Car/Truck Question -- What Would You Do?
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Michigan
This is what I would do.
Technical Article Contributor
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 6,509
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From: Georgia on my mind...
The soft tops sealed up just fine, but the hard tops leaked, figure that one out.
They don't use a blend door for heating/air conditioning like 97% of cars out there do; they use an electronic valve that shuts off coolant flow to the heater core for A/C, and allows it for heat. The solenoids in this valve stick and cause cool air to come out of the vents on one side, and hot air on the other.
The valve cover gaskets leak, a lot...and when they do, engine oil runs down into the spark plug tubes, contaminating the ignition coils. What would normally be a $40-50 set of valve cover gaskets turns into over $1000 in parts alone, because the coils fail when they get saturated with engine oil. And when they do get soaked in oil, they throw out a ton of RF interference that affects other systems in the car - like the speedometer and tach pegging out or dropping to zero while driving, the engine will stall at random, the trans will neutral out or not shift at all, all the warning lights will flicker at random.
Unlike a billion other cars out there, T-Birds used hydraulic cooling fans. There's a pump on the engine, just like a power steering pump, and a pulse width modulated solenoid on the pump that varies fan speed as needed. The pumps leak, and the fans stick, causing the engine to overheat.
They're unusually hard on tires, brakes, and ball joints. With average driving, they're good to get 30K on a set of brakes front and rear. 40-50K on ball joints, which aren't serviced separately, the entire knuckle must be replaced. They're pretty good about front sway bar bushings wearing out prematurely, causing a knocking/popping noise going over bumps. The bushings aren't serviceable separately anymore, the bar has to be replaced, and to replace the sway bar the front lower control arm crossmember/radiator support has to be removed.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. Friends don't let friends own Lincoln LS' or DEW98 based T-Birds.
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 43,542
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From: Joplin MO
Why does that not surprise me - Ford farmed this platform out to Jaguar for design. If you think you can afford a Jaguar, you better be able to afford 2 - because one will always be in the shop.
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 26,080
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From: Burleson/Athens/Brownsboro, TX
For good reason. They're complete and total crap. I can't say enough about what a piece of junk the DEW98 chassis T-Bird was. Nothing is cheap, nothing is easy to get to or fix, and nothing is really reliable on them.
The soft tops sealed up just fine, but the hard tops leaked, figure that one out.
They don't use a blend door for heating/air conditioning like 97% of cars out there do; they use an electronic valve that shuts off coolant flow to the heater core for A/C, and allows it for heat. The solenoids in this valve stick and cause cool air to come out of the vents on one side, and hot air on the other.
The valve cover gaskets leak, a lot...and when they do, engine oil runs down into the spark plug tubes, contaminating the ignition coils. What would normally be a $40-50 set of valve cover gaskets turns into over $1000 in parts alone, because the coils fail when they get saturated with engine oil. And when they do get soaked in oil, they throw out a ton of RF interference that affects other systems in the car - like the speedometer and tach pegging out or dropping to zero while driving, the engine will stall at random, the trans will neutral out or not shift at all, all the warning lights will flicker at random.
Unlike a billion other cars out there, T-Birds used hydraulic cooling fans. There's a pump on the engine, just like a power steering pump, and a pulse width modulated solenoid on the pump that varies fan speed as needed. The pumps leak, and the fans stick, causing the engine to overheat.
They're unusually hard on tires, brakes, and ball joints. With average driving, they're good to get 30K on a set of brakes front and rear. 40-50K on ball joints, which aren't serviced separately, the entire knuckle must be replaced. They're pretty good about front sway bar bushings wearing out prematurely, causing a knocking/popping noise going over bumps. The bushings aren't serviceable separately anymore, the bar has to be replaced, and to replace the sway bar the front lower control arm crossmember/radiator support has to be removed.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. Friends don't let friends own Lincoln LS' or DEW98 based T-Birds.
The soft tops sealed up just fine, but the hard tops leaked, figure that one out.
They don't use a blend door for heating/air conditioning like 97% of cars out there do; they use an electronic valve that shuts off coolant flow to the heater core for A/C, and allows it for heat. The solenoids in this valve stick and cause cool air to come out of the vents on one side, and hot air on the other.
The valve cover gaskets leak, a lot...and when they do, engine oil runs down into the spark plug tubes, contaminating the ignition coils. What would normally be a $40-50 set of valve cover gaskets turns into over $1000 in parts alone, because the coils fail when they get saturated with engine oil. And when they do get soaked in oil, they throw out a ton of RF interference that affects other systems in the car - like the speedometer and tach pegging out or dropping to zero while driving, the engine will stall at random, the trans will neutral out or not shift at all, all the warning lights will flicker at random.
Unlike a billion other cars out there, T-Birds used hydraulic cooling fans. There's a pump on the engine, just like a power steering pump, and a pulse width modulated solenoid on the pump that varies fan speed as needed. The pumps leak, and the fans stick, causing the engine to overheat.
They're unusually hard on tires, brakes, and ball joints. With average driving, they're good to get 30K on a set of brakes front and rear. 40-50K on ball joints, which aren't serviced separately, the entire knuckle must be replaced. They're pretty good about front sway bar bushings wearing out prematurely, causing a knocking/popping noise going over bumps. The bushings aren't serviceable separately anymore, the bar has to be replaced, and to replace the sway bar the front lower control arm crossmember/radiator support has to be removed.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. Friends don't let friends own Lincoln LS' or DEW98 based T-Birds.
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Jim
Jim
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It's sad because I really really like the LS. It's got a clean good looking design.
I'm planning on getting back into a F150 for a daily driver ASAP. It won't be until I'm out of college and making some good money. But by than I'll be turning the Mustang into an insane car !! Can anyone say GT500 powertrain !? 
I want to turn it into a car to enter into the KOTS Competition.
I want to turn it into a car to enter into the KOTS Competition.
