highway robbery!!! I got iridium/platinum plugs for like $8ea from summit!!!

And you really should learn to work on this car yourself; this job shouldn't take more than a saturday afternoon and you'd have an extra 400 bones in your pocket!
 
The more I think about it, I think I should do it myself. Heard its a pain in the rear end, but hell, I got the hobby shop on base & its warm there.. Go get the parts.. Thanks guys & yea. I know, the price for the plugs are rediculous.. Thanks for saving my ass guys.
 
Macoffutt said:
The more I think about it, I think I should do it myself. Heard its a pain in the rear end, but hell, I got the hobby shop on base & its warm there.. Go get the parts.. Thanks guys & yea. I know, the price for the plugs are rediculous.. Thanks for saving my ass guys.
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Well good luck with that. You're more skillful than I am. That said, you may want to search the board and find out who has done this before. You may want to correspond with that person to find out if there are any pitfalls or things to know before you start.
 
ToddG said:
Well good luck with that. You're more skillful than I am. That said, you may want to search the board and find out who has done this before. You may want to correspond with that person to find out if there are any pitfalls or things to know before you start.
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Agreed. Also, if you do a search on "valve cover gaskets", somewhere you will find the tech writeup/how to.

I am fairly decent with a wrench, but found the drivers side a bit beyond my patience level. Passenger side would not have been a problem..but I started on the drivers side, and after 4 hours of frustration and scraped knuckles, I took her into the Ford dealership and let them have at it. If I would have started on the passenger side, I could have done that myself, and simply hd the dealer do the drivers side, saving me some labor $$ in the process.

Good luck
 
Thanks for the tips guys. Ive read through the install.. Does sound a bit difficult, but hell. If Uncle Sam can trust me to work on million dollar aircraft, then one would think I could work on 40K Lincoln.. OR something like that. Sooner, thanks for the headsup with prices.
 
Don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but I have a question. And maybe some ppl are wondering the same thing, but just don't want to ask. I know one of you guys have had a family car lot business, and a few others that work at a car lot.......If I bought my parts from lets say TeamFord, will a dealership install the parts I buy even though they weren't purchased through them?
 
Boomhower said:
Don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but I have a question. And maybe some ppl are wondering the same thing, but just don't want to ask. I know one of you guys have had a family car lot business, and a few others that work at a car lot.......If I bought my parts from lets say TeamFord, will a dealership install the parts I buy even though they weren't purchased through them?
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I would think so because they make money on the labor as well as parts sold
 
Some places will, but some wont. Buy from them or no work, deal. Also, they wont warranty the part if it fails or causes something else to fails, from what I understand.
 
Macoffutt said:
Some places will, but some wont. Buy from them or no work, deal. Also, they wont warranty the part if it fails or causes something else to fails, from what I understand.
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true, to my perspective. i bought brakepads from autozone, had the dealer install them and the dealer said "we cannot guarantee/warranty against any squeals or anything"
 
You guys should really research before you buy, people have known about the valve cover gaskets for a while, if done before the problem happens, you'll save yourself some big bucks, and why do I hear everyone complaining about costs? Did anyone buy the warranties for their cars? They are doing all my service at no cost except for my new rubber which I'm getting at dealer cost + free installation + balancing.
 
nickandersonLS01 said:
You guys should really research before you buy, people have known about the valve cover gaskets for a while, if done before the problem happens, you'll save yourself some big bucks, and why do I hear everyone complaining about costs? Did anyone buy the warranties for their cars? They are doing all my service at no cost except for my new rubber which I'm getting at dealer cost + free installation + balancing.
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yea very true. when i bought my ls, i did not even know the engine displacement so you see i was oblivious of any problems. i'm more concerned about being broke down on a long drive from one end of i-95 to the other, rather than the costs to fix. one of "the benefits of owning a lincoln" shouldn't be cars going by at 80-90 miles an hour 3 feet away from me.
 
No, I do not have warranty. I was not the brightest when I bought this car.I saw it on a lot when I was out with a buddy. Wasnt even looking for a second car. Was happy with my Honda that got 40 miles to the gallon, but I fell for the car after seeing it, & test driving it. So I bought it. Didnt get the greatest deal, didnt do research & had just enough money to pay sales tax & title/liscence. (NE dumb like that.) So, I didnt by warranty. But like my ol man says. You pay for what you buy & learn from your mistakes. Welcome to Adulthood..

Also, I knew that the gasket could lead to this problem, but after I got done moving again, after I had moved just a week prior I was bit broke & hoping Id make it till I got my tax return from Uncle Sam.. oh well. Sh*t happens..
 
Macoffutt said:
No, I do not have warranty. I was not the brightest when I bought this car.I saw it on a lot when I was out with a buddy. Wasnt even looking for a second car. Was happy with my Honda that got 40 miles to the gallon, but I fell for the car after seeing it, & test driving it. So I bought it. Didnt get the greatest deal, didnt do research & had just enough money to pay sales tax & title/liscence. (NE dumb like that.) So, I didnt by warranty. But like my ol man says. You pay for what you buy & learn from your mistakes. Welcome to Adulthood..

Also, I knew that the gasket could lead to this problem, but after I got done moving again, after I had moved just a week prior I was bit broke & hoping Id make it till I got my tax return from Uncle Sam.. oh well. Sh*t happens..
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i did the EXACT same. except i didn't have a car before.
 
The take-away lesson here (which would apply to all cars, not just the LS) is that if you're buying a USED car, have it checked out thoroughly and/or get an extended warranty. Regardless of make or model, cars today are expensive to fix. You don't want to get saddled with a lot of unexpected repair bills for your ride.

For me, I don't buy used cars, period. And I only keep the ones I have during the warranty period.
 
I am coming up on 48K miles now. So i have been pondering the decision of getting the ESP Premium coverage. For some reason in Florida the price is higher, around $2300. So i got to thinking, the ESP plan only covers up to 100K and there are alot of "little" things that arent covered. If i buy the plan at 50k then 100k is only about 2 years away. For $2300 plus $100 deductible anytime you use it just doenst seem like a good buy for my case. I could go 2 yrs without any issues, then i'd lose out on alot of money. If i decide not to get the ESP, then $2300 could be set aside in a savings account and be used if needed. There is alot of stuff that could go wrong and be fixed with $2300. For example, a recent repair, a wheel sensor. At $88 it wouldnt have even been covered. I have faith in how i maintain my car. The coils are pretty easy to get to and replace on the 03+ V8, thats a repair i can do myself if/when the problem ever arises. I guess you have to look at your individual situation. But i would always buy used with a remaining factory warranty.
 
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