Lincoln falling apart in the mi winter

Soopa009

Soopa009

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So recently I have just been getting troubles with my 01 v8 lincoln ls, ever since the michigan cold came along.
1. I have a coolant leak coming from somewhere. I checked the debacle/resivour (sp) tanks and havent seen any visible leaks. I cannot follow the hose really well but did it to the best of my abilities.. nothing. I know its coolant because its sweet tasting and its coming from (last I saw a puddle under the car) the drivers front tire. took it to the shop he said he couldnt find anything.. No dice

2. I just started getting a sputter/shaking feeling when I get to around 50-60 mph.. and when idle sometimes it feels like it wants to stall out on me. I have done many forums searches on here and everyone points to the ignition coils/spark plugs. So I will have to try and do that sometime as well. A friend said I should just replace the distributor cap and rotor, but getting to that seems impossible under that hood.

3. I am getting burning oil under the hood in the location of the valve cover gaskets both sides I believe.. So looking into replacing those as well.

4. Windshield started cracking on me just the other day now they went from 1-2 inchs long to about 6-8.. FML.

5. My driver side rear door power lock is failing. it use to work sometimes now it just stopped working completely.

I am waiting for the college here to start the semester back up so they can take a look at it, and possibly replace it.
Sorry to rant a whole lot but just needed somewhere to put these thoughts down! If anyone has any suggestions or tips that would be awesome!!
Always seems when im the brokest.. my car follows suite.
 
Yep. It's your distributor cap and rotor for sure. Maybe you should replace spark plug wires at the same time.


Seriously though:
You are 100% correct that it's impossible to reach under that hood. It doesn't exist on the LS. The LS uses a Coil on Plug (COP) design. You have classic symptoms of Valve cover gaskets failing, and killing coils.
 
As far as your antifreeze leak:

I'm 90% sure your coolant leak is the degas bottle (coolant resevoir). You won't see the leak when the cooling system isn't pressurized. hairline cracks develop along the bottom of the tank. When it pressurizes, it forces coolant out.
 
Soopa009 said:
1. I have a coolant leak coming from somewhere.

2. I just started getting a sputter/shaking feeling when I get to around 50-60 mph.. and when idle sometimes it feels like it wants to stall out on me.

3. I am getting burning oil under the hood in the location of the valve cover gaskets both sides I believe
Click to expand...


#1 - is the degas bottle as pete said. very common
#2 & #3 - are the same issue - leaky valve cover gaskets are letting oil into your spark plug wells and shorting the coil. you likely have to replace the gaskets, clean up the oil and may even need to replace coils. very common.
 
Ok cool, any suggestions on where to get the degas bottle from? If there are alternatives to the plastic one that would be sweet. Or if I have to get an plastic one where should I get it from/what brand?
Thanks again fellas
 
Soopa009 said:
So recently I have just been getting troubles with my 01 v8 lincoln ls, ever since the michigan cold came along.
1. I have a coolant leak coming from somewhere. I checked the debacle/resivour (sp) tanks and havent seen any visible leaks. I cannot follow the hose really well but did it to the best of my abilities.. nothing. I know its coolant because its sweet tasting and its coming from (last I saw a puddle under the car) the drivers front tire. took it to the shop he said he couldnt find anything.. No dice

2. I just started getting a sputter/shaking feeling when I get to around 50-60 mph.. and when idle sometimes it feels like it wants to stall out on me. I have done many forums searches on here and everyone points to the ignition coils/spark plugs. So I will have to try and do that sometime as well. A friend said I should just replace the distributor cap and rotor, but getting to that seems impossible under that hood.

3. I am getting burning oil under the hood in the location of the valve cover gaskets both sides I believe.. So looking into replacing those as well.

4. Windshield started cracking on me just the other day now they went from 1-2 inchs long to about 6-8.. FML.

5. My driver side rear door power lock is failing. it use to work sometimes now it just stopped working completely.

I am waiting for the college here to start the semester back up so they can take a look at it, and possibly replace it.
Sorry to rant a whole lot but just needed somewhere to put these thoughts down! If anyone has any suggestions or tips that would be awesome!!
Always seems when im the brokest.. my car follows suite.
Click to expand...

1. It's at least the degas tank. (there may be other cracked parts too) You would have to remove it completely and look closely at it to see the hairline cracks all over it. Replace it with a new one. Find a better shop. BTW, there is a very particular bleeding procedure that you will have to follow after replacing the tank.

2 & 3. Replace the valve cover gaskets. Replace the sparkplugs. Replace the COPs (Coil-On-Plug ignition coils.)

2. Find some more knowledgeable friends. Your car (like most these days) does not have a distributor cap, rotor, distributor, plug wires, or singular ignition coil. Looking under the hood, that should be obvious.

4. Get a new windshield.

5. Clean and lubricate the door latch assembly (inside the door) or replace it.
 
What your bottle looks like: (hairline cracks all over)


coolant1.jpg



coolant2.jpg







What it should look like:

coolantbottle.jpg
 
joegr said:
Find some more knowledgeable friends. Your car (like most these days) does not have a distributor cap, rotor, distributor, plug wires, or singular ignition coil. Looking under the hood, that should be obvious. .
Click to expand...


lol....+100000000
 
Best bet on buying these parts from a local lincoln dealership? I know they cost usually a lot more than an auto parts store. Looking for the valve cover gaskets. Appreciate the help from everyone, new to the site, and new to becoming my own mechanic.
 
Soopa009 said:
Best bet on buying these parts from a local lincoln dealership? I know they cost usually a lot more than an auto parts store. Looking for the valve cover gaskets. Appreciate the help from everyone, new to the site, and new to becoming my own mechanic.
Click to expand...

Your best bet is to buy from Max at Five Star Ford (see the banner to the right).
 
gaskets and stuff

Rockauto.com or go to Max for the difficult to find parts and information, he's great
 
FYI, as of a month ago, the bottle was $180 (local Lincoln dealer). Install is about an hour, so whatever your shop rate is. I thought that I had replaced EVERYTHING known to fail on the LS. I was WRONG!!! Just waiting for the next issue to pop up is excitement in itself! Thank you, Ford engineering, for keeping it real. :D
 
Jayce 1971 said:
FYI, as of a month ago, the bottle was $180 (local Lincoln dealer). Install is about an hour, so whatever your shop rate is. I thought that I had replaced EVERYTHING known to fail on the LS. I was WRONG!!! Just waiting for the next issue to pop up is excitement in itself! Thank you, Ford engineering, for keeping it real. :D
Click to expand...

+1 :D :D :D :D .... It's like musical parts. When the engine stops running, which part stops working! Good thing they are sexy!
 
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