We have owned this car for about 3 years and it has been one problem after another and see same problems on line 1) Will start over heating sometimes at idle sometimes while driving (try being in DFW rush hour traffic and deal with that 2) Wife was driving one day and a bolt on right lower control arm broke sending her across 4 lanes of traffic including on coming. 3) All of a sudden when brake pedal was depressed started hearing vacuum leak under dash, brake pedal real hard , and couldn't hardly get car to stop, traction control light started flashing. Found bad brake booster and sensor located on it (both unavailable from manufacturer), also found on line that to get light to stop flashing you have to take to dealer and have reprogrammed (nobody else has the ability) 4) Have constantly had problem with check engine light staying on and running rough, no power, and having to replace ignition coils 5) While wife was driving with no advance notice of any kind heading home on farm market road with no shoulder to pull off on transmission went out completely and stopped pulling 6) Rear control arm bushings go from ok to extremely bad causing back end to drift from side to side going down the highway in a blink of an eye 7) Right front sway bar link keeps wearing control arm and snapping stud off 8) Sunroof drain hoses constantly failing and allowing water to get to electrical components The list goes on but all you have to do is a online search of the LS sport with the 3.9 v-8 and see all the problems. I was in automotive for over 16 years and every vehicle generally has its know couple problems but this is way beyond that. There hasn't been any accidents or injuries but real close to it.
2003 Lincoln LS engine problems
15 complaints (22% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 77,303.
- owner complaints
- 15
- of this car's complaints
- 22%
- typical mileage
- 77,303
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Engine3
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Lincoln LS engine problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2003 Lincoln LS engine
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
What 2003 Lincoln LS owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Car gets to hot my fill bucket for the radiator keeps getting a hole in the bottom of it or some where I have replaced it twice and again the same problem with this car. And it has over heated and goes all the way to h now because of this problem it mite now need head gaskets y can't you make this car better then it is and make it with no problems there junk I won't even tell anyone to buy this piece of junk.and it saying safe fail mode over and over like this car is problem after problem can someone fix my car for me at no cost please.
I purchased my 2003 lincoln ls june/2015. Excellent condition, 35,000 miles. Interior immaculate condition leather seats and carpet virutally untouched. Underneath hood the same, hadn't look as if been driven. Exterior body and paint again excellent. The car appeared as if it had stood still in time. Upon investigation, only one owner of the vehicle who'd maintained a first class maintenance record. Over the last week the vehicle my wife was driving she said while driving the vechicle began to stall while she was accelerating in traffic. She stated she was able to get it out the street but in doing so the engine revved up and shut off. Over the past few days on several occasions the vehicle replicated the exact same tendency with me. Stalling, hesitating during acceleration to the point of shut down in the middle of traffic. In motion on a very busy city street. Engine light also came on
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 lincoln ls. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the engine stalled and the vehicle restarted independently. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,066. The VIN was not included.
While driving the car it misfires it doesn't want to go on acceleration..it is leaking oil into the spark plug wells and affecting coils..there was a extension warranty on these parts.but it was 10 years or 100000 mile . I didn't purchase this car till after it already had more than 100000 miles so I was unaware of these extensions and time frames..I spoke with ford/lincoln and basically told the extended warranty would not cover.I feel this should be a recall not extended warranty.
Car hesitates on acceleration since it was new. Took the car to the selling dealer and they could not find a problem. The condition got worse. When traveling down the highway the car starts bucking and misfiring. Took the car back to the selling lincoln dealership (sesi lincoln mercury). They dealership said the drivers door needed adjustment. This made no sense to me and did not fix the problem. The car went out of warranty shortly after that. Now check engine light comes on intermittently and car hesitates, bucks, stalls and runs rough, misfires at highway speeds, and mil starts flashing. The cowl plastic piece has a poor seal on it that lets water onto the engine electrical system. Ford issued a technical service bulletin that addresses this issue and ford admits that seals need to be replaced. This may not be the only problem with this cars electrical system, but it is a big problem. This is a design defect, nothing a customer can do to prevent this. Ford should have recalled these cars and fixed them at no cost. The fact that their dealerships were hiding the real reason for this misfire and not repairing the vehicles under warranty is breech of contract. Ford should be fined and punished and forced to recall and repair all of these cars. I am an ase master mechanic. I teach automotive service technology at the college level. This should not be happening. The car was garage kept and very well maintained, it looks new. I found that # 6 cylinder had a p0306 coil misfire dtc. I had to remove the intake manifold just to see the coil on plug set up on the passenger side bank of engine. Turns out there is poor sealing of the windshield cowl area and water runs directly onto the engine and engine electrical system. The water shorts out the coils, spark plugs, computer and electrical system. The car is not safe to drive. This can happen at any time especially when wet.
Hello, I bought a 2003 lincoln ls and I'm getting a message on the dash that is saying etc fail safety mode and the car is not able to go over 30 MPH, and has very slow pick up and is running very hard. I have found that sometimes if I turn the car off/on the message does not come up the car drives normally. I have tried replacing the throttle body after getting the check engine light came on with to codes p0207 and p02110 and I'm still having the same problem. I have read allot of complaints about this problem with fix.
I have been having the same problems from day one since I bought this car. I had a brand new transmission put in by the lincoln place three years ago. Now my transmission is acting up again. 1. Transmission shifts rough or jerky from park 2. Transmission shifts rough or jerky while driving 3. Gear changes take to long to complete 4. Shifts occur too early, too late, too often 5.always having to replace the same parts.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 lincoln ls. While driving 35 MPH she noticed the parking brake/ service engine warning lights illuminated on the instrument control panel. Several days later while starting the ignition she noticed smoke under the hood of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a local repair facility. A technician stated that she had an oil leak from the rear of the engine that was dripping on the exhaust manifold. Also the engine would go into limp mode without warning; which drastically reduced the vehicles speed. She had the throttle body repaired at an expense of $489.00. The repair did not remedy the failure. The failure and current mileages were 77,303. The steering was noisy when the consumer made turns, the anti-lock brake light and traction control light illuminated. The oil pan was leaking. All of the tire had to be replaced due to excessive wear. The power steering fluid was also leaking from the vehicle. Updated 01/26/10.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 lincoln ls. On two different occasions, while driving between 35-65 MPH, the vehicle lost power and power steering. The failure occurred intermittently and without warning. The dealer stated that the vehicle was fine even though the stability enhancing system light continues to illuminate. The purchase date was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 110,000.
Questions about the 2003 Lincoln LS engine
Does the 2003 Lincoln LS have engine problems?
Owners have filed 15 complaints about the engine of the 2003 Lincoln LS, 22% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2003 Lincoln LS engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 77,303 miles.
Is there a recall for the 2003 Lincoln LS engine?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
Other 2003 Lincoln LS problems
Transmission 20Electrical 11Brakes 8Acceleration 7Suspension 7Airbags 6Seats 6Steering 6Wheels 6Fuel system 5Driver assistance 3Tires 3Body 1Visibility 1
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