1998 Ford Taurus HUGE PROBLEMS

[Cvkitty76]

1998 Ford Taurus 126,000 miles. Last May 2004 after sitting in park with
car on and air blaring my car started to act strangly. First the rpms
would waver then the car would shut off. I could turn it back on
immediately after always. From the time on, every time I drove the car for 20 to 30 miles then sat in park with air on it would die when I tried to
take off. In june 2004, aamco told me it was the transmission. they did
major repairs for about $2200 . but it still died. then they cleaned the
fuel injection and replaced the idol motor. still it died. I did the
regular 306090 overhaul at allied. still it died. every time it dies and I
turn it back on the temp rises getting very close to the "H". after
hurricane charley and when the weather cooled from about oct 2004 until may 2005 it stopped dying . I thought maybe it worked itslef out. But middle of May it started dying again. and even worse. today i drove less than a mile left the car on in park for 5 minutes and when I went to drive rpms wavered i hear a clicking sound like it it trying to roll over and it dies. If i push the gas fast and hard it doesn't. my car has been tested
on 3 computers and 5 mechanics. even ford put it on computer and couldn't figure it out. aamco fixed my transmission and not my problem. and still took my money. Can anyone help me???

[wasabiboys]

Head Gasket..maybe. Running the AC in the heat kills that car. I had a 1995 and I went back and forth to the dealer more than I drove it. The car is really junk poor design. I would get rid of it and not waste your time. Junkyard maybe!

[fubard]

If you suspect a bad head gasket you could try one of the cooling system sealers that's available.I've used one those products to seal a water pump leak that occurred between the block and the pump base.My brother who's a mechanic suggested I try IRONTITE, its a liquid.I used it per the instructions and I watched the leak slowly stop;from a small stream to nothing.Apparently it's a nastier job than replacing just a water pump.He also said he's used similar products to seal head gasket leaks successfully. Obviously it's not a permanent solution but it could buy you some time.

Honestly,if you take a car to a tranny shop 99.9% of the time they'll recommend a tranny job.Good luck !

[Psychopete]

Sounds like an issue with too much heat. I would try to associate the A/C with the car dying. The A/C also makes the car hotter than crap.

When your car is off, there is a lot of trapped heat under the hood. Your temperature will increase when the car is off. If it gets too hot in this manner, parts will begin to warp from excessive heat. The excessive heat could be making some electronics do unexpected things.

Running way too rich could be source of the extra heat. It will make the exhaust manifolds really hot. The manifolds are under the hood, so that heat will get trapped. Seeing how Ford decided to make these cars as hard as possible to work on, everything is squeezed really close together. Something that might help is a cooling system flush. You can get a kit and do it yourself for cheap and make a huge mess, or you can pay someone else to do it.

I think you would know if you had a blown head gasket. Usually, air will get into the system and will cause overheating all the time. Plus on top of that, there will be a crap load of smoke coming out the exhaust.

Please expain the click sound in more detail..

These are just some thoughts.. I don't have enough data to come across a good explination.. I would see about taking Ammco to court. $2,200 is a big loss, that could have bought you a good running car with a 2.3L that would have lasted a great while and better gas mileage... With some money left over .

Pete

[Cvkitty76]

Originally Posted by Psychopete

Sounds like an issue with too much heat. I would try to associate the A/C with the car dying. The A/C also makes the car hotter than crap.

When your car is off, there is a lot of trapped heat under the hood. Your temperature will increase when the car is off. If it gets too hot in this manner, parts will begin to warp from excessive heat. The excessive heat could be making some electronics do unexpected things.

Running way too rich could be source of the extra heat. It will make the exhaust manifolds really hot. The manifolds are under the hood, so that heat will get trapped. Seeing how Ford decided to make these cars as hard as possible to work on, everything is squeezed really close together. Something that might help is a cooling system flush. You can get a kit and do it yourself for cheap and make a huge mess, or you can pay someone else to do it.

I think you would know if you had a blown head gasket. Usually, air will get into the system and will cause overheating all the time. Plus on top of that, there will be a crap load of smoke coming out the exhaust.

Please expain the click sound in more detail..

These are just some thoughts.. I don't have enough data to come across a good explination.. I would see about taking Ammco to court. $2,200 is a big loss, that could have bought you a good running car with a 2.3L that would have lasted a great while and better gas mileage... With some money left over .

Pete

okay.... thanks for the input... first the a/c runs well and it doesn't actually show as overheating in the guage. It only shows as heating up as I have to turn the car on 20 or more times after it dies at each light.
The coolant system was checked last summer when this all started, Allied stated all was fine when they did the 306090 maintain..... I would think the 6 mechanics and AAMCO would have noticed if this "head gasket" were broken right??. I hope anyway. And no smoke.
Clicking sound is a little difficult to explain. almost sounds like something is trying to come on or go off and can't when the rpms drop the car make a clunk or click, pretty loud. u can vsiually see when it starts to happen and the needle of RPM slowly falls then more rapidly. then jumps back up. sometimes, but not always if I put it in Nuetral it will stay on longer, but not much. Also I have noticed that when I start to push gas it is working extremely hard to get above 30 or more then when it reaches 30 or I have slammed the gas(literally) it smoothes out. but not before jumping, or kinda like stumbling. not sure which is better discription.
The AAMCO thing, I have thought the same thing, but with all the business with moving 6 times since Aug 13th2004 because of hurricane charley, I just haven't had the energy or the know how on what I could do. I brought the car to them to fix the dying and they did everything but that. I would love to get rid of this car but I still owe and my credit is shot from school, so I will just have to figure out how to make her last longer.
Hope this info helps.
Thanks again!!!

[Cvkitty76]

Originally Posted by Cvkitty76

okay.... thanks for the input... first the a/c runs well and it doesn't actually show as overheating in the guage. It only shows as heating up as I have to turn the car on 20 or more times after it dies at each light.
The coolant system was checked last summer when this all started, Allied stated all was fine when they did the 306090 maintain..... I would think the 6 mechanics and AAMCO would have noticed if this "head gasket" were broken right??. I hope anyway. And no smoke.
Clicking sound is a little difficult to explain. almost sounds like something is trying to come on or go off and can't when the rpms drop the car make a clunk or click, pretty loud. u can vsiually see when it starts to happen and the needle of RPM slowly falls then more rapidly. then jumps back up. sometimes, but not always if I put it in Nuetral it will stay on longer, but not much. Also I have noticed that when I start to push gas it is working extremely hard to get above 30 or more then when it reaches 30 or I have slammed the gas(literally) it smoothes out. but not before jumping, or kinda like stumbling. not sure which is better discription.
The AAMCO thing, I have thought the same thing, but with all the business with moving 6 times since Aug 13th2004 because of hurricane charley, I just haven't had the energy or the know how on what I could do. I brought the car to them to fix the dying and they did everything but that. I would love to get rid of this car but I still owe and my credit is shot from school, so I will just have to figure out how to make her last longer.
Hope this info helps.
Thanks again!!!

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I am Still having trouble and as the weather gets hotter the dying gets worse.

[KimMG]

Does it stall when the A/C is not in use?

[Cvkitty76]

Yes it dies with air on or off, it dies in reverse, drive, neutral. But only after drving for a while or in extreme heat(as is florida in summer) it didnt die from oct2004 to early may2005. then as soon as temps rose it started wavering and dying again.

[Psychopete]

Originally Posted by Cvkitty76

Yes it dies with air on or off, it dies in reverse, drive, neutral. But only after drving for a while or in extreme heat(as is florida in summer) it didnt die from oct2004 to early may2005. then as soon as temps rose it started wavering and dying again.

It could be a number of things.. Have the codes been scanned? Just because it was in the shop, doesn't mean they ever scanned the codes. Some people like the make assumptions, and blindly replace things.

The possibility of anyone telling you what's wrong and for it to be correct is very slim to none. They only way to know, is for you to do some diagnostics yourself, or have someone that is strong in logic do it. Just running the codes might give it away.. Local mechanics are usually good. I worked for a little shop for about 7 months before I started developing software. He knew his stuff, if he didn't, he wouldn't have any business. But that's not even where I picked up anything. I build performance engines and I love challenges like pulling old carborated engines and dropping in fuel injected V8s.

I would be determined to look at the spark plugs after it dies for a lean/rich condition. If all plugs are black, the chances are a sensor that contributes to the air fuel mixture is not working properly. But I don't see that causing the car to immeadiately die, unless a *TON* of gas was going into the cylinders. An ignition component could also be failing intermittently from excessive heat. It could be the fuel pump relay shutting down intermittently, turning off the fuel pump. There's a whole host of stuff that will cause that. It's so general, there's no way to pin point it to a certain system on the engine. The big problem is that you probably don't have the tools for testing the fuel pressure and stuff like that. For me to buy a tool is fine, because I know I'll use it later on. I am not sure what to tell you at this point. Sell it on a cool day? I would be tempted to buy a small Ford with a 2.3L. They sell real cheap and get great gas mileage. You won't have a lick of trouble with that motor.

Pete

[Cvkitty76]

Thanks pete, I would love to sell but I have put way too much money in it this past year to give up. Your right about the tools, I wouldn't be able to afford anything, Yes they did pull the codes the only ones that showed up was the ones for the trannie. I am soooo confused because even Ford couldn't fgure it out, I will keep looking and I will mention the things that you said to a friend of mine that knows a little something about cars. Thanks again. If you or anyone else comes up with any other suggestions I am happy and definately willing to listen.

[jmassimilla]

Originally Posted by Cvkitty76

Thanks pete, I would love to sell but I have put way too much money in it this past year to give up. Your right about the tools, I wouldn't be able to afford anything, Yes they did pull the codes the only ones that showed up was the ones for the trannie. I am soooo confused because even Ford couldn't fgure it out, I will keep looking and I will mention the things that you said to a friend of mine that knows a little something about cars. Thanks again. If you or anyone else comes up with any other suggestions I am happy and definately willing to listen.

Not sure if this would apply to a 98 but I had a 90 Taurus 3.0L that had a very similar problem. After it was warm, if you came to a stop and tried to take off again, it would stumble and immediately cut off. It would always restart ok most of the time...seemed the warmer the weather, the harder it would be to restart. The problem ended up being a temperature sender switch located near the thermostat that would allow the fuel mixture to be richer when the coolant temperature was low. It would lean out as the car warmed up. Problem was that it would continue to run rich after it warmed up and that was causing the stumbling and dying problem. Hope this is of some help.

[Cvkitty76]

Oh I hope that will definately help. I am going to talk to my friend the mechanic on Monday. Thank you for all you guys' wonderful and helpful input.

[65comet]

My 98 sable had a similar problem. Turned out to be the cooling element for the AC. It looks just like the radiator, but sits in front of it. Over half of the vanes had been bent over from rocks hitting it. After a couple hours carefully bending them straight again with a tiny screwdriver, making sure to not puncture any of the tubes on the element, I hit it with water from the garden hose. Those bent vanes had caught an unbelievable amount of dirt, it was a wonder any air could flow through it. I've been running my AC in upper 90's heat and bumper to bumper construction traffic since with no rise in temperature or engine shutter/dieing since.

[michael_k0]

fuel pressure gauges are fairly cheap. maybe a bad relay or fuel pump. you might get your money back if you part it out. good luck