94 Taurus GL Wagon

We inherited this car after we did some work and the owner could not pay for labor. Prev owner presented to us with no heat & car was overheating & stalling turning corners. We replaced the head gasket (both sides), flushed the heater core, cleaned the IAC, changed cap, rotor, plugs, oil & filter, S belt & tensioner. Week later changed the Throttle Air Control valve, EGR and Throttle Positioning sensor. We got heat back in the car and stopped the overheating. Prev owner said car was still stalling but we have only had that issue when cold. Car up for new wires to see if that helps. In the meantime the power steering pump started to go so we are changing atm. We have noticed the car has a miss and seems to hesitate (lurches) at crusing speed. We have caught the tranny slipping and changed the filter & fluid. Not sure if the power steering pump is binding that could be contributing to the lurching. We also tested the radiator when we did the head and found a small leak. Atm it takes quiet a while for the car to get heat. Not sure if the radiator might be plugged also. How do you boil out a radiator? 2.) Anybody got a clue what type of tranny goes for this car? 3.) Up next to changing the tranny is there a cheaper fix for this car? Any other ideas on what could be causing the hesitation? Punch it and the car goes like a rocket. Get up to 45-55 steady speed and lurching starts.

1994 Ford Taurus GL Wagon w/ 3.8 engine?

i had this hesitation on a different car and my problem was a exhasut gasket. maybe thats it

Not to be insulting... But you kept the car because the owner couldn't pay you for labor, and you can't boil out a radiator or diagnose the lurching problem? What kind of work did you do? Is this fair?

Not to be insulting... But you kept the car because the owner couldn't pay you for labor, and you can't boil out a radiator or diagnose the lurching problem? What kind of work did you do? Is this fair?


Long story on this car. Prev owner running out of town due to bill collectors.... not me. She could not dump the car fast enough so she gave it to me for a balance due of parts & labor. We where trying to get her from Colorado to Florida. I really did not want the car. Dealer cost on head job alone was 875 labor + parts.

I asked about the boiling cause prev owner supposeably had the radiator fixed. I was told it has two plastic tanks in the radiator. Not sure if you can realistically boil out this radiator. Lurching issue is new to me. Trying slowly to fix this bucket .... can't you tell I have put a ton into it already?

i had this hesitation on a different car and my problem was a exhasut gasket. maybe thats it


Exhaust is intacted or appears to be. We replaced the exhaust manifold gasket on head change. Would be nice if this is the solution but don't think so. Will have to look into that.

1994 Ford Taurus GL Wagon w/ 3.8 engine


Update.... changed wires, power steering pump and pumped out 24 oz of trans fluid and put in 24 oz bottle of Lucas Trans Oil. It took a couple of trips around town and the miss & lurching straightened out. (actually miss went away right away with new wires). WE are currently shopping for a blown tranmission to rebuild and swap out current one that is going. I would love nothing more than to buy a rebuildt one but need to save a ton of money. From what I have seen these trannys are notorious for going bye bye even with due diligenence. The car is a decent car when it runs right. I have an 89 Tracer wagon with a salvage title and 200K+ miles on it and it is going strong + an 88 Hyundai with 165k+ throw in a 73 F250 w/155k. We have learned engines well. Now it is time to learn transmissions. I just hope the current tranny holds out till I find the new one and get it rebuilt. I got an 88 Sable sitting for my summer project with a blown starter and a leaking tranny.

Oh ya I forgot.... I love to drive cars with no car payments. I'll take gas, oil, repairs & insurance any day of the week. I have not had car payments in over 15 yrs and I love it. That new car smell is tooooo expensive for me + I hate the repo man if you fall on hard times.

I have a 93 Taurus GL wagon with the 3.0 and i have that same lurching problem past 45-50. Nice to know i'm not alone

I have a 93 Taurus GL wagon with the 3.0 and i have that same lurching problem past 45-50. Nice to know i'm not alone


Only if you know for sure the trans is having issues put in the Lucas Oil. If you put it in make sure you keep doing it for the life of the car. We found previous owner did not do squat on maintaining the car. The previous owner had recently changed the plug wires on car but put a real cheap set on. We almost over rode the previous owner and changed the wires when we did the plugs & initial work but we already had over 250 out of our pocket and was trying to save a bit of change. The tranny on this wagon is clearly slipping when she gave it to us. The Lucas Oil helped a bit but it still slips a bit rounding corners. Off and on even with the Lucas you can feel a slight hit of the lurching but not enough to bother me. We are still searching for a reasonably priced tranny. In the meantime we are changing the alternator, growling bad, radiator because of previous owner issues & looking into putting a better trans cooler in it. Junkyard tranny's here run 450-750 w/30 day warr. We are hoping to find a bad trans buy the kit (My other half works for a auto parts store and we get parts at cost) and rebuild it ourselves or send it to someone else to do. Problem so far is if the junkyard thinks it might be bad they won't sell me one or even give me one. Atm I am listed on ebay looking for someone that might have one laying around.

I'm going to be takin my car to the tranny shop to have the fluid changed, and i was thinking more along the lines of Royal Purple myself, and as far as plug wires go I'm about to go pick up a new set of bosch plugs/wires. thanks for the suggestion though with the lucas. I know Royal Purple is expensive, just wondering since the trannys in these cars are notorious for going, if it would be worth the money...

I've never heard of Royal Purple but if it works I don't think I would knock it. If the car still moves and does what you need it to do consider it a part of maintance. Like I tell my kids all the time...."cars are like kids... you never know when they are gonna act up". They just ain't making these things like they used to.

I'm going to be takin my car to the tranny shop to have the fluid changed, and i was thinking more along the lines of Royal Purple myself, and as far as plug wires go I'm about to go pick up a new set of bosch plugs/wires. thanks for the suggestion though with the lucas. I know Royal Purple is expensive, just wondering since the trannys in these cars are notorious for going, if it would be worth the money...

I would stay far, far away from Bosch plugs on your Taurus.

Motorcraft or Autolite.

Good call on the plugs... I did not even think of that. My other half buys what is at work. The Autolites. They have worked good for us in many of the cars.