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My guess is the belt driving your power steering pump is getting old and slipping, when under full loads at low engine speed, or the tensioner is shot so the belt is slipping some.
Also I suppose could be a problem in the power steering pump, but I would replace the belt first and check the tensioner.
Maybe change air filter and fuel filter too. Also, there is a cabin air filter under the front cowl below the wipers which is fairly easy to change yourself. On my 2000 Taurus there is a good diagram in the operators manual for changing it. This one gets overlooked a lot.
Engine idle speed is higher when engine is cold, which is likely why it seems to run faster in reverse. Watch your Tachometer and you will see idle speed gradually drop off to about 700 rpm after a few minutes of driving.
Sometimes when it squeals, I can release and reapply the brakes and it won't squeal on the next brake application. Other times they will squeal several times in a row.
My first guess is that your car is pinging. This is caused by carbon build-up in the cylinder head. The quick fix for that is to use a higher octane (premium) gasoline. There are also chemicals that you can buy at an auto parts store that you add to the gas or spray into the throttle body that can help remove carbon build up.
If something is loose or a bearing (water pump, alternator, smog pump etc) is failing then that could also make somewhat similar noises. For that you need a pro to diagnose what is wrong.
My car is actually out of the recall list, so I would like to fix it myself if possible.
I'm looking at a 2001 Taurus SEL with 99,300 miles. 2nd owner. Price is certainly very attractive, but what's the catch? It has Duratec 3.0L engine. Are 2001 SELs reliable? what items are most likely to fail soon, and what should i get checked out before buying? Thanks!
Is there a flush kit that can be purchased from a car parts store?
How do I make sure I get the correct mixture of anit-freeze to water back in the system?
Thank you!
Steev
Dave
Problem seems to be an intermittent short in the electrical. Newest problem indicates faulty wiring or sensors in electrical system
Long-time issues:
* Driver side spkrs cut in and out.
* Auto shut off of interior lights and auto lock of doors does not happen soon after start up, sometimes delayed 15-20 minutes, sometimes doesn't happen at all
* Rain seems to amplify the issues
Most recent problem:
After normal driving of the car around town, engine will not start until after a few hours have passed. Battery seems fine (replaced a couple years ago), fuses seem fine. It's as if the starter/ignition system sensors or wires need time to cool down before they will allow the car to start. Turn the key - nothing. wait a few hours, and the car starts normally.
Sometimes wiggling random wires seemed to fix the problem, but that's not a helpful fix now, is it?
Would love to avoid unnecessary adventures in repairs and find the heart of the matter, minimize cost of repairs. Help!?!
Steave
P.S. The battery was recently hooked up backwards - don't ask....it blew a 175 amp fuse (yep, that's a biggin!) and fried the alternator. Both were replaced and everything seemed fine after driving away from the repair shop - no other icons or funny happenings like it was doing on the way to the shop. Later that day, the blower problem occured - nothing else seems affected. :confuse:
Some time later, I was under the car changing the oil and noticed two things on the exhaust: The little collars on each end of the flex pipe (that protect the braid ends) had come loose and were free to move up and down the pipe... and *THEY JINGLED* when I bumped them. Also, the bold attaching the exhaust support to the oil pan was loose and that bracket *JINGLED* as well. I figured the collars were no longer functional and just cut them off with tin snips, and I tightened the bolt for the exhaust bracket, and the jingle has not returned since.
The Ford Aspire I had needed regular maintenance on the heat shields to keep them from rattling; I had to climb under the car about once or twice a year and tighten up all the clamps.
A lot of jingly, rattly, nasty sounding noises on Fords (and many other cars as well) turn out to be loose exhaust components.
We got 70,000 miles on the original factory Continentals. I guess this shows the power of regular rotating and balancing.
They still had significant tread on them, but were getting noisy on the road. In looking into replacements, I had my eye on a set of Michelins from Costco, but I decided to look at Sears as well to make sure it was a good price.
Sears was not very competitive on the Michies, but the salesman suggested Falken Ziex ZE512s. These are performance tires recommended as good replacements for Elantras (my other car is an Elantra and I know of a couple active boards). So I decided to try them out. In the P215/60R16 size (same as the stock Continentals), I got a full set of tires with full roadhazard warranty and lifetime rotate and balance for about $400.
With the Continentals, it seemed the Taurus was really feeling its miles; I figured after getting the tires paid off, struts would be next. But after putting the Falkens on, the car feels much tighter and quieter than it was even when it was new. There is an enhanced road feel, but with very little loss of comfort; these tires don't beat you up but you really feel glued to the road.
After a couple hundred miles, I would heartily endorse this tire as a way to give new life to your tired Taurus!
At times it goes away after it warms up, but I have recently noticed it on the highway as well after driving for a while.
Last night on the way home from some errands, the engine light came on...
I had a friend hook up his computer to it, and it came back with a P0401 Insufficient Flow EGR Valve code
I am reluctant to take it to the local Mercury dealer as they have done some shotty work for me in the past, including recently quoting me work that another mechanic told me didn't need to be done.
Any thoughts on what the actual cause of this code is?
Would appreciate any help you can provide.
Swimmer1
Aside from the code, from your symptoms I would think you need new spark plugs and wires.
thank you for the advice, I suspected as much, on the EGR code, but have never had this problem with a car before, and didn't know how complex these things could get, I understand there are relays, vacum systems, sensors, etc... involved....
Looks like I'll start with the valve and go from there...
The plugs and wires are a good advice as well, although I've had bad wires before, and it tended to cause more of a miss and backfire, but it is still worth looking into
Thanks for the help!
Put on a set of Turanza LS-T's, best tire I have ever ridden on.
Can't recommend them highly enough.
Check on snow rating if applicable, isn't here in Florida!
1 - A bad DPFE sensor (a description of the EGR system is here: http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/egrmonitor.htm
2 - The channel that goes between the EGR valve and the intake is clogged. The channel is in face of the intake manifold where the throttle body mounts. The throttle body needs to be removed and the channel cleared out. A new throttle body gasket needs to be used.
The EGR valve itself does not usually go bad.
The car has 60,000 miles on it.
Good Luck
P.S.
I have 2 vehicles and thought I was in the Pontiac Forum! Sorry! :confuse:
I thought he was talking voodoo but he took the lid off the engine, showed me the carbon all over the place in there, cleaned it out and it's been peachy ever since.
Thanks, Dave
Dave
Still had trouble so he sent me to another place that had the equipment to totally clean out the carbon deposits that I had (because I put less than 5000 miles in a year, mostly city). It is a system by BG 44K (or something like that recommended by Pat Goss of Motorweek). Also had the transmission fluid changed by the same companies system and antifreeze. Still had the problem. :mad:
Back to the original mechanic - over and over again. No light came on even though it was still hesitating. Short long story. Light finally can on and it only shows that it was the 6th cylinder this time, but the plug was new and the coil produced a spark so instead of just changing everything and running up my bill he decided it must be the plug boot. To make sure that it was, he switched it to the #5 cylinder and last night code P305 came up instead of P306. He then ordered me a boot which is only $18 vs. $104 for a coil. It will be installed on Wed.
Hope this helps some of you do-it-yourselfers which on this car I'm not.
Last August I had Ford replace the DPFE sensor under the extended warrenty and the engine light went off till this June.
Also decided to replace my over 6-year-old battery.