Hesitation at Full Throttle

Hi Everyone,

I have a 2000 LS V8 with 111K miles on it. The car runs great until I have to accelerate at full throttle. As the RPM's are climbing the car starts jerking, and I can hear the motor cutting in and out. I am wondering what is causing this. I will be changing out the spark plugs this weekend, and am hoping this will solve the problem. Does anyone think this will solve it, or should I expect a bigger problem? Thanks.

-Grant

Sounds like the plugs. Get the cap, pugs, wires, and fuel filter done. If that doesn't solve it, then its going to be something a little more complicated

While checking the plugs, pay attention for any signs of oil in the spark plug wells and on the coils. Sounds like it could be caused by the very common issue of leaking valve cover plug well seals which cause the coils to misfire.

Your LS does not have a distributor cap or plug wires, it has the Coil On Plug (COP) system, one coil for every spark plug. You can search the forum for more details.

-Rod

Same problem on 01ls8. Changed sparkplugs and yesterday it drove GREAT! Today, I thought it was going to die!!! Very low idle, and a dead miss/thump when accelerating. HELP please! This car is a pain in the purse to work on, but Ford goes back in my family more than 50 years. LOVE my ls, I just wish it were easier to work on. I hate paying the dealer, and they jerk you around!:banghead:
Thanks...

You can search around on this forum and quickly find that leaking valve cover plug well seals are very common to cause coil packs to misfire. Did you change the plugs, or did you have it done? If you did it, did you see any signs of oil in any of the spark plug wells? If so, that is probably the source of the misfire. You're probably looking at valve cover gaskets and a new coil or two.

A high quality scan tool should be able to tell you through the component parameters which cylinder(s) is/are misfiring, even if your Check Engine Light is not on.

-Rod

Thanks Rod...My husband changed them, and there was signs of oil...checking in to problem...
Sherry

You should plan to replace the valve cover gaskets AND spark plug well seals. I believe there is either a revised gasket set for the 2000-2001 cars, or you just buy the set for the 2002 to reduce the chance of the replacement gaskets leaking again soon. If you don't fix the leak, you will find yourself replacing the coils again soon.

-Rod

I believe there is either a revised gasket set for the 2000-2001 cars, or you just buy the set for the 2002 to reduce the chance of the replacement gaskets leaking again soon
-Rod

Yes, if you get the factory gaskets make you get the black ones, not the orginal grey ones or you'll be doing again in the future.