97 Taurus engine questions...

I took my Taurus in for diagnostics, and found out that one of the Fuel Injectors had gone out and had been dumping gas into the engine. The mechanic said that now the cylinder was bad (only 10 psi when tested) and that I would either have to have the engine rebuilt or replaced. After all that, my question is this - could I just replace the cylinder head without having to tear the whole engine apart? And can I do it without having to pull the engine out of the car?

it's a 6 cylinder, 3.0 182 CID VIN U OHV, if that helps...

Thanks in advance!

from the quick glance i got from the haynes, may be, but you would still have to remove the transaxle and a bunch of stuff on top. it would be easier to fix out side of body

a better answer can be found at taurus club as some of these people do this sort of thing on a monthly basis http://www.taurusclub.com

I'd suggest putting a few drops of oil in that cylinder, then re-checking compression. Maybe the rings were just washed down with raw fuel and not sealing properly. The oil may allow the rings to seal to the cylinder wall again and give an accurate (and better) compression reading.

Ask the shop to let you watch as they recheck the compression this way.

-Rod

I'd suggest putting a few drops of oil in that cylinder, then re-checking compression. Maybe the rings were just washed down with raw fuel and not sealing properly. The oil may allow the rings to seal to the cylinder wall again and give an accurate (and better) compression reading.

Ask the shop to let you watch as they recheck the compression this way.

-Rod

Well, talked to the mechanic, who tried several things with the cylinder, and no luck. I'm basically going to have to replace the engine. My question is, will a sable engine from the same year work? I'm having no luck finding a decent engine in my price range...

as long as they are the 6 cylinder, 3.0 182 CID VIN U OHV other wise known as the vulcan engine. you can use the vulcan out of a 96- (i think) 99 with out any modification to new engine. and with some modification the 2000-2005 engines (mostly some of the old parts off of the old engine)

i have priced these my self as i have a 96 sable with high milage and it has the same engine and i have found the engine costs between 200-2000$ on the net. i havent looked around the st louis area for one yet.