Ford Taurus | Mercury Sable | Ford Taurus SHO | 1986-2007Forum for discussion of the Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable and Ford Taurus SHO. Covers vehicle years: 1986-2007
He was from Australia so he's probably driving a s---y Opel. Do you have a 3.0L Vulcan or a 3.0L Duratec??? Reason I ask is because the Duratec P/S pump can seep on the bottom and drip on the exhaust. Another possibilty is the R. axle seal on the trans.
Just as Shoz guessed it is a Vulcan. Whatever is leaking onto my exhaust, it does not smell like antifreeze.
The transmission on my 2001 Taurus went out at about 115,000. It was the typical transmission problem that these have where it won't start out, but once you're in second gear it's just fine. I limped around with it like that for many months before getting it completely redone for about $1,700. Thank God for my old 1977 Chevy or I never would have gotten to work on time a lot of days.
Mine gets poor gas mileage. I have always gotten around 14mpg in town and 28mpg on the highway. The service engine light came on for new reason. Was on for a couple years, then stopped coming on a few months ago.
My windows constantly freeze shut in the wintertime. It's the worst I've ever seen on any car. The stripping is all getting worse all the time as well.
The radio acts a little funny sometimes. Right now the car is approaching 120,000 miles. The engine has always been good in the car. I think the spark plugs are original, I'm going to have those changed soon. All in all, it has not been a bad car, but I'm not overly impressed with it either.
Sounds like the horror is nearly all from lack of maintenance.
Are you replying to my post or the thread in general? My car gets regular maintenance. I change oil less than 3,000 miles. I've had a couple mechanics look at the light and they were not that concerned about it. It just came on again the other day with the first warm weather we've had. I will take it to somebody and have them put it on a machine to see what's up.
It's not really a service engine soon light, but it's the little orange light that comes on in the lower left corner. It does kind of look like an engine. I looked it up in the book once, I can't remember what it is right now.
i've had my 2001 taurus for about six months now with no major issues at 140,000 miles. i just had to do an alignment so far. my family had two '92 sables. both had tranny troubles and the motor mounts have been replaced several times. my dad also drives a '98 taurus with 250,000 miles and no major troubles, basically what you would expect with high mileage
Only problem I had with my '99 Taurus was a faulty seat belt return spring repaired under warranty at 24,000miles
Quote:
Originally Posted by SHOZ123
Sounds like the horror is nearly all from lack of maintenance.
That doesn't surprise me. Keep in mind regular maintenance is just that - regular. Consider how you drive the vehicle, what weather conditions you put it through. Also, do you cheapen out on this 'regular' maintenance? If you do, your most certain to expect problems. When I ran conventional oil in my Taurus it was BLACK at 2500miles! I had the engine flushed, and installed synthetic oil and copper plugs (yes copper). Copper burns just as well as any other plug. The only thing with spark plugs in the taurus from what the dealer told me, is that they can go 60, 000miles or greater between changes. So after driving 50, 000 your plugs are 85% worn!
Plugs left in for long periods can also weld themselves to the head...so be sure to check them on a regular basis (gap as well) if that's what you run. It's always a good rule of thumb to change plugs a bit early than what the manufacturer specifies. With copper plugs (I change them every 20-22K miles) my engine oil is still clean after 4,000 miles and begins to get dirty around 5K, which is when I change it.
Besides, speed is the main killer as it increases engine rpm which also puts additional strain on components. My car sees speeds well under 65mph and rarely does it go over. I'd rather save myself a few bucks in maintenance and fuel than to arrive at my 60mile away destination a whole five minutes sooner; all the while fighting traffic where I can just set cruise control at the speed limit and let traffic move around me. It also makes for a much more relaxing drive and the fact that your not putting the car through its paces on a regular basis will make you more relaxed and give you much better piece of mind. After all, it is only a family sedan.
Transmission fluid should be changed every 20-30K after the car has reached 60,000miles. It'll greatly increase the life of the trans. Even if the fluid is brown, smells burnt or tarnished, it still breaks down chemically like anything else man made.
This is fairly painful for a guy who has owned Fords, and still has two, for 37 years. When I set out to replace my SHO, I happened to drive a Lexus. Never considered owning one as I hated Japanese cars in general. I set out to find a Lincoln LS. Drove four of them, various years, all with V8's. I most likely would have bought one if not for the fact that I had previously drove a GS series Lexus. Compared to the GS, the Lincolns just didn't measure up. Ended up buying a used GS-430. Paid a little more than a comparable LS. I have had the car for over two years now, the clock just past 90K. For the first time ever, I have not had one single thing fail. Routine maintenance is all I have done. It's a mid 14 second in the quarter car, easily go 130 and dead quiet inside. Pretty sad state of affairs when a car manufacturer slips as badly as Ford and GM have.
yah i used to be of the mindset that people have their preferences and will rag on ford/gm/honda/toyota/whatever their main competitor is just to boost their manufaturers ego.
i know the taurus is not the best example of a ford. but ive seen similar maintenance requirements from my friends gt mustangs, f-150's, escapes, and focuses. it seems every ford has the same issues. if not in type than in quantity.
my bottom of the line no frills 95 honda civic with 133k miles has had almost ZERO mechanical issues. the plug wires have been replaced once, the water pump and timing belt replaced at 100k as preventative maintenance as is customary with hondas. the only thing outside of regular maintenance was the master cylinder developed an issue at 120k, 15 mins to replace it, 20 mins to flush the lines and crack open a beer.
the civic feels like crap, uncomfy, old, kinda ric-ey lol. i was gonna replace it with a vw rabbit but the finances just werent there.
i thought it was all talk but this car sucks. on the way back from houston the other day, staring at the temp needle jumping all over the place, steam poouring out from under the hood, misfiring on cylinders 1,2 and 3 with no heat because the core had to be bypassed... im wishing i had bought an accord.
i thought the civic being 13 years old should be the first car to be replaced, but now im realizing our taurass with 120k is gonna be the first to crap on us...
i have a 97 taurus gl, which i bought for 200 bucks. it was in great shape when i bought it, about 200k miles and it only had the minor problems with the door ajar and the dome light staying on all the time. after the first winter i owned it, started to lose heat, and there is a clicking noise behind the controls which gets louder and louder when the ac is running. i have had the break lines rust out resulting in a crash on thanksgiving, and wound up making my own lines because none of my local parts stores could match up the fittings on my old lines. that was quite simple to take care of and only cost be about 20 bucks for the coil and i rented a tool to clamp the lines. after this it was about january and extremely cold, and the car started this cool trick called stalling when in park, and would stall when i put it into drive unless i pump the gas for a few seconds. there is a constant smell of fuel from the engine, lack of power, and the idle is heavy. the codes were read and it was claiming to be to much egr, so i replaced the valve and inspected the vaccum lines and the car still runs like crap. fuel consumption is crap, i get less than 18 mpg and that's mostly highway miles. for 200 bucks, i really can't complain too much, but my last car was a subaru and with all the rigging i did on that car it still ran like a champ till the timing went out, and on a 400.00 car, it made more sense to buy the ford for 200 than to take it to a dealer and have the timing fixed...and then whatever else the dealer would decided they needed to fix while they were under there...
anyone have any trouble with rough idling and the egr system?
2004 Taurus with 98,000 miles on it. Check engine light kept coming on, and was diagnosed as needing coolant sensor and thermostat. Ended up changing a radiator fan also. Less than 2 weeks later, the check transmisison light and the engine light came on. Now am told that there are so many codes with the transmission by the Ford Repair center that it would be cheaper to just replace the transmission. Contacted Ford, and was told that there is no history of transmission issues with the Taurus'. Load of crap, but what can you do?
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