88 Taurus--help me save it from the junkyard!

[sjr8ut]

Hey everybody,

I'm trying to keep my '88 taurus on the road a bit longer with minimal financial investment. I have two questions:

1. What size tires can I put on this car? I am looking for used tires and can't find any 205/65/15 's in my area. Are there any other compatible sizes?I would be replacing the rear two. It has the stock alloy (or aluminum?) rims.

2. The turn signals do not work at all now--they used to work just intermittently. The fuse is good. The hazards work fine. Does this mean that the flasher is OK? I tried spraying some WD40 around the signal arm on the steering column per somebody's recommendation and it did not work.

Any suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated.

[shorod]

Yeah, it looks like even in 1998 they used an electronic flasher for your Taurus. The problem is likely the multifunction switch. You'd have to have pretty decent aim to get a spray in the multifunction switch without removing the switch.

You could test the multifunction switch using a multimeter if you are so inclined. I would not suggest using WD-40 as a contact cleaner but rather electrical parts cleaner.

-Rod

[tripletdaddy]

Pulling the switch out to clean it may or may not work for long or at all considering its age, but if you are game all you will loose is your time. When out, I think you can connect the electrical connectors to see if you got it to work before going through the whole process and discover it not working just to pull it out again. To keep cost down, you could try a boneyard unit, but again you risk getting one with not much life on it or any. Historically, Ford hasn't done too well on this switch, so failure seems inevitable on them. The wiper function seems to be the most problematic that I have observed. You might try finding one online, ebay or even Autozone and decide if a new one is worth it to you.

I agree with you on the short supply of tires for the Taurus with its wide and low profile. Did you see if the tire info decal is still on the rear passenger side door opening on top of the wheel well?

The 195/70/15 is close with a slightly taller side wall and a narrower width, but I'm not sure how common it is. It is 6.5 mm larger in diameter than the standard tire, but for the back it shouldn't hit anything. If run in the front as a pair, you will go about 1% faster. A more common tire is the 205/70/15, but it is a bigger tire. It also is the tire used on the police taurus model, but probably has the properly calibrated spedometer input for the larger tire.

[sjr8ut]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. I will see if my local used tire place has those alternate sizes. About the turn signals, I want to make sure that it is not the electronic flasher before I tear apart the column. How do I tell? They want 59 bucks or something for a new one at the dealership and no one else seems to carry them.

[shorod]

Since you said the hazards work fine and the diagram shows they both use the same flasher, I'd say your electronic flasher is probably fine.

-Rod

[sjr8ut]

Thanks guys--the problems are solved and the car is saved from the boneyard for now (although the $400 cash they offered is still tempting)

I got two used tires--of one of the sizes listed above as an alternative.

Also, I pulled out electronic flasher. It has 5 pins. I had purchased a normal flasher for $2.50 (2 pins). I took a risk and shoved the normal flasher into two of the slots on the 5 pin plug for the electronic flasher the only way it would fit and to my surprise, the turn signals now work! But the hazards are now dead, and the turn signals work even when the car is off. I think that a jumper wire will take care of the hazards, and I can live with the turn signals working when the car is off, I'll just have to be extra careful not to leave them on and run the battery down.

I was surprised that it was the electronic flasher that was the culprit since the hazards worked, but it makes sense because they are still on different circuits and that part of the electronic flasher circuitry could have been faulty while the hazard part was still functional. Maybe it was simply a bad solder joint.