why buy taurus=

i,m looking to buy a good used 2006 taurus.. i like taurus except for the old reputation of bad trannys . i get much better mpg,s and alot more quickness with some 3.1 litre g.m. cars. why should i buy taurus? give me some reasons to buy taurus.

GM's have never had any issues??? If GM has been good to you, stick with it...

If you get one with a Duratech engine the tranny will be incredibly good.

If you're into Consumer Reports, their customers have consistently rated the 2004-2006 taurus 4 or 5 stars (out of 5 stars) across the board. I think the only GM cars rated like that was one Caddy and the Vette.

With Yokahoma YK520 tires it will ride like silk and handle like it's on rails.

Our Duratech runs like a raped ape, and we get great MPG.

All things being equal the car is very easy to work on. Very well engineered.

duratech engines?? which ones had the duratech? is it only taurus,s with duratech. btw , i read in carsurveys.com some very unhappy taurus owners . i am impressed with the safety ratings of taurus for the last few years.

No the Sables had the Duratech too. For the Taurus I think only the SES and SEL models got that engine, but I'm 100% about that. I've just never seen a SE with that engine, but once you drive one you will never turn back :p

The reason most trannys have problems is because the owner does not adhere to the owners manual maintenance schedule. Or they take it to a yo-yo to get the tranny fluid changed or flushed and they put Mercon III in it instead of Mercon V. A flush is $100. at the Ford dealer and I think a change is like $60. bucks. The general consensus is change or flush it at 60K miles and flush it at 100K miles. I have an 03 SES Vulcan engine regular old pushrod engine 45K mi on it and I changed the fluid at 40K mi and plan to have it flushed at 60K. 'Prolly overkill but I'd rather spend a few bucks keeping the tranny in tip top shape than rebuild the tranny for about $1,500. bucks. DUH? Now, that is a no brainer if I ever heard one, 'cause like the man said, pay me now or pay me (MORE) later.

The 06 tranny takes Mercon V which, unlike the others, is part synthetic, so make *darn sure* they do not put anything but Mercon V in it. Let a word to the wise be sufficent.

In 45K miles I put a new $65. battery in it, PCV valve and gasket $5.00, one oxygen sensor $41., rebuilt the starter $138, and put a set of Kuhmo tires on it for $210. and a new serpentine belt this week end $27. and to my way of thinking those are maintenance items anyway.

Around town 21 mpg and never drove it on a road trip. I like to accelerate fast and do not baby it so I figure for the way I drive 21 is good. Friend has 125K road miles on a 95 and claims other than regular maintenance items never had a minutes problem with it.

We've had three Tauri and I believe if you take good care of them they will take good care of you.

The reason most trannys have problems is because the owner does not adhere to the owners manual maintenance schedule.
Yep, people try to cut corners and then they whine and blame the car when something goes wrong. That's why I take what I read at places like carsurveys.com with a grain of salt :p Most modern well designed cars (like the Taurus, Honda, Milan, ETC.) will treat you well if you treat it well, and in most cases that is just using common sense :)

No the Sables had the Duratech too. For the Taurus I think only the SES and SEL models got that engine, but I'm 100% about that. I've just never seen a SE with that engine, but once you drive one you will never turn back :pconsumer guide says all SEL models had it and SES models were offered it as option. but no SE models had it. jim.

No the Sables had the Duratech too. For the Taurus I think only the SES and SEL models got that engine, but I'm 100% about that. I've just never seen a SE with that engine, but once you drive one you will never turn back :p from 2000 on up the base model did not have it. the LS "premium" had it. the plain LS was offered it.

another way trannies die in tauruses is if you let the wheels spin like burn outs and neutral drops. i had a 96 sable with the original transmission that went 245,000 miles.

Sway bars, adjustable pedals and the duratech were not offered the last couple of model runs.

How hard would it be to change the tranny fluid/ filter yourself in a 2004 Taurus? I'm guessing it's more messy than hard.

How hard would it be to change the tranny fluid/ filter yourself in a 2004 Taurus? I'm guessing it's more messy than hard.
drop pan change filter replace pan torque bolts correctly. refill the tranny back to level then get a buddy in the cab get a big container remove hose to tranny cooler and put container under hose start engine up and pour new bottles of atf in the tranny tube till the color of the atf fluid out of hose of tranny cooler matches the color being poured out of the bottle.tell buddy to kill engine. button it back up. then check level and refill as needed and start it back up and check for leaks. drive it around check for leaks. get a beer to celebrate.


but word of warning. never let the tranny runn out of fluid. and dont drink beer till you are done.

As the Taurus was relegated to pretty much fleet sales for model year 06 and 07, I don't believe you will find one with a Duratec. I am pretty sure the last year it was offered was 05.

Mike
:smokin:

Fluid change/flush: Ford dealer here does a complete flush for $100. and I think Mervon V runs about $3.75 a qt and you need 15 quarts, so for the DIY hassel and mess you save about $44.00 and at my age it ain't worth it. Most of the time they have oil & filter change for $15.00 and rotate tires for $10.00 so for my money $25.00 is a good deal.

I asked a tranny shop what they charged and a filter and fluid change is $60.00 and that only replaces about six qts of fluid, so for another $40. I get 15 qts new fluid so I'll go that way. I mean, go figure; Extra 10 qts would be about $37.00 and to me well worth the extra forty smackeroos.

Whoever does it, make darn sure they use nothing but Mercon V.

My compliments on taking care of your Taurus and I hope we all get the long life out of our tranny like e_powers did: "i had a 96 sable with the original transmission that went 245,000 miles."

"i had a 96 sable with the original transmission that went 245,000 miles."

Please share with us, what did you do to make it last so long?
Undoubtedly you did regular maintenance on it, but how often and what services, changes or flushes?
Coincidentally, a friend has a 96 Taurus with 125K road miles on it and says it runs like a champ. Retired military so he is a preventive maintenance freak like me.

I don't believe they drop the pan and change the filter for the $100.00 flush at the dealer. They might but I don't think they due based on conversations I have had with people that took their vehicle there.

I don't think Ford even recommends a filter change until High mileage.

Mike
:smokin:

I try to flush mine using the Ford recommended procedure about every 30K.
I use 16 quarts because I have twin tranny coolers and an inline spin on filter that has a FilterMag attached to it.

I also have a pan I put a drain plug in .

16 quarts of Mobil1 which is a full synthetic is 94 bucks and 10 dollars for a K&N oversized filter.

I change the factory filter every other change
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d132/mwt60/Enginepics006.jpg

Mike
:smokin:

That K&N sure looks sexy :p

I'll have to see if they make a standard tranny filter. Other than Fram (which we won't use anymore) who else makes a good tranny filter? Napa?

I'm a little late into this topic, but my experience has been positive with the gen 4 taurus. Flush the transaxle every 10k miles and it will last a long time.

Plus, I think the EPA estimates are rated too low. I've got 34mpg with mine.

Flush the transaxle every 10k miles and it will last a long time.
Did not know about this. Thought it was longer. We looked for a filter today but could not find one. Does a new O-ring come with a new filter, or is it a separate item to replace?

Plus, I think the EPA estimates are rated too low. I've got 34mpg with mine.
I agree. I get close to 30 in the city and 37 on the highway, but it absolutely hates red lights.

I'm not sure about dropping the pan and changing the filter, but that's a must also ... maybe not quite so often but definitely should be done.

As far as red lights go I don't stop for redlights. I've managed to be able to learn how to time stoplights so I can just creep up at 15mph and by the time I get to it go through it.

"i had a 96 sable with the original transmission that went 245,000 miles."

Please share with us, what did you do to make it last so long?
Undoubtedly you did regular maintenance on it, but how often and what services, changes or flushes?
Coincidentally, a friend has a 96 Taurus with 125K road miles on it and says it runs like a champ. Retired military so he is a preventive maintenance freak like me.
my father inlaw was a stickler for car maintenance and most of the miles were from him. and from him it just had maintenance just done to it nothing major like transmission and engine.

I've managed to be able to learn how to time stoplights so I can just creep up at 15mph and by the time I get to it go through it.
That is a true art form :grinyes: I've tried doing this before and it's not as easy as it sounds. If this country wants to save oil, then they should time the lights better.

I asked the Ford dealer about buying a new seal/gasket and they said it doesn't need to be replaced :eek: A new one is only around 10.00 and maybe it's just a bad habit but I still feel safer replacing it :p

"I don't believe they drop the pan and change the filter for the $100.00 flush at the dealer." Correct. They hook up the fancy-dancy flush machine and it (supposedly) cleans the fliter by back flushing then flushing the other way back & forth and last step rinses out all the old fluid and replaces it with new.

The service writer has been there five years anyway and I know him fairly well and he's a stand up guy. I told him I read on the web that flushing sometimes caused problems and he says none of the vehicles he wrote up ever came back with an after flush problem. All I can tell you is what he told me and that is a BIG Ford, Lincoln, Mercury dealeship and they run a lot of cars through the sevice dept.

Think I told you, I changed 15 qts in mine by siphoning through the dip stick fill tube. Let it cool an hour then take a 1/4" piece of hose and stick it down the tube and start the siphon going into a 5 gal bucket. Let is siphon all night and I got right at 5 qts out. Filled it up and drove it a week then did the same thing twice again and last fill used 3 qts of Mobil 1 synthetic ATF and it shifts slick as possum grease. All that at 35K miles and I figure at 70K or so I'll have it flushed. That is, if I keep it that long because I only put 8K a year on a vehicle and when my financial windfall inheritance comes through I'm getting a Mini Cooper. :naughty:

I told him I read on the web that flushing sometimes caused problems and he says none of the vehicles he wrote up ever came back with an after flush problem.
The only problem that I have with his explanation to you is that these types of problems don't usually occur overnight. That flushing process might be causing an issue, but it may not show up for several thousand miles down the road :wink:

I changed 15 qts in mine by siphoning through the dip stick fill tube.
I will try this IF I can find a siphon :p I would be lost trying to do this at the tranny cooler anyways. This way sounds much easier. I just wish I could find Mobil 1 for less money but I could only find it at Auto Zone. It's almost 7.00 a qt. and I need 14 quarts :(

Also, we read that Ford says that you don't have to replace the gasket. Does that sound right? I thought everytime you remove something with a gasket that it should be replaced.







.

The Oring comes with the new filter. Make sure you get the old one out of the hole it pushes into.

Ford started using a reuseable gasket in 96 or so and they actually do reseal very well.

As far as doing it at the cooler

It is very easy. Pull a line off the cooler and if you dont have any power steering fluid left in your resovoir you pulled the wrong one. Your P/S probably needs chaning anyway.

If you do get the right one off shove a piece of hose the same size as came off of it and put it in a bucket to drain.


Mike
:smokin:

I changed 15 qts in mine by siphoning through the dip stick fill tube.
How long does this tube need to be?

I found a hand siphon at Wally world for 3 bucks. It siphons 1.8 gallons a minute :p

"How long does this tube need to be?" I guess it's about five feet long, long enough to go from the bottom of the tranny pan to the garage floor. Shove it down gently until it stops then shove it a bit farther until you feel it hit bottom then start the siphoning action and drop the tube in the bucket. Next morning I took a quart can and poured the ATF in it one at the time until I emptied the bucket and that gave me an idea of how much I needed to add. Just make sure it's not real hot so the tubing doesn't melt. :banghead:

I admit it's squirrely but it worked for me. By the way, Advance Auto came out with their brand of Mercon V and it was cheaper so I used it and it has worked fine. That Mobil1 full synth is good but sure is pricey.

"I found a hand siphon at Wally world for 3 bucks. It siphons 1.8 gallons a minute." Sounds like a wiener to me.

By the way, Wally World just started carrying Mobil 1 Mercon V at 5.90 a qt (about a dollar more than regular Mercon V). Much better than the $7.00 a quart that Auto Zone and the other auto parts stores sell it for, especially when you need to buy 13-16 quarts for a flush :) You'll probably need to go to more than one Wally World though, because they only stock 10 quarts at a time :p

I decided that since my Ford service manual hasn't come yet that I'd do the full flush this spring, and instead change just the filter and add around 5 qts of fresh Mercon V until then. So I went up to Wally world and grabbed some Castrol Mercon V. When I got to the register to my surprise I noticed where they were only charging me 2.00 a quart for the Mercon V ATF. Obviously they are not aware of this little snafoo, so I loaded up my cart and now I'll be able to do a full tranny flush with Mercon V for only around 25.00 :eek: :grinyes:

The old trany fluid was so dirty that it looked more like old oil than tranny fluid. That magnet was fun to clean too :p

Does anyone happen to know what to torque the tranaxel bolts to? I thought it was around 105 but that seems high for these little bolts...

Does anyone happen to know what to torque the tranaxel bolts to? I thought it was around 105 but that seems high for these little bolts...
Are you referring to the bolts for the tranny pan? If so,
Fluid pan to case (lower reservoir) 12 Nm, 9 Lb-ft.

-Rod

Are you referring to the bolts for the tranny pan?
Yes but 9 seems awfully low. What tranny is that for?

Those specifications are for a 2002 Taurus, not specific to the transmission.

Years ago when I was working as an auto tech, the rule of thumb was if we didn't know the specs for a tranny pan, use 60 in*lb. If the surfaces were properly prepped and a good gasket was used, we didn't have leaks at that torque. The specs above would equate to 108 in*lb.

-Rod

The specs above would equate to 108 in*lb.
That sounds closer to what I thought it was. It's a new gasket and it's not leaking, but with all this torque wrench mania I just wanted to set them right :) I'll run up to the library and see what the 'Motors' manuals that they have say. 108 just sounds like it's a lot of force for those little bolts (lug nuts are 105 max) and when I took the pan off they weren't tight at all.

I am sure thae last year of the taurus was 2005.It was replaced with the Fusion this year and Ford teams in the Nascar Nextel cup and Busch series are using the Fusion this year

Read Rod's post again. You are confusing inch pounds with foor pounds. Rod's post is for inch pounds of torque. Lugnuts are for foot pounds of torque. Foot pounds are approximately 12 times what inch pounds are. Be careful with the 1/2 inch torque wrench on the tranny pan.

Just did the tranny on my 2000 yesterday.

106 in/lbs


Mike
:smokin:

I am sure thae last year of the taurus was 2005.It was replaced with the Fusion this year and Ford teams in the Nascar Nextel cup and Busch series are using the Fusion this year


The last Taurus rolled out of the Atlanta assembly plant a couple of weeks ago.

It was a 2007 model year.

Mike
:smokin:

I am sure thae last year of the taurus was 2005.
Yep as mentioned the last Taurus rolled off the assembly line in Oct. of 2006 (sniff. sniff).

Foot pounds are approximately 12 times what inch pounds are.
So then it's around 8.8 foot lbs?

(106 divided by 12)

Or the 9 lb*ft I mentioned above in post #32 from the 2002 factory service manual. :)

-Rod

http://home.cogeco.ca/~mrled/ax4s.jpg
http://home.cogeco.ca/~mrled/4f50n.jpg

I'm thinking I might drop the pan or completely flush the fluid. If I drop the pan, how hard is it to install a drain plug?

I'm thinking I might drop the pan or completely flush the fluid. If I drop the pan, how hard is it to install a drain plug?


Go to the parts store and buy a drain plug kit.

Drill a 1/2" hole in the pan and install the plug

Mike
:smokin:

Thanks reekor for the diagrams, however neither one of those is our transaxel. I think ours is AX4N.

Hi Millermagic, I'd be interested to learn what you end up using and how well it works. Ford should be embarrassed not to have included one :frown:

There are very few domestics with drain plugs in the automatic transmissions. I suppose the reasoning is the filter is located inside the transmission and accessed by removing the pan. You really should replace the filter when changing the fluid, therefore you need to remove the pan anyway. Also, the magnet in the pan is expected to collect debris and needs to be cleaned periodically. You need to remove the pan to clean this magnet. I don't think you'd get a large enough magnet integrated into a drainplug to do the job.

Of course it would be nice to be able to drain most of the fluid from the pan prior to releasing the seal at the gasket and, likely, dumping fluid all over the floor and arm. However, if there was a drain plug, how many DIY'ers would actually replace the filter rather than just drain and refill?

-Rod

I got my Taurus SE last April from a local Ford Dealership. It was used with 12,000 miles on it. I figured it was an ex rental car, so I convinced them to up the warranty to 5 years 75,000 miles (on drivetrain). Got the car for around $11,000 + Tax. It is now about December and have no problems what so ever with it. Drive on average 50+ miles a day. Just about to turn 24,000 miles. I do the oil changes, filters, etc myself and very easy to work on. I don't think that you can beat the price for an "almost" new car. The resale value does stink, however I plan to keep the car for as long as I can.

I suppose the reasoning is the filter is located inside the transmission and accessed by removing the pan.
Yes but you'd still need to remove the fluid first. The only reason why there's no drain plug is that it comes down to money. First, it would cost them money to add one, and second, by not adding one it makes them more money at the dealership because people don't like to do such a messy job. Not having a drain plug discourages people from touching it. Let's face it, it's a VERY easy job to do. Remove some bolts. Remove the old filter. Insert the new filter. Replace pan/bolts. Pour in new fluid. The thing that keeps people away from the job is the big mess associated with it, and a drain plug would remove that mess. If a drain plug can be added I will add one. I plan to change this fluid often and take the best car of this car that I possibly can. Ford should encourage customers to take care of their cars because a well running car is a car with a good reputation.

Nobody can encourage anybody to take care of their vehicle. If a person is not going to take care of it, it is surely going to break and then that brand of vehicle is no good. It is a matter of money. Spend a smaller amount on general maintenance and save a lot on major repairs. I like to keep my money, so I keep up on general and preventative maintenance. All the vehicles I have owned have been good ones. Never had to spend a lot of money on anything. My thoughts.

. I plan to change this fluid often and take the best car of this car that I possibly can. Ford should encourage customers to take care of their cars because a well running car is a car with a good reputation.

One thing I would recommend for any Taurus owner is the addition of an aftermarket transmission cooler.

You can DIY for around 50 bucks and less than an hour or have someone install it for under a hundred.

Ford's idea of a cooler is a straight pipe about 18' long that doesnt do much cooling.

I installed a cooler and an aftermarket filter on my 94 as soon as it was out of warranty and it lasted 246K before the transmission quit.

Mike
:smokin:

Nobody can encourage anybody to take care of their vehicle.
You're suggesting that adding a simple drain plug would somehow force owners to change their own tranny fluid. That's not at all what I'm saying or referring to. No you can't force people do do anything with their cars, but you sure can discourage them. All cars are engineered this way, not just Fords. I'll give you a quick example; My cousin has several collector Corvettes. Because they are an investment he takes extremely good care of them, and he does everything himself if it's at all possible. When he washes the cars he doesn't just 'wash' them, he gets out a toothbush and cleans every nook and cranny and then dries them with special microfiber towels. This type of care is typical for any car enthusiast to one degree or another. However when he stopped by the other day and saw me changing my own tranny filter, he thought I'd flipped my wig. His only reason was the mess. He explained how the tranny fluid drips down all over the place and gets all over you. It might be less messy if you have a lift, but on jack stands it can get quite messy at times. So he has the dealer do it for him at whatever cost. When I brought up the idea of a drain plug he said that THEN he would attempt to do the job himself. I know of other people with very similar reactions. It's the MESS that keeps them away, and Ford knows it. You don't see these people taking their cars in to do an oil change do you? No, they'll do that themselves. Same thing with the tranny (if it had a drain plug) :wink:

One thing I would recommend for any Taurus owner is the addition of an aftermarket transmission cooler.
Thanks Mike! It's going to start snowing here any day now, so I don't think I need it now, but rest assured that this spring I will be installing one. Thank you for the great tip :)

Dont buy a Taurus. Duratecs, at least the 24v 2.5 L DOHC v6 is not that great. Go look in the Ford Contour forums and check out the million questions, about vaccum leaks and all that good stuff. I had a 97 Contour LX with a Duratec... blah... I know drive a GM. One of those 3300s' in it... you know, the ones that wont break. 280,000 and sitting at 60 psi oil pressure at idle... shouls see my e test from two days ago.. incredible. Of course, you probably cant stand the thought of driving an older vehicle. Cutlass Ciera by the way, Gods gift as I see it.

Dont buy a Taurus. Duratecs, at least the 24v 2.5 L DOHC v6 is not that great. .


I guess that doesnt matter much since they never put a 2.5 in a Taurus.

I have a 2000 3.0 Duratec with 197K on it and it is still running strong.

Mike
:smokin:

look in the Ford Contour forums
So let me get this straight, you're telling him not to buy a Taurus because of some other cars supposed problems? :rolleyes: :icon16:

Cutlass Ciera
I really like the 2007 Cutlass. Best car they ever made... :p

"One thing I would recommend for any Taurus owner is the addition of an aftermarket transmission cooler." Or use full synth Mercon V. I aksed the Ford dealer if they did ATF changes and change the filter, said no, all they do is flushes. I said how does the filter get cleaned and said from the back flushing and reversing the flow back and forth during the flush got the crud off the filter.

That doesn't sound right to me but all I can tell you is what the service writer said. I asked how many came back with problems after a flush and he said none he knew of. They get $100. for a flush and for me to buy 15 qts of full synth Mercon V would be $95. bucks, so go figure. 'Prolly find a shop to drop the pan, clean the filter and magnet and do ATF change, but not the Ford place.

Just for kicks, some of ya'll please call your Ford place and see if they do changes or *just* flushes.

That doesn't sound right to me
I don't buy it either. My cousin had this done and a few months after they did it he had the car at another dealer. The second dealer told him "you really need to replace your tranny fluid, it's filty" :eek: So if backflushing works so great then why was his fluid in such bad shape after only a few months? It's easy enough to replace the filter (messy, but easy). For less than 100.00 you can have a NEW filter/gasket and Mobil 1 Mercon V. With this in mind I think my tranny would prefer if I did it instead of the dealer :p

Yes but you'd still need to remove the fluid first. The only reason why there's no drain plug is that it comes down to money. First, it would cost them money to add one, and second, by not adding one it makes them more money at the dealership because people don't like to do such a messy job. Not having a drain plug discourages people from touching it. Let's face it, it's a VERY easy job to do. Remove some bolts. Remove the old filter. Insert the new filter. Replace pan/bolts. Pour in new fluid. The thing that keeps people away from the job is the big mess associated with it, and a drain plug would remove that mess. If a drain plug can be added I will add one. I plan to change this fluid often and take the best car of this car that I possibly can. Ford should encourage customers to take care of their cars because a well running car is a car with a good reputation.let us know if you have luck installing the drain plug. jim .

suction pump works= my friend,a shady tree mechanic uses a suction pump down the a/t dip stick tube. every time he does the oil change he also replaces one quart of a/t fluid. jim.

Suction pump down the ATF dip stick tube: YEAH! I didn't use the pump but siphoned out 5 qts overnight, refilled and ran it a week then did it again and second time used four qts of Mobil 1 full synth Mercon V and rest regular Mercon V. Granted, that doesn't clean the filter but with 45.6K mi I plan to have it changed at 60K mi and I'll get the magnet and filter done then.

Might not be exactly the right way to do it but since I change the fluid I feel a big difference in how smooth it shifts. FYI - Advance Auto has their own brand Mercon V and I think it's around $2.50 a qt.

So let me get this straight, you're telling him not to buy a Taurus because of some other cars supposed problems? :rolleyes: :icon16:


I really like the 2007 Cutlass. Best car they ever made... :p

yeah thats it genius... your so clever to have figured that out