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I have a long list :(

24K views 162 replies 19 participants last post by  henrysel 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi everyone! This is my first post so I apologize in advance if it's in the wrong place or has too much to read! I didn't want to make a million threads so I just wrote everything all out on one.

I have a 2000 Mercury Sable LS.
I was hoping someone would be able to help me out. My Sable is nothing but a headache. I have a few issues and I really would like to fix them without going to a shop. My boyfriend has a mechanic background but he is out of state and won't be home any time soon. I'm not a complete dummy with cars and basic things about their function but I am not even close to an expert on any of them. Although if my car keeps it up I will be a sable expert soon lol.

I bought a new steering wheel cover today. It took me 10 minutes to get it on but I took a picture of it. I was just looking at the picture and noticed my mileage...


How many miles can these get before they collapse?


My first issue *sigh*

When the heat is turned on in my car, my car stalls... or tries to. When I put it on the Auto setting whether it's cold or not the car stalls completely. I could be driving down the highway or parked in my driveway it doesn't matter. It's different when I set the temperature myself instead of auto. It won't stall while driving but if I am stopped at a red light or parked, the idle drops all the way down to the point where the car wants to die but catches itself. I have tried changing the modes for the blowers and it doesn't have any effect. Opening the hood it gives off a light smell but I can't tell if it's antifreeze or the A/C refill refrigerant stuff. Nothing is left behind on the ground after letting the car sit for an entire day so I don't think anything is leaking... On the ground at least. The only other thing I know is that the A/C comes on every time no matter what. I put half of an A/C recharge can in it during the summer and I did notice a small leak of purple fluid a couple inches down near the line from where you fill the A/C but it wasn't much so I didn't bother to do anything about it at the time.

My second issue...

I hope the picture will speak for itself [emoji16]


Third...

Somehow the rear defrost clips have decided they no longer want to be a part of the window any more. Both the driver side clip and the passenger side have fallen off and the wire with the clip and the solder glob are just dangling in the back. It hasn't worked since I bought the car 3 years ago. We knew about them not being attatched to the lines and my boyfriend said he would fix it... But he never did. That was when we had only one car and he had it all of the time. Now the car is being mainly used by me and it's almost winter here in New England. I'd really like to be able to see out of the back window [emoji14]. These little things irk me to death and since nobody is available to give me a hand or an opinion I have taken it upon myself. I did ask the guy at AutoZone what I should do and he told me to buy double sided tape and tape them back on. I'm not going to ask him any more questions again.

Fourth...

The gear shift lights are no longer working. This has happened on more than one occasion before but they always lit back up randomly. This time I think they might not come back on. It's not a big deal in the day but it is at night time. I have a hard time seeing in the dark and one time recently put the car in the wrong gear accidently. Speaking of gears....

Fifth...

Clunking into gear. Any gear except Neutral Is causing some sort of jump or clunk. Like it literally threw itself into gear and landed hard. I haven't noticed a change in the force of that clunk but it's not something I noticed the car doing a year ago.

Sixth...

My brake light. It comes on and I check the fluid and if it is not topped off, the light will stay on. Once I fill it to the line the light goes off. The level when the light goes on on the dashboard is literally right below where it would be full. I have no idea.

Seventh...

Chiming noise while driving coming from the right front passenger side. It sounds like... If you had a marble or something and put it into a metal mixing bowl and spun it really fast. This side also has a banging noise after every bump. It's like a rattle after I hit the bump. It is not a heat shield sound. I jacked the car up and the wheels felt fine and didn't cause the noise. Also bounced the front and back and it has no unusual noise.

Eighth...

The Auto lights and fog lights. The headlights never come on when I use this. The parking lights will come on but never have the headlights come on even in the darkest time of night. I have fog lights as well. They work but even after new bulbs they are still really really dim. I don't know if they are supposed to be or not.

Ninth...

Sometimes after using reverse and putting the car into drive the car accelerates on it's own like the gas pedal is being pushed but it's not. The rpm's hit the ceiling and it doesn't matter if I am in park or drive, cold nor hot. The only way to stop it is to shut the car off, wait a couple minutes and then start it up again. It only happens occasionally and only when going from reverse to drive. We have cleaned the throttle body countless times and replaced the IAC. We have checked the MAF sensor and cleaned it/replaced it too. A lot has been replaced in this thing from trying to figure out a low idle/stall issue before (including the pcv valve etc...). The idle issue before gave 2 system too lean codes but after careful investigation resolved by patching a hole in the exhaust.

Tenth...

The right passenger mirror has no power. The driver's mirror works fine but the right side one doesn't even make that stuck clicking sound or anything.

Eleventh...

The compartment door for access to the sun roof motor keeps falling off I believe because one of the clips broke somehow. When I look at it though I can see old glue too so I don't know if I should glue it back up there and if so what glue to use on it. If not then I guess it's to the junk yard to find a new access cover that has the clips intact.

Well that's it for the list for now. I'm sure I will remember more later, if not I wouldn't be surprised if something new arrives. I appreciate so much any input or advice that anyone could give for any of the issues I'm having with this car. I hate to love it but I love it. I want to get as much life out of it as I can and be able to learn and maintenance most of it on my own.

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#2 · (Edited)
I fixed my dead radio today. My radio and clock display stopped working after hitting a big bump a few weeks ago. It happened before but it normally came back on a few seconds later. It didn't this time. The temperature display below the radio was still lit but the radio was completely dead. I looked in the trunk where the control unit is underneath the carpet on the driver side and I found the problem. I have a leaky trunk along the left side of where the trunk door meets the car. I have heard that the leak was a common problem but I didn't think it was bad enough to affect the wire harness to the radio. Two wires were hanging out of a clip and on one of the harnesses the ground wire completely broke in half. The water damaged practically all of the wires under there. I went to 2 junk yards for the harnesses but I was planning on getting the complete thing but none of the cars had fold down seats in the back like mine and I couldn't take the seats out. I went home and as I was cleaning trash out from under the passenger seat I felt a loose wire so I pulled it out. It was the 2 cut wiring harnesses that I needed, that apparently my boyfriend already got from a junk yard 2 years ago and forgot about. A quick look through the mess of parts in my trunk and I found electrical tape and the wiring shrink wrap hahaha what luck that was. I cut all of the wires and rewired them to the "new" harnesses by splicing... twisting them together, shrink wrapping the joint and lastly wrapping it with a layer of electrical tape. I have no idea if I did it right or not but after 3 hours my radio works like I have never heard it sound before. I honestly would have never guessed that there was something under the carpet in the trunk for the radio but then again look what car it is lol.

This is what the clips looked like from the leak in the trunk:



This is the aftermath of what I did to fix it. I wish I took some of before.

It's a rats nest but it works right :)?

Now I know what the left cable goes to. The middle cable as well. I know what the antenna thing on the right end is. But I have no idea what that third clip is for!

Another solution for my car dying when using the wiper fluid. I had no clue why my car was dying one day when I tried washing the windshield. It started back up with a little trouble but a few revs and it was like nothing had happened. Again every time I pushed the sprayer switch to wash the windshield the car almost instantly died and my windows never got cleaned. It annoyed the heck out of me because I have to have clean windows, but I also need to have washer fluid to spray the tailgaters on the highway! I bought a gallon of fluid without even checking the level and when I went to fill it it still had plenty of fluid inside. Common sense didn't occur to me I guess. I never thought to check the hose that the fluid runs through but I took it to a gas station and they looked at it for me. The hose had a huge crack in it and every time I tried to wash the windshield, the fluid just sprayed all over everything under the hood making the car die. I never noticed it but the hose had already been spliced and the original hose broke off at the end of where the sleeve that they put over it stopped. They dug out the piece that was left inside of the sleeve and stuck the hose back into it. After that the fluid sprayed out like a champ and my car stopped dying when I sprayed it. I've had to repair it about 5 times now because it keeps breaking off. This time I put a zip tie around the end of the sleeve thing so it couldn't break off. At least not in that spot. But I think it might be too tight because the amount of fluid being sprayed isn't forceful enough to cover the entire window now wheras before it sprayed all the way over the roof onto the trunk lol.

I replaced the headlight assembly as well with a set I found on Amazon for around $100 a pair. They fit good other than a little extra gasket hanging out but they are a million times better than the stock ones and so worth the money for the visibility. I'm going to take some pics tomorrow of my hooptie looking car. Lately duct tape has been my best friend :).

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#3 ·
Given the amount of electrical gremlins, its possible a main grounding cable is disconnected or broken off. I would check them all under the hood to make sure. Otherwise it's probably a large vacuum leak that's causing the stalling issue. I see the CEL is lit, what stored codes do you have? That would probably help.
 
#4 · (Edited)
How many miles can these get before they collapse?
A car is only as good as the maintenance done to it. Rust(and lack of maintenance) is the major killer of cars in the NE. With the mileage you have, the car is just being broken in.

My first issue *sigh*

First thing to do is take the car to your local parts store(if you don't have an OBDII scanner) and have the codes read being that the CEL light is on. GET THE ACTUAL CODE(Pxxxx) not a 'diagnosis' from some parts jockey. Then post those codes here. We can tell you from experience what the problem is rather than them following what a computer tells them could be the problem. It'll give you much more information than we can guess could possibly be the problem.

My second issue...

Pretty much speaks for itself. The cat heat shield is no longer attached. It needs to be put back into place.


Third...


Parts stores sell repair kits for that. It's a 'liquid copper' paste that will make full contact again with the grid. Very easy repair.

Fourth...

Could be a ground, wiring, or bulb issue. The only way to know is to take the console covers off and take a look.

Fifth...
When was the last time the transmission was serviced? How does the fluid look? Smell burned? Is the fluid at the correct level? This can also be related to the CEL being on, so I'll reiterate to get the codes read and post the actual code here.


Sixth...

The light goes on to tell you the fluid is low(among other things like faults in the system). If the light goes on, you notice the fluid is low, add more fluid and the light goes out it's because the fluid is low. The big thing is finding out the reason WHY the fluid is low to begin with and where the leak is.

Seventh...

Is it a chime or a marble? They are two different sounds. Marble sound with the HVAC system on is more than likely either the blower motor going bad(which is in the passenger foot board) or something fell in there and the fan cage is hitting it.


The clunk in the right side can be bad ball joints or sway arm endlinks(most likely). Take the tire off and start inspecting.


Eighth...

So if you put the headlights on auto, ONLY the parking lights come on and not the headlights? Usually the issue is the sunload sensor but what'll happen is when you put it to auto, all the lights will come on. Bright day or dark night. Search 'eatc self test' get those codes and post them here.


Ninth...


Lean codes are most times caused by a vacuum leak. So are idle issues and stalling. Did you replace the IAC with a Motorcraft unit? If not, do it. Aftermarket ones are notorious for failure. My bet is it's a vacuum leak though. Again, get the codes read. That will tell you a hell of a lot more than we can guess


Tenth...
Could be the motor, could be a ground, could be a lot. Take the door panel off, disconnect the connector to the mirror and use a DMM to see if there is power going to the electrical connector when you try to adjust the mirror. If there is power, then the problem lies in the mirror motor.


Eleventh...

More than likely one of the 'retaining clips' is broken. Go to a Junk Yard to get a replacement panel.




One other thing you don't point out is the "Low Coolant" light being on. More than likely it's the sensor in the tank that requires replacing the entire coolant tank. Simple job, not that expensive and might be able to get a good one from the junk yard


Well that's it for the list for now. I'm sure I will remember more later, if not I wouldn't be surprised if something new arrives. I appreciate so much any input or advice that anyone could give for any of the issues I'm having with this car. I hate to love it but I love it. I want to get as much life out of it as I can and be able to learn and maintenance most of it on my own.

My points in red. Happy troubleshooting. ;)
 
#5 ·
The codes that come up are P00171 and P00172.
For the defrost I am going to look for some paste today.
Is there any specific way that the heat shield is supposed to be bolted on? I honestly have no idea what it's supposed to look like. Only that it shouldn't be hanging lol.

The transmission as far as I know has never been serviced. There is no particularly burned smell and the color looked alright according to my boyfriend.

The sound in the front end is a marble sound. I did buy the links in the spring but they've been sitting in the boxes in the trunk because I don't know how to fix it.

The coolant light is the sensor. This was on when I bought the car and has never shut off. The constant engine light shows only codes for p00171 and p00172 system too lean bank 1 and bank 2. There was once another code for the gas cap but that code comes and goes as it wants. After putting the putty stuff over the hole in the exhaust the lean codes disappeared but came back after 3 months when another hole in the exhaust appeared. The only reason I knew that is because my car was relatively quiet and then all of a sudden she sounds like a motorcycle lol. I'll have to wait until Saturday when I get the reader back to see if any new codes have come up. We reset them last weekend and it went off but obviously came back on. When we checked it this time those were the only codes. Before we had cleared it there was about 7 codes but he said that they were most likely just set off from the 2 original lean codes. I always have to wonder if my boyfriend is full of it when he tells me things about the car. See I don't really know any better so it's very possible that something big is going in and he knows what it is but doesn't feel like dealing with it so he just tells me it's nothing. =/

The IAC was replaced when trying to find the issue for the erratic idle which began this past winter/spring. The car has no problem starting on a hot day but when it's cooler and cold out is when it doesn't want to stay on and idle properly. I replaced the battery as well because I thought it was junk. The car was dying and only starting when jumped. The old battery was warped on one side of it and actually was junk, but replacing it did fix the idle issue temporarily.

Ahhh rust in NE. Yeah I have lots of rust. Too much. All around the rear wheel well area and the black trim under the doors is being held on by a hair elastic I used to tie it back up one day when the rest gave way to a clip and fell off.

The only other things really noticeable is there is oil on the engine inside the hole where the bolt is on the top left. I will take a picture in a few. When I shut the car off the sound the vacuum (I think it's the vacuum not 100%)makes is relatively loud. It's a kind of squeak sound and I feel like it may be getting louder but then again I didn't have a radio for a week so that may be why I am just noticing it. I checked most of the hoses that are clearly visible and they all seem to be in good shape except for one which I will also post a picture of because I don't know what it is. The brake fluid container is really loose. It's attached still but to me it just feels really flimsy. The brake light came on after changing the rear brakes. I had an issue with the brakes this spring where a grinding noise was coming from the rear right tire and the tire was seizing up. After taking a careful look we found that the adjuster spring that was put into the brakes when they were done before was broken and floating freely inside of the whole brake mechanism. This is because whoever did the brakes put the springs on the wrong sides of the car. The left brake spring thing was on the passenger side mistakenly instead if the driver side.
 
#10 ·
We replaced that elbow already. It did have a big hole in it but replacing didn't fix the issue. The car started okay today. Only idled bad for a few minutes and caught itself. It's in the 70's today though so I didn't expect it to act like it does when it's colder outside. Someone mentioned if the idle acted up when the heat was on certain settings... I had tried it before and they all seemed to cause it. However today, it did not cause a weird idle when the heat was on the floor vent and the setting for blowing at your face and your feet. The setting with the defrost picture on it caused the car to drop rpms and then shoot back up to the one repeatedly until I shut the heat off.
 
#9 ·
My rust issue...





I was told there was nothing I could do for it besides take it to an auto body shop and have them cut it out $$$$.

Leaking from somewhere. No clue where...


The other side is worse.

I tried to take the cover off of the shifter but I couldn't get the PRNDL piece to come off to see any bulbs. The wires look fine though.
 
#12 ·
Well for starters that amount of rust isnt fixable, lol. Consider it a clock thats counting down to your next car at this point. You need new rear struts, by the way. But just because you replaced the PCV elbow doesnt mean its not leaking from somewhere else. You need to find the leak. Open the hood andlisten for a sucking sound. Spray brake cleaner on hoses and lines until you can get the car to die.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Where would that plug be?... Lol. I went looking and found this disconnected but my gut says it's for the cruise control too. Haven't had a chance to spray it yet but I will soon. The vacuum squeak sound at shut off sounds like it comes from either inside the dash or right behind it. Same sound when the heat is turned on. Like something opened. Idk.


I know the struts are blown :). I've already replaced them twice and they keep blowing. If I can fix the idle issue and stalling then I will replace them but I decided not to. No point if the car is gonna be junked soon =/. Poor thing. [emoji24]
 
#15 ·
That is the cruise control cable. As for your water leak, that area is where the sunroof drains are. They're likely clogged up and leaking into the A pillar. And as for where the connector for the compressor is, its on the belt drive and looks like this:



Should be a black plug on that housing somewhere that you can remove. Note that the compressor is the silver unit to the right of the belt and clutch. The plug you want should be on the top. There's another one closer to the belt that's for the clutch, but you should be able to ignore that one.
 
#16 · (Edited)
It's night so I figured I would come out and look. I think I found it but I am nervous about unplugging it and starting the car...


On my scavenger hunt I noticed this clip at the top of the picture is soaked in something as well that's soaked and it's directly under the brake fluid. Must be whete the brake fluid is leaking? Not sure about that clip though.



Also I filled up the washer fluid resevoir yesterday and used it ONCE. I just looked and it's dbsbhsiwsfv empty! Ahhhh I am starting to hate this crap car.
 
#17 ·
No offense, but don't go looking for additional problems. Attack the ones you already know about ;) Small oil leaks with this motor are common and irrelevant, and simple things like oil being spilled during a change or running off the cap can sit in weird places forever pretty much.

And yes, that's the compressor. The electrical plug should be on top (out of view in the shot you've taken).
 
#18 ·
If I pull it off the car won't have any engine issues correct? As in the car doesn't need it plugged in...
I know what you mean. I am so overwhelmed and pissed off right now. After looking through everything and under and over I'm just so mad at my boyfriend for not taking care of my car and blowing everything off. I'm guessing this is the fuel filter. It used to have a metal casing around it. I don't know where it went but I am too upset.



*smfh* this car is a disgrace. I have changed my mind and decided that the idle issue is the only thing I want to fix and then I'm gonna drive it until it dies (or tax returns whichever is first).
 
#20 ·
That rust will have to be cut out and a new panel welded in. Or you could try with fibreglass. Plenty of viddies on you tube on how to repair rust holes.
 
#22 ·
It's not unrepairable by any means, but the driver's side dog leg has gone feral, and the rockers are probably in similar shape. I guess it would be prudent to actually inspect all the rust damage (which requires checking the subframe and floor pans too) to determine if she wants to put the time and effort into it. But I doubt she wants to. This is the thing that sends most of these cars to the yard. It's a lot of time or money to sink.

And oh, interesting. Guess 2000 used a different shaped filter then. Shows what I know :lol2:. Still, another bracket could be easily sourced from a yard if you care to.
 
#29 ·
From the pictures you posted the IAC is a junk aftermarket one. Go to a junkyard and get an original Motorcraft unit(which can be seen in the picture of my 01 wagon below). You still have a vacuum leak if you are getting a P0171/174 code. Start there. The rust on that thing is the death of it, so honestly it's on borrowed time. Happens to the best of cars in the rusted out northeast.


If you look in this picture where the yellow circle is(don't have a closer picture), there is the receiver/dryer for the AC system. There is an electrical plug right on the top of it. Unplug it, and it disables the AC system. There is nothing 'bad' that will happen to your car other than the AC(which is not needed in the northeast winter) will not function.


 
#30 ·
Sure, I hear you. I inherited a very neglected taurus wagon (it was headed to the junkyard) which I fixed myself. The more you fix, the more your confidence increases.
I turned it into a project/hobby, and worked on mine when I could. I made up a list and fixed the most pressing issues. Now it's running great. Fortunately the rust was minor and I was able to fix that. Now I have a Grand Caravan which needs a bit of work, and it has rust issues...not too bad, but I want to learn to MIG weld so I can repair it myself.

The problem is the tin worm though. If it's really that bad, then you'll just be constantly chasing it with no end until it falls apart.
 
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#35 · (Edited)
^ Plug circled in red in the pic is the cmp sensor. Don't unplug that, lol! The a/c accumulator John is referring to is the black metal cannister in between the coolant tank and pass. headlight. Jess, you possibly may need a mechanic, new car and/or boyfriend, lol. Fwiw, in John's pic above, the yellow arrow is pointing to the a/c hi pressure service port pipe. Also, if you want to disable the a/c for test purposes, may consult the owners manual fuse/relay section and look for an "a/c only" fuse/relay/diode to pull temporarily.
 
#36 ·
^ Plug in the pic is the cmp sensor. Don't unplug that, lol! The a/c accumulator John is referring to is the black metal cannister in front of the coolant tank. Jess, you possibly may need a mechanic, new car and/or boyfriend, lol. Fwiw, in John's pic above, the yellow arrow is pointing to the a/c hi pressure service port pipe.
Haha alright, shows what I know about the Tec (very little). I'll defer to you guys for the engine stuff.
 
#38 ·
Well after a long day and a big arguement my boyfriend is coming home tomorrow and on Sunday we are going to check the car over and he said he will do my front brakes *yippee...*. I'll be back to update on Sunday and let you guys know what we find. I'm also going to do the suggestions and let you know what happens then. :)
 
#40 ·
If you do need a new IAC valve I have a Motorcraft one in the box. Used but works fine.
Your Sable looks like my old Taurus. I drove it until the sub frame came close to falling out from around the bolts.

As for your clunking when put into reverse or drive gear, that's pretty common. My old Taurus's did it and my current one has been for about 200k miles.
Keep the fluid clean with Mercon V only and replace the filter- if you can address that rust! ;)
 
#42 ·
I was told my car doesn't have motor mounts lol. And also my boyfriend insists that it's the intake manifold and is not willing to fix it. I still think it's a vacuum leak like the others said but I still haven't checked because my bf is not on board. He told me that I can't use brake cleaner to check for leaks as well because it's not flammable or something I have no idea. I'm still gonna check it myself when I get home.
 
#47 ·
Scotty Kilmer method for finding vacuum leaks:
 
#49 ·
Blowing smoke up a cars erm jacksie :)

Also check out Eric the Car Guy on youtube...his videos are longer, but quite detailed.
 
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#50 ·
Yeah, I've had the intake manifold gaskets replaced along with the PCV valve. And my mechanic actually did use brake clean to find the leak, once he sprayed it on the gasket, the idle changed. I don't think the manifold itself would be bad, when I did the gasket, it was intact and not rusted out.

As for the motor mounts, I think there's 3 of them, two engine ones and one transmission mount and they're under $40 from rockauto.com. I don't think your boyfriend is really an auto mechanic if he says there's no motor mounts.

As for the IAC, I'm still on my original one, I've cleaned it out a couple of times though, can't remember what I used, either throttle body cleaner or electrical contact cleaner. I think I used throttle body cleaner as I've also cleaned the mass air flow sensor a couple of times too. Of course there are many threads about bad aftermarket IAC so I'm not sure if cleaning the one you have will really help. Oh Walmart sells both in a little two pack, under $8.
 
#51 ·
He's not, but his father is and he does know a lot about fixing cars from years and years of watching him do it. I don't think the issue is that he doesn't know what is really wrong, I think he tells me crap because he doesn't want to deal with it. An example would be what happened earlier when I made him go out and look at it. Thou shall not ask questions less thee be deemed an absolute moron.

It was clearly heard that the RPM's dropped but of course it didn't actually stall when he did it. The difference was that I used the straw on the can when I did it and he didn't. I agree just from common sense that it is most likely the gasket.

As far as unplugging the A/C compressor, it's not accesible unless you go under the car. But even if I pulled the jack out he said that is not the issue. He said the RCU (box in the trunk that controls the radio) is the issue. Because I needed to replace the third harness (the one that I just left alone because I didnt see anything wrong with it but I didn't take the casing off to look) has a short somewhere and needed to be replaced as well. I don't know what the third clip goes to because all of the diagrams I could find only have the 2 clips. I did see one at the junkyard that had 3 but I didn't grab it because I didn't know what it was. It was also on a newer Sable so I didn't know.
 
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