Barkentine's 1993 Taurus Project Car

[Barkentine]

Thanks for pointing that out on which year Mustang gasket to use.

I priced out those gaskets yesterday at a local national parts store. $70 each for the Mustang's. That's $140 plus tax for (2) head gaskets. Then the 1993 Taurus set was another $120 and bolts $30. So, if purchased from that store, $290 just for a good FelPro gasket set. I think I can do better on eBay, but have to watch out for the brands and quality of those gaskets.

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16" wheels may be the way to go. I'd like to see some pics of what is in stock at "Nick's Wheelz Depot".

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Nick, do you have a good police 3.8L exhaust?

[Barkentine]

The LX project work begins:

1. Jacked front of LX up.
2. Drained oil/coolant from pan. (Sort of good news, less than 5 qts. came out. So apparently not a whole lot of coolant got into the oil.) Left plug out to drain for a few days.
3. Removed the battery.
4. Removed the air cleaner housing.
5. Removed the washer/coolant reservoir.
6. Removed the info panel on top of the radiator.
7. Removed radiator cap and saw no oil/coolant mixture in the radiator or under the cap.
8. took some photos.

It got dark, so I stopped for today.

The underside of the car is "clean". No residue of oil anywhere. So it's not been leaking. The trans fluid looks like it's been serviced at least once since it left the factory. The trans pan is clean and dry.

The exhaust system ain't as pretty as the rest of the car, though. It's been hacked up, welded on, spliced, and has bent and broken heat shields.

One front motor mount looks like it was recently replaced.

More to come.....

[Bull Geek]

I rarely if ever see a Police 3.8 in the yards. I've seen maybe 4 in the past 5-6 years that I've been going to junkyards. But you could also use SHO dual exhaust etc.

I'll get pix in the next few days.

Nice milkshake coming out of the drain plug!

[sheila]

^+1. Too much cream in that coffee, lol! Bark, if you're doin' HG repair, upstream o2s probably need replaced too.

[Barkentine]

Sheila: "Too much cream in that coffee,"

The legacy of the 3.8L.

The O2 sensor that's on it looks fairly new. I have some known good O2's in case the one that's on it was ruined. The cat may have to be replaced, also.

The way this gasket blew, it was sucking the coolant out of the block and blowing it out the tailpipe.

[Breeves002]

"my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard..."

In this case most of them probably RUNNNN! And... I think she was talking about quite a different milkshake. Not sure why that's called a milkshake.

By the way, just got to read up on this after being here for a while. That is a pretty clean car except for the HG problem! Enjoy fixing her back to her former glory!

I have always wanted a gen 2 3.8 but don't want to buy one because of the HG problems. I'm not experienced enough to go that deep in the motor!

[Barkentine]

Sam,
It's called milkshake because it looks like something served up from a fast food joint.

I have not looked it up yet, maybe Ford did offer a 3.8 with cast iron heads, I don't know. But it probably would have been a better, more reliable engine. The goofball at Ford who got the aluminum head spec'd out for the 3.8, may also be a person who thinks all electric cars are a good idea.

I am just now becoming familiar with the 3.8L. I stayed away from Tauruses so equipped. I did test drive one (not knowing it was a 3.8 until after raising the hood) and it had more power than the 3.0 and more bottom end torque. The car accelerated pretty well.

[sheila]

^+1. When in good repair, the 3.8 Essex is fun to drive.

[Barkentine]

Before it goes much further, the codes should be read. So the battery was re-installed. Should have done this first thing, but still not too late.

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1. 1993 Taurus LX Codes 05Feb2013 KOEO

“Hard Codes”: (Same all three tests)

636 – Transmission Oil Temperature (TOT) sensor – signal voltage higher or
lower than expected.

114 – Air Charge Temperature (ACT) – signal voltage is higher or lower than
expected.

327 – EGR Valve Position (EVP) sensor, low signal voltage
- Pressure Feedback EGR (PFE) sensor low signal voltage
- Pressure Transducer low signal voltage


Codes in Memory:

First Test: -125 – Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) low signal voltage


Second Test -111 – All clear, no problems. System pass (????)

Third Test -111 – All clear, no problems. System pass (????)

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I have no idea why the 125 code dropped off the radar. (edit: I do now. I probably accidentally erased it by not switching the reader to "Hold" before turning the ignition key off.)

BTW, this '93 has the old EEC-IV control.

Using the movie mode on a digital camera, I recorded the whole test. My old code reader only beeps and flashes an LED light. Taking a movie clip of the test lets me go back and see what the results were. The radiator fan came on during all the tests, which was good to see.

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2. Drained the radiator/engine block of coolant, all (3) quarts of it.
3. Changed the oil filter and put on a cheapy filter that will be used for crankcase flushing and then disposed of. (Oil filters are easy to change on a 3.8L.)
4. Removed hoses, vacuum lines, alternator and intake plenum.
5. Checked pulleys, belt, tensioner and water pump. All need replacing.
6. Plug wires are brand new (8mm). So is the cap.

After I pull the spark plugs, I plan on flushing out the crankcase by de-energising the ignition system (disconnect voltage from the coil) , filling the crankcase with (5) quarts of engine oil and kerosene mix, then turning the engine over with the starter, which will drive the oil pump to circulate the cleaning solution. I'll do it in bursts so as to not over heat the starter.

Then drain the solution and do it again, if it looks like there still may be some coolant in the mix.

More to come.....

[Barkentine]

Quick update:

1. Removed spark plugs. The rear passenger side cylinder is the one that probably has the blown gasket. (see the photo below. The lower left plug is cleaner than the others.)

2. Removed the water pump. Belt pulley interference with fender. Had to deflect the inside of the fender well with a pry bar to get the pulley off. The water pump is old and a Ford pump, but the bearings, seals and impeller were all still good. It gets replaced anyway. The cooling passages in the engine were not contaminated with oil/coolant. This is good.

3. Removed pulleys, tensioner, brackets. Tensioner still seems to be okay, but is going to get replaced with a new one.

4. Flushed engine crankcase to remove anti-freeze. I turned the engine over with the starter motor. The oil pressure light actually went out every time I cycled the solution thru the engine. When the flush was done, the mixture was drained and a slight amount of colour change was noticed. So, the flush did rinse out more coolant. The sacrificial oil filter was removed and discarded and a new filter put on.

More later........