Taurus/Sable Maintenance & Repair

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#704 of 2996 coolant sludge by ndfar

Jan 08, 2003 (2:57 pm)

I was on a road trip and was having my oil changed on my 1999 Taurus and they found the brown sludge. I returned home and went to the dealer about it and there is a service bulletin out but its not a recall. The car just went out of warranty but he said he would take care of it for a $100 deductible and Ford would cover the rest of the cost. What they had to do was a chemical flush to clean the system and then replenish with new coolant. He said there is some rusting happening in the engine water jacket that cause this problem. So far so good and the coolant is staying green.

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#705 of 2996 coolant sludge + clogged core by phatbuns

Jan 09, 2003 (5:34 am)

How much sludge did you people with the problem notice? I bought this car used, the coolant looks nice and green, there's just a trace of sludge around the coolant tank reservoir neck and on the bottom of the cap, and the car blows plenty of heat. When you noticed the problem, what color was the coolant? Maybe my car was already fixed?

Also, on the heater core, in my old mustang days knew a guy who recommended every year pulling the lines to and from the core under the hood and blowing through with compressed air, this may help keep 'em clear. 'Course, the heater hoses in '67 mustangs were easy to get to... could this work on our beasts?

BTW, so far (2 1/2 weeks) I LOVE this car, vulcan engine and all.

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#706 of 2996 Brake and Power Steering fluids change by felixc1976

Jan 09, 2003 (2:22 pm)

I've had my 97 Taurus for 5+ years now. Changed coolant and transmission fluid every 2 years. When should I change brake&steering fluids? I've got 65k mi and the manual says nothing about changing them. What are your reccomendations?

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#707 of 2996 Door open light stays on by jd123

Jan 09, 2003 (5:36 pm)

Have a T2K Taurusw/56k on it. Just developed a problem of having the door open light stay on even though all the doors and liftgate are firmly shut. Problem has occurred intermittantly, both from cold and warm starts. Any ideas? Not sure if road salt has interfered w/a sensor or ? Other than that car is great.

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#708 of 2996 fluids change by phatbuns

Jan 09, 2003 (6:17 pm)

I haven't seen periodic maintenance recommendations list brake fluid or power steering changes, generally. I do my own brakes and I like to flush fresh fluid through the bleeders when I change the pads, and I have occasionally sucked out as much steering fluid as I can get out and replaced it. 65K and 5 years is not a lot on those fluids, but if you plan on keeping it I'd change 'em out around 100K. 'Course, it wouldn't hurt if you did them tomorrow, but I think you'll find that most people never change them.

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#709 of 2996 Door open light stays on by jd123 by danielj6

Jan 09, 2003 (6:25 pm)

I had the same thing happened to my Merc. Sable.
All doors appeared shut but the alarm would not engage and the instrument panel showed door opened.

I looked really carefully and noticed that the lift gate did not close properly even though I tried on numerous occasions. It looked a little bit out of alignment. I went to dealer's service dept. and they re aligned and greased the lift gate. It took me several minutes to notice the problem. I don't know why this happened. Perhaps I hit a pothole or something and the knock misaligned the door.

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#710 of 2996 fluids change by phatbuns

Jan 09, 2003 (6:37 pm)

I haven't seen periodic maintenance recommendations list brake fluid or power steering changes, generally. I do my own brakes and I like to flush fresh fluid through the bleeders when I change the pads, and I have occasionally sucked out as much steering fluid as I can get out and replaced it. 65K and 5 years is not a lot on those fluids, but if you plan on keeping it I'd change 'em out around 100K. 'Course, it wouldn't hurt if you did them tomorrow, but I think you'll find that most people never change them.

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#711 of 2996 by alcan

Jan 10, 2003 (3:50 am)

It's about 2 1/2 years overdue for a brake fluid change:
http://www.batauto.com/articles/brkfld.shtml

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#712 of 2996 brake fluid by phatbuns

Jan 10, 2003 (4:32 am)

Alcan:
I completely agree with you, great link.

But for danielj6 I stand by my point that except for DIY'ers most people never change 'em, and getting them out at 65K - 100K is a marked improvement over that. The few times I've been in brake shops I haven't heard them advise, "gee, you have high mileage, you should get the fluid flushed".

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#713 of 2996 Sticking door ajar light by ehenness

Jan 10, 2003 (6:00 am)

This is apparently a common problem in the '96-up Taurus/Sable. I have had mine stick in my '98. You can blast the door latch with WD40, brake cleaner or similar stuff to clean it out. Then keep it lubricated, and you should be OK. The switch is inside the latch, at the bottom, so spray at the bottom of the latch. Or just saturate it...

You can replace the switch if need be. The switches are supposed to be pretty cheap, but the door panel has to come off to get at the inside of the door in order to remove the switch. I haven't needed to do mine, but I understand that if spray and lubrication don't do it, the switch is bad.

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