Lincoln LS

ls1bmw0

The brake pads on the LS, at least on mine, had the squealers (as I call them) on. They are V-shaped pieces that clip onto the pads. Artie, are you sure yours didn't have them? I'd think that would be a strange thing to decontent

I must confess that we also have what used to be the monsters of the SUV world, a Chevy Suburban. The wife drives it. We got it because where we used to live we towed a boat all over the place, and when you're as, ummm, space-fitting challenged, as I am, a Burb will swallow up a ton of camping gear, car seats, and a bazillion toys for young Kanatuna.

Of course, that was all before LLSOC, so it's kind of embarrasing to be in the thing wearing our LLSOC jackets when we go to pick stuff up at the local Home Depot. I've convinced the smarter half that when the woolly mammoth goes off lease at the end of this year we should look at something smaller, and in the Lincoln line, perhaps the Aviator, since the Navigator is still too big and way too expensive for a truck.

Brian

lolaj42

I'm with you Brian . . . I'm definitely inclined to give the Aviator a good look when it comes out. I need a people mover, and one with ground clearance for all the park trails out here in Arizona and the rest of the West. Driving the Apache trail or the Organ Pipe National Park loops in the LS just wouldn't be a smart move.

Despite the gas mileage penalty, there's still a place for an SUV in my garage.

scottc8

I finally saw the manual sedan comparison this morning, so forgive me if I think this dead horse deserves one more whack. It's too ludicrous to get angry about. Case in point: The Saab requires that "the rubbery shifter is mastered and the flexy chassis is understood . . ." This car is judged to be a better sports sedan than the LS6 manual. By what standards, I couldn't guess.

mdurden1

I'm going to trade for a new LS tomorrow, but am having terrible time with color. I'm not fond of Black, but that seems to be the most popular color. I like the Premium model, but most of the cars I see are the Sport. Does the sport have a different suspension from the Premium? I like the wood & Leather steering wheel, but it only comes on the Premium and the Premium only comes in Black and in light colors. I like Silver and I like the Midnight Grey. Any thoughts on colors. What are the most popular colors in this group?? Sorry this is disjointed, but I'm tired.

drolds1

Nope, Brian. There were definitely no wear indicators on my pads. After the dealer told me my brakes were about shot at 19K, I couldn't believe it, so I pulled the wheels myself to check. The pads were down to about the thickness of the backing plate. No squeal (except the one that made me complain in the first place) and no squealers. No mention of it in the OM either. I know what they look like; my GM cars had them 20 years ago.

SUV's certainly are useful to those that make use of their capabilities. I'm afraid that a lot more get purchased for other reasons.

My wife's cousin bought a Dodge Durango, then proceeded to complain about the gas mileage, they'd like to get out of the lease, etc. Hello, 5000lbs. 5.9L V8. I told her that last I checked, they hadn't repealed the laws of physics. When they got it, her husband was telling me it's loaded; even has "anti-skid plates." I said, I think you mean skid-plates. He says "oh, whatever."

The market is moving towards smaller, crossover SUV's. People buy them and afetr living with them for a while, they realize that they really did not want a truck.

lolaj42

The Premium package gives you the ride and handling of the Sport package, but doesn't give you the control afforded by the Select Shift Transmission (SST). I find the SST transmission invaluable in the mountains and on steep grades . . . allows you to select a gear of your choosing without the transmission subsequently overriding you. Also, the Sport package gives you the leather wrapped steering wheel and gear selector so as not to lose your grip on the controls when the road gets twistie! The Premium package admittedly provides the more luxurious looking wood adorned steering wheel and gear selector, but an aggressive driver may "have a greater propensity to loose their grip" on the wheel.

Colors selections are completely personal. I have a Silver Sport V-8 with the light graphite interior. I love mine, but I like many of the other colors also. As my salesman related to me when I made my purchase decision . . . "the Black Sport package LS looks like a mafia staff car." I think that was a compliment, implying that it looked really intimidating. Living in Arizona with lots of INTENSE sunshine, I tend to prefer lighter colored cars, but I see plenty of Black cars out here in general. I'd recommend you go with your initial selection, otherwise you'll forever be second guessing yourself.

Either way you go (Sport/Premium/Color) you can't lose. The LS is one sweet ride you'll never get enough of! Keep us posted on what you decide.

ezaircon4jc

I got silverfrost/deep charcoal. I love this combo. Colour is a VERY personal thing. I wanted what the wife unit calls "bad boy black". She won and I really like the silverfrost! Mine is a non-sport without the SST, however (with deference to lolaj42) I can manually shift also. I can also start out in 1st gear with <60% throttle. The SST starts in second unless >60% throttle is used. The wood can get slippery when the hands get sweaty. I still like the look though!

As lolaj42 said, whatever you choose, you've chosen one mighty fine ride! Just over 33k and I STILL look for reasons to drive. The wife unit insists we go to Hawai'i. I told her only if I can drive . I lost that one too

desertguy

When I first moved to Ariz. in 1959, you NEVER saw a black car owned by full time residents. The few that were around were "easterners" visiting or just moving to the Valley of the Sun. If you did move to Ariz. with a black car they really killed you at trade in time as the resale value was very poor. Of course in '59, not that many cars were running around Phoenix with air conditioning either.

lolaj42

The way the population has exploded out here since '59, you'd never know this was a desert. I got here in '84, and the place has changed dramatically just since then. Heck, we now have a Freeway System since I arrived here! It wasn't until the '90s that I-10 was completed from coast-to-coast, with the last stretch being completed in Phoenix.

I tell you what, black cars are just as common as any other color out here now. Hey Artie, we've been in the 70s for over a week now, but we're expecting a cold front to move through, dropping the temps down to the 60s during the day. Brrrrrr! ;-)

mdurden1

Sorry for the disjointed post last night. I guess what I have a problem with is that the Sport Package with a sunroof and chrome wheels costs more than the Premium, but the Sport doesn't look as "opulent" so to speak. I live in the Atlanta, GA area and we deal with heat here too, but I see an awful lot of black cars on the road. If the heat weren't enough, I had a black car back in the 80"s and remember that when it was clean there was nothing prettier, but when it was dirty or needed waxing, nothing was much uglier.

I'm thinking about getting the Silver Frost with Light Graphite and seeing if I can change the shift knob to the wood one and also add some after market wood to the dash. The wood is another disappointment. It would cost little more per car to run the wood up to the top of the center piece above the radio and down the console back to the armrest and I think it would look far better. Just my $0.02!

krystalg

I have a 2001 LS V-8 Sport. I purchased it in April 2001 and now have 8k miles on it. I live in the washington dc/va/md area and in stop and go traffic my car front breaks seems to be scrubbing. I took the car in for service and was told that nothing is wrong.
This past weekend I has a car full of people and it started the noise again, being "haters" they could not believe a car with 8k on it should need breaks. I was wondering if anyone else had this problem and if so what was the solution. I love my car but if this continue it will be traded in very soon.
Any advice is appreciated.

lolaj42

I agree with you about the attractiveness of the wood trim. I added a wood kit to the interior of my car, and I think it looks 1000% better. After living with the sport package, I've grown acustomed to the leather wheel, and like the tactile sensation, so I wouldn't be inclined to switch.

Here's a question for the folks with the wood appointed wheel and shift knob and have more than, say 20K miles . . . have you noticed any scratching in your wood wheel or has it ever felt too slippery?

krystalg

I have a 2001 LS V-8 Sport. I purchased it in April 2001 and now have 8k miles on it. I live in the washington dc/va/md area and in stop and go traffic my car front breaks seems to be scrubbing. I took the car in for service and was told that nothing is wrong.
This past weekend I has a car full of people and it started the noise again, being "haters" they could not believe a car with 8k on it should need breaks. I was wondering if anyone else had this problem and if so what was the solution. I love my car but if this continue it will be traded in very soon.
Any advice is appreciated.

akirby

You are correct about black - awesome when first cleaned and polished but shows dirt and small scratches much more than other colors. I personally think the silver/light charcoal looks great. The wood kit looks great - here's a picture of mine on the light parchment interior:

http://home.att.net/~ajkirby/lsdash.jpg

I also think it should have come that way from the factory.

I don't think you would have any trouble swapping out the wood shifter if that's what you want. Better yet - get the dealer to do it for you. I bought mine at Frank Jackson in Sandy Springs. I also let them put on the wood kit - I saw one in the showroom and nobody had yet purchased the kit from exoticwooddash or joshua tree so I wasn't sure what I would get. Cost a little more but I didn't have to fuss with it and if they screwed up they would have fixed it. If I did it again I would do it myself and save the $$.

akirby

Krystalg - don't take this personally but.....

Why do people here constantly spell brakes b-r-e-a-k-s???

I'm sorry, but it drives me absolutely nuts!
Especially when you spelled it right in the title.

But, to answer the question, the BRAKES should not be making any noise af 8k. What type of noise is it? What did the dealer say? Could be a sticky caliper. If you take your hands off the wheel does the car drift to one side (try this in an empty level parking lot - not on the freeway). If you can't convince the dealer it's not right then by all means find another dealer. If you still can't get it fixed talk to LS1BMW0 - he has contacts at Lincoln that can help if the dealer won't/can't. This is not a common problem that you should have to live with. If you were to trade you would get killed with depreciation. I'm sure that you can get this fixed.

chartrand

I have a 2000 non sport with dealer added wood kit,wood wheel and shift knob. My life has very dry skin and slathers on the hand creams. I have to wipe down the steering wheel (seriously) before I can drive. The wood wheel slips right through my hands.
I like the look of all the wood. It adds a luxury touch in my opinion.

Ray
Charter member llsoc

jhoffman61

I just had my pads changed at 30k in mid-December. They had been squealing since about 23k. According to the dealer, there are no wear indicators on the pads (early 2000 sport model).
The Sport pads were not available at that time either. I wanted to switch to the non-sport pad anyway to try to reduce the brake dust (it has).
Service manager claimed his new 2002 LS has 3000k and it's pads are squealing too.

einarvikng

...or the lack there-of. So, I bought my 2000 sport with 7,500 on the odometer. ...couldn't afford the ticket to order one exactly the way I wanted it.

Needless to say, I am not too thrilled with the stereo system (non-audiophile, as if Lincoln knew what an audiophile is). I am ready to buy 2 sets of the Polk dx7 as everyone recommends, but I am concerned with an 89 dB sensitivity rating that I will loose a considerable amount of volume and am considering buying a 4-chanel amp with the speakers. I therfore have two questions for the forum.

1. With all of the Polk retrofits out there, has anyone a comment on the difference in volume over the stock speakers?

2. Has anyone added an amp? Does anyone have access to the stock stereo specs and wiring diagrams? Are there any diagrams availabe on how to PROPERLY remove (for wire access) the stock stereo?

Any help or comment is appricaited.

Still loving every minute of this car after 34,000 mi.

Enjoy folks,

Scott

stanny1

Scott, I have the base audio with glove box CD changer in my 2000 (Feb build) Manual LS and have 4 Polk DX-7's. I could discern no loss of volume or clipping at high volumes. They just blast and blast. The stock speakers are SO bad. Installation instructions with pictures are on the LLSOC site. Be sure to order the Crutchfield adaptors. They also had the Polks on sale but I got mine on the internet - it pays to shop. Stan.

brunobus

I have to chime in on the huge vehicle thing. I do know that Chevy is coming out with a pickup truck that is basically one of the cab on chassis models but optioned out with 4 doors and a pickup bed. The bed is 8 feet wide (yes that is not a typo) and about 10 feet long. Total vehicle length was somewhere in the vicinity of 27 feet.

Bruno

matt1972

On occassion when I get in the car (2001 Sport)and insert the key, either the steering wheel or the seat do not return to their previous position. This doesn't happen all the time but it is very annoying to say the least! When I press the memory button on the door, then all is well. The dealer has the car to replace the harness for the hard starting problem and this did not address the seat, steering wheel problem. Does anyone have any ideas as to what may be causing this to happen? My one thought is that there is a problem with the ignition swith in the dash since it appears that the key being inserted causes the seat and steering wheel to move. Thanks in advance!
Matt

akirby

I had a similar problem but only with the seat. It would not return to position when the key was inserted. Before I could take it back to the dealer I changed my seating position slightly and the problem has not reoccurred. I think that there was a bad spot where the sensor would read incorrectly and the computer thought the seat was where it should be. Pressing the memory button would not help (again another indication that the computer thought it was ok). Changing the position bypassed that spot. But in your case if both the seat and wheel did not move upon key insertion but did move after pressing the memory button, that sounds like a different problem. Try changing the wheel and seat location slightly and see if it makes a difference. Otherwise you'll have to hope the dealer can reproduce it.

stanny1

Just my prediction. If they will buy Excursions, then they will just escalate up to F450 size. I was joking about Peterbilt buiding a mini-semi, but a couple years down the road...

ezaircon4jc

lolaj42. 33k and loving the look of the wood. No scratches or "buffing". The only problem is that the wood can get awfully hot sitting in direct sunlight!

lolaj42

I investigated swapping out my leather wrapped wheel for a wood trimed one shortly after I took delivery. My dealer got me a price of $200, plus the labor (which was quoted as less than 1 hour).

Personally, I love the look of the wood trimmed steering wheel, and agree with the sentiments expressed by everyone that it adds to luxury look of the car. However, I do like the tactile sensation of the leather wheel and truly believe it provides a "more positive grip" than the wood.

My salesman also thought the wood might tend to show scratches over time, hence my question. I'm glad to hear that scratches aren't a problem.

cdnpinhead

As some of you are probably aware, there is a topic on Edmunds -- "I Don't Like SUV's -- Why Do You?", or something to that effect. Well over a year ago, I opined that the ultimate SUV was a used (or new, if you want to get into the Hummer price range) tractor with a custom sleeper. A cabover is higher, and given the new length and other road rules, they aren't being made anymore. Even the smallest ones weigh 12,000 lbs, and they seem to embody most of what SUV's are touted to provide.

Hide and watch.

packv12

I have had similar experiences. I generally attribute it to when I manually change the setting from the memory position. Unlike Akirby, once I hit the memory button, the seat repositions itself and will work fine thereafter.

mweinstein2

Today, January 14th, is the last day of Lincolns current offers. I am looking to lease an LS Premium with Advance Trac, 3 year, 15k a year. Would be interested when someone on the board finds out about the new offer if they can post it. Also anyone who is currently leasing a similar car, if they can share what they are paying.

Thanks

ls1bmw0

For the first time in a really long time I was able to take the project car on a long freeway drive without any city driving. Temperature was around 60 degrees, no air conditioning running and speed varied between 70 and 90 mph, but mainly at 80 mph. I averaged 27 mpg over two hundred miles. I think opening up the intake system helped out quite a bit with the mileage since the last time I ran it for any distance before the latest intake mods. was around 24 mpg.

Brian

andyl2

I have a 2002 Sport V8 with the optional Advanetrac. I am occasionally getting the advance track icon coming on on the dash (ahd staying on) along with the message "check advancetrac" on the driver information center. The only way to reset the message is to shut the car off and restart it. The dealer says it has to be failing for them to diagnose it. The one time it did fail and they checked the codes, 12 codes were set, so that didn't help. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

hmm

Yesterday I was driving my 01 LS V8 Sport (9,000 miles) going about 50 MPH when I realized I was about to miss my turn. I hit the brakes hard and started turning right, when the engine died. Losing the power steering caused me to go too wide on my turn, but fortunately I did not hit anything, but it scared the crap out of me.

Anybody have this happen or know what could cause it?

Also, my LS is black with tan interior, and I live in the Atlanta, GA area. The heat was not a problem. My car sits in the sun all day at work. When I get to the parking lot I open all the windows with the remote and by the time I get to the car (about 60 feet) it has cooled off. I also like the feel of the leather steering wheel and shift nob.

akirby

But you have the tan interior, not the charcoal. That probably makes more of a difference in interior heat than the exterior. I have the Autumn Red w/parchment and I don't have any problems with heat (I'm also in Atlanta). But Black/Charcoal would probably turn into the George Foreman grill on a 98 degree day sitting in the sun.

klarson1

Geeeesh.... it's been awhile... Tried to open my moonroof today and it would only tilt up but would not retract..plus the switch has an intermintant problem... works when it wants to...
But... I have the only LS that is not the "perfect" car of the century..If anyone wants to test my car "TOPS" the CR " Don't buy this used vehicle" report.... let me know

Kevin
Who's on his way to the dealer to fix his Heated Seat ( second time) and Moonroof Problem.

akirby

Ok, this is paraphrased from BON (nuff said), but it sounds plausible:

Due to Federal weight restrictions, Ford has been limited in the number of LS's they can
sell with the 17" 5 spoke chrome wheels. Lincoln will now offer 17" 5 spoke SuperSilver wheels as an option on V6 and V8 Premium models.

CAFE - brought to you by the same government that mandated airbags which can kill children but were invented to save idiots who aren''t smart enough to wear seatbelts.

akirby

Are you sure you aren't parking the car on top of some ancient Indian burial ground?
:-)

scottc8

. . . or cut off an old Gypsy woman in traffic?

klarson1

klarson1

Thats what I Like about this board... we are all a bunch a sadistic car owners....
Thru it all... and I dont know why...... I luv this car...
Kevin

alphanstein

All I can say about the wood steering wheel is that while it looks nice and feels good, it has a drawback when you drive the car aggressively and if your palms get sweaty, well, let's just say I would rather have leather in that instance. But no scratches.

My Taurus almost died a couple of different times when I did random turning stops. I think the pressure from the turn upset the intake and caused this to happen. But the car just fluttered a little and finally kicked back in. I figured I can't complain because the dealer would say, your not suppose to drive the Taurus like a racecar. As far as why it happened on the LS I can only guess it's something like this or computer related. A few of us did some hard turns and braking in San Diego in the LS's and we had no problems of this sort.

johnnylinc

Maybe he went to see "Glitter".

JLinc, piling on...

scottc8

This is a wild shot, but my car was inadvertently left a qt. low on ATF after a service procedure, and one of the symptoms was that it would nearly stall when coming to a stop, felt like it was about to die during a late downshift. At 50 mph, the torque converter was probably locked; maybe it was slow to unlock???

Scott
LLSOC Member

johnnylinc

Something similar happened to me once. I exited a freeway, going at a fairly rapid clip, and had to cross three lanes on the frontage road to get into the right-turn lane. I pressed the brake pedal to slow down for a traffic light; the engine lost RPM, just as it normally does when you get off the gas and hit the brake, but when the car stopped the engine just stalled. It was as if it suddenly lost fuel pressure or something.

I wasn't going THAT fast, and wasn't braking nearly hard enough to activate the ABS; it was a fairly normal (but slightly quick) maneuver. The car started immediately thereafter, and operated normally; no subsequent warning lights or anything. This happened a couple months ago, IIRC; there has been no hint of a recurrence. I don't know what to make of it, but I can see how it might be unnerving in the wrong situation...

JLinc, LLSOC charter member

tom12253

This situation happened to me recently with my 2002 V8 Sport, so I posted the same question in The Master Technician Forum over at llsoc.com. One of our resident techs replied back and suggested having the trans fluid level checked also. I'm do for a oil change in another week or so, so I will have it checked then.

Tom
Member LLSOC

jimchi

NO ONE knows what the new incentives from Lincoln are??? Someone posted over a week ago that they had "inside scoop" that the new incentives for a lease beat the old ones. He seems to have disappeared. I've called the Lincoln 800 number and they know nothing and say they hear only "by word of mouth". Posting my name and number on Lincoln's web site to have several dealers contact me to sell me a car has produced zero calls after 10 days. Even Auto-by-Tel hasn't called me. Walking into my local Lincoln dealer here in Roseville and meeting with some 70 year old salesman gave me the clear impression that this dealer wasn'ty about to sell me a car for less than sticker price plus some. I've concluded Lincoln simply doesn't want to sell cars. Isn't there a rep from Lincoln on this message board any longer? - If not I can understand why- I'd be ashamed to show my face with the marketing program and dealers Lincoln has. I think maybe I'll look at an Infiniti.

packv12

Wow, have you reread your post. I'm sure that there will be new incentives announced once the 0% finally dies, probably within this week. I've seen ads for low leasing rates in the mid west, but I'm not sure what the terms were.

I'm sorry that we can't help you out more, I know that it's all about you, but Lincoln (Ford) keep many things close to the vest. If you're implying that JR was a "rep" from Lincoln, you missed the boat. He was far more that a "rep" and has gone on to "rep" the entire PAG unit.

Enjoy your Infiniti!

ronniepooh

Read in Car and Driver that a tip to freshen the look of the dash is to wipe on your usual armorall-type protectant, immediately follow that by wiping the dash again with a damp towel, then wipe again with a dry towel. This supposedly will give the dash a nice fresh look without the shine and glare. YMMV

ronniepooh

Im still working on my low-budget, do-it-yourself mobile video project in the LS. When I finish, I'll post a detailed synopsis on www.llsoc.com, and hopefully provide Brian some pictures as well. I do now have 5.6 inch monitors installed in the headrests, with sound coming through the stock stereo system via an FM Modulator. The guys at www.theautoaccessories.com did the headrest install job. (I mailed my headrests to them).
I also now know that having a single DVD player in the trunk wont be the answer long-term. Thus, my options. Exchange my single player for a DVD changer, or, relocate the factory CD changer from the glovebox to the trunk. That would allow me to install a smaller single DVD player into the glove, possibly a DIN sized unit, allowing me to switch DVD's on the fly, if you will, as opposed to the inevitable "Daddy, we want to watch Monsters Inc, instead of Shrek", forcing me to pull over at an inopportune time. (I know, Ive spoiled my 2 and 5 year old daughters...but how many of YOU guys ARENT wrapped around your little girls fingers?)

So, my question is: Has anyone removed the factory CD changer to relocate it to the trunk? If so, was removal difficult? Any ideas on where I can obtain an extension to the factory CD changer cable, in the event I do decide to relocate the changer to the trunk?

Thanx..

Ron

akirby

I'm not positive, but didn't the S-types come with a trunk mounted cd changer? It's a long shot but if it's the same unit then Jag should have the extra length cable to reach the trunk. Or you could cut the connector off and splice in 10 feet of cable. Depending on the size of the wires this could be really simple or a real pain in the rear. Just make sure the new wires are the same gauge as the connector wires or smaller (smaller gauge = bigger wire) and use some type of crimp connector (I would wrap the connection with some type of insulation - tape or a shrink-wrap sleeve). You could also check www.radiosandmore.com or crutchfield. They may have an adapter cable that will work.

akirby

Ronniepooh - I just checked www.radiosandmore.com and they show a harness for the LS that will reach to the trunk. The part number appears to be (check this for yourself - I could be wrong) XU3F-14588-DA and it's around $40.

Personally I think I would go for the DVD changer in the trunk. I would also put in headphone jacks. Listening to Rugrats over and over is bad for your mental health. Since you're already FM modulated you could get wireless FM headsets. I have them with my visteon entertainment system in the absolutely-humongous-gas-guzzling-never leaves-the-pavement-weapon-of-mass-destruction Expedition. They work fine.

audia8q

The current LS program for the Boston region which is most of New England....Other regions could be different!!

$0 cash rebate
2.9% 36 mo
4.9% 48 mo
6.9% 60 mo

LS6A... 36 mo lease residual is 50% and 6.0% rate
LS8.....36 mo lease residual is 48% and 3.0% rate
15K per year.

You do not want customer reabtes!!! As appealing as they are, you almost always pay for them at resale.. Cash rebates always hurts vehicle resale value.