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I suggest you go to either a dealer or independent shop and get a diagnosis and cost estimate, which they may be able to do for little out of pocket money. It may just be a fairly inexpensive sensor or something such as that. Don't panic before you know the problems. Then perhaps you can judge whether the cost is affordable and can decide to proceed from there and maybe even make a little judgement about your ability to replace bad parts yourself.
Note some emissions control items may be warranted longer than your initial warranty as well, so do not hesitate to ask about that.
Do you have any ability to borrow money at reasonable rates if the repair does become expensive? At the worst, if you have a credit card, you should be able to get repairs done and pay back over an extended term. I do not recommend anyone carry a credit card balance as a habit, as you are paying near loan shark interest rates, but in this instance it may be your only choice if you cannot come up with the money for repairs.
Good luck!
whew, thanks
same sort of noise described in the earlier post. Covered by warranty (with
a deductable).
Also, the A/C condenser is not working and the guy I bought it from said it would cost about $500.00 to fix. Is this accurate and is that something I can do?
Thanks.
For AC systems you do not have the tools to evacuate and recharge the system, so you will have to let the experts do this. My experience: If you get off with only a $500 bill for fixing almost anything related to your AC system, you are getting a bargain!
Still, I would get a second opinion. I've never heard of a ball joint being damaged by hitting something. You may have bent something under there.
I have a 2001 Taurus SES w/69,000 miles and was wondering about front rotors. I replaced the rotors on this car at 66,000, because the old ones were at minimum and the wheel would vibrate badly upon braking at around 40+ MPH.
The new ones I purchased were from Auto Zone. They are VALUCRAFT and cost me $17.99 each and a local service station put them on for $30.00 - so I only paid close to $70.00 total.
Now, it is 3,000 miles later and the rotors I think are warped. I get that same vibrating of the wheel sensation, but not as often, when I brake from higher speeds (40+). This started only last week. Prior to that, they were GREAT - no problems, but of course, they were new.
So, my question is, is it my rotors? Did I buy cheap when I shouldn't have? Are they my tires at all? They are crappy Douglas Touring tires with only 5/32 left on the tread. Could mis-alignment or poor balance result of this problem? Maybe my rear brakes are the problem? I have newer pads/shoes all the way around; however, drums I think are original.
Secondly, what do you all suggest for rotors? I deliver and drive on curvy roads all the time, and maybe these rotors can't handle it. I want a rotor that will withstand my driving, and not warp. Now, I could have these cut down, but I would rather just get better rotors and get it over with. If I get new rotors, should I go ahead and buy new pads? My current ones I believe are 75%. Or, should I get a brake flush?
Please advise on how I should do this and provide rotor recommendations.
Thanks!
- Alex
#2 swap or replace tires if out of round try the rear tires if better
#3 you get what you pay for....but before you replace brake parts see #1 and #2
#4 always replace rotors and pads together...who wants to do the job twice?
#5 new shoes...old drums???? You gotta be kidding.Find a better mechanic.
Check Tire Rack etc... for pricing on better quality brake parts. Lots of good stuff out there. Hardware is cheap,labor is not.
I have the same problem. I tried the fuse box - all OK. I then wiggled the hazards back & forth and the problem was solved. It seeems like a loose/faulty hazard switch which also affects the Turn signals.
Graham
I just wanted to thank you for the info on 89 Taurus clutch. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I finished the job a couple of weeks ago and it went quite well thanks to you. My daughter is glad to get her car back and not have to worry about it.
Thanks again,
Joeg3
Where did you purchase and how much were these performance brakes? I have a 2001 SES and am VERY interested.
Thanks!
- Alex
P.S. To other responses, my front end doesn't make any noise so I know my suspension parts are good, plus they looked fine when I had my tranny flushed 2 weeks ago.
Once the tee is installed you just hook up your garden hose and it gets flushed out. If you want you can then put some radiator flush (chemical) in and let it do it's thing. Then just flush again with the backflush tee and fill it up with new coolant.
Here's a link
http://www.quasimotors.com/flush_tee.htm
Caution - Only do the backflush after the car has sat many hours and is cool. Otherwise the cold water may crack the hot engine block.
http://ks.essortment.com/flushcarsradia_rfjd.htm
It rides extremely well, better than my parents' Camry, has more power, shifts more smoothly, and is dry as a bone except for one thing.
It is overheating and leaking coolant. I am trying to flush the system and install new hoses/water pump/thermostat, but I cannot find the engine drain plug! I have looked at Haynes and Chilton, but they just say remove the engine block drain plug. Either I am a (1) moron, (2) blind, or (3) crazy. If someone could e-mail me or post on here some help (with pictures appreciated), I would owe them.
this is a 96 with 3.00 engine. I bought it with 120K, never did a fluid change on tranny, now has about 150K...
Alternatively, you can wait until you need to change your coolant pump (often around 150k miles) and get all your belts changed at the same time, just to save you the time and money of repeated visits.
thank you Jatabt
I added refrigerant to my system today, and everything went fine until.....
When I removed the hose from the High Side (the bigger of the two) the valve inside the charging tube would not pop into place to seal the tube. I ended up discharging the entire system while attempting to get the valve to close. Wnybody else ever have this situation? Also, forgive me if I botched the names and terms of the the components listed above.
Thanks,
Steve
I bought the parts online and had them installed by a local Ford dealer.
Precision Brakes Company
476 Applegate Way
Ashland Oregon,
TRW Power Stop Extreme Performance Semi-metallic pads 26-598-02 $43.45
TRW Powerstop Drilled Rotors SP-54-030 $197.50
Installation $121.85
total $362.80
What mileage does the owners manual say the coolant should be replaced?
They often have coupons and service specials so the extra services could end up costing nothing extra.
They should also be able to simply top off the coolant and discount the cost of the flush service if it isn't needed until a later service point.
can ford taurus exterior parts fit the mercury sable? for example can the ford taurus bumper fit the same model year mercury sable?
I have a 2001 Taurus SES with 71,000 miles on it. I recently put (4) new GT Radial Champiro 128 H-rated tires on my car. Previously, I had worn-out Douglas Touring tires.
Here is the thing: before purchasing the GT Radial tires, whenever I would take a curve or go up/down hills or dips - especially poorer road surfaces - I would feel a dragging sensation from the bottom of the car - like it was the tires; however, with these new H-rated performance tires, it does the SAME THING.
So my question is what could it be? I figure it might be an alignment issue, because I didn't have one done when I bought these new tires. Secondly, it only does this with my foot on the gas. When my foot is OFF the gas IT DOES NOT DO THIS.
I am having the dealer where I bought the car check this out. They are doing this absolutely FREE (driving it and doing a full front-end examination/diagnostic). It has been doing this since I bought it, but I passed it off as crappy tires.
Other than this, I love my car! These new tires actually make the car handle better!
Thanks!
- Alex