LS making front end noise over bumps

[trinah1]

Please help! My LS is making a noise in the front when riding over bumps. Its hard to explain. Its kind of a hollow sounding noise. I took it to the dealership last week and they replaced the sway bars and sway bar bushings. That was not the problem. Its still making the noise. Could it be a spring or strut? I had a '93 Maximan that kind of did the same thing and it ended up being the strutts. Any help or suggestions would be great so that I can go back to the dealership with a little more knowledge.

[CGGorman]

Worn ball joints.

[coasterr]

Originally Posted by CGGorman

Worn ball joints.

First, I would like to thank CGGorman for all your advice to other LS owners, your info has been invaluable.

I have the same muted thud/clunk from the front end, and its driving me nuts. I had the bushings in the sway bar and the strut tower replaced, but the noise continues. I have had 2 mechanics inspect the front end and everything appears tight....... could you be more specific on the worn ball joints...

Thanks

Coasterr

[coasterr]

Trinah1

Did you replace the ball joints, and if so did it cure the problem.........

Coasterr

[Crumb]

Thje ball joints are those metallica "balls" located between the gear shaft and the wheel assembly. Those joints get crusty and rusted over time if not properly lubricated. Have a mechanic remove them and wash them with wd40 and put them back in. Hope this helps.

[trinah1]

No we did not replace the ball joints. The second mechanic we took the car to replaced the right tie rod end but of course this was not the problem either. We are going to try focusing on the struts next.

Originally Posted by coasterr

Trinah1

Did you replace the ball joints, and if so did it cure the problem.........

Coasterr

[giveortake]

I bought a 2000 LS V8 Sport with 64,000 miles.. I now have 79k miles. Since then I have had the following issues:

1. Total Climate Control Module Failure: $850
2. Heated Seats: Crazy. Burn my butt sometimes othert timers don't work at all. Never looked into having them fixed.
3. Crazy engine/trans issue. Both check engine and trans light would come on periodically while excellerating at which time the car was puking. Answer: Dealership said 7 of 8 "coils" bad. Wanted $700 to replace them all. Upon further conversations and computer record reviews, they determined 3 of the 8 coils were actually mis firing. Had those three replaced 2 weeks ago for $400. Seems to be O.K. now, but I am leary that it isn't as smooth as it used to be. Not sure if that is perception or reality. Dealership coil tester apparently reads either good or bad under stress testing. Apparently 7 of mine were reading bad. What a fricken joke. Give me a good ole distributer........
4. Rear Brake Caliper needed to be replaced due to malfunction that burned through pad and router. Thus total brake job for $350 including caliper.
5. Damn car locks the doors randomly. No rhyme or reason. This is not user error. This is a car electrical issue. Thus after being locked out of the car twice at gas stations, I no longer EVER leave the keys in the car.
6. Leaky valve gaskets. $400 to fix. Leaving it alone.
7. Leaky headlights. Leaving it alone.
8. Random beeps peridoically while driving God knows from what. Beeps once then nothing. No idea.
9. Blows cold while idling. Dealer now says "thermostat" and is happy to replace the $13 part for $400 of labor.

Probably several other items I have forgotten at the moment that irk me.

So lets see other than not having any type of climate control in the cabin, the fact that I don't trust the engine & transmission, and with half of the lousy "luxary" items non working I don't see any reason why anyone would buy this car ever........... Especially with a 40k plus price tag. Who are they kidding? But hey I could continue to spend $500 a month in repairs/maintenance to the local dealership or I can throw this thing away and put a turnequte on to stop the hemmorenging.

Plus side. Car is dang fast and has nice radio. Oops forgot to mention that when I use the up/down volume controls on the steering wheel it will often times randomly change the station to the next preset...

End result. I got hosed. This car is junk. I sure wish I had my 1997 sable with 130k miles back........

[CGGorman]

You want a '97 Sable w/130K miles? Buy one. What's stopping you?

[sfabre40]

Originally Posted by trinah1

No we did not replace the ball joints. The second mechanic we took the car to replaced the right tie rod end but of course this was not the problem either. We are going to try focusing on the struts next.

I have also been living with this same noise...
Could you let me know, how your turns out ?

Of course it started off as just making noises in the front end when A hard bump was hit. Now it takes very little for this noise to occur..

Thanks

[LinTech]

I work at a Lincoln dealership as part of my Asset training. I have to say that the LS is a fast car...but it is a very crappy car. I guess this is what happens when you let Jaguar design a car that is supposed to be "Smart". The wring on this car sux. and the good news is that there will me 4 more new models here soon..i can't wait to fix em..not....If Lincoln would take over this car and take out a couple of these computer control systems. It would help alot. On my side of things ford is really hold information back to fix these things. Which makes my job harder. As far as your noise over bumps could really be alot of things. Your dealership should have used the chassis ears to find this problem. I have seen noise that sounded like suspension problem be nothing put a loose brake cable. Sound is the hardness thing for me to diag on a LS bc to many things could be doing it...good luck i hope you find the problem.

[CGGorman]

Actually, Jag used the Ford design, not the other way 'round... Get used to it, too. The new Mustang uses the same serial communications system as the LS. Considering the LS was Ford's first attempt at this type of system, I'd say they did a pretty good job!

[rogerLS]

I am having the same issue. I have 55k miles on my LS. No real issues other than the back window problems but that appears to be OK now that I raise and lower them more often as suggested by the dealer here in Austin. I have a Mustang that I show and the only reason I changed the sway bar bushings was that I wanted a stiffer ride. They were not worn out when I went to restore / redo the car with over 100k miles on them. The car has very stiff struts and is lowered 4 inches. I think that would put some stress on the bushings. From what I understand the ball joints would not make that kind of sound. That it would be a bad spring, strut or possibly sway bar bushings. More than likely strut problem. Before I go pulling those I thought I would see if anyone else had this problem resolved yet and if I was on track with this.

Thanks!

[jpbrown]

Originally Posted by trinah1

Please help! My LS is making a noise in the front when riding over bumps. Its hard to explain. Its kind of a hollow sounding noise. I took it to the dealership last week and they replaced the sway bars and sway bar bushings. That was not the problem. Its still making the noise. Could it be a spring or strut? I had a '93 Maximan that kind of did the same thing and it ended up being the strutts. Any help or suggestions would be great so that I can go back to the dealership with a little more knowledge.

This is an easy and cheap fix. The lincoln ls has an excellent suspension, but the weak link is the little rods that connect the sway bar to the lower suspension. You can see them by looking under the car from the front, they will be near the tire. A little free play in these rods can cause a thunking noise a low speeds, and the noise is hard to isolate because the noise is transmitted by the sway bar itself. You can replace these rods without even removing the tire. Just remove the two nuts holding them on, and slide them out. The part number is
1W4Z-5K484-AA. I bought mine for about $17. If it were the ball joints, you would only hear a poping noise in slow off camber turn ins.

[rogerLS]

Originally Posted by jpbrown

This is an easy and cheap fix. The lincoln ls has an excellent suspension, but the weak link is the little rods that connect the sway bar to the lower suspension. You can see them by looking under the car from the front, they will be near the tire. A little free play in these rods can cause a thunking noise a low speeds, and the noise is hard to isolate because the noise is transmitted by the sway bar itself. You can replace these rods without even removing the tire. Just remove the two nuts holding them on, and slide them out. The part number is
1W4Z-5K484-AA. I bought mine for about $17. If it were the ball joints, you would only hear a poping noise in slow off camber turn ins.

Thanks! I appreciate this. What are they called? Thanks again,

Roger

[rogerLS]

Originally Posted by jpbrown

This is an easy and cheap fix. The lincoln ls has an excellent suspension, but the weak link is the little rods that connect the sway bar to the lower suspension. You can see them by looking under the car from the front, they will be near the tire. A little free play in these rods can cause a thunking noise a low speeds, and the noise is hard to isolate because the noise is transmitted by the sway bar itself. You can replace these rods without even removing the tire. Just remove the two nuts holding them on, and slide them out. The part number is
1W4Z-5K484-AA. I bought mine for about $17. If it were the ball joints, you would only hear a poping noise in slow off camber turn ins.

How can you tell that they are worn. I was looking at them last night, pulling, pushing on them, etc. nothing looked cracked or worn. Would worn struts do the same sound? I have 60k miles on my car. Lincoln wants $40 per side for the parts and ford $25 per side but both places have to order the part. I just thought I would ask for wear signs of the links before I replaced them.

Appreciate your time,
Roger