3.8 vs 3.0

[fubard]

Hello, I've had 2 Taurii and both have been 3.0L motors. The 1st was sold with 300Km(180K mi). The running gear was fine. The only minor problem was a coolant leak at the front engine cover.This was sealed with some Gunk. The Taurus I now have is a 95 with 130Km on it. It runs great but I may get rid of it soon for a wagon. It seems the 3.0L is well liked but the 3.8 is problematic with head gasket problems.

I'd like to know the reliability of the 3.8 motor after the HGs have been replaced.Does that solve the HG problem for the life of the motor or does it re-occur? This is ass-u-ming a proper job was done.

[Willyum]

Unless you are going to buy an old one, you won't find the 3.8 engine available anymore.

[TaurusKing]

Hard to say with the headgasket issue, if it's done properly and all avenues have been done, it should last for quite a while I would think... I own three Taurus, 93 3.8, 94 3.0 and 99 3.0 24v... I happen to think the 3.8 is a good torquey motor, that's part of the problem with the motor mounts breaking often, be prepared to replace a few if you're a jackrabbiter off the line,, or if you spin the front wheels and happen to grab some traction, there goes another one,, my 3.8 motor was actually installed by a ford dealer at 75k miles, the previous owner had all the paperwork,,I have it now, without looking it up I'm thinking they paid over 3k dollars at the time, apparently the gaskets failed and took out the entire bottom end of the motor, completely trashed, maybe the front cover gasket went also, coolant getting thru to the bottom end.. it now has 160k miles on it, not only that, the original trans, amazingly, is still in it..overall it is a smooth good-running vehicle, not without some problems along the way.. I'm glad I took a chance with it, the reasons being the new motor, the price was ridiculously low, and the previous owner had it serviced religously by the dealer, trans was flushed like every 20-25k miles, in fact it was done the week the motor went out. Too bad this 3.8 has had such a major problem, it would be an outstanding motor otherwise.. the 3.0's speak for themselves, outstanding design.. too bad the trans are big ???? marks.. do you want to chance it??? You decide. Try to find something that has service records of some type, there are still a lot of people who take care of their vehicles, just takes a while, maybe a long while.

[PTG1212]

I wouldn't go near a 3.8. I had a 95 Windstar with 3.8 that Ford bought back after headgasket was replaced 4 times (by Ford dealer) in about 50k miles. I also had a 94 Sable with 3.8 that made it to 80k miles before headgasket went. I decided not to replace it and sold it as is for $500. I do agree it has a lot of torque and it does blow through engine mounts. The tranny's of that era had their own problems as well.

[TaurusKing]

Has anyone ever gotten a definitive reason as to why the headgaskets would fail, and fail repeatedly??? I've heard a few different, but nothing that anyone could say, yep that's the reason..

[fubard]

well, thanks for the replies I think I'll stay with a 3.0L. Taurus isn't the only car with HG problems. I also own a subaru and they tend to eat HGs. Mine were done last year..$1600 !! OUCH. If I hadn't paid only $1000 for it I would've parted the pig out but the soobs are like gold here regardless of mileage.SO far for a lotal investment of $2600 I'm driving a $4000 car.

Originally Posted by TaurusKing

Has anyone ever gotten a definitive reason as to why the headgaskets would fail, and fail repeatedly??? I've heard a few different, but nothing that anyone could say, yep that's the reason..

[Millermagic]

Cast iron block and aluminum heads. The vulcan is all cast iron.

[wafrederick]

The 3.0 and 3.0 vulcan engines are bulletproof.Most yards do not sell them and put them in the scrap pile.The 1991 transmissions were junk and replaced with 1992 transmissions.I know a guy that works at an auto parts that learned from his father,compare a price on an alternator or starter for a domestic and an import.The alternator for the import is more expensive and the alternator for the domestic is cheaper than the import

[Millermagic]

There's a few different 3.0s that were used on the Taurus. 3.0Vulcan, 3.0Duratec (all aluminum DOHC) and the 3.0SHO. The duratecs and SHOs are also great engines. Granted, they do have some more problems ... not enough to even deserve to be mentioned ... but they are a little harder to work on than the vulcans.

The AXOD trans was worse than the AXODE. In 95, Ford started to introduce the AX4N and that was slightly better than the AXODE/AX4S trans.

[wafrederick]

The duratec and the sho are a big POS.Most yards sell the duratec real easy.The duratec and the sho are expensive to repair.The sho is made by Yamaha

[shorod]

Originally Posted by wafrederick

The duratec and the sho are a big POS.Most yards sell the duratec real easy.The duratec and the sho are expensive to repair.The sho is made by Yamaha

Please qualify your statement. On second thought, let's not, it will divert this thread. However, many feel that the SHO is pretty much bulletproof, it's more the electronics, transmission, and body that cause problems. Those problem areas are the same that plague the Taurus family. The Duratech seems to be a pretty robust engine as well, with the exception of a few issues with intake gaskets.

-Rod

[wafrederick]

All I hear about the duratec is that it is a big pos and is called a durajunk.My father bought one with a blown up duratec and sold it to an auto salvage yard whom put another engine in it.I garuantee Jasper has found problems with the duratec and improved it.If you take a taurus with a duratec to thew dealer for engine work,they will talk you into a new engine.Ford will not get inside that engine.I have heard of this happening with their V 10 engines in the super duty trucks.

[Scrapper]

i've had a couple 3.8's and i got a new yoker with a 3.0 in it and my wife drove it then my daughter then my son if they cant tear them up there good motors..but on 3.8 seems most problems are the trannys and harmotic balancer going out but it also has 275.000 on the 3.8 and i had to rebuild the tranny..i never had 1 that blew a head gasket on the 3.8 or 3800 now on 3.0 i had to put new valve seals in it and still running good with 300.000 on it..and oh yah motor mounts on 3.8....

[shorod]

The 3.0L in the New Yorker is a completely different engine than the 3.0L in the Taurus. The New Yorker is a Chrysler product with a 3.0L Mitsubishi engine in it. They are notorious for valve stem seals to drop into the head. Don't confuse this engine with the 3.0L V-6 in the Taurus.

-Rod

[Millermagic]

The 3.0 and 3.2 Yamahas are great engines.