2000 Taurus Wagon Engine Swap

[CableMonkey]

Hello all,

First post here, been doing some reading about people with similar problems as me but no one has the "unique" situation that I currently have...

I just moved to NOR*CAL about 2 months ago. I went to get my wagon inspected for smog and WOW did it fail. Surpassing max smog limits by up to 15x the legal amount!!

After this startling event, we noticed that it was putting out some black smoke...

Now for the history of the vehicle

We have only owned the car since last Thanksgiving (in '06), we did an ebay purchase from NY or NJ, cant remeber which. With the exception of a tire low on air, it was in relatively good condition. We drove it 16 hours back home, then turned around and drove it 12 hours to my grandparents the next day, it drove like a dream, almost 32mpg through hills!! Rode like a lincoln too top it off! We spent the weekend with the family, went and got new tires at the same shop we have been getting tires since we moved there, and that just improved the ride even more... we where getting ready to leave Sunday morning and we noticed it was leaking something.. It have blown a rack and pinion seal, eh, "ok" we thought, and left it there to take to the local shop and drove my moms car back home. While getting the RnP replaced, my grandfather also had them do a general tune up, change the oil, plugs, check fluids, etc. the bill was shocking... $1100.00!!! We then moved from the nice warm south to the frigid north in the twin cities. My wife, having never lived in the north, got into the car on a -14* morning and took off like a bat out of h311 and proceeded to make the engine go BOOM... I went to pick her up and their was coolant going everywhere, took it to the shop, they said the heads where warped and gave us a $2500 est. to get it fixed... we didnt have the money, so a co-worker offered to replace the engine with another used engine for cost of parts, sweet!! Well 4 months later when they are finally finishing the swap ...
They discover that the shop I bought the engine from sold us the wrong engine... So rather then wait 4 more months to get the right one put in, we took it to the shop, who refused to take the blame and proceeded to charge us $950 for the swap... by this point I was tired of it all, sick of the cold, we said screw it, drove it home after the swap and loaded it up on a dolley, put it behind my truck and we moved to nice warm Cali... That brings us up to date.

Since the swap the engine has never been tuned, it blows black smoke and suet out of the tail pipe and two banks run rich (from the diag codes that the emissions inspector gave us. I have to go get the codes, I forgot them this morning). I pulled all the spark plugs with intent to change them, all severly carboned and that made me stop and come to you guys first... This is a 2000 "U" vin Taurus Wagon, 3.0 OHC, the replacement engine was from AAA and has unknown mileage.

I am really not sure where the best place to start would be, I am mechanically inclined but not real experienced with more modern engines like this. As I said I already pulled the spark plugs and they looked pretty bad... Oh, and my CEL is/was on. I will post the codes tomorrow if I can find them again...

[TaurusKing]

Are the correct engine controls on the replacement engine???? The ones that are calibrated for your pcm??? Swapping an engine and immediately having run issues doesn't sound good, post codes, someone will have an idea or two

[shorod]

Welcome to the forum!

Yep, codes will be beneficial.

I'd also keep in mind that there are a fair number of vacuum hoses and electrical connections that need to be correctly made when swapping an engine. You'll want to be sure all vacuum lines are connected, the air intake tube is secure and does not have any leaks, the MAF sensor is clean and connected, the coolant temperature sensor is in specification, and the Intake Air Temperature (IAT) sensor is connected and not bypassed with one of those cheesy "performance chip" resistors being sold on eBay.

-Rod

[CableMonkey]

Originally Posted by TaurusKing

Are the correct engine controls on the replacement engine???? The ones that are calibrated for your pcm??? Swapping an engine and immediately having run issues doesn't sound good, post codes, someone will have an idea or two

The first guys to attempt the swap had everything everywhere, hell they even disected the A/C!! Not to mention put a nice ding in the R fender...

The shop basically pulled the block out, ripped all the bolt on stuff and threw it on the new block from my understanding.

I believe it was all the original sensors (which we had the CEL on before the engine went boom, I believe it was a sensor because it was running fine...)

I found the info about engine surging, mine is doing that also, in the 10-20mph range or under any slow but steady accel. I bought the car for 2500, and I have put almost 3k into it, 1400 of which I would classify as "not so intelligent" as I should have cut my losses and moved on... now that I have this much into it, if I can get it up and running correctly for 2-300 or less ( I prefer less ) it would make me at least feel better to drive it and get that 3k value back out of it before I trade up...

Side note, we did take the car back when the light came on, they said it was a sensor or injector. When I took it to the inspection, they pretty much hinted at the same thing but want 200 to put it in writting...

Is there a cheap code pulling technique or utility so I can check progress as I try things? I have two fords, both 97+ so it could be adventagous to have...

[shorod]

There are relatively inexpensive code readers for your OBD-II car (your 1997 Fords will be OBD-II as well). The price depends on the features you feel you need/want. Another option is to stop by your local chain auto parts store. They typically offer a code reading service at no charge.

-Rod

[CableMonkey]

Originally Posted by shorod

There are relatively inexpensive code readers for your OBD-II car (your 1997 Fords will be OBD-II as well). The price depends on the features you feel you need/want. Another option is to stop by your local chain auto parts store. They typically offer a code reading service at no charge.

-Rod

Good to know because the code sheet I got from the inspection station seems to have sprouted legs and ran off... Does the engine need to be on to use the code reader or...?

Can you point me in the direction of a recommended model? The only thing I need it to do is pull codes, what other options do they have? Thanks for helping me get my start on modern engines they are a little more complex then my 65!!

Edit: I did find this one for $70ish after shipping: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-U...99532573QQrdZ1

Sorry if I broke any rules for posting a link! let me know if I did plz!

[GPFred]

You might check with a local auto parts store like O'Reillys or Advance Auto, you can check out a code reader and get the codes for free.

[shorod]

The engine does not need to be on to read the codes, but the key does need to be in the "Run" position.

I've used the AutoXray EZ-Scan 5000 and was impressed with it. It is not a basic scan tool though, it includes datastream, I/M Readiness monitors, as well as component parameters. These additional features can be beneficial during troubleshooting, but are overkill if you don't really plan to do much of your own work on the car.

The scan tool at the link looks to be a pretty nice unit and does include the datastream (aka Live data) mode, but will soon be obsolete since it does not support the CAN protocol. CAN is becoming more and more common with newer cars. It should work fine for your 2000 and 1997 Fords though.

The unit at the link also covers the I/M readiness tests which will allow you to check if your car is ready to have the emissions inspection performed prior to scheduling your appointment. Just be aware that when the codes are reset, so are the readiness statuses.

You may also want to consider the Actron scan tools. They seem to be pretty common and I haven't heard any complaints about them. The appear to be quite comparable to the AutoXray units, and I believe the two companies have actually merged now.

-Rod

[CableMonkey]

I was doing some more checking at our favorite save-sometimes spot and I found this cool little device, and being that I am more of a IT guy, I found it mo'betta and interesting.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ELM32...QQcmdZViewItem

[shorod]

That looks like a decent product. You may also want to review AutoTap software. I'm not sure of it's price, but there seem to be quite a few happy users of AutoTap as well. I have not personally used ELM or AutoTap though.

If you aren't thrilled about having to take your laptop or PDA along with you, but like the idea of datalogging, consider the CarChip from Davis Electronics. I have an early CarChip E/X and have been pleased with the discrete performance. It will monitor 4 user-selected parameters with a sample rate as low as once ever 5 seconds. Obviously, the CarChip is not the all-out tool that you would get with the ELM or AutoTap, but is very discrete and can record for up to 300 hours. It does not have the capability to monitor all available sensors, but does have enough to aid in diagnostics.

I use an OTC Genisys tool for the tough dogs, and the AutoXray EZ-Scan 5000 when I just want to do a quick scan or reset a check engine light.

-Rod