My Car Is [Still] Broken. Please Help!

Well, that is really strange and unfortunate. What is your battery voltage (key on, engine off, headlights on)?
The cooling fan coming on with the key on and the engine off is a symptom of a bad PCM, or the PCM not getting power. It wouldn't hurt to check the PCM relay and verify voltage at the PCM while trying to start it.

I would suspect that after a few cold engine stall events, the engine may be flooded. You can try to clear this by holding the pedal all the way down and holding the key to start for a few seconds.

SIA has done good work for others on here, but it's possible that they messed up this time.
 
dba said:
Mileage is off....181,752.02 when sent.....now 181,761
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The mileage displayed on the cluster is completely stored in the cluster itself. The PCM doesn't have anything to do with that. Maybe the ABS module is indicating motion when there is none?
 
ABS as in anti-lock brakes? The mileage only changed after I had the computer fixed, so even if mileage isn't stored in the pcm, something from the pcm caused it to change
 
Went out to start, and now the PCM is really screwed. I turned it to accessory mode and the cooling fan turned on and didn't go off. fuel system repeatedly pressurized. Security light flashing. Dash was displaying every warning light "check traction control" "etc failsafe mode" "gear selector data error" "change engine oil" "service park brake"....in the left readout where it would normally say "N" or "P" or "D" it was displaying an "E"
 
Did you check the battery voltage as Joegr suggested? All the lights sounds like a low battery, especially given all the cranking. Was the cooling fan just on, or full blast?

You could just pull the battery and take it to an auto parts store to get load tested and check that off the list.
 
the battery is brand new, and the gauges werent sweeping. how do you check voltage?
 
dba said:
2003 Lincoln LS V8
181k miles
New MAF
Coils, Plugs, Gaskets
New Battery
New Fuel Pump Motor
New Fuel Filter
Brand new 91 octane fuel
Cleaned gas tank

The Issue: The car runs perfectly fine on startup, and it will run and idle perfectly, you can even drive it. But after 5 min or so, the car dies, no strange noises, no check engine light. It dies like someone turned the key. After it dies, you can always start it right back up and it will run for a while then die again.

I've been dealing with this for a while, and eventually tried to sell it because I need it gone, and need my money back out of it. (Not that it is worth that much lol)

"WTF" moment: I recently drove it and while i was driving it, the car started revving itself then stalling and revving and stalling before finally dying. This has happened before prior to doing the gasket job. Doing the gasket job fixed it. But it started happening again. After it died i restarted it and it did that whole revving thing right on startup. right after starting it it immediately revved itself to redline and then died within 5 or so seconds. I let the car sit for 20 min to get a video camera to film it. I started it up with a camera rolling, and....it runs fine! Its perfect. The only thing I didnt do is drive it till it died to see if it was miraculously fixed.

So you might think it is a computer issue, but other than the dying issue i stated earlier, there is nothing wrong with it. no noises, no lights, nothing to indicate it is a computer issue, and everything functions perfectly.

Ive gotten 3 suggestions that it is the crankshaft position sensor. What do you think? Im going to go out and unscrew the sensor and test it.

Please help, I have to get this car out of my driveway, running or not.

Also, the car is in near perfect cosmetic condition. It seems like it was well taken care of (aside from high mileage) oil changes on time, previous maintenance. (not with the car, I did my own history research on it) not sure

Help!!!! (please)

Lmk if you need more info like photos videos if that will help?? oh the joys of ls ownership...
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Have you tried disconnecting both battery terminals for a few mins then connect positive and negative terminal together But NOT connected to battery. Leave them for a few mins then reconnect to battery. Start and let idle for a few mins then drive about 50 miles around town and highway. This will clear out computer completely and it will relearn. It definitely sounds electrical, could it possibly be faulty cruise control or throttle position sensor?Just a guess on those 2.
 
Im not an expert but I always start at common sense and least expensive. If you do what I said and completely remove any computer settings and let it relearn it may show you a code. I'm not on this forum much but I've had a ton of issues w my 2000 ls and have done every repair myself, except auto trans rebuild, which I would've replaced w gehtrag 5 speed which I believe will work. It wasn't offered because of torque specs for the 3.9 and I believe the manual trans can be modified to carry it.
Good Luck!
 
One last question. Has this car done this since you bought it, or after any repairs that were done? I apologize maybe you explained this but I couldn't find that part of thread. If it did it after repairs it may be related to maf or fuel pump. Which pump did you replace primary or secondary?
 
dba said:
Went out to start, and now the PCM is really screwed. I turned it to accessory mode and the cooling fan turned on and didn't go off. fuel system repeatedly pressurized. Security light flashing. Dash was displaying every warning light "check traction control" "etc failsafe mode" "gear selector data error" "change engine oil" "service park brake"....in the left readout where it would normally say "N" or "P" or "D" it was displaying an "E"
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Clearly, you mean "run" mode and not "accessory" mode. The key goes like this.
1. Locked - The shifter is locked and everything is off.
2. Unlock - The shifter is unlocked, but everything is still off.
3. Accessory - The radio, wipers, windows, and such are powered, but not the instrument cluster, fuel pump, PCM, and so on.
4. Run - Everything is powered.
5. Start - The starter is engaged, the PCM, fuel pump, and so on is powered, but not the radio and such.

The message center oil change message is not related to and does not come from the PCM. It (the message center) determines that on its own. If you are really having all the other unexpected things happen, it's not because of the PCM. It's because of some power issue. Low battery voltage, bad connections or grounds or such. A brand new battery can be completely discharged, and in fact it will be after several failed start attempts. That's why the car has an alternator to recharge it between starts (when the engine runs correctly).

As said before, the engine fan running without the engine running is either a bad PCM, or no (or low) power getting to the PCM. If you won't get a volt meter and check these things, then you have little hope of ever resolving any of this.
 
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dba said:
the battery is brand new, and the gauges werent sweeping. how do you check voltage?
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Get a volt meter, turn it to ~20 and put the black prob on negative and red prob on the positive and see if it’s between 12-13.

Obviously the below video checks the for alternator voltage while running which is correct, but just the first step checks the battery at rest which shouldn’t be below 12.

 
Checked voltage....12.3...with car on "run" and lights on...11.7
When in "run" cooling fan comes on (still), but just noticed driver side of the car is making like a zapping/ticking sound, almost like when electricity sparks.
 
Less than 12.6 (at normal temperature) is discharged. You need to put a battery charger on it and get (and keep) it back to charged.

Driver's side under the hood, in the cabin, in the trunk?
 
It was on a tender. I will put it back on. seemed to be from under the hood, left side of steering column, and near firewall. Just called SIA and my technician said that 1. a connector pin might not be fully connected...2. the computer "lost itself" when removed from car..anyone ever heard of that happening? He said I should send it back in for them to look at it and see what is up, but first check plugs (which I will do)
 
If you disconnected the negative battery cable before unplugging the PCM and did not reattach it before plugging the PCM back in, then it should not have corrupted.

Under the hood in that area is the booster solenoid (controlled by the ABS module), and under the dash in that area are the motors for the steering wheel adjustments and the pedal adjustments.
 
Okay, I un-plugged the wires and re-plugged them. no change. attempted a start, and all it would do is crank. almost like no fuel was getting to it? attempted to trace sound...no luck. when I went to engine bay it sounded like it was in cabin. in cabin it sounded like it was in engine bay.
 
dba said:
Okay, I un-plugged the wires and re-plugged them. no change. attempted a start, and all it would do is crank. almost like no fuel was getting to it? attempted to trace sound...no luck. when I went to engine bay it sounded like it was in cabin. in cabin it sounded like it was in engine bay.
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Joegr can chime in and correct me, but I’m pretty sure you can check fuel pressure with ignition in “Run” and the fuel pump will turn on.

You can physically hear the pump a few seconds after you turn the key. Put a gauge on it and see what it says. Parts stores will loan the tool out for free.
 
I had an odd thought. The car has no computer in it right now, what if I reconnected the battery? would the engine start? would the windows roll down? could I move the seats?

Secondary: I was thinking, could the extra miles have come from them running a simulation when testing the pcm? I wouldn't think it would clock that but I don't know much about this kinda thing.
 
Of course the engine can't run with no PCM. How would it get fuel or ignition? The PCM drives the injectors and the coils, along with all the other things on the engine.
Yes, the windows would work just fine. That's a couple of different "computers."
The seats would move just fine too. Again, that's a different "computer."

No, the extra miles did not come from the PCM. It does not store or read miles traveled. The ABS module tells the cluster when the car is moving and how much. The cluster stores, updates, and displays the mileage.

My BMW had the mileage stored in a few different modules, but the LS only puts it in the cluster.
 
Inteeresting. when i told SIA about the changed mileage they said they could fix it.
 
We will see, i guess. Even if it is not controlled directly by the pcm, it didnt change until aftfer the pcm was re-installed.
 
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