1994 Taurus problems- MAJOR!!!!!!!!

this stupid car is driving us bonkers !!!! it belongs to a friend, but my hubby, the idiot, told them he would work on it for them. when it first started, the electronic seats stopped working, that wasnt much of a problem. they were headed home in it one day, and it started sputtering and missing really bad. we took it to our local dealer, and they put it on their computer, which said possible ICM failure. ok, her dipshizznit brother bought an aftermarket ICM and put it in. we were told at the dealership that all the numbers on the ICM had to match the old one, but her know-it-all brother, said oh, no, as long as it is for this model car, it will work. guess what? it didnt !!! it wouldnt even start. we found an ICM with matching numbers, but now the car is acting completely screwy. the interior light will not go off, you cannot turn it off. the door buzzer will not go off, either. it will start, but it will only run for about 30 minutes, then it is dead again. if you let it sit for a few hours, or overnight, it will start again, but only for about 30 minutes. im about ready to run this POS off in the river, anyone have any ideas at all? thanks so much for the help, everyone, you guys rock !!!

this stupid car is driving us bonkers !!!! it belongs to a friend, but my hubby, the idiot, told them he would work on it for them. when it first started, the electronic seats stopped working, that wasnt much of a problem. they were headed home in it one day, and it started sputtering and missing really bad. we took it to our local dealer, and they put it on their computer, which said possible ICM failure. ok, her dipshizznit brother bought an aftermarket ICM and put it in. we were told at the dealership that all the numbers on the ICM had to match the old one, but her know-it-all brother, said oh, no, as long as it is for this model car, it will work. guess what? it didnt !!! it wouldnt even start. we found an ICM with matching numbers, but now the car is acting completely screwy. the interior light will not go off, you cannot turn it off. the door buzzer will not go off, either. it will start, but it will only run for about 30 minutes, then it is dead again. if you let it sit for a few hours, or overnight, it will start again, but only for about 30 minutes. im about ready to run this POS off in the river, anyone have any ideas at all? thanks so much for the help, everyone, you guys rock !!!

None of that sounds major, really. To start with, the door buzzer and interior light are likely caused by the same thing, and that thing is probably a door pin switch. Not sure if the '94 has a regular pin switch, or the switch integrated into the door latch. Find the door pin switches (one for each door) and make sure they are working properly. This should be a quick, inexpensive fix. If they are regular pin switches, make sure they are clean and getting a good ground. If integrated into the latch, clean then with electrical parts cleaner. Some people say to use WD-40, but that is not an electrical parts cleaner. After a while, it will collect dust and dirt and give problems again. The best thing you could do (beside replace the latch/switch assembly) is to clean the switch with electrical parts cleaner (Caig De-OxIT works great!), then apply Caig Preserv-IT.

My first guess on the 30 minute run time problem would be a bad fuel pump. However, anyone would need more details than what you provide to make a good guess. Does the car die but crank, or does it die and won't even crank? Does it have fuel pressure when it won't start? Does it have spark?

If it dies and cranks, but doesn't start, check for fuel pressure. If it doesn't have fuel pressure, check for voltage to the fuel pump. If it doesn't have fuel pressure, but does have voltage to the pump, start by replacing the fuel filter. If that doesn't help (still no fuel pressure) then replace the fuel pump. The gas tank has to be lowered for this, so don't tackle this with a full tank of gas!

-Rod