2nd Nov 2006, 21:12

I have owned my 2000 Lincoln Ls V8 for over three years. For the most part I have loved the car. It has 94,000 miles and it has had some of the same problems.

I have replaced the wheel bearing twice on the same wheel.

One window regulator (there is another that is loose, but I don’t allow anyone to put it down, fearing it will fall and I will have to replace it).

As for the coils, three have been replaced. The car is misfiring and will until I replace all the coils. A Ford dealer gave me a theory on the coil problem. Only on the Lincoln LS’ is there a pretty cover over the coils (other Fords do not have this cover nor the coil problems). The theory is that the cover heats up the coils and destroys them. Maybe to prevent the problem the covers can be taken off and thrown away. The valve cover gasket was replaced, but I still smell the oil burning.

I’m now having an intermitting overheating problem. The temperature gauge starts to heat up and if I turn the heat on it brings the temperature back down. Once, it pegged hot, but the engine had no signs of overheating. It cooled off in 15 minutes and I was on my way. Can anyone help me diagnose this problem?

3rd Nov 2006, 08:53

Wow, this website is really negative, I've just went to a dealership, and looked at the 2000 LS, good price for the car, but now I see all the things that goes wrong, I don't know what to do : (

3rd Nov 2006, 10:18

To the commenter with the mild overheating problem closely above. (I haven't read all 60+ comments!) You did not mention all your maintenance history, so this is only a suggestion. I read about a different Ford model on this site, that had a mild overheating problem and the fix was a water pump replacement. The pump impeller blades had corroded off the shaft and were not pushing the coolant thru the block. Since you have close to 100K on your car, it would not be a bad idea to replace the pump anyway (unless you did this recently). 100K on a water pump is excellent; this doesn't make your car junk. Pumps are usually pretty cheap, $20-$50, but you have to check for your model. Oh and if the blades did corrode, perhaps you should change the coolant too.

9th Nov 2006, 10:14

I also have a 200Lincoln LS I had MAJOR problems... had them fixed and it's running like silk for NOW... Sell time, anyways seems it overheats for MAY reason, mine was a sticky themostat, the hesitation in reverse was the fact that the first cylinder wasn't firing, somesaid TRANSMISSION, that's a scary thought since a rebuild is $3400, however I found a transmission expert in my area... he said it was the SOLENOID and replaced it, and now it's running like silk, except now my heat won't kick in... it blows off air, but the temperature won't rise...it's freaking cold! Getting it checked out today.

13th Nov 2006, 17:29

I would tell anyone that is reading this site not to buy this car, but as soon as I get it fixed I'm selling it so I would recommend a Lincoln LS to anyone. This car has been a poorly engineered and the service of F/L/M dealerships is some of the worst customer service I've ever experienced. I have the foggy headlights, the replaced driver side window regulator, stripped lug nuts, ever glowing airbag indicator, squeaky brakes/rotors whatever, and the list goes on. My main issue is the occasional overheating. I've had the thermostat replaced, some hose connected to the radiator replaced, the water hose replaced, coolant flush, and some sealant in the radiator just for good measure. I thought I had it taken care of everthing, but found out that was not the case in front of the club of all places. I don't even want to talk about the car dealer who hit my car and refused to fix the damage. I think I'm gonna go to law school just so I can start the class action law suit. If anyone hears of one let me know.

14th Nov 2006, 13:53

June of 2005 I purchased a 2002 Lincoln LSE sports package, chromed wheels etc... BEAUTIFUL CAR Certified pre-owned from a Lincoln dealership in my area. Buying certified pre-owned is like buying brand new with the 70000 mile warranty!! GREAT!! Just today I had my Lincoln towed through road side asst. to the local Lincoln dealer!! I started my car, had a horrible gas like smell, pulled it out of the garage & noticed a silver dollar size of oil!!! Went to get gas & came back & under the hood was smoking!!! Still waiting to hear from the dealership to see what the problem is!!! Sounds like I am in for it!! Luckily I have the warranty for another 25000 miles!!! Oh, forgot to add my air bag light has been on now for about 3 months!!! : (

16th Nov 2006, 12:28

I have a 2000 Lincoln LS, that I bought in 03' I have 129,000 miles on it now and since I bought it I've replaced 2 coils that were covered under my extended warranty. Now my temperature gauge will rise to hot anytime that I open the coolant reservoir. Last week my check engine light came on for couple of minutes then it went away, I took it to the shop and the diagnosis was that the temperature gauge was malfunctioning, I noticed that the check engine light only comes on when going up a steep upgrade. I'm taking my car to the Lincoln dealership and I hope it will be a simple fix.

20th Nov 2006, 18:59

Hey fellow awesome looking car owners! That's about it, isn't it?

Well, same problems as everybody else.

$1400 to change valve cover gaskets and coils (saved $1300 by following directions I found online at lincolnvscadillac.com doing it myself).

$300 on trans solenoid replacement (had to eat that one based on time frame), but the car is working WONDERFULLY now. Hope all this online B-S isn't hindering loyalty, this is indeed an awesome car; looks and performance.

My burgundy black leather 3.9 looks beautiful with chrome 20's and purple LED underbody light kit, and gets a lot of attention from the ladies (and car guys too).

Sound was improved (not to local law enforcement) with dual bandpass 10's and 1000 watt amp.

A cold air intake is an easy and affordable upgrade, and with a decent set of muffs, really performs excellent and sounds just damn nasty (in a good way).

Love the car, hated the problems, but... in the end you get what you pay for, and with some aftermarket parts (like the replaced coil packs), the car is once again beautiful AND reliable.

Happy hunting!

22nd Nov 2006, 12:49

I'm an 01 Lincoln LS owner, car has 58k miles. Over the period of time while car was under warranty the dealership replaced 3 thermostats due to chronic overheating (2.5 years). Same problem exist today, dealership states they ran a block test and I need a new engine at a cost of $7,800. Took it to 2 other repair centers who ran same test, they state block if fine. Had the cooling fan replaced, fixed overheating for 3 months. Put a 4th thermostat in, fixed issue for 2 months. Repair center states this is a unique breed/engine (complicated). They state there is a small crack in the engine coolant recovery bottle. This causes a small air bubble to form by the thermostat thus you have irregular fluctuation. He states any time you loose.5 gallon in coolant recovery bottle, engine can overheat and allow an air bubble to form around the thermostat. Replaced bottle and custom cap at $280. Going to pick up car now, he will show me how to bleed the air in the event this happens again. He also states the reason other fixes worked for a while was that they had bled all air out. Will keep you posted if this does not work.