Damn those misfires

Ok, first and foremost, let me say hi. Well, where to begin...I have looked up and down this forum about cylinder misfires etc. Well, that is exactly what brings me to this forum. I through a 8cyl misfire. Well, I did the sparkplug thing and replace all 8. The car ran great for about two weeks. Then here recently it started jerking, and "putt putt" all over again. I have all the symptoms that have been described, oil in the wells, etc. My question is, how hard is it to change out the gaskets yourself, and which side of the enging is the 8cyl on. Passenger or Driver. I was an old chevy guy, but I love my LS, this process is just getting very annoying. Any imput would be great....Thanks in advance.

Guys help!!!!

Ok, first and foremost, let me say hi. Well, where to begin...I have looked up and down this forum about cylinder misfires etc. Well, that is exactly what brings me to this forum. I through a 8cyl misfire. Well, I did the sparkplug thing and replace all 8. The car ran great for about two weeks. Then here recently it started jerking, and "putt putt" all over again. I have all the symptoms that have been described, oil in the wells, etc. My question is, how hard is it to change out the gaskets yourself, and which side of the enging is the 8cyl on. Passenger or Driver. I was an old chevy guy, but I love my LS, this process is just getting very annoying. Any imput would be great....Thanks in advance.

So you want to replace the gaskets and need to know where the number 8 cyl is.

1st do you have a lot of tools?

The cylinders are laid out as such.

Rear of engine
4 8
3 7
2 6
1 5
Front of engine
(L)You(R)

You may have a bad Ignition Coil and get this there are 8 of them if you haven't found out already. Unless you can get someone to diagnose which one is misfiring you may have to replace them 1 at a time or just swap the new one around till you found the misfire.

Count your blessing you dont have the V6.. We have the pleasure of having to remove our intake system just to change the Coils and plugs. When I have to go in on the left side i just replace them all at once.

The interior light designers on the LS must of had a big influence over the intake group for the V6.

Changing valve cover gaskets is a DIY job, done with simple tools. I'm 1/2 way through doing them on my V8, did the passenger side last weekend, will do the driver's side next weekend. Gaskets are in a kit, one per side, about $20/side from Ford. What year LS do you have? It's typically the 00's that experience the gasket failures, but as the newer ones age they also may exhibit the same problems.

That should solve your oil leak problems, and then you can take care of your misfiring coils/plugs. Again.

Hey guys, thanks a bunch. I did get the check engine light, and it was the 8 cy. I swaped out all the plugs, and replaced the coil. The car runs better, however its still hesitates when accelerating. What else could it be. My light turned off, so I can see if its another coil or what. Thanks again guys for the imput. If I swap out the gaskets, will that help?

might try cleaning the Mass Aif Flow sensor with some eletrical contact cleaner. If you have an 00 that MAF was notoriously bad. Did you install a K&N Air Filter? If so the oil from the filter is known to build up on the MAF which would result in poor reading at the MAF.

Fuel pump failure isn't unheard of... Is the hesitation just at the initial part of acceleration or is it later...like the engine is running short of fuel. High speed runs can also be problematic with a bad pump.

There are two, BTW. One transfers fuel from one side of the "saddle" to the other while the second is responsible for pressurizing the fuel rail. The transfer pump shouldn't be a problem, but most stories I've heard have had that pump replaced while they're in there.

also when the fule pumps are replaced the engineers highly recommend that the REM, Rear Electronic Module, be replaced. Unfortuneately, I know this from experience. Only way to check fuel pressure is to install a line pressure gauge in the engine compartment, stick the gauge out from under the hood on to the windshield and drive until you either see the pressure drop or are satisfied that isnt the problem.