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Taurus/Sable Maintenance & Repair

3006 messages,  Last post on Jun 15, 2013 at 3:20 PM

You are in the Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Forum.

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

Messages Page 300 of 301

#2987 of 3006 Re: tatchy [sango] by rkey2000

Jan 09, 2012 (6:09 am)

Replying to: sango (Apr 05, 1999 10:02 pm)
Go ahead and buy a Taurus. Don't let all the negative press deter you. I bought my wife a 1998 Taurus with 35,000 miles on it in 1999 and it was a dependable car. We changed the regular stuff like tires and wiper blades and regular oil changes and never had any problems. With 135,000 miles on it we traded it in to buy a 2003 Taurus with 30,000 miles on it. This Taurus is a good car too. Look at your Car Fax when buying a used car. Make sure the previous owner has been doing all the service the car has needed on time. Also if the car has showed signs of being a piece of junk needing lots of work, walk away and dont buy it. I think that buying a used car with 30,000 miles on it gave me a chance to see what kind of car I would be buying.

#2988 of 3006 Re: tatchy [rkey2000] by izaclown1

Jan 09, 2012 (6:56 am)

Replying to: rkey2000 (Jan 09, 2012 6:09 am)
The nice things about buying used cars are:
1) like stated above, the lemon factor is obvisous.
2) hopefully, you can pay cash for it and not finance the steep depreciation on a new one.
3) Lower taxes
4) usually lower insurance.
5) at 35-50k miles most of the maintenance has already been done, check the records to be sure.
6) after a few years the relability has been established and the usual prbolmes are identified and you can determine if you want those headaches or not.
 
I have moved to the school of thought of older cars than newer cars because of these factors. There are just some cars out there is worth replacing a tranny/motor for another 100+k miles that is cheaper than getting a newer car with payments. Just my warped 2 cents.

#2989 of 3006 Re: Emissions Trouble [mlmyers] by carguru6

Jan 27, 2012 (7:26 pm)

Replying to: mlmyers (Jan 10, 2006 6:05 am)
dear mlmyers not sure when you posted this message and if its still an issue for you but i can tell you a improperly functioning coolant temp sensor can cause emission problems even codes as when i car starts it relies on certain things to tell it how much fuel air mix if the temp sensor is telling the car its cold when its not it will dump excessive fuel to even itself out

#2990 of 3006 Opinions for a '99 Taurus by shopdog97

Feb 07, 2012 (3:47 am)

Hope you Taurus folks can help. I looked at a '99 Taurus last night. It was traded in at a dealership and wholesaled not long after, probably due to it's mileage which is 151K. It is very clean inside and the body is good, a few dings and scratches here and there but nothing major. I wished I had more time to go over it, it was dusk by the time I took it for a ride. I noticed that the airbag light was lit. Any ideas why this is or what could be making the airbag light come on? The asking price for the car is reasonable, but I can't afford a lot of surprises if I buy it. Could it just be a faulty sensor? The test drive went well, the car is straight as an arrow, and the 3.0 V-6 seemed very strong for the mileage on it. The engine oil was clean and the trans fluid was clean as well and didn't smell burned to me. However, when I got on the ground to look at the underside of the car, there is a leak of what I believe to be engine oil, and there was a small puddle of it on the ground and on a crossmember to the right of the starter. I told this man about it, that I could see oil all over the bottom(probably being blown back while driving) I'm wondering if the oil pan gasket is leaking. I would HOPE it's not the rear main bearing seal. Is the Taurus noted for leaking oil at the RMB seal? I noticed a slight pulsing when I came to a stop and wondered if the front brakes were worn and the rotors may be warped. Due to the style of the wheels, I couldn't get a good look at the rotors to see if they were worn. His mechanic was going to go over the car and get back to me with the results.
 
Like I said earlier, I can't afford to put a lot of money into anything I buy, and of course I know that buying a used car with this mileage is a crap shoot. Any information you can give me about this model Taurus SE from 1999 would be greatly appreciated. Another thing: The guy unlocked the car for me by using the key. I asked him if there was a remote keyfob and he said no, like the car didn't come with one. Could this be true? Thanks, folks!

#2991 of 3006 Follow up to above post by shopdog97

Feb 08, 2012 (8:25 am)

Just wanted to say that I passed on the purchase of this '99 Taurus. After careful thought, I just couldn't take the risk of making a bad situation any worse. We only had so much money to work with here. The guy selling the car wanted $1800 and wouldn't take a penny less even though there were issues I had addressed. Like I posted above, there was oil leaking somewhere and coating the underside of the engine compartment, the airbag light was on, and the high-beam switch(in the turn signal stalk)wouldn't stay on when you needed the high beams on like it's supposed to. If I was in better physical shape and had the money to fix these things myself, who knows, this may have been a good deal. But I would have needed to take the car to my mechanic and deal with the cost of the repairs, however much they would have been. I offered the guy $1500 and he said no, there were others who wanted it. I said fine, sell it to them. I know it's hard to be picky when trying to buy a used car, especially one thats 12 years old, but I need to protect myself as much as I can.

#2992 of 3006 Haynes Repair Manual - WRONG by hobbiest2

Feb 14, 2012 (7:51 pm)

#2993 of 3006 Haynes Repair Manual - WRONG by hobbiest2

Feb 14, 2012 (7:51 pm)

Haynes repair manual #36075 96-05 Taurus/Sable states 98 Taurus SE is a 4 wire design with BLK/WHT, TAN/LT BLU, LT BLU/RED and RED. What I find in my car (98 Tarus SE) is 3 wires in a 6 wire MAF sensor. My MAF is labeled positions E, A, B, C, D and F. Position "A" is RED, "B" is BLK/WHT and "C" is TAN. All others are empty.
 
Emailed Haynes and their response seems to be: basically said hire a pro. I thought I had enough smarts to follow along in a book but I seem to be at a cross roads. Would anyone have any ideas for me?

#2994 of 3006 Re: Follow up to above post [shopdog97] by izaclown1

Feb 15, 2012 (8:46 am)

Replying to: shopdog97 (Feb 08, 2012 8:25 am)
I think that was a wise move. IMO, Oil leaks are are red flags, the fix(es) may not be worth the price of the car. The one sounds like a nickle and dimer for sure. The cost of the repairs are probably why he is selling it.

#2995 of 3006 1994 taurus wagon 3.8L- horn not working by tywi

Nov 13, 2012 (7:33 pm)

I checked the fuse and it is okay. What are items could be causing the problem?

#2996 of 3006 1999 Taurus 180,000 mi, lurching by wvhillgal

Dec 01, 2012 (9:47 am)

Our mechanic sold us this car, said they had checked it out. Ball bearing and brakes the first two days and it has lurched since we got it. They have replaced the fuel filter, thinking this caused it, didn't help. We checked transmission fluid, it was empty, replaced, this didn't help. Mechanic replaced 2 different sensors he says have to do with the transmission and still doing it. You'll be driving along and it will lurch on you, not like it's going to quit, no sputtering, but like you are in neutral giving it gas. Any ideas?

Messages Page 300 of 301

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