Need help with 97 taurus-kind of long

[ryancornell]

I received a 97 taurus for free the other day. It is the 3.0 Liter DOHC 6cyl. Vin code S. The car has 125,500 miles on it. The girl who gave it to me said that it needed a throttle sensor and it would not stay running. The girl orginally parked it because it was feeling like it was going to stall out.It has been sitting in her apartment complex for ONE YEAR not moved once. I got it home and put a new battery in it. The thing started right up. It idled a bit rough but then seemed to smooth out. I rented a code reader from the local auto store and plugged it in. It gave NO codes. The check engine light is NOT on. I drove the car around the hood and it seems to bog a bit around 3,800+ rpm's. I drove it for about ten minutes(temp gauge went up to norm operating range) and put the code reader on it again with NO codes again. After getting NO codes and having no check engine light I decided to check the fuel filter. Of course it looked like the stock filter, so I replaced it(air filter looked fine) Same results. There was some dark water that was released from the muffler. It looks like the Plug wires are the original one's. I pulled out a spark plug and I'm not too good at reading them but they looked ok and had some rust, so I'm assuming they also are original(may be wrong) I checked to see if it's getting fuel by depressing the schrader valve and there was fuel released. The car seems to idle just fine. If I mash the accelerator right around 3,800 the car seems to cut out. It also seems to puff out some greyish smoke momentarily. I'm just looking for some ideas as what may be wrong. Talking to some friends they have mentioned it may be the fuel pump/ a combination of the iginition coil pack thing,plugs and wires/the catalytic converter may be clogged. I'm going to get my autometer fuel pressure gauge tomorrow to check that. I have already bought plugs,wires, and the ignition coil thing and a Throttle position sensor but I have not installed any of this yet.

Any ideas??.
Sorry so long.

[sahib]

It sounds like you made one heck of a deal! The 3800 RPM cut out is do to the factory setting of the "rev limiter". This is to keep the engine from doing itself harm by over reving. There's a post right close by from "sexycory " that addresses this same topic. Change the stuff you were going to and let it be. I'd wish you luck but it sounds like you have to much already. Ha Ha

[ryancornell]

Originally Posted by sahib

It sounds like you made one heck of a deal! The 3800 RPM cut out is do to the factory setting of the "rev limiter". This is to keep the engine from doing itself harm by over reving. There's a post right close by from "sexycory " that addresses this same topic. Change the stuff you were going to and let it be. I'd wish you luck but it sounds like you have to much already. Ha Ha

Boy do I feel like an idiot. I was reving it while in park. I shot it around the block and it seems to rev normal. I will put the plugs,wire's and coil pack then check the fuel pressure and go from there. I really did get a good deal the thing is real clean. Trust me if I didn't have bad luck I would have no luck at all. This does change that a bit!

[ryancornell]

Ok a little update. I put a autometer fuel pressure gauge on the car. At idle the fp is at 27psi slow accel it rises to about 30psi. Hard accel it spikes to about 37psi then slowly decreases to around 30psi. When I punch the car it still feels like it's cutting out at higher rpms then power returns. I'm excited about getting it running I just want to try to get this crap ironed out before putting insurance and a plate on it then having it break down on me. Still no check engine light. I let it idle in the driveway for about 20 minutes. Then hooked the fp gauge this afternoon and let it idle for 5 mins then drove around the block still no check engine light. Does it seem like the fuel pump is ok?

[sahib]

I've got a '94 so my Haynes only goes up to '95. It says for the EFI that the preussure should be 39psi. I've not had the "opportunity" to work on the fuel system so don't know how critical this would be. Sounds like you are close but it may not be close enough. There are other more knowledable posters on here so maybe they'll be along with a more precise diagnosis. Don't be afraid to ask questions. I too was ignorant of the fact that there was an over rev liiter on these until I asked the dealer and he wasn't certain but "thought" that might be the case. Have since read here several times that it is in fact the case.

[ryancornell]

Originally Posted by sahib

I've got a '94 so my Haynes only goes up to '95. It says for the EFI that the preussure should be 39psi. I've not had the "opportunity" to work on the fuel system so don't know how critical this would be. Sounds like you are close but it may not be close enough. There are other more knowledable posters on here so maybe they'll be along with a more precise diagnosis. Don't be afraid to ask questions. I too was ignorant of the fact that there was an over rev liiter on these until I asked the dealer and he wasn't certain but "thought" that might be the case. Have since read here several times that it is in fact the case.

The car has been ideling in the driveway for about 20 minutes now still no check engine light. The fp is actually about 28psi. Chiltons say's it should be around 30psi under load, the regulator seems to be working after it spikes to around 38 it makes it's way down. I put a new PCV valve in it with no change. Like you said it may not be close enough for normal engine operation, only problem is that I would think it would give me a CEL because of the drop in fp or volume. I'm still feeling stupid at the rev limiter while in park

[shoble]

I was reading the information on your dillema. The fuel pressure readings are on the low side and you may have a fuel pump going bad, but I do not believe that this is your primary problem. I would check the MLP (manual lever position switch). This is a 12 wire switch on the top of the transmission that tells the computer what gear you are in. Ford Tauruses are limited to about 3800 RPM when the vehicle is in Park or Neutral. If the MLP is not working right and the computer thinks that the car is in Park or Neutral even when you are in gear-it will still limit the RPM to 3800. I have run into this on 2 other Tauruses that seem to do the same thing. On the other 2 Tauruses neither one of them had a check engine light on or a code stored for it. I do this for a living and have worked for Ford as a tech and own over half a dozen Tauruses myself. If you have any other questions, I would be glad to assist you in any way I can. ~Arthur