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I think I will take your advice Burdawg and
cut the A/C pipes. I'm not looking forward to this
but its just getting to be a little to foggy in the car. I will let you know how it goes.
Just to much work to put into such an old car.
Decided its time to cut my losses on this beater.
Think I will look around for a older Toyota, at
least that should be a little more reliable.
Thanks again for your tips..hope i didn't disappoint anyone.
I have maintained it with my system of simple monthly checks and good record keeping called Proper Maintenance (PM).
You can see pictures of the vehicle inside and out and download my FREE PM checklists at my website: http://www.modular.net/hoofer/
best of luck
Well then I noticed recently a sudden jerk when gear changes from 2nd to 3rd (20mph), from P to R and from R to OD. And some sound kind of zzzm, when in P,N positions. Other shifts were smoth as usual. I cured it detaching battery for a while so resetting and clearing computer memory. After that tranny wirks like a new. Any body knows what all it means ?
All fluids (brake, transmission, coolant, most everything) have been changed on schedule (the Ford schedule) and routine maintainance (belts, hoses, tune) as called for. Have replaced stereo wich was possessed, water pump, battery, alternator 2 times, alignment and balance 2 times(once free), the A/C (updated to the new coolant) and a few other things.
The only exception are the oil changes. The first were at 3k intervals by the original owner for the first 100k (almost) and then I got it for FREE. Yup, free!!!! I change the oil every 7500 miles and have had most of my cars crack 180k at which point I usually get rid of them because of other problems (never engine problems) or I just want something never/different. Two times I changed the oil at 4000 miles because I was living it he city for a while but thats it.
The cars that I have traded in earlier than 180k or so were mostly due to other problems. Never a single engine problem with 7500mile oil changes with regular mineral oil. So I do not believe that the 3k interval extends the life of the engine to any significant degree but thats just my opnion. Either way, the Road Warrior Taurus at 11 years old...
1) Drives beautifully and still accelerates very well
2) Has a few sqeeks but rides pretty quietly up to 65mph. It has always has a little shimmy beyond 70mph so I dont go there.
3) It just passed emissions with flying colors!! So its good for at least 2 more years.
4) It can get almost 30mpg on the highway at 60mph on 87octane!!!! From Philly to St. Louis I got 28.5mpg this last time at 60mph. AMAZING!!!!!
5) Does pretty well in the snow on all season rubber
I think the 1989 and 1990 were great cars. BUT the 91 to 94 seem to have horrible problems and some of the recent ones dont seem to holding up too well either. I do have a salesman friend who has 190k on his 1996 but that ALL highway.
Anyway, the Taurus is no longer my daily driver and does not pile up miles like it used to but I still maintain it as a second car. I drive it 2 times a week (about 50miles or less).
Currently the transmission MAY be slipping a tiny bit, its showing some rust because its an outdoor car, and it loses (not burns but seepage) about 1 quart every 6000 miles. My goal is to get 5-7 more years from it but I would happy with 3.
After realizing it I tried last time to switch on everything that can consume electric current in the car while battery was off to discharge this mysteriuos capacitor. And it worked! So no problems since then. Don't have any idea what it might be, don't even know how this clutch works.
Thought that the only other thing it could be would be the water pump. Any ideas before I change the water pump.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Ron
Now, with no warning, the transmission will no longer shift into 2nd or 3rd gear. When I accelerate from 1st gear, it goes into neutral and stays there until I slow down and it downshifts back into 1st gear.
My question is does this indicate a need to rebuild/replace the transmission or could it be something simpler? I know it is difficult if not impossible to 'troubleshoot' a problem over the phone/web but thought I would ask in case someone has had a similar experience.
Thanks
By all means though, have it checked out; maybe it won't be as bad as mine was.
"Hey, has anyone here had a problem with their dome lights and door ajar light staying on after the,car is started and the door is DEFINITELY shut? My car has started this interesting problem just last Sunday. Along with this, when the light is on, I can't lock the doors without the lock popping right
back to unlocked. It eventually corrects itself, with the light going off, and a quick chime. Hopefully this won't be too expensive to fix. I bought the car for about $9000 (no loan) in May, and since have poured the $3000 into it. I'm not sure the car is worth much more...... I used to like it a lot.. now it is more of a love-hate relationship."
johnk324, I had a '91 Sable with the 3.8L. I had to do the mounts a couple of times. To check the mount, open the hood. Start it up and with your foot on the brake, shift into gear. If you see the engine move (look through the crack between the back of the hood and the cowl), then it is the mounts, probably the front. It isn't too hard to change, although you have to jack up the motor a little. Ford is supposed to have a new, redesigned mount that lasts longer. They are of a fluid filled design.
Hope this helps you guys, Mike
Thanks. Luckily, it hasn't done it in the last few days. I'm hoping it will stop acting oddly... my tuition payment just went through, and even though $160 usually isn't too much for a car repair, I don't currently have much money. Thanks again!
Friends with a similar car get 25 or so. This rebuild has only 20K on it and tranny 2K. Normal maintenance done, plugs, filters etc. After reading info on the newer models, it seems a programming upgrade helps those models. What options do I have to increase mileage?
CAP
My '90 Sable with the 3.0 liter got only in the high teens in city driving and no better than about 29 mpg on long trips. I felt lucky averaging about 22 mpg. (And I drive with a light foot.)
The problem would persist until I pulled over and turned the motor off and re-started the engine. Then all appeared normal.
The last time I experienced the problem - when the car was re-started after an hour drive I noticed a "clunk" in shifting from park to drive and back and forth.It went away when power was restored to dash items.
Does anyone else have similar problem, is there a way I can maintain this without having the large charge of replacement??Any opionions would be greatly appreciated.....Thanks
Please give me indication about that. Is there any problem with my new car? How to check power steering system is working or not? Thanks!
Mitchell Mechanical Labor Estimating Guide:
1987-95
Four.......2.7
V6
3.0L Eng
V.I.N. U......... 2.4
V.I.N. Y (SHO)... 2.8
3.2L Eng......... 2.8
3.8L Eng......... 2.6
X your shop's hourly rate, plus the cost of the pan, gaskets, oil, etc. Suggest you find a shop which quotes estimates using Mitchell, Chilton, Alldata, etc, for labor times. And ask to see it.
I was taking this car to the dealer that I bought it from in 1998 and 1999 complaining of the sound>
But each time the car went in, it came out with more problems, When I would take it back into them, they just started to tell me they could not hear the sounds that was coming from the front end.
To make this one short; In 1999 I started a dispute settlement with FORD, but in the mean time of waiting for that to take progress, I drove the taurus to another dealer.
This Dealer not only heard what I was hearing, but had the car for about 2 weeks repairing the damage caused by the neglect of the other dealers mechanic's.
Some parts in the front end was loose, I had loose bolts, There is one part, I cant remember the name of it, but it was about to fall off my car.
this is a list of things done at this time of 2 wk repair. (from what I remember) rack n pinion, oil pan gasket seal, (something I remember last part of the word being a chain), motor mounts seperated, struts, and the freaken door sensors.
Most of the front end was in bad bad shape, so bad that my front tires tread was completely worn off (even wear).
My and the dealer conclusion to this, was that either the mechanics was not experienced or it was completely intentional. But I was given the free prem care extended warranty from the dispute settlement, But know its 2001 and that dam car still knows the ford shop better then my own drive way. seau90@hotmail.com
I am constantly having them replaced, not only that but I also had my starter/sealinoid go bad on me. But my front end problems we had still make me mad that FORD would allow a DEALER to do that, and let them go un punished for it.
This happened in Oklahoma, there is no lemmon law there. My advice buy some where else.
Sometimes you have to take it out of the hands of the dealer, and go directly to FORD themselfs. Unforunately there aren't to many good dealers out there, but I know I found a bad one in Oklahoma.
My situation I took it directly out of the hands of the Bad Dealer and when to FORD on my problem. As it turned out, either this bad dealers mechanics was un experienced or it was simply intentional. My case in OKlahoma left me where there was no Lemmon law to protect us consumers from dealers like the one I encountered.