1.7

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
95,581 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2003 Lincoln LS engine problems

engine problem

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2003 Lincoln LS Owner Comments

problem #7

Aug 172021

LS

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

We have owned this car for about 3 years and it has been one problem after another and see same problems on line 1) Will start over heating sometimes at idle sometimes while driving (try being in DFW rush hour traffic and deal with that 2) Wife was driving one day and a bolt on right lower control arm broke sending her across 4 lanes of traffic including on coming. 3) All of a sudden when brake pedal was depressed started hearing vacuum leak under dash, brake pedal real hard, and couldn't hardly get car to stop, traction control light started flashing. Found bad brake booster and sensor located on it (both unavailable from manufacturer), also found on line that to get light to stop flashing you have to take to dealer and have reprogrammed (nobody else has the ability) 4) Have constantly had problem with check engine light staying on and running rough, no power, and having to replace ignition coils 5) While wife was driving with no advance notice of any kind heading home on farm market road with no shoulder to pull off on transmission went out completely and stopped pulling 6) Rear control arm bushings go from ok to extremely bad causing back end to drift from side to side going down the highway in a blink of an eye 7) Right front sway bar link keeps wearing control arm and snapping stud off 8) Sunroof drain hoses constantly failing and allowing water to get to electrical components The list goes on but all you have to do is a online search of the LS sport with the 3.9 v-8 and see all the problems. I was in automotive for over 16 years and every vehicle generally has its know couple problems but this is way beyond that. There hasn't been any accidents or injuries but real close to it.

- Terrell , TX, USA

problem #6

Aug 102019

LS

  • 200,000 miles
Car gets to hot my fill bucket for the radiator keeps getting a hole in the bottom of it or some where I have replaced it twice and again the same problem with this car. And it has over heated and goes all the way to H now because of this problem it mite now need head gaskets Y can't you make this car better then it is and make it with no problems there junk I won't even tell anyone to buy this piece of junk.and it saying safe fail mode over and over like this car is problem after problem can someone fix my car for me at no cost please.

- Mickleton, NJ, USA

problem #5

Dec 242015

LS

  • miles
I purchased my 2003 Lincoln Ls June/2015. Excellent condition, 35,000 miles. Interior immaculate condition leather seats and carpet virutally untouched. Underneath hood the same, hadn't look as if been driven. Exterior body and paint again excellent. The car appeared as if it had stood still in time. Upon investigation, only one owner of the vehicle who'd maintained a first class maintenance record. Over the last week the vehicle my wife was driving she said while driving the vechicle began to stall while she was accelerating in traffic. She stated she was able to get it out the street but in doing so the engine revved up and shut off. Over the past few days on several occasions the vehicle replicated the exact same tendency with me. Stalling, hesitating during acceleration to the point of shut down in the middle of traffic. In motion on a very busy city street. Engine light also came

- Fayetteville, NC, USA

problem #4

Jun 012004

LS

  • 200,066 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2003 Lincoln Ls. While driving approximately 35 mph, the engine stalled and the vehicle restarted independently. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,066. The VIN was not included.

- Merced, CA, USA

problem #3

Oct 012014

LS 8-cyl

  • 162,000 miles
While driving the car it misfires it doesn't want to go on acceleration..it is leaking oil into the spark plug wells and affecting coils..there was a extension warranty on these parts.but it was 10 years or 100000 mile. I didn't purchase this car till after it already had more than 100000 miles so I was unaware of these extensions and time frames..I spoke with Ford/Lincoln and basically told the extended warranty would not cover.I feel this should be a recall not extended warranty.

- Louisville, KY, USA

problem #2

Jan 012003

LS

  • 1 miles
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.

- Ypsilanti, MI, USA

problem #1

Oct 102013

LS

  • 107,000 miles
Hello, I bought a 2003 Lincoln Ls and I'm getting a message on the dash that is saying etc fail safety mode and the car is not able to go over 30 mph, and has very slow pick up and is running very hard. I have found that sometimes if I turn the car off/on the message does not come up the car drives normally. I have tried replacing the throttle body after getting the check engine light came on with to codes P0207 and P02110 and I'm still having the same problem. I have read allot of complaints about this problem with fix.

- Garland, TX, USA

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