Blackjack21

I have 2 problems on my '94 Taurus GL 3.8L that has been pissing me off up to a point that I want to blow up the car. As a bonus, whoever suggests an idea and solves any of the two problems, I will paypal you or send you $10 as a token of my appreciation.

1st problem: My Taurus runs way too hot, especially in the summer and when going up hill. I know under these conditions, your temp is suppose to go up but it is always at around 2/3 of the way up from HOT. When I am driving in the city, the temp also gets really high. It has only overheated once and i fixed that by changing a broken hose. I constantly change the coolant, changed the thermostat twice (to make sure), change hoses, changed radiator cap, and the next thing i have plan is a new aluminium radiator. I know 3.8L has problems with the head gasket but I had the head gasket checked and everything is fine. Any ideas anyone?

2nd problem: This happened twice, the first time it "magically" fixed it self and today the problem came back. When I started my car today, the engine started up but once it started up, the car shut off (stalled). When I keep starting it, it starts for a few seconds and then dies. IF i start the engine and press on the gas pedel, the car stays on and does not shut off. BUt when I press on the pedel for about 2 minutes (let it rev up) and then release it then the engine still dies. Today, when i started up the car, i stepped on the gas and then shift it to drive. I drove it around the block without releasing the gas pedel (this is harder than you think). Once i got around the block, when i release the pedal, the car no longer stalled. It runs fine now for the past 5 hours.

First one to suggest something and SOLVES the probem, I will send them $10. My email is nguyenfmly@iccas.com email me or post something on this forum and we will see how it goes. (Dont worry, I am good for the $10). Right now, I think $10 is worth more than my Taurus.

LunaticSVT

First, I would suggest that you go to Autozone. They will scan your car for free to see if you have any codes that are being stored in the ECU. If you do that will help in pinpointing the source of the issues you are having.

Prob 1: I would check the catalytic converter to make sure it is not “plugged” or restricted.

Prob 2: Check the fuel pressure. I would look at fuel pump, fuel filter or even the egr. It could be any of those or any number of others things. That is why it is good to check the ecu for codes.

bigshowb

Make sure you have the right pressure rated cap for your radiator. Sounds stupid but i know someone who went through all the same stuff your saying about the runnin hot and thats all it was.

brucestr

I have had similar problems with my 1992 ford taurus

when your car is overheating, pull over, do not turn it off, and check to see if the fan has kicked on

if not, there is a sensor that turns on the fan that should be replaced

also, if your car overheats, turn your air conditioner on. this might force that sensor to turn your fan on

also, fords have a problem with a tfi ignition unit that is mounted on the engine block under the distributor. do a google search on -- ford taurus tfi-- and/or -- ford stall overheat -- and you will find lots of info on this

other inexpensive things to try: replace spark plugs, replace spark plug wires

Blackjack21

Some folow ups:

I replaced the radiator cap (brand name from Autozone) but it did not seem to solve the problem, instead I had to replace it back to my stock one because the stock one seem to work better.

The only time my son and I spend time together is when we are either tuning up the car or trying to fix it. (Ford does really know how to bring family closer). We always change the oil, transmission oil, spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor, coolant flush, air filter, fuel filter and the complete works. I also recently got my fuel injection cleaned (the ran some tubing and flushed it). The car still runs very hot, 2/3 up when driving in the city. 1/3 when on the freeway on a cold day and going stright, no mountains. When the car is hot, the fan does turn on but I went on Alldata.com and they said that there was some kind of recall for the fan so I will check with that later.

The car hasnt stalled recently but I am very sure this will come up, probably when I need the car the most.

I am getting a new radiator put hopefully by the end of this week. I'll let you guys know whats up.

The bonus is still up for grabs so if you have any info, let me know.

LunaticSVT

have you checked to see if you are throwing codes at all?

Blackjack21

Heads up on what is going on so far...

As for the overheating problem, we replaced the radiator and the input/output coolant tubes. Since I changed the radiator, the temperature of the car has been very low. It has been so low that my son and i do not want to believe it. I think that replacing the radiator solved the overheating problem. To test the radiator, we drove the car to Vegas (twice) with AC on. (We drive from Los Angeles to Vegas going through Lancaster & Mojave Desert). The temperature stays below 1/2 throughout the trip but it went up a little more than 1/2 way when driving down the Las Vegas Strip (took 45 min).

The car still stalls once in a while. I heard people talk about replacing the O2 sensors and cleaning out the IAC valve. The bonus is still up for grabs is someone finds out the solution to this.

Blackjack21

Forgot to mention that I am going to autozone very soon for them to scan the computer of my car for error codes. I'll keep you guys posted.