Looks like the squeak was coming from rear the upper ball joint.
The rubber boot was split and I suppose most of the original grease had worked its way out. It was filled up with white lithium grease and it is much better now. I'm not certain if this ball joint is a replaceable part or if the entire wishbone needs replacing? The mechanic told me the spark plug valve cover and coil pack O ring replacement was something I did not want to do myself. One valve cover bolt and coil pack bolt had broken off and took some time with an easy out to replace. Almost half of the coil packs were soaked with oil so I think this proceedure prevented some future misfire/limited performance issues. All together the AC compressor replacement and spark plug valve cover gasket replacement was almost $1K in labor alone. It's all ready to eat some more premium gas this summer!

 

wow, I'm looking at around the same thing, close to 700 for the A/C compressor keeps on blowing the fuses, I had the DCVV replaced as it was suggested by some in the forum but , that didn't solve the problem, my mechanic was nice enough to install it for no labor, just parts.

Now I gotta get that Damn compressor replaced and get it over with..

 

Rick did you send that V8 compressor back yet???

Hang on WPB - might have a hookup for you.

Take care,

George

 

There is a used compressor on ebay right now for $145 OBO
Item number:270741785901
The donor vehicle is a 2003 STR with 78K miles from TN.

 

Yes I did George.

But here is the link: REMAN AC COMPRESSOR 2000-2005 LINCOLN LS V6 3.0 | eBay

These guys were great to deal with. Call them first to get the right AC Compressor!!

Make sure you order the 3 1/2" long bolt casing compressor!

Shown here in in the red rectangle..