Sick And Tired Of This 03 LS V8 Can Any One Help

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JDawg965

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O.K. well a while back i has having some problems with this car.. The problems where rough idle hard going up hills and the gears constantly searching, so i finally got around to getting the engine some what apart and took a look at everything and i noticed that there was oil in the spark plugs on the drivers side (side with the oil fill?? i think drivers) so i took a look at the fill and noticed that it seemed to have a tiny gap between the bottom and the valve cover so i continued to real seal it with black RTV, While doing that i decided to replace all the spark plugs and ignition coils. when i was done i put everything back together and fired the car right up! it was running great for a couple months, until i was driving it about an hour ago i stopped at a light and all of a sudden there is that famous check engine light :mad: so i proceeded to drive it back home and it studdered a little bit going up hills but everything else seemed fine i got home and popped the hood to see if i could figure anything out... i checked the oil and it was a little low, so my first though was why didn't the oil light come on?? so i added some oil fired it up and that check engine light was still there :mad: i then started screaming and being Pissed Off bc it seems like the day my warrranty ended everything seems to go wrong and i hope there is not oil in the plugs because i have "0" money right now to fix anything.. Someone please help me out.. Thanks!!
 
Calm down.
If you have less than 100K miles then both the oil leak and bad coils (misfire problem) are still covered by Ford factory warranty. This is a special warranty program that is no charge to you. Take it to a Lincoln dealer. Mention program R07M07.

Why do so many people not understand how the oil light works? It is not for low oil level. You have the dip stick for that. If you have a leak or are burning oil, then you should check the dip stick often.
The Oil light means that you have lost oil pressure, not a low level of oil. If it comes on, your engine is already being damaged. It means stop right now, not half a mile from now.
 
I already replaced the coils that is what i am saying, i am just wondering where the oil would be coming from? it couldn't be the valve cover gasket? if oil is coming from some where in the engine and burning my coils out then there is a bigger problem? what else could that be?? thanks for all the help
 
It's the valve cover gaskets. That's covered in that letter that's in the link I replied with. All 2003s are covered for coils and valve cover gaskets for 10 years/100,000 miles.
 
Alright ill check with the dealer about that, because i never got that letter, hopefully they were not replaced before i bought the car.. but ill check tomorrow and see what they say, hopefully they can do that and not try to add things to up my bill. thanks
 
JDawg965 said:
Alright ill check with the dealer about that, because i never got that letter, hopefully they were not replaced before i bought the car.. but ill check tomorrow and see what they say, hopefully they can do that and not try to add things to up my bill. thanks
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter if the gaskets and/or coils were replaced before. They will replace them again at no charge, as long as you have less than 100K miles, and the gaskets are leaking and/or some coils are bad. (The program/letter has been updated since the one in the linked post. I don't think the "one time" thing applies any more.)
 
It doesn't matter if the gaskets and/or coils were replaced before
Click to expand...

+1

I've had several coils replaced more than once under the 100k warranty. Sure glad Ford is paying for it. Can't figure out why they don't just put better ones in so that they don't have to listen to me complain every time I have to take the LS in for coil replacements.
 
Ok So i took the Ls to ford today and bad news.. since i have replaced the coils my self last time because they wouldn't do it??? they will not cover the coils or valve covers because they are not OEM FORD ones... so im stuck back at square one and again have to do everything my self and the reason they keep going bad is because of the damn oil getting into the plugs, i guess any one can be a mechanic well they are not mechanics any more they are just parts changers all they do is read a code and change a part they don't look into the issue's because it would take too much "time" and they wouldn't make that much money off of us... any ideas i told them i still have the factory coils and i would bring the car home and put them back in and they said its too late for that.. any one let me know
 
It sounds like you have three options:

1. Pay the dealer to change the gaskets, plugs, and coils.

2. Pay someone else to change the gaskets, plugs, and coils.

3. Change the gaskets, plugs, and coils yourself.

Once they entered the warranty decline in the Oasis system, it let all the other dealers know, so no one else will do it under warranty now either.
 
For future reference on such things, RTV shouldn't be used to simply try and seal a gap/leak. you must disassemble and fully clean the mating surfaces so they are free of any oil or paint or other fluids and dirt that could prevent the silicone from fully bonding with the texture of the metals.

I do believe if you provide them with new/stock motorcraft parts from Max @ 5-star or Rockauto.com (cost would likely be MUCH cheaper than at the dealer doing the work) and pay them the 1.5 hours labor it should get you back into the 100,000 mile defect warranty to which they cover. If they deem the cleanup of the RTV overly extensive they may want more labor. It may be better to get back under their warranty considering it is a known weakness/defect on these cars. Whether or not such a thing is worth it really depends on your vehicle's mileage.

If they turn out to be total tools like the dealer here in my town, it might do well to visit one in a nearby city as I do. I get MUCH better treatment at the dealer ~30 miles south of me.
 
Just an FYI, I changed my coil boots a while ago (about 2 years ago at 40,000 ish miles) and plugs, also did the valve cover gaskets at that time because of the oil leaking into the spark plug holes. I just changed plugs at 65,000 miles and 1 hole had some oil in it.

When I did it at 40,000 I put dielectric grease in all the boots where they meet the plug so if oil got down there again it would not penetrate the grease. So far the car is 7 years old, 65,000 miles and no bad coils yet (god I hope I did not just jinx myself). So hopefully ny putting the grease in there has slowed the inevitable???
 
Wow thanks nick, i will have to do that when i change them this time i never changed the valve cover gaskets which i will do i still have a brand new set of coils out in my garage so ill pick up some heavy duty ones (Does any one have a part number for them for a pepboys,autozone etc??) and take my time and do it the right way and i'll use some of that di electric grease i never though of that last time, and ill see what happens my car has about 65,000 on it and last time i changed them it had about 60,000 on it but i didn't do the covers because i thought it was something else so ill take care of them first and work my way back wards hopefully this will fix the problem for good or if not hopefully a little while...
 
I Just Called Around and couldn't find the valve cover gaskets anywhere? any idea where i can get them>>>??? thanks again
 
Ok, so after about two hours of tight spaces and hand cuts, i finally got the valve covers off. When i had my buddy run the codes it came up as a miss fire on cylinder 7. That is the same side (drivers side) that i have had the problem with last time :(.. O.K. so here are my questions. When i go to reinstall the valve covers with the gaskets and everything. Do i need to also put RTV silicone on too or only in certain spots?? Also Is there a certain kind of silicone i have to use because the Black RTV that i used last time what "not up to fords standards" as the mechanic said.. Let me know and thanks for the help....

P.S. after talking to the service manager at my local ford dealer he told me to bring the car in and the warranty would cover the work if i needed the coils,plugs,and gaskets under the extended warranty. I then told him that i have already replaced the coils with aftermarket ones and he proceeded to tell me "that's fine bring it in, no charge" so i did and 2 days later he is arguing with me on the phone about they would have to charge me to do any work, so i said im at work my wife will pick it up no charge right? he said no, no charge. the wife went to pick up the car, he was very, very rude to her took three other customers that walked in after her, not even caring that she had to get our 1 year old son to the doctors office, then told her that she can't take the car until she pays 100.00??? so she called me and i began to ask what for and she didn't know so, she paid the money and brought the receipt to me at work and let me tell you something it doesn't look like a "genuine ford receipt" it looks like they just made up some crap just to charge me for.. i am so tired of the dealerships around here, this is the third one i have been to that has screwed me over. the first one i went to needed to replace my radio and first they ordered the wrong one and put it in anyway?? after realizing i had no navigation. they then took 3 days to get the right one and when installing it scratched up the dash board and said they will replace it and they never did i continued to call and bug them but got no results so i gave up!!! the second dealer did some warranty work then told me not all was covered after doing the work, when it said on the paper work to call before doing anything?? and they have done that several times.. i wish there was a good place around here they all don't know what they are doing!!
 
Call corporate... (800) 521-4140

Not enough people escalate things to the corporate level. They will typically straighten a dealer out on such things. I once had a dealer change the 6 disc changer in my 2003 taurus for one from a previous model from a junk yard. Bought brand new at the end of 2002 and I'd even paid extra for a 5/75 warranty, and the car was less than a year old with about 16000 miles on it.

I called corporate and told them that this needed to be made right, and after getting a junk yard changer I didn't want to return to the same dealer. I sent a full barrage of photos as well as a written statement from the junk yard they bought the unit at stating that the changer was bought from his yard. They said they would take care of it and be in contact shortly. 20 minutes later I had a call from the dealer that installed the junk yard changer with a great big apology (even if I didn't buy it), stating he would be paying for my services at any other dealer of my choice. Gave me a special customer/ticket number to call corporate with and said that corporate would be setting my appointment with the other dealer of my choice (I guess that was so he wouldn't know where my car was being serviced at until after the fact).

When the other dealer performed the service they even threw in a complete detail.
 
Thanks for the advice, It seems like the people that work at the dealers around here are all sexiest and don't really care about their jobs, all they care about is the dollar symbols. They do anything they can to do the work as fast as they can so they can get onto the next one, considering they get paid more for the number of jobs they can crank out in one day. Oh well i am diffently calling corperate today and hopefully they can help me out. Thanks for the help

As far as my other questions go any advice on how to put all the parts back in rtv or no? thanks
 
Putting new vavle cover gaskets on I don't use RTV. Biggest thing to being sure they don't leak is to make sure they are all torqued to the exact same spec. Typical 15lbs/in for most covers. Unless you turn a wrench 8 hours a day 5 days a week, you will need a torque wrench to be sure they are exact. If one is even slightly tighter than the rest, it can cause a leak on the "loose" side.

Also I've found greater success at such things by starting all the bolts 2 or 3 turns. Once all are in the holes, run them down "finger tight". Once all finger tight, hit em all with the torque wrench lightly. Tighten then about a quarter turn each going across all bolts before starting back at the first. Keep going at quarter turn each until they start getting tight enough the torque wrench shows the proper torque on the bolts. On parts that see allot of heat like valve covers, I typically run the engine to get things good and hot, then recheck torque.
 
Yeah I have a torque wrench but i am not quite sure how i am going to get the wrench to fit where i need it, some of the bolts i had to use an open ended because it was not accsesiable with a socket. but i will see what i can do thanks for the help..
 
:mad: Different Day Same Problem AGAIN!!!!

O.k. I am back again with the same problem.... :mad: I installed all new valve cover gaskets plugs and coils, 2nd time for the plugs and coils first for the valve covers gaskets and o ring gaskets. and the car has only driven normal for about 1200 miles and yep the oil is back in cylinder 7???? what is going on i followed all the specs when putting the car back together and i used ford parts why does this keep happening?? anybody? i even took a lot of time to clean the mating surfaces to perfection before installing any gaskets? I used my manual and followed ever spec? is it just my car or does anyone else have this problem more then once? This is the only car that i have to fix the same problem more then once.... I hope this can be fixed asap Thanks for the help let me know!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
 
Did you just install new valve cover gasket (outer seal) or all the seals in the valve cover. If you just replaced the outer rubber seal then you havn't fixed the issue, you need to replace all the seals (such as the round ones) in the center of the cover as well, otherwise it wil keep leaking. You can buy them as a kit, runs around $50 per side for the kit.
 
JDawg965 said:
Wow thanks nick, i will have to do that when i change them this time i never changed the valve cover gaskets which i will do i still have a brand new set of coils out in my garage so ill pick up some heavy duty ones (Does any one have a part number for them for a pepboys,autozone etc??) and take my time and do it the right way and i'll use some of that di electric grease i never though of that last time, and ill see what happens my car has about 65,000 on it and last time i changed them it had about 60,000 on it but i didn't do the covers because i thought it was something else so ill take care of them first and work my way back wards hopefully this will fix the problem for good or if not hopefully a little while...
Click to expand...
Yeah.
I did the same when I changed mine. It's been 2 years. My LS is 9yrs old and has 180,000 miles on it.
 
JDawg965 said:
O.k. I am back again with the same problem.... :mad: I installed all new valve cover gaskets plugs and coils, 2nd time for the plugs and coils first for the valve covers gaskets and o ring gaskets. and the car has only driven normal for about 1200 miles and yep the oil is back in cylinder 7???? what is going on i followed all the specs when putting the car back together and i used ford parts why does this keep happening?? anybody? i even took a lot of time to clean the mating surfaces to perfection before installing any gaskets? I used my manual and followed ever spec? is it just my car or does anyone else have this problem more then once? This is the only car that i have to fix the same problem more then once.... I hope this can be fixed asap Thanks for the help let me know!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Click to expand...

Your going to need to take a deep breath and sit down for this one...:shifty:

Are you ready?

Your going to need to go back in there and reseat the orings. Once they get a little oil on them, it's hard to get them to seat properly. I know what your thinking, but if oil is getting past the new orings that's the only possible cause.

P.S.
I've got some more bad news for you. Even though you used Ford Parts, dosen't mean Ford will reinstate the warrenty. The dealer will guarantee the quality of maintence conduced by their mechanics with their parts. That would be the only way to get the coverage.
 
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