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Lincoln LS6 engine power loss


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rhamaker
Novice

Dec 9, 2012, 8:23 AM

Post #1 of 11 (2089 views)
Lincoln LS6 engine power loss Sign In

OK, I am posting here hoping that someone has had this issue before, as I am stumped. I have an 05 Lincoln LS6 that i am working on currently. The car cranks up fine and idles pretty well. When I put it in gear, the engine physically shakes back and fourth and the idle becomes very choppy and sputters, but doesn't die. I can drive the car down the road and it seems the farther i get the worse it drives, but it never dies. The idle gets worse and it has no power at all, almost like it is being choked out. My initial instinct was a clogged catalytic converter, but once I get the car back home and put it in park, it goes back to a pretty smooth idle. I am thinking also that if it was a cat, the car would throw a code. That is the oddest part about it, is I have no engine error codes. I even put an OBD2 reader on it yesterday just to make sure it was clean and the computer thinks it is OK. I dont know if that car has a MAF and a MAP sensor or not, or whether that could even be an issue, but if anyone out there has seen this or can shed light on where to go please let me know. I am stumped at this point, and without a diagnostic code to go off of I am flying blind. I have checked the oil and water and have no bleed over that I can tell so I am fairly confident it isn't a head or gasket problem. I haven't done a compression test to rule it out though. I had thought maybe fuel pump but dont really know a way to test fuel pressure under load, and didnt think it made sense for it to get worse only as more load got put on the engine. It seems as though it is an intake issue, but the throttle body is new on the car and other than the sensors i am not sure what to look at.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Dec 9, 2012, 8:52 AM

Post #2 of 11 (2076 views)
Re: Lincoln LS6 engine power loss Sign In

This wouldn't really be a hard thing for an experienced tech to figure out with the help of a professional scan tool but I can tell you that just about every suggestion you have made would be wrong for the symptoms you are describing. I suggest you enlist some professional help with this. I mean one that actually gets to look at the car.



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

Dec 9, 2012, 9:17 AM

Post #3 of 11 (2056 views)
Re: Lincoln LS6 engine power loss Sign In

LS6? Do you mean LS with the 6 cylinder?

Those are bad for coil problems. When you put the engine underload that puts more load on the ignition coils. If you have a weak coil, it will cause a miss and the engine will buck and have loss of power. You can do one of two things. If you know someone that has a high end scan tool that shows mode $06 information you can look at the misfire CIDs and see which cylinders are counting up. If the miss is bad enough, you can unplug each coil one at a time while the engine is running and skipping. The cylinder that doesn't change the running of the engine is the suspected cylinder that is missing. From there you either have a bad coil or some other problem. You can swap coils and see if the miss moves to another cylinder. If it moves, the coil is the culprit.

Its not unusual to have more coil problems later on down the road if you find you have a bad coil. Sometimes it is best to replace all the coils if you find one that is bad because when one goes bad the others aren't far behind.





Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.

(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Dec 9, 2012, 9:21 AM)


rhamaker
Novice

Dec 9, 2012, 11:47 AM

Post #4 of 11 (2034 views)
Re: Lincoln LS6 engine power loss Sign In

Yes, it is the LS with the V6. My apologies for not mentioning that.

OK, I will start looking more towards ignition problems then. I know dealing with European cars, when they are misfiring they throw codes. I had the exact same issue from a 325 BMW I was working on recently but it was producing a misfire code and even gave the cylinder number. Something else i didnt mention earlier and should have, the exhaust is very potent. It doesnt smell rich, just very strong.


(This post was edited by rhamaker on Dec 9, 2012, 11:48 AM)


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Dec 9, 2012, 11:50 AM

Post #5 of 11 (2029 views)
Re: Lincoln LS6 engine power loss Sign In


Quote
It doesnt smell rich, just very strong.


What's the difference?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



rhamaker
Novice

Dec 9, 2012, 12:31 PM

Post #6 of 11 (2018 views)
Re: Lincoln LS6 engine power loss Sign In

It doesn't smell like gas

In Reply To


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Dec 9, 2012, 12:34 PM

Post #7 of 11 (2011 views)
Re: Lincoln LS6 engine power loss Sign In

Neither does a rich mixture.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



rhamaker
Novice

Dec 9, 2012, 1:09 PM

Post #8 of 11 (2004 views)
Re: Lincoln LS6 engine power loss Sign In

Ok well then let me restate, the car has a strong exhaust smell. I will try changing the coil packs and see if that helps.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Dec 9, 2012, 1:17 PM

Post #9 of 11 (1998 views)
Re: Lincoln LS6 engine power loss Sign In

The dartboard method of just throwing parts at it until something works will only serve to empty your wallet. You could have it professionally diagnosed for the price of one coil.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



rhamaker
Novice

Dec 9, 2012, 4:16 PM

Post #10 of 11 (1978 views)
Re: Lincoln LS6 engine power loss Sign In

The point of trying to get some professional opinions was to not take it to the shop for a professional diagnosis. If that was the route i wanted to take i would not have wasted my time posting here. The price of one coil pack is $36 for this particular engine which is no where near what a professional diagnosis would be. I have worked on engines quite a bit in the past with fairly decent success, but this is the first time I have encountered this problem. I would appreciate if anyone had any helpful advice such as Discretesignals had in his post. The barrage of telling me to take it for professional diagnosis doesnt help me learn the problem, or further my knowledge of diagnosing cars.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Dec 9, 2012, 4:25 PM

Post #11 of 11 (1969 views)
Re: Lincoln LS6 engine power loss Sign In

We are not there to run tests on your car to isolate issues and you apparently are intent on throwing parts at it so you don't have a lot of options. You already stated you were planning on changing all the coils, even if you edited that statement out. 6 coils @ $36 each is $216. My shop get $44 for a diagnostic so which one is cheaper, especially since you may still be in the same boat after changing the coils.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.







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