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Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Sedans Pre-2008

3389 messages,  Last post on Jan 21, 2011 at 11:46 AM

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

Messages Page 169 of 340

#1678 of 3389 Ehenness - Trans by edmund2460

Aug 14, 2002 (6:19 pm)

Ony my way over to AAMCO the car slipped into neutral all by itself for a while, while I was cruising on the highway (I heard the engine rev up) and then slipped back into gear. The Mgr. at AAMCO said that a neutral safety switch going bad could cause this problem and also the one I have regularly that I described before. Since I was getting ready to take a 1100 mile round trip I had the switch replaced but it didn't take care of the hard shift that I get once in a while. I'll get it when the car kicks into acceleration gear, if I have to pass someone in a hurry and it still has the problem when I slow down and start up again. The mgr. did mention that this car will build up the hydraulic pressure if it notices that you are driving around town. He pointed to the fresh pink trans fluid to assure me that there was no damage taking place. So maybe it will last a few more miles. The car doesn't get driven very much. I agree that the post 1999 Tauruses are probably decent. But I would not buy anything before that year to be safe. It just bugs me that Ford must have seen these problems taking place and doesn't address them soon enough. I mean I had motor mounts and power steering hose (about 300 bucks to replace) go out on both my 89 Taurus and 93 Sable around 70-80K. Similar pattern with A/C and trans starting to hard shift. As far as the engine itself goes I think they are OK, even the 3.8 (except for it's head gasket). Thanks for your info.

#1679 of 3389 Am I by riswami

Aug 15, 2002 (7:11 pm)

missing something?
 
What specifics do you have (last post) that Ford made specific improvements in the transmissions of 2k and later models?

#1680 of 3389 PCV VALVE on 2000-up Duratecs by nomoreford2

Aug 20, 2002 (12:00 pm)

Does anyone with a 2000-up model Taurus with the Duratec engine know where the PCV Valve is located.

#1681 of 3389 Braking by oxx93

Aug 21, 2002 (1:21 pm)

I have a 2001 Taurus with 12,000 miles and I have noticed that when I start to brake at 40-50mph, the steering wheel starts to shake. I have noticed this a few times while driving on the highway. Has anyone else noticed anything like this? I had the tires rotated at 10,000 miles. Any feedback would be appreciated.

#1682 of 3389 Braking by badgerfan

Aug 21, 2002 (1:57 pm)

Sounds like your front disc brake rotors are warped. While I have not had this happen to me recently, I have read a lot of posts in various maintenance and repair discussions that the warped rotors can occur from uneven or overtightening of the lugs nuts. Other possible causes of warped rotors are hard braking from high speeds followed by parking the car. The rotor heats up and then warps slightly because the heat is not dissipated as the car is parked.
 
  You may want to have the garage that rotated your tires loosen and retighten the nuts to the proper amount using a torque wrench. Otherwise, it may be necessary to get the rotors machined and then again when the wheels are reinstalled, torqued to the proper level, which should be in any good mechanic's shop manual for the specific vehicle.

#1683 of 3389 rotors by sculldog33

Aug 22, 2002 (1:42 pm)

I agree that it sounds like your rotors. Several technical service bulletins out on this, including one that discusses the issue of the brake rotors rusting while sitting on the dealer lot. My rotors were turned at 9000 for the same problem. Up to 13K and they are still fine. Annoying though since I will need new rotors that much sooner. Difficult to convince the dealer that it is their problem, and not mine since this is a wear item that is directly effected by the driver.
 
This came up in much much earlier threads. Concensus seemed to be what badgerfan discussed earlier, plus generally thinner/cheaper rotors these days on all cars that warp easier, and by Ford going cheap in 2000 by "de-contenting" the sable and taurus by eliminating the rear disc breaks on the sedans.
 
Solutions at the time were fight it and demand new rotors (good luck), bite the bullet and turn the rotors, buy aftermarket rotors that are more substantial and less prone to warping.
 
Doesn't sound like yours is too bad -- my steering shook a lot when breaking during any city driving at almost any speed.

#1684 of 3389 Warped rotors by wkohler

Aug 24, 2002 (3:11 am)

I have a 2001 Taurus with warped rotors. Vehicle has about 27M miles on it. Tires have never been rotated, so wrong torque shouldn't be an issue. I made sure the torque was correct when I purchased the vehicle new, because I had heard of these brake problems before purchasing. I'm going to put up with it a little while longer and then purchase some GOOD after market rotors and pads. Turning rotors may help in the short term (very short term) but all it does is hasten the wear of the rotors. Any recommendations for some good after market rotors and pads?

#1685 of 3389 Rotors by ezaircon4jc

Aug 24, 2002 (10:01 am)

I've had 4 Sables. Our current one is a 96 with 110K on the clock. There wasn't a one that didn't warp the factory rotors within 20K miles. Turning lasts about 10K or less. The Taurus/Sable are VERY hard on front rotors, as are all FWDers. Too much weight up front, multiplied by weight transfer during braking. My (RWD) Lincoln LS has 48K and when I replaced the brake pads, the rotors were fine. On my Sable, I replaced the factory rotors with NAPA rotors about 80K miles ago. I've replaced the pads since then and the rotors are holding up very well. No warpage. Using an impact gun to install the lug nuts will over-torque them even if they use a torque stick. The lug nuts need to be hand installed, then tightened down, using the "star" pattern (going to the lug nut accross from the one done, not in a circular pattern) with a torque wrench.
Hope this helps.

#1686 of 3389 sculldog33 by badgerfan

Aug 26, 2002 (9:41 am)

Did last generation Taurus sedans have rear disc brakes? I thought the Taurus wagons and SHO's were the only versions that had rear discs.
 
Actually, rear disc brakes don't really add a lot to braking performance because as you say, front brakes do most of the work. This is true even on rear wheel drive vehicles, as the weight tranfers to the front during braking. Four wheel discs does give a marketing advantage, however.
 
Rotor warping isn't limited to Taurus, it seems almost epidemic to all new vehicles domestic and import, and is most likely due to attempts to keep unsprung weight down to the minimum, thus thinner and more warp prone rotors is the result.

#1687 of 3389 rotors, cont. by sculldog33

Aug 26, 2002 (1:11 pm)

Badgerfan -- I'm about 90% certain that the old Sables (pre 2000) had the rear rotors. 2000 model had the changes in sheetmetal (away from the ovals), dropped the dual exhaust (and some hp/torque), changes/re-calibrations in suspension to make the ride better, and the dropping of the rear disk brakes. Lots of car manufacturers doing this, Honda has done this on the civic for example.
 
Maybe it's the competitiveness in the mid size family car market and maybe the few extra dollars make a difference, but not to me. I found it annoying for example that on Ford's bread and butter family sedan, that all but one car on dealer lots that I looked at had the side airbag/power passenger seat/traction control bundle of options. One gold (ughh!) car had it, but lacked the Mach Audio. MSRP on that bundle was something like $390. For $390 more, on top of a 20,000 purchase, I would have loved having those options. Dealers and or Ford however didn't see fit to order/ship cars with this option. Similarly, rear disks and a semi-dual exhaust would have been worth another few hundred to me. Could leave these off the stripper, cloth seat/manual window versions, but on the alleged top of the line LS/SELs, you'd think the price point would be more forgiving. So much for family safety....
 
Also, given the leather seating option, why can't the factory and/or the dealer install a heated seat package?? To get seat warmers, need to go to the Lincoln line at much more $$$$.

Messages Page 169 of 340

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