Two problems related to manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe have been reported for the 2003 Lincoln LS. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Lincoln LS based on all problems reported for the 2003 LS.
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.
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.