Mid 90's Ford Tech ... tool question

[Stick Figure]

I know someone that just picked up a 95 Taurus w/ a 3.8 V6 ... They have a basic tool set, but i'm wondering if anyone can recall any not so basic tools they may need to keep this POS on the road. I would like to help them out if i can with extras, or even stuff i will never use.

thanks all

 

[Stick]

Headgaskets and a tow truck?

 

[Stick Figure]

lol ... hey i said no ... but it was like $300 and running at the time, so what can you do?

 

[AZ_Catskinner]

Other than a wrecker, I don't think he should need anything special for normal service and light repairs.

 

[diggerrick]

Does he have fuel line tools?

 

[Stick Figure]

Those he doesnt have, good call on that .... who has a cheap couple time use set? HF?

 

[mrholeshot]

Visa card,lol


I tell you one thing about Taurus that Ive seen. In my area they seem to be the least maintained but some of the highest mileage vehicles around. People run those things into the ground. I consider them a pretty solid vehicle. I think one of the biggest issues with them seemed to be piss poor mpg. Most of them get the gas mileage of a 2wd V8pickup.

 

[strnjss]

I know the 3.0L Duratec and Vulcan engines for the Taurus were extremely reliable engines.

I don't have any experience with the 3.8 Essex that your friend has (I don't think it was in US models), but I believe it was a pretty popular engine back in the last few decades with other car makers.

I assume in the Taurus, the Essex would be side mounted like most other front wheel drive cars, which means your friend will need some standard extensions, and maybe a swivel socket to get to the rear plugs. Other than that, I would assume there wouldn't be anything too special needed.

If the Essex is anything like the other Taurus engines, it won't give you too many problems; It will be everything else that will give you problems on the Taurus. They're famous for bad tie rod ends, ball joints, and of course the infamous transmission problems.

My father's 1990 Taurus made it to almost 300,000 miles though (2 transmissions, the second was pretty shot when we got rid of it). His second one, a 1998 made it to 180,000 (bad transmission also, but not as bad as the 1990). Both 3.0L Vulcan engines. On both the engines were perfect when they died, it was everything else that went bad.

 

[Chadro]

I don't have any experience with the 3.8 Essex that your friend has (I don't think it was in US models), but I believe it was a pretty popular engine back in the last few decades with other car makers.



If the Essex is anything like the other Taurus engines, it won't give you too many problems; It will be everything else that will give you problems on the Taurus.

LOL, You really must not have any experience with the 3.8l. I would argue that it is one of the worst engines Ford ever put out. It is very well known to need headgaskets at every oil change lol, hence the headgasket jokes above.

Don't care if it is in a Thunderbird, Taurus or Windstar. It's a problem child plain and simple. Tell your buddy to buy whatever is required to swap in a different motor.

 

[strnjss]

LOL, You really must not have any experience with the 3.8l. I would argue that it is one of the worst engines Ford ever put out. It is very well known to need headgaskets at every oil change lol, hence the headgasket jokes above.

Don't care if it is in a Thunderbird, Taurus or Windstar. It's a problem child plain and simple. Tell your buddy to buy whatever is required to swap in a different motor.

haha oh, ok then never mind! I really don't know anything about the 3.8 except that it was used in a bunch of different cars at the time.

Yeah if you can swap in a vulcan or duratec (the duratec has more power and a better transmission). I personally like the vulcan engine best as it's so easy to work on (so much extra room in the engine bay).

Also, I've heard terrible things about the 3.2 SHO motor (made by Yamaha) so stay away from that too.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The 3.8L was probably the worst engine (for failures) that Ford sold in the past 20-30 years. I don't think I know anyone who owned a vehicle with a 3.8L that made 100K without some major repair. Besides the head gasket failures, Windstar 3.8L needed new intake manifold bolts and gaskets.

Get a spare transmission. AX4N and AX4S don't seem to last too long.

 

[mrholeshot]

LOL, You really must not have any experience with the 3.8l. I would argue that it is one of the worst engines Ford ever put out. It is very well known to need headgaskets at every oil change lol, hence the headgasket jokes above.

Don't care if it is in a Thunderbird, Taurus or Windstar. It's a problem child plain and simple. Tell your buddy to buy whatever is required to swap in a different motor.

I just never many problems with them in my shop and had a good many customers who owned Fords with 3.8's. The worst engine Ive seen since I've been wrenching is GM's Olds based 5.7 deisel. I was working for a GM dealer when they came out

 

[boostedgt]

my family had a '93 sable 3.8 that was bought used in '94. somehow the headgaskets lasted until '03-04 and 115,000 miles. it was a great car other than the A/C system that would never stay working(even when a couple years old and under warranty)

btw i would take a ford 3.8 over a GM quad 4 or chrysler 2.7 any day

 

[Chadro]

I just never many problems with them in my shop and had a good many customers who owned Fords with 3.8's. The worst engine Ive seen since I've been wrenching is GM's Olds based 5.7 deisel. I was working for a GM dealer when they came out

Mom bought a brand new TBird in 1994 with the good ole 3.8l. It made it to 42,000 before the first headgasket gave up the ghost. Headgasket job got done at the dealer and needed replaced again at 48,000. It could have been a hack job at the dealer, who knows.

She had a new motor put in it and traded it on a Windstar with the 3.8 lol. I can't remember for sure but I'm almost certain it has a headgasket job and it for sure had the ****** replaced.

That TBird was damn nice other then the motor being junk.

 

[mrholeshot]

Mom bought a brand new TBird in 1994 with the good ole 3.8l. It made it to 42,000 before the first headgasket gave up the ghost. Headgasket job got done at the dealer and needed replaced again at 48,000. It could have been a hack job at the dealer, who knows.

She had a new motor put in it and traded it on a Windstar with the 3.8 lol. I can't remember for sure but I'm almost certain it has a headgasket job and it for sure had the ****** replaced.

That TBird was damn nice other then the motor being junk.

Don't doubt it. It's funny that with cars that it seems differant areas have their set of problems and how the same repair seems to come in waves. Seems like some times we would have 5 4.6 leaking intakes in one week and then not see another for 6 months

 

[Chadro]

Don't doubt it. It's funny that with cars that it seems differant areas have their set of problems and how the same repair seems to come in waves. Seems like some times we would have 5 4.6 leaking intakes in one week and then not see another for 6 months

I blame the bastards at the factory that make the **** .

I have a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3 that some claim is a ************* throw away car that won't make it much past 100,000 miles. I'm going on 200,000 miles with no major repairs except the timing belt and all the body/interior is till solid. Hell it still has the factory clutch in it, great car.

Just the luck of the draw I say.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have a friend who made a lot of money swapping head gasket at the local Ford dealer. He told me probably as much as 50% of the engines that got new head gaskets wound up with a spun main or rod bearing within the next 50k.

 

[bmxr4life87]

I paid $100 for an 88 taurus vulcan (cast iron 3.0 ohv) its now got 250k on it and its my daily driver I'd take it anywhere it has had some work to it but its never failed to start and get me home. I recently did a headgasket but only due to a headbolt that broke at the corner of the head and created a coolant leak. That was one of the easiest head gaskets I have ever changed. I drive this car like I stole it daily and it doesn't skip a beat. These cars can be had for so cheap and there is a plentiful amount in the junkyards plus its a car I really don't care about dents or dings and whatever its pure utility. The 3.8 is commonly reffered to as a "steam engine" for a reason

 

[Tavy]

Fuel line tools. Few internal chunks of the transmission are Ford specific from memory.

Nothing else, really, on the engine. That I recall anyway. Nothing more special then you'd require for the job at all.

I can't speak for the quality of the Taurus itself - seen way more with problems than for anything preventative. But the 3.0 Vulcan is a pretty little tank, some issues with cooling plugs, shame you can't swap in a 4.0 from a Ranger-body .

 

[King Bojack]

It will be everything else that will give you problems on the Taurus.

I get the feeling that in the mid 90's Ford fired every engineer that didn't work on engines.

 

[Tatersalad]

The 3.0 and the 3.8 have a serious problem with timing cover gaskets (among other things) leaking coolant. Usually the owner dosen't realize that the coolant level is low untill they "cook" the motor, at which point (from my experience) having a blown head gasket is not at all uncommon. I just cant say that im all that impressed.... As for special tools, I would suggest a thin wall 5.5mm socket to change the ignition module when it fails. And as stated above a tow truck.

 

[Sancho]

I dont recall needing anything specialized when my wife had her '91 taurus, I did a water pump at 280,000 incidentally the same week we sold the car... And the original trans went out at ~175k

The 3.8L is a great motor, every one I've seen that had problems was due to neglect. Maybe they should be designed to account for that... I had one with a worn rear lifter due to being run without oil for a few months, rebuilt motor and put another 180k on that car. The 3.8L are "known" for headgasket failures, However, I do wonder how many repeat failures are due to using the cheaper gaskets (although Al heads on a steel block doesnt help)

 

[Jbullfrog]

I just never many problems with them in my shop and had a good many customers who owned Fords with 3.8's. The worst engine Ive seen since I've been wrenching is GM's Olds based 5.7 deisel. I was working for a GM dealer when they came out

The 5.7 was a great idea: take a gas motor, put a fuel pump in the distributor hole, glow plugs in the spark plug holes, and **** it's a diesel that has a top speed of 70mph and 0-60 time of 3 minutes. They were a great school car, as you didn't have to worry about speeding or fuel useage.

 

[IDASHO]

Also, I've heard terrible things about the 3.2 SHO motor (made by Yamaha) so stay away from that too.

Might want to rethink that one.

Both the 3.0 and 3.2 V6 SHO motors are VERY sound motors. They are 300k+ motors with nothing more than your typical seal replacements, a sensor or two, and the scheduled 60/100k mile services.

They are incredible motors. Overbuilt for what they are. They take a serious flogging without skipping a beat, even when boosted. Loads of guys running around with 400hp V6 SHOs these days.

My daily driver '89 SHO has nearly every "bolt-on" short of aftermarket cams and some sort of boost. Still, it puts more than 210 hp to the ground, and gets 30-32mpg highway.

Some day id like to find a 3.0V6 Ford Ranger and do a SHO swap.

Bellhousings are identical. It is a fairly straight forward drop in.

 

[boostedgt]

Might want to rethink that one.

Both the 3.0 and 3.2 V6 SHO motors are VERY sound motors. They are 300k+ motors with nothing more than your typical seal replacements, a sensor or two, and the scheduled 60/100k mile services.

They are incredible motors. Overbuilt for what they are. They take a serious flogging without skipping a beat, even when boosted. Loads of guys running around with 400hp V6 SHOs these days.

My daily driver '89 SHO has nearly every "bolt-on" short of aftermarket cams and some sort of boost. Still, it puts more than 210 hp to the ground, and gets 30-32mpg highway.

Some day id like to find a 3.0V6 Ford Ranger and do a SHO swap.

Bellhousings are identical. It is a fairly straight forward drop in.

maybe he was thinking of the SHO v8. that one was poo-poo

 

[IDASHO]

The V8 had a nasty cam failure problem.

Not bad motors once fixed, but there really wasnt anything special about that mill.

 

[strnjss]

Might want to rethink that one.

Both the 3.0 and 3.2 V6 SHO motors are VERY sound motors. They are 300k+ motors with nothing more than your typical seal replacements, a sensor or two, and the scheduled 60/100k mile services.

They are incredible motors. Overbuilt for what they are. They take a serious flogging without skipping a beat, even when boosted. Loads of guys running around with 400hp V6 SHOs these days.

My daily driver '89 SHO has nearly every "bolt-on" short of aftermarket cams and some sort of boost. Still, it puts more than 210 hp to the ground, and gets 30-32mpg highway.

Some day id like to find a 3.0V6 Ford Ranger and do a SHO swap.

Bellhousings are identical. It is a fairly straight forward drop in.

maybe he was thinking of the SHO v8. that one was poo-poo

Yes, I mistyped that, the bad stuff I've heard is the v8 model.

 

[strnjss]

I paid $100 for an 88 taurus vulcan (cast iron 3.0 ohv) its now got 250k on it and its my daily driver I'd take it anywhere it has had some work to it but its never failed to start and get me home. I recently did a headgasket but only due to a headbolt that broke at the corner of the head and created a coolant leak. That was one of the easiest head gaskets I have ever changed. I drive this car like I stole it daily and it doesn't skip a beat. These cars can be had for so cheap and there is a plentiful amount in the junkyards plus its a car I really don't care about dents or dings and whatever its pure utility. The 3.8 is commonly reffered to as a "steam engine" for a reason

I loved the first gen Taurus, and would buy one if I could ever find one still on the road in my area. I haven't seen one for at least 10 years here in MA.

I have a feeling they all rotted out with all the salt on the roads around here in winter. Part of the reason we got rid of my dad's '90 model was because there was basically nothing between us and the road except for some carpeting haha. The floor had completely rotted away.

I really wish Ford would re-release it and call it the 'Taurus Classic' or something. I think it would probably outsell their current Taurus.

 

[mrholeshot]

The 5.7 was a great idea: take a gas motor, put a fuel pump in the distributor hole, glow plugs in the spark plug holes, and **** it's a diesel that has a top speed of 70mph and 0-60 time of 3 minutes. They were a great school car, as you didn't have to worry about speeding or fuel useage.

Come on they wernt that slow, I had one up to 85 once but was drafting a Yugo

 

[NJ Diver]

I was a mechanic for a Lincoln Mercury dealer in the mid 90's for awhile. Off the top of my head the only "special" tool that I can remember for working on those cars was a socket for the top nut on the front motor mount. If I remember correctly it was a semi-deep swivel socket.

Other than that, the power steering lines leaked ALL the time. We replaced those by the truck load.