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Taurus/Sable Maintenance & Repair

2996 messages,  Last post on Dec 01, 2012 at 9:47 AM

You are in the Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable, Sedan, Wagon

Messages Page 195 of 300

#1936 of 2996 Re: gchernya1 [gchernya1] by scribe1of11

Sep 13, 2005 (12:30 pm)

Replying to: gchernya1 (Apr 12, 1999 6:41 pm)
Ha! That response brought tears to my eyes...I'm not sure if I'm laughing or crying. ..Hey, I have a starting problem with my 1996 Mercury Sable; can I discuss it with y'all or should I just shoot it? Problem description is every now and then (like today because I was in a hurry to get someone), I get in the COLD engine car and turn the key and she cranks real good but the motor simply does not start. Where do I begin looking for the bugaboo ??
 
 
James H

#1937 of 2996 My 1996 Mercury Sable cranks but won't start by scribe1of11

Sep 13, 2005 (12:42 pm)

I just joined the forum and posted in the wrong place, as a response to a 1999 message. Now I see where to put a new message, so here it is:
 
My 1996 Mercury Sable "intermittedly" will not start, for no reason that is obvious to me anyway. I get in the COLD engine car and turn the key and it cranks real good but the motor simply does not start. Where do I begin looking for the bugaboo ?? I know I have some looseness in the ignition switch; could it be that? If I turn the key on but don't crank, I think I can hear the fuel pump coming on; all indications are that the battery is just fine...I have the service manual for the vehicle, but there are so many possibilities listed in the troubleshooting section that I really don't know where to start. If anyone has had a similar experience with the same model, I would appreciate hearing your stories so I can see if there is a solution in there somewhere. Oh yeah, I also checked the emergency fuel pump cutoff switch in the trunk, and the button was already depressed.

#1938 of 2996 Re: Computer "learning" period [vicala] by scribe1of11

Sep 13, 2005 (12:53 pm)

Replying to: vicala (Sep 07, 2005 6:38 am)
Alan,
You probably have a loose ignition lock cylinder. Did you replace it yourself? I have the same exact problem. When I bought the car, used, 8 months ago, I asked the dealer "why does the alarm ring every time I open the driver's side door, even when the key is not in the ignition?" He said that was just the way the alarm system works and I believed him because I had never owned a vehicle with an alarm system (my previous vehicle was an old van). Anyway, after putsing around for a while I discovered that if I jiggled the ignition lock cylinder while the door was open, the alarm bell would stop. Told the dealer about it and he said "ah gee, you've got a loose ignition lock cylinder; too bad the car is now out of warranty (30 days only)" Sometimes my car (1996 mercury sable) will crank but not start and I wonder if it is because of a loose wire in that cylinder. You may just need to dismantle the lock cylinder and put it back in again. I have the Haynes service manual and the instructions for doing that seem simple but I usually end up breaking more than I fix so I've been reluctant to try it so far...I don't think the computer learned anything; you probably just jiggled the cylinder the right way and it stopped alarming, but the problem will start again if you jiggle the cylinder the wrong way on another day (while pulling your keys out).

#1939 of 2996 Re: Sable hardshift [moniree] by scribe1of11

Sep 13, 2005 (1:11 pm)

Replying to: moniree (Sep 07, 2005 7:17 pm)
I hate to say it, but like the other guy who replied to your post, the hard-shifting transmission problem you describe may be something you just have to live with, and hope it does'nt break a "hard" part that requires someone to overhaul it. I have a 1996 Mercury Sable, and as well as a few other surprise problems that I am posting herewith separately, it also SHIFTS HARD. It would not surprise me if your 99 sable has the same basic tranny. I paid a highly recommended transmission shop $250 to fix the problem and it shifts just as badly now as before. They ran it thru diagnostics and found no bad codes, changed the fluid which was a bit dirty, gasket etc (typical transmission "service" package) but did not repair anything; they said they saw no broken teeth or anything in the fluid which was good news; they put in some kind of special fluid which may have simply been that lucas stuff you mention ($32 just for that one bottle!) and nothing improved. I think spending big bucks on the solanoid may be useless, because I have seen many, many postings about Mercury Sable transmissions having hard shifts problems. Even my next door neighbor traded in her brand new Sable on a Taurus because it kept shifting hard. One think I personally found, is that most of the hard shifts occur when I come to certain road changes like an incline or a corner; I've started giving the car a little bit of gas at certain spots and it seems to get thru them without hard shifting. My logic tells me that must be pressure related (pressure sensor?) but overall I think it must be a engineering design problem, not something that can now be fixed...if someone can prove me wrong, I'll love you forever, because I also am fed up with the hard shifts on top of the other problems I've got with this car.

#1940 of 2996 Re: 97 Mercury sable Shifting & Electrical problems [andersonrickd] by scribe1of11

Sep 13, 2005 (1:20 pm)

Replying to: andersonrickd (Sep 11, 2005 12:55 am)
Wow! Have you considered an exorcism? My 1996 sable, among other things, also has gone through periods of visibly psychotic sensors. But none of the things you mentioned happen; its a bunch of other symptoms. Perhpas they fixed the 1996 model problems by transferring them elsewhere in the 1997 model...

#1941 of 2996 Re: Unwanted Acceleration [zslick] by scribe1of11

Sep 13, 2005 (1:41 pm)

Replying to: zslick (Dec 06, 1999 7:55 am)
Re: 98 Taurus SE with 3.0 Vulcan V6
 
HA HA !! This one I think I may have actually found the SOLUTION to!!
 
I have a 96 Sable with 3.0 Vulcan V6...but I think that is irrelevant...the problem, which occurred exactly as you describe, turned out for me to be real simple: I changed the air filter and after a while the computer adjusted air flow mix thru the throttle body. Sounds complicated but this is essentially the modern electronic "carburator". A mechanic told me that the "engine surge" symptom was most likely dirt in the Idle Air Control Valve which controls idle speed. He did'nt have time to work on it that day & told me to come back in 3 days. I then rationalized that maybe the dirt got in that there Idle Air Control from the air intake, which starts at the air filter. I opened the air filter box and found an old dead leaf from last autumn underneath it. I bought a new air filter at walmart and put it in. Then I went on a 3 day trip and still had the excessive rpms when slowing down or even while stopped at red lights (gets really dangerous when it surges forward at a red light)...it felt kind of like in the old days when carburators had butterfly valves that would stick in the closed position thereby causing an over-rich gas to air ratio. But a week later, I suddenly noticed the problem was gone, and I can only assume the new air filter did the trick and my computer had to "learn" for a while, because there is a sensor right in there with the Idle Air control assembly, where the air , clean or dirty flows to from the air filter box. Try a $5 possibility, unless you know for sure the air filter was recently changed.

#1942 of 2996 Re: bad odor in cool weather [slim12] by scribe1of11

Sep 13, 2005 (1:56 pm)

Replying to: slim12 (Sep 06, 2005 4:18 pm)
I read about this exact same problem somewhere else a few months ago but dont remember what forum it was in (I surf thru a lot of forums looking for answers to my own car problems). I remember the guy described it smelled like his socks after marching 20 miles when he was in the marine corps, or something like that. Anyway, the punchline I believe was that you have mold growing inside your vents. The AC caused it. Dont remember why. Probably some humidity condition interacting with freon filled air flow. You might have to do some serious dismantling to find it. Or move to a land of perpetual dry summers...

#1943 of 2996 Re: no start 2003 sable help [tjdepere2004] by scribe1of11

Sep 13, 2005 (2:09 pm)

Replying to: tjdepere2004 (Jul 27, 2005 4:18 pm)
The button in the trunk is the "inertia switch" that he says he checked already and found nothing wrong with. Actually, his problem may be have the same root cause as in my 96 Sable which intermittedly seems gas-starved; the worst possibility is a malfunctioning computer module...

#1944 of 2996 Re: Inoperable Windows [eatmydust528i] by scribe1of11

Sep 13, 2005 (2:21 pm)

Replying to: eatmydust528i (Aug 18, 2005 10:12 pm)
Was it parked unattended for a whole winter? Water may have seeped in from melting snow. Most likely in the multiple panel; one shorted wire could disconnect power to 3 motors; it happened to me in an older Lebaron. You may have to take apart some door frames to trace all the wires and find the one that got rusted out.

#1945 of 2996 Re: 86 Taurus 3.0 timing question [themoon77] by scribe1of11

Sep 13, 2005 (2:32 pm)

Replying to: themoon77 (Sep 07, 2005 10:50 am)
I have to disagree with badgerfan who suggests you get rid of the old car and buy a newer one. I owned a 1989 Sable which I drove up and down the northern rockies in and out of Idaho and Montana for 250,000 miles and finally had to give it up when the floor rusted out; but the mechanics, especially motor and tranny, just kept on going, like the pink rabbit on TV !! Now I own a 1996 Sable full of electronics and barely anything works right, at 76,000 miles. I would do exactly what you said you plan to do, start with the "minor tuneup" items and see what happens...just dont drive to Bakersfield with it (your old radiator might blow up from heat pressure).

Messages Page 195 of 300

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