There are 13 owner-reported engine complaints for the 2003 Lincoln Aviatorin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS 2003 LINCOLN AVIATOR. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITH THE ILLUMINATION OF THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE SPARK PLUGS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED SEVERAL TIMES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 60,000. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE.
SOLENOIDS GOING OUT ON THE TRANSMISSION AS WELL AS THE BELTS THAT HOLD THE TRANSMISSION IN PLACE. DEALER STATED THAT THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM FOR 2 YEARS AND THAT FORD WILL NOT RECALL THE PRODUCT. THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON DURING THE DRIVE AND THE ENGINE HAS TROUBLE SHIFTING INTO GEAR GOING UP A HILL. THEIR IS A LEAK AROUND THE OIL FILTER WHICH CAUSE THE OVERDRIVE LIGHT TO COME ON DURIN THE DRIVE. THE LEAK IS ON THE 0 RING BOLTED ONTO THE ENGINE AND THAT PART INCLUDING THE FILTER AND ANTIFREEZE NEEDS TO BE ADDED TO THE CAR. THE CAR LOST 3 QUARTS OF OIL AND HAD TO BE REPLACED BY THE DRIVER IN ORDER TO TAKE IT TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIR. THE DEALER ADMITTED THIS IS A MANUFACTURERS DEFECT BUT WILL NOT REPLACE THESE PARTS FOR NO CHARGE. *TR
AT 76,000 MILES BEGAN HEARING A NOISE UNDER THE HOOD. IT WAS DETERMINED BY AN AUTHORIZED FORD DEALER THAT THE IDLER PULLEYS WERE BAD. CHANGED 3 PULLEYS AND THE NOISE WAS STILL THERE. DRIVING ON A COUNTRY PAVED ROAD AT 25 MILES AN HOUR A LOUD THUMP AND THE CAR DIED. COULD NOT GET IT RESTARTED. THE PLASTIC TENSIONER GUIDE BROKE CAUSING THE TIMING CHAIN TO COME OFF AND BROKE PISTONS, VALVES AND ROCKERS. NEW ENGINE FROM FORD $8,000.... HAD TO REPLACE IT FOR $5,000 AND WILL BE TRADING IT IN IMMEDIATELY. *TR
AFTER OWNING A 2003 LINCOLN AVIATOR CLOSE TO 4 YEARS IT IS NOW DOWN. I TOOK GOOD CARE OF THIS SUV AND ALWAYS HAD CHANGED THE OIL WITH SYNTHETIC OIL . WITH ONLY 79,000 MILES IT NOW HAS A ENGINE KNOCK . I TOOK IT TO THE LINCOLN DEALER AND THEY SAID I NEED A NEW ENGINE AND IT WOULD BE 8,800 DOLLARS SINCE MY EXTENDED WARRANTY JUST RAN OUT. I HAVE BEEN READING OTHER PEOPLE HAD THIS EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SUV AND YEAR BUT FORD DOES NOT WANT TO CORRECT THIS. *TR
2003 AVIATOR 4.6 V8 WITH 102,000 MILES. MAINTAINED MAINTENANCE WHICH I HAVE HAD VEHICLE FOR ABOUT A YEAR. CAR RAN FINE. ALL OF A SUDDEN VEHICLE WOULD NOT START. HAD TO HAVE TRANSMISSION SHIFTER CABLE REPLACE. RAN OKAY FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS THAN STARTED HEARING KNOCKING SOUND FROM ENGINE. TOOK TO FORD CERTIFIED MECHANIC WHICH THEY PULLED ENGINE APART AND COULD NOT DETERMINE PROBLEM. THEY STATED THAT THEY WERE NOT SURE AND CONTACTED FORD. DROVE FOR ABOUT 3 WEEKS OF WHICH LOW OIL PRESSURE LIGHT CAME ON AND VEHICLE SHUT DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF HIGHWAY. NOW IT APPEARS THAT THE ENGINE ITSELF IS THE PROBLEM. $7,000 DOLLARS WHICH I DON'T HAVE AND MORE THAN VEHICLE IS WORTH. I HAVE DONE SOME RESEARCHAND APPARENTLY THERE ARE ALOT OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE THIS VEHICLE YEAR/MODEL WITH SAME SIMILAR PROBLEMS. *TR
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN HELP ME , BUT IF YOU COULD POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT. I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH FORD MOTOR CORP .I WANT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT A SEVERE ENGINE FLAW ON THERE 2003 AVIATOR WITH THE 4.6 MOTOR .I HAVE CONTACTED THEM OVER AND OVER AND THE SAME RESPONSE OUT OF WARRANTY SORRY .AS STATED IN THERE (TBS) REPORT 06-5-13 CYLINDER 7 IS THE WEAK POINT OF THIS MOTOR , TO CHECK COMPRESSION ,WITCH OF COURSE MY ENGINE FAILED AS I AM SURE MANY OTHERS FAILED AS WELL. THIS PROBLEM SEEMS TO DEVELOP BETWEEN 60,000 TO 80,000 MI. (ACCORDING TO DATA I COLLECTED ONLINE) AND THE WARRANTY IS UP AT 50,000. I DON'T BELIEVE THAT I, AND ALL THE OTHERS WHO BOUGHT THIS TRUCK SHOULD PAY FOR THERE MISTAKE. SO WHAT I AM ASKING IS , IF YOU COULD POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION . WHO I SHOULD CONTACT OR COMPLAIN TO . THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME TO READ THIS . [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR
I OWN A 2003 LINCOLN AVIATOR WITH 85,000 MILES ON IT . IT IS A 48,000 DOLLAR VEHICLE AND I AM LESS THAN SATISFIED WITH THE WAY ITS HELD UP . THE VEHICLE SEES SYNTHETIC OIL CHANGES EVERY 3,000 MILES . AT AROUND 79,000 THE ENGINE DIED ON WHILE DRIVING ON A HILLY COUNTRY ROAD WITH MY FAMILY IN THE CAR . I WAS ABLE TO MUSCLE THE CAR OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WITH NO POWER STEERING AND LIMITED BRAKES WE ENDED UP IN A CORN FIELD , HOWEVER THERE WAS NO DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE THERE WAS A VERRY UNHAPPY FARMER . THE VEHICLE THEN STARTED UP AND RAN BUT WAS RUNNING ROUGH WITH A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT . BROUGHT TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD ITS A COMMON PROBLEM AND NEEDED A VALVE JOB SOMEWHERE TO THE TUNE OF 5,000 DOLLARS . I AM ONE OF AT LEAST 350 OTHER COMPLAINTS OF THE SAME PROBLEM ONLINE AND WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT BEING LOOKED INTO FURTHER . THIS VEHICLE HAS BEEN BABIED SINCE DAY 1 AND I LOVED IT UNTILL NOW AND ITS A SHAME . ALONG WITH THE LOW COMPRESSION THE VEHICLE ALSO DEVELOPED AN OBNOXIOUS KNOCK AND TICK. I DONT APPRECIATE THE VEHICLE AS I DID BEFORE OH AND AS FOR FORD , THEY WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH IT . *TR
MY 2003 LINCOLN AVIATOR ACQUIRED A CRACK IN THE ENGINE WHILE MY WIFE WAS DRIVING WITH OUR CHILDREN. UPON FURTHER RESEARCH OF PROBLEM, IT SHOWS IN FORD'S TSB'S THAT THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH THE ENGINE. THE REPAIR WILL COST APPROX. $5000 TO FIX, THE PROBLEM HERE IS FORD IS AWARE BUT DENYING THE PROBLEM WHEN REPAIRING THE ENGINE. HOW CAN THEY DO THIS. *TR
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 LINCOLN AVIATOR. THE CONTACT EXPERIENCED A COIL ISSUE WITH HER VEHICLE, IN TERMS OF MISFIRING. WHEN SHE WOULD ACCELERATE, THE VEHICLE HESITATED. THE DEALER WAS INITIALLY UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE, BUT AFTER FURTHER DIAGNOSIS, DISCOVERED THAT TWO COILS WERE DEFECTIVE. THE COILS WERE REPLACED, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED AFTER 30 MILES. THE CONTACT RETURNED THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER. THE FAILURE OCCURRED A TOTAL OF FIVE TIMES AND THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AFTER EACH OCCURRENCE. THEY CONTINUED TO REPLACE THE COILS, WHICH DID NOT REMEDY THE ISSUE. THE FAILURE OCCURRED AT ALL SPEEDS AND THE AIR CONDITIONER WOULD SHUT OFF SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE MANUFACTURER HAS NOT BEEN NOTIFIED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 80,200 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 60,000.
MY 2003 LINCOLN AVIATOR HAD A ROUGH IDLE AND WAS A LITTLE SLUGGISH. WITH ONLY 92,000 MILES ON A $45,000 CAR, THIS SURPRISED ME. THIS IS A HIGH PERFORMANCE ENGINE. UPON ACCELERATING TO ENTER I-20 THE VEHICLE ALMOST DIED. LUCKILY ,THERE WERE NO VEHICLES COMING - HAD THIS BEEN DURING RUSH HOUR IT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN SO LUCKY. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO CITY GARAGE TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT, AND WAS TOLD IT HAD A MAJOR ENGINE PROBLEM. THE #8 CYLINDER HAD ON 70 LBS OF PRESSURE, AND THE VEHICLE NEEDED A VALVE JOB. I CALLED LINCOLN CUSTOMER SERVICE AFTER FIND ON THIS WEB SITE THAT MINE WAS NOT THE ONLY AVIATOR WITH THIS PROBLEM AND WITH THE EXACT SAME CYLINDER. I WAS TOLD BY LINCOLN TO TAKE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I PAID ANOTHER $100 TO HAVE IT SCOPED AGAIN - ONLY TO BE TOLD BY LINCOLN THAT THEY DIDN'T INTEND TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. THIS APPEARS TO BE ANOTHER ONE OF FORD'S MAJOR MISTAKES THAT THEY ARE NOT WILLING TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR UNTIL SOMEONE GETS KILLED. PEOPLE WHO OWN THESE VEHICLES DO NOT EXPECT THEM TO DIE ON ACCELERATION, AND IT IS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT. THAT - COUPLED WITH THE FACT THAT THIS IS COSTING PEOPLE WHO OWN THESE VEHICLES A GOOD DEAL OF MONEY AND FORD'S ATTITUDE WAS TOUGH.
10/26/06 # 8 COIL FAILED 11/8/06 #6 COIL FAILED 12/15/06 # 7 COIL FAILED 1/24/07 CYLINDER HEAD CRACKED TOTAL COST $4,943.53 FOR REPAIRS. *NM
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 LINCOLN AVIATOR. WHEN ACCELERATING TO 40 MPH FROM A COMPLETE STOP, THE VEHICLE'S TRANSMISSION SLIPS AND THE ENGINE'S RPM INCREASES TO 5,000 RPM FOR APPROXIMATELY FIVE TO SIX SECONDS. THE TRANSMISSION THEN SHIFTS ITSELF IN GEAR AND DRIVES FORWARD. WHEN THE CONTACT ATTEMPTS TO ACCELERATE AND CHANGE GEARS, THE TRANSMISSION JERKS AND SLIPS, PREVENTING THE VEHICLE FROM MOVING. THE ENGINE REVS UP AND THEN GETS WEAKER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE FEELS AS IF IT IS IN NEUTRAL FOR APPROXIMATELY SIX SECONDS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS KEPT OVERNIGHT. THE DEALER WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE CURRENT MILEAGE IS 62,500 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 45,000.
2003 LINCOLN AVIATOR STOPS SUDDENLY WITHOUT WARNING.*MR *JB
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026