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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 199 of 301

#1974 of 2996 3.8 litre engine on 1995 Taurus by bls2753

Sep 21, 2005 (5:51 pm)

I'm looking at buying a 1995 Taurus LX from a private owner. The car has 80,000 miles, and is in excellent condition. The only problem I have is it has the 3.8 engine, with which I have heard and read, is notorious for blowing head gaskets. Since 1995 was the last year for this engine in Taurus', I was curious if Ford ever remedied this problem before the engine was discontinued. Is there a TSB, or other procedure that was addressed to make the engine more reliable. The owner of the vehicle states he has never had a problem with head gaskets going bad. I just hate to purchase this car, and then have to invest in costly engine repairs. And would anyone know what head gasket repairs usually cost on this engine?

#1975 of 2996 Re: Percolating 1997 Taurus [kimberlyn] by mwilhite864

Sep 22, 2005 (5:45 am)

Replying to: kimberlyn (Aug 26, 2005 11:11 am)
This solution will cost you, but you have a couple freeze plugs within the bell houseing. when you are looking at the engine it will be to the right of your engine and about your starter. right next to the trans, these will all be connected. Her comes the fun, each freeze plug cost $.93, but you have to have your engine pulled to get to the freeze plugs in the bell housing. Sorry. While your at it, you may wish to replace your oil pan, I would say it's rusted out.
 
Here is my thought on what happened here. The Water Pump (original) is the fault, Ford in there wonderful saving money and giving themselves those great bounas. The Pump RUSTS out and now you have rust fragments running through engine. This is why you probably had orange looking Anti Freeze. So, it gets to the freeze plugs and they begin to fails, little by little and then something happends. something like a thermostat fails and then you have some pressure and bingo your screwed.
 
Your are looking at 8 Hours of labor to pull everything and then the cost of your parts. As I stated replace your oil pan and gaskit, etc.
 
Hope this information helps.

#1976 of 2996 My 1996 Taurus 3.0 by straight69jack

Sep 22, 2005 (9:53 am)

It is throwing a misfire in cylinder 1-3-5 codes. I am replacing all the plugs and wires, and egr valvue. Is there any thing else I shoudl do while I am at it?
What had me check the codes is the motor wont shift out of second, could this be the problem or is there something else also.

#1977 of 2996 Re: Electrical problem 96 Taurus [alcan] by jre

Sep 22, 2005 (10:48 am)

Replying to: alcan (Sep 20, 2005 7:36 pm)
You were 100% correct on the fuse link by the power distribution box. The alt. and air now work and the only two things not working are 1. speedometer and 2. the radio. The 5 amp fuse under the dash for the radio was blown and a replacement did not make it work. I can live without the radio but must have the speedometer working with those Alabama troopers sitting along the roadway with radar guns pointing both directions.
Now I believe every fuse in the system is good. Are there any relays involved in these two items?
Thank you, I really appreciate your help.
jre

#1978 of 2996 Re: Unwanted Acceleration [scribe1of11] by markymaypo443

Sep 22, 2005 (1:38 pm)

Replying to: scribe1of11 (Sep 15, 2005 8:39 am)
Luckily, I only have 2 other problems (both minor annoyances), so I can live with them.
 
I'm just sorry that I got rid of my '90 Taurus. It only had 187k when I replaced it with this Sable. I had never had ONE problem with the car. In fact, it was still getting ~30mpg, and I had almost 80k on the last set of tires. Wifey was afraid of me breaking down in the fast lane of NJ Turnpike, so issued sex ultimatum about replacing it!!!

#1979 of 2996 2001 Taurus suspension noise by wgreen

Sep 22, 2005 (10:17 pm)

Just purchased a 2001 Taurus SES with 69000 miles on it.While test driving prior to purchase heard a clunking noise coming from the suspension.Had a mechanic put the car on a lift and check it. He noted that the sway bar (stabilizer bar?) ends had been replaced,still had the tags hanging on the parts,probably in an attempt to fix the noise.
  He was not positive what was causing the noise but felt it was probably the front struts and quoted a price of appox. $400 to replace the struts and something else attached to or near them,I forget what the name of the part is.He said he wouldn't know for sure until he "got it apart".
  My question is,after doing a search here I have seen this noise mentioned with varying degrees of sucess in fixing it.Just looking for others experience with this problem,I'm willing to part with the money if it will fix the problem but don't want to spend $400 if it is still going to make noise afterwards.
  Also felt a vibration in the steering wheel when applying the brakes at high speed,mechanic said pads looked alright,he said it was probably rotors,which seems to make sense.Was just wondering if this vibration was related to the clunking noise or not.

#1980 of 2996 Intermittent hot no start problem by wbacon

Sep 24, 2005 (3:11 am)

My car is
1999 Ford Taurus Station Wagon
24 ohv 3.0 liter engine, 72,000 miles floor mounted automatic transmission shift
Problem: on an intermittent basis, after driving the car, making a stop or two doing errands before getting home for the day, I get in the car and the starter motor turns the engine over but the engine will not start. This has always happened in warm to hot weather. After sitting for about 30 to ninety minutes the engine starts. I know that it is not the barometric module because the gas mileage is normal (almost 20 miles/gal) . I have had the barometric module fail twice prior to the failure of the barometric module the gas mileage falls to 10 miles/gal or less. I checked the emergency fuel switch no problem, Any ideas?

#1981 of 2996 NO HEAT by alexmatt

Sep 24, 2005 (4:05 am)

98 ford tuarus with no heat but has A/C and cool air from vent. Car has a new Rad and the cooliant level is good. Changed the thermostat still no warm air. Any ideas ?

#1982 of 2996 Re: NO HEAT [alexmatt] by rlenz2711

Sep 24, 2005 (5:07 am)

Replying to: alexmatt (Sep 24, 2005 4:05 am)
3 possible problems.
96 thru 99 models.
Thermostat required has a small ball bearing which is a bleed valve that must be positioned at the top of the thermostat. If the system does not bleed the air out it will trap air and not allow coolant flow. My mechanic did not even put the right stat in.
(2) Back flush the heater core and see what comes out ( common problem )
(3) Water pump fins can actually be corroded to the point of nonexistence and the engine wont overheat but you wont have enough flow to have heat inside vehicle.

#1983 of 2996 Re: NO HEAT [rlenz2711] by alexmatt

Sep 24, 2005 (6:25 am)

Replying to: rlenz2711 (Sep 24, 2005 5:07 am)
how do you back flush the heater core. Also I have heard that it could be the damper motor ?

Messages Page 199 of 301

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