My LS is freaking out. Anybody have a schematic?

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adamfysher

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I bought a fixer upper 2001 ls sport 3.9. I was driving it home and after overheating to the point of shutting off (car still starts up and runs with a smooth idle) I discovered that the radiator hose that goes from the upper radiator hose to the thermostat housing blew off. I was suspecting the degas bottle to be the culprit of the overheating problems at first, but it seems that there was too much pressure built up and that is what blew off the radiator hose. Anybody else think that the thermostat is probably the culprit?

I also have a strange electrical problem. When I turn the automatic headlight switch to any time delay setting, all the instrument lights, climate control lights, and stereo lights go off. When i turn off the headlights, the lights all go back on. Has anybody heard of this before or have a schematic of the lighting system so I can troubleshoot it?

Thanks for any help in advance, I love this forum.
 
adamfysher said:
I also have a strange electrical problem. When I turn the automatic headlight switch to any time delay setting, all the instrument lights, climate control lights, and stereo lights go off. When i turn off the headlights, the lights all go back on. Has anybody heard of this before or have a schematic of the lighting system so I can troubleshoot it?

Thanks for any help in advance, I love this forum.
Click to expand...

Do your headlights also go on? If they always go on, regardless of day/night, then the chances are the light sensor in the center of the dash under the little round dome needs to be replaced. It's happened to a few of us.
 
adamfysher said:
I bought a fixer upper 2001 ls sport 3.9. I was driving it home and after overheating to the point of shutting off (car still starts up and runs with a smooth idle) I discovered that the radiator hose that goes from the upper radiator hose to the thermostat housing blew off. I was suspecting the degas bottle to be the culprit of the overheating problems at first, but it seems that there was too much pressure built up and that is what blew off the radiator hose. Anybody else think that the thermostat is probably the culprit?

I also have a strange electrical problem. When I turn the automatic headlight switch to any time delay setting, all the instrument lights, climate control lights, and stereo lights go off. When i turn off the headlights, the lights all go back on. Has anybody heard of this before or have a schematic of the lighting system so I can troubleshoot it?

Thanks for any help in advance, I love this forum.
Click to expand...

Check the dimmer wheel.
 
Don't bother troubleshooting anything in that respect, the fault is possibly within the switch itself.
If it was me, I'd just pull one from a scrapper somewhere and re&re the entire switch.

I do have a hard copy electrical manual for the GEN 1 but it'd mean I'd have to scan it in and such ...
Really don't think there is anything fixing to be done, short is within the switch. Used switch is peanuts.


----EDIT: you could try and remove the switch from the connector and clean the contacts or just reseat the connector a couple of times.

if not ...


Switch only - US $12.34 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/LINCOLN-LS-...Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f22f757bf&vxp=mtr


Whole bezel w/ trim - US $19.99 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/00-01-02-LI...Parts_Accessories&hash=item35c791869e&vxp=mtr


There's more on eBay, your local scrap yard should have one or two as well.
 
adamfysher said:
Awesome. I appreciate all the input. Anyone agree that the overheating issue is probably the thermostat?
Click to expand...

The overheating was due to the blown hose, right? What type of clamp was holding it onto the housing? Make sure it was/is a traditional hose clamp, and not a worm clamp.

The Tstat is designed to fail in the open position, so it is unlikely the cause of the problem. Since it was a fixer-upper, the clamp I referred to may have been either missing or the wrong type.
 
adamfysher said:
Awesome. I appreciate all the input. Anyone agree that the overheating issue is probably the thermostat?
Click to expand...

No. It's much more common and much more likely for it to be because of tiny cracks in the plastic cooling system parts. The main ones are the degas bottle and the thermostat housing and thermostat cross over. Of course, you should replace the thermostat itself while you are at it. You should also check your hydraulic cooling fan system, as it is a common problem too. Make sure that it speeds up greatly when you turn the AC on. If not, there's a problem too.
The thermostat has nothing to do with cooling system pressure. Cooling system pressure is controlled by the cap on the degas bottle. It has a pressure relief valve built in. I really doubt that you experienced high pressure. It would have blown the seals on the water pump first. I think that your hose was loose or the plastic nibble it was attached to split.

On the headlights, it has virtually never been the switch that is the problem. The switch is just a switch. The electronics are in the cluster and the FEM. For the headlights always on issue, that is almost always the light sensor. That's in the dome with the flashing red light. I assume that you really mean that the digital displays go blank. This is almost certainly due to having the dimmer wheel turned all the way down. Adjust it while the lights are on and see what happens.
 
I do believe the OP is talking about the time delay for automatic headlight off after a certain amount of time, determined by the setting. Don't think he's describing the interior dash light dimmer. At least that's what I understood. On the GEN I the time delay for turning the lights off are 2, 10, 30sec, 1 & 2 minutes (without checking)
 
BigRigLS said:
I do believe the OP is talking about the time delay for automatic headlight off after a certain amount of time, determined by the setting. Don't think he's describing the interior dash light dimmer. At least that's what I understood. On the GEN I the time delay for turning the lights off are 2, 10, 30sec, 1 & 2 minutes (without checking)
Click to expand...

Definitely not checking. In the 1st gen the delay time is variable by turning the switch to the left. On the 2nd gen there is one detent to the left and the the delay is set in the message center for the V8 and I think the dealer has to set it on the V6.
 
w/out checking again, I think there is a 20 second in there as well on the GEN I's variable switch, I'll have to have a look when I get in it tomorrow morning.
 
I am talking about the time delay for automatic headlight off. Gotta work in the squadron tomorrow. I did not notice a difference when turning the light dimmer to the right of the time delay up. If the headlights are turned to "always on" the instrument/console lights go on.

I hate to just throw parts at the overheating, but will probably be replacing the degas bottle, thermostat housing, and the coolant outlet pipe. Is the coolant outlet pipe the one that is described0 as having a "plastic nipple" on it that may have broken to release the hose? All the clamps on the system look like regular ford oem. No worm-type clamps.
 
The time delay on the GenI is turning the headlight switch counter clockwise with the key in the RUN position...or while it's running. It will not tell you on the message center if you do not have it running/RUN position.

It has nothing to do with up or down.
 
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