Coil Clarification

I have a 00 Lincoln LS V8 that is acting up on me. It has 110k miles and shakes and fights when lightly accellerating past +/-45 mph. It sits still when shifted into reverse till gas is given. I read prior posts about possible causes and am not sure enough about what it could be to start fixing things. I have read that LS's made prior to Oct 00 were prone to have issues with the computer causing such problems, and yes, mine was manufactured prior. But the dealer has heard no such thing. The coils have variously gone out with the check engine light switching on and i quickly fixed that. But the bottom line is the car isnt reliable for my wife to go anywhere in it and I would appreciate any advice anyone can give. I have heard from a hometown transmission shop that the tranys put in them are garbage and that some sort of sleve wearing out causes the rough shifting, but have never heard of it again. I have heard its coils, but i have no check engine light. Someone please advise this frustrated Marine. Thanks!

Welcome to the forum!

If you're willing to perform some of this maintenance yourself, you can save a bunch of money and determine if, at a minimum, your valve cover gaskets are leaking causing coils to misfire. It's actually easier to check the coils and plugs on the the V8 than on the V6. There are appearance covers over the valleys for the coils and plugs centered over each valve cover. If I recall correctly, the appearance covers are held on by several 7mm bolts. The one under the brake booster doesn't have a lot of clearance and you'll probably need an combination wrench to get that one out. There also will be a small bit of RTV where the wires enter the valley at the rear of the valve cover which may make it feel like the cover is stuck in place, even after all the bolts are removed.

Once you get the appearance cover removed, you'll need I believe an 8mm socket to remove the single bolt holding each coil in place. Unplug the wiring connect to each coil, remove the 8mm bolt, then lift the coil out to see if there is any oil on the boot. If so, you've probably found the misfire. The fix would be to replace the valve cover gaskets and spark plug well seals on each side.

-Rod

Thanks for the welcome. I am a past heavy user of the forum back when i had my Z28 but i have since forgotten that account's information and had to make this new one. But back to topic, I am looking to save as much as i can, at least in regards to identifying whats going on with it. Is a leak or coil issue the common solution to the car not going into reverse? And thank you for the response.

Nope, the transmission issue is likely due to a failing shift solenoid assembly. The solenoids can be replaced without removing the transmission, and there are a few threads on this forum that offer alternatives to replacing the entire solenoid assembly which is not cheap. I don't recall the specifics, but with your past forum experience you probably know how to use the Search feature.

-Rod

There was oil in the 1-4 side. I'm going to try replacing all remaining coils i havent replaced and the gaskets on both sides this week, and i will get back with the outcome. Thank you for your help and keeping my fingers crossed.

Good luck with the repair. I suspect it will fix your issue. At a minimum, it will prevent a future problem.

-Rod

Before i undertake of this project, and being rather inexperienced with my LS, if you had any quick tips on possible problem spots i might run into before i get underway. Thank you for your help this far, and FYI there was one spark plug well full of oil on the 5-8 side as well, so I'm hopeful this is the fix. Thanks!

There is another thread or two on this forum that discusses a windshield cowl leak that can allow water to get in to the spark plug wells and cause very similar symptoms. I've never experienced that nor have I had to attempt to remedy it, so I cannot speak as to what it would take to prevent that from happening in the future.

The other common issue to take care of when doing valve cover gaskets is the PCV elbow, but your V8 does not have a PCV elbow so you don't need to worry about that.

-Rod

Still at square one.
I got the gaskets in and spent the better part of an evening getting the covers off. Found a cracked lug on one cover, ended up reordering thru the dealership and it came with new gaskets/seals. Just my luck. Cleaned up all the boots and coils keeping them organized to reinsert in the same position on build up. There was pooled oil in a few of the wells, oddly not the ones giving me the misfire code in the first place. Cleaned all of it out and off and took my time reassembling. After putting it back in original order, ran better than before, but not smooth. It was running real bad before the repair. But the accelleration was at least back. Check Engine Light fires back up about 20 minutes into first real drive. 3 & 5 Misfiring. So i go home and swap coils 1/5 and 3/7. Just straight across to trouble shoot problem (note: all the money i had available for new coils, as i previously stated was my intent, was lost on the new valve cover). Reset the car by disconnecting battery for 30 minutes, and wala. No check engine light. Till I let my wife leave in it and the problems start in a parking lot. Rough shaking and 0 accelleration. Really running rough. On the way to the store the light blinks when speeding up and has 0 power available. Get to the store and its still showing 3 and 5 misfiring indicating its not a problem with the coils. So i replace the plugs and while running better than that, its still not smooth.

Car - 2. Me -0.
Any help from here?

I'm not sure I'd rely on disconnecting the battery to reset the codes, but if you are not getting any additional codes, you might be okay with that. One more are to inspect and has been found to cause misfire issues with others is the connectors on the fuel injectors. In a few cases folks have found that apparently someone had disconnected the fuel injectors in the past and broke a clip or two off the connectors. Over time the connectors fail to make a good connection on the fuel injector and cause a misfire.

Another thing to confirm is that the Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor is properly connected and that the intake air tubing is all properly seated. As bad as the car seems to run it sounds like you might have more happening than just a couple of misfiring cylinders on your V8.

-Rod

Just wanted to let you guys know, for anyone else who has a problem with the wiper cowl causing the famous valve cover/coil issue that there is a TSB regarding this issue. When I contacted Ford about it, they told me that even though it is just a TSB and not a recall they would do mine one time, as well as replacing the wiper seal, at no charge as directed by Ford. So before you shell out for new plugs, coils, and valve cover gaskets call the dealer first to see if yours will take care of this for you at no charge.

If replacing Spark plug boss seal, check the secondary cam chain tensioner for wear & tear, go with a 3rd generation type.

Just wanted to let you guys know, for anyone else who has a problem with the wiper cowl causing the famous valve cover/coil issue that there is a TSB regarding this issue. When I contacted Ford about it, they told me that even though it is just a TSB and not a recall they would do mine one time, as well as replacing the wiper seal, at no charge as directed by Ford. So before you shell out for new plugs, coils, and valve cover gaskets call the dealer first to see if yours will take care of this for you at no charge.

Here's the letter. It is more than a TSB, it is a warranty extension.

http://www.allstatetrucks.com/Recalls/cust%20satisfaction%20recalls/07m07/R07M07%20dealer%20bulletin.pdf