any one own a ford?

[gti_7]

..on purpose? i dont know what happened, the old buick roadie lost its floors and i needed a replacement.. never made it out to a curb side dealer to checkout hhis 05 caravan he had for sale- and I ended up with a 2k taurus wagon instead! It just all happened so fast. Left the house saturday to check out a van, got distracted ended up downtown buying cloths[wife was with me] sunday im checking out the above mentioned car and now its in my driveway! I never thought the day would come when i would own a ford, i have been outrightly and out spokenly anti ford my entire car loving life, now i own one.. so, anything i should look out for? or be worried about regarding this car? it has the 3.0 vulcan and AX4N tranny.. i hope this doesnt make me a closet ford lover!

bernard

[taxiguy]

I never owned a Ford but I had a Mercury (same thing) for quite a while, it was a 1991 Grand Marquis in "Woodrose Metallic" which is a fancy word for pink. That was an awesome car, incredibly smooth and quiet fuel-injected 5.0 liter V8, extremly cofortable plush seats, incredible sound system. I miss it a lot but I sold it two months ago (to this very day actually) to make room for the Turbo Dodge.

Here's some pictures of both the Dodge and Merc for the brief period when I had both:






And by itself right before I gave the keys to the new owner

[turbovanman²]

Ball joints and front subframe mounts like to wear out but other than that, they are pretty reliable.

[SoCalCSX]

That 3.0 Vulcan is a good motor longetivity speaking. I've had two rangers with that motor with the latter clocking 160k before I got rid of it and never so much as a whimper out of it. You will however have to get past the 4 cylish power with the fuel economy of something with a little more displacement. After I lowered my ranger I was getting around 20mpg fwiw.

[Mopar318]

I have a 2003 taurus. These things really are bullet proof and easy to work on. Simple OBDII electronics, nothing real fancy to go wrong. The interiors stay together...unlike GM's. I have 6 seat belts, and I get 27mpg highway. For being such a big heavy car, it actually handles really well..probally as good as a stock daytona shelby around wide corners.

I have the 12 valve 3.0...the 24 valve OHC is pretty peppy, but I dont car having a slow car, its just a taurus you know.

[Mopar318]

Ball joints and front subframe mounts like to wear out but other than that, they are pretty reliable.

I thought the subframe mounts were a 96-99 problem..the older body style.

Balls joints wear in any new car though. Non greasable ball joints suck...and pretty much all new cars have them. My 89 tona has greasable ball joints..FTW!!!!

[Keito]

That 3.0 Vulcan is a good motor longetivity speaking. I've had two rangers with that motor with the latter clocking 160k before I got rid of it and never so much as a whimper out of it. You will however have to get past the 4 cylish power with the fuel economy of something with a little more displacement. After I lowered my ranger I was getting around 20mpg fwiw.

I just sold my Ranger with a 3.0.
I bought it new in the summer of 02, the only problem I had was when I replaced the tires the ball joints were bad, with 60,000 miles.
I think Ford makes their balljoints out of plastic.
BTW, they nicknamed that motor the ----roach.

[gti_7]

----roach? whats the story behind that one? Good for nothing smelly engine or cant get rid of it and its always there? But im getting the sense the vulcan is like the gm 3800 series II and III?

So far things are okay. Im driving the thing like a geriatric who's wrists are going to snap from calcium deficiency.. the only complaint i guess is a howl i get that increases and decreases as the car drives.. tires or wheel bearing. but the sound doesnt seem to change with lateral movement as i sway the car side to side to the horror of people around me in traffic.. dont worry its late at night and the roads all but empty. its just the odd person infront of me that thinks my brains up in the clouds and they apply their brakes as a go side to side... at a safe distance mind you.. i checked the deaker history records that came with the car from 10k back [car has 182km currently if i havent mentioned it already] and a tech noted it had noisy tires.. here's hoping.

I am rather kind of happy with it at the moment, drives well. coming from an old grand-daddy cruiser like the buick, this has a much tighter ride- handling wise thats for sure, but some have noted it handles like a barge

TAXIGUY. I feel your loss. but i also share your appreciation for these old cars.. i like to think of them like the people of minnesota, atleast i think its was minnesota, anyway.. how the people of minnesota think about there state. they advertise it as a place NOT to visit, but its actually a nice place.. same for these old people cars.. they are very .. well.. dated in there looks dept but they are as reliable as a rock in most cases.. and id call your car more of a "salmon" color than pink.. unless you like to tell people you got it for free from mary kay cosmetics

I guess you cant get away from the ball joint issue. I thought the LX cars were the only ones with factory ball joints that you needed to replace on a annual or bi annual basis. mercedes parts indeed! My 19month old son ripped the auto start antenna off the windshield today while i was fastening in his car seat, i think it just might fit in..

bernard

[SoCalCSX]

N/M, I was thinking of the 4.0L

[skitzo_inc]

I don't own one now, but I did in High School.
Red Probe with a brown front end (...yes. like that when I bought it...)
Great little car. Never had any problems with it. I don't know what motor it had in it, but it was the first five speed car I had. Sold it for more than I bought it for, and then got my Charger.

[tommyturbo]

Hey I have had several Tauri.

Right now I have an 89 and 95 SHO. The 89 has some wiring issues to resolve, but otherwise they are fun cars. On the older 86-95 cars the subframe bolts corrode or fatigue and then the subframe can shift or clunk. Usually more common on rust belt cars. The vulcan is pretty much indestructable if you keep oil and coolant in it.

Yours may have the AX4S trans, if the pan says AXOD Metric it is an AX4S, but if it says AX4N then you have the newest strongest version of the taurus trans. The AX4S was used until 2002 model year.

I had a 02 sedan with the vulcan and AX4S, and that car handled very well for a heavy fwd sedan, it actually enjoyed and was very willing with aggressive canyon driving. It did ok on power, although it is not the most powerful engine out there. Mine had a strut mount clunk, and the nylon sway bar links can also make noise on these, but the ball joints, and suspension never were a problem otherwise.

I also had a 92 that was my dad's new, same motor/trans combo, and the two were so similar despite 10 years of production. My family also had an 88 with the vulcan that went over 200k miles with no problems. I think they are good cars.

[tommyturbo]

my advice is to keep up on trans service with mercon v. don't ignore the trans on these cars....

[Nemesismachine]

I have a 2000 Ranger 4x4, very good truck other than having to clean corrosion off the motorcraft battery every 6 months or so. Only the negative terminal.

[1986GLH]

One other thing to look for with taurus' is the springs, they like to break. At the ford dealer I work at it seems like every other one has a spring broken. Otherwise they are pretty good cars if you are just looking for basic transportation/family car.

[Dodge Aries K]

I had two Escorts and a Taurus. One of the Escorts was $20 and was a total crapbox that I just beat the piss out of. The Taurus was $50 and was purchased to destroy. Two really good R to D drops at full throttle did it in LOL. The other Escort was a 1993 5 speed wagon I bought for $200. I wish I still had it... it was an awesome little crapbox work car with cold a/c.

[Big_P]

What engine? 3.0 pushrod or 3.0 DOHC?

DOHC: pretty good performer but ----- to work on.

SOHC: slow but tried-and-true.


I just did an alternator on a DOHC Taurus the other day. Had to drop the subframe to get it outta there.



I owned an 88 Grand Marquis, 5.0 AOD. Awesome car. Slow but torquey as hell. Used to destroy tires if you punched it from a stop. It was the old loaner car we had at our shop. I sold it to a friend when I bought an 89 Camry because I was commuting 70mi/day to school and gas was killing me. He got a DUI in it a year later and totalled it.



I also had an 88 Ford Festiva 1.3L 5 speed. Not really a Ford. Got 37mi, mostly city. Pretty cool. Carburated vacuum line nightmare. Accelerator pump went but I didn't even want to touch it. Ended up drinking some beers in the afternoon with a few roommates and chopping the roof off one afternoon because I wanted another convertible.

[Matt86]

I had a 1994 Mercury Sable GS for a year or so...3.0 vulcan. Pretty good car, reliable, ice cold AC....would freeze your hands to the steering wheel. Got decent gas mileage for being a V6, about 27 MPG. Quiet and smooth ride, four wheel disc brakes were very nice even with early Ford ABS. The rear suspension was sagging...very common with Taurii/Sables and the transmission would shift clumsy under heavy acceleration.

Only thing that I didn't like was the small trunk opening and the ugly rear end....

Just watch out for the trannys in these cars...they love to self destruct just as much as the A604's if abused and not maintained.

[black86glhs]

The 2000s are much better than the 96-99 cars. Like already stated, keep the trans fluid clean and use Mercon V fluid and you will have a long and happy life, even with the AX4S trans. Not a bad find really and useful being a wagon.

[85lebaront2]

One issue I ran into on a Vulcan 3.0L was the 97 I was given for my grandson. It had eaten a Cam position encoder. On the 96-97 at least, Ford systems will run in a "limp in" mode since it is only used to synchonise the injectors. Loss of the encoder itself (looks like a sawwed off distributor) means no oil pump = trashed crank. If your engine light should come on and oil pressure also, SHUT IT OFF NOW!! That will kill any engine. There is a "trans" code on the door label that will identify it as either an AX4S or AX4N. Lower ball joints are a Ford problem and have been for years. BTW, if you check my sig, I currently own 2, one of which is actually based on a Taurus chassis.

[DodgeZ]