We are looking into buying a 1999 Ford Taurus with a 3.0L V6 DOHC 24V engine. A friend that I trust who is a mechanic says the Taurus is fine as long as it's not the 3 litre Overhead CAM.

Is this a bad engine?

Your friend is full of do do........

 

Any engine that isn't maintained properly will end up being a "bad engine". The 24V DOHC is a very long lived and reliable engine, and was/is used in many different Ford and Mazda vehicles. There are a number of people on here who have well over 200K miles on them and a few with over 300K. The downside to the DOHC is that it is more difficult to work on than the 3.0 OHV Vulcan engine.

 

Thank you Jeff

 

Looks like we both had the same question in mind at the same time!! My thread is right next to yours. Think we both got the same answer, all in all not a bad engine at all, in fact sounds pretty darn good.....

 

Looks like we both had the same question in mind at the same time!! My thread is right next to yours. Think we both got the same answer, all in all not a bad engine at all, in fact sounds pretty darn good.....

Lots of myths out there, best get info from the first source, those of us who have had these engines.

I have had 3 Vulcans, 3 Essex, now have 2 DOHC.

Vulcans are "old school" solid, old proven design, but iron on iron so heavy and rusts. They need regular coolant maint or they have real problems.

Essex blow head gaskets, just a matter of when, not if. Aluminum head on iron engine is not a good idea. Real torque engine, does not rev up well. Ended on Taurus/Sable in 1995.

Duratec is modern all aluminum, light weight, proven to be a good design. Now 15 years in the mill and any weakness has been recorded here. Good torque, good rev, quiet. PCV is in a real PAIN of a place, and needs to be maintained. Vacuum hoses and PCV hoses seem to rot early.

-chart-

 

From all the engines that are on Ford, Duratec (DOHC) 30 is one of the most reliable. I have 180K on mine without major problems.
Actually, the engine is still used: Ford Duratec engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

We are looking into buying a 1999 Ford Taurus with a 3.0L V6 DOHC 24V engine. A friend that I trust who is a mechanic says the Taurus is fine as long as it's not the 3 litre Overhead CAM.

Is this a bad engine?

i got almost 170,000 on mine, and still running strong...i sure as heck would not let your mechanic friend work on my car............

 

I've got 5 gen3 tecs (24v dohc). 3 98s and 2 99s. 4 have over 200k mi. 1 has over 300k mi. No serious eng. or tranny problems on any of them. All 5 purr like Singer sewing machines.

 

I have an old family friend who's been a mechanic for over 30 yrs. He's currently a lead mechanic at one of the most respected repair facilities in the area (pop. >200,000).
He said he probably works on more Tauri than any other car.
He gave me the thumbs up on the SHO (given that I weld the cams), and didn't really differentiate any of the engines as far as reliability.

No mention of any "characteristic" problems.

However, he did recommend I plan for a trans rebuild/replacement if I plan to put a lot of miles on it.

 

dbennett,
Let me guess your mechanic grew up working on carbs and doesn't understand modern electronics / motors.

 

dbennett,
let me guess your mechanic grew up working on carbs and doesn't understand modern electronics / motors.

yeahhhhhh......! Go crackhead.....ur right.....

 

ok if i can get over 200 wheel hp and still get 24mpg and have been driving the car 4 years now and im a power guy so im always showing ricers what i have BUT maintaned very well KEY WORD.... Taking care of the car the only thing about any taurus is the trans i dont car if its the base all the way to the sho the auto trans are junk... the duratec is a wonderful engine and will last forever nuff said

 

I have a duratec with around 190K and one with 320K and they both still run fine.

Mike
B)

 

duratec miles

my 2003 taurus sel is now at 164,000 miles and runs perfect. I use Mobil 1 and motorcraft oil filters every 6 months. I changed the trans fluid and filter twice in the last 10,000 miles, and I never, ever abuse my car.
This engine runs like a swiss clock, and I love driving it. the trans seems fine, but does have a weird glitch at times. The car still looks good, and everything works perfect, except the cd changer has issues. I am going to get 200,000 out of this, or more, thats my goal....

 

I have a 24v Dohc in my 03 Taurus sel, she has 405564 and still rolling strong . Looking for another, but having a hard time finding one. Sure hope u didn't take his advice.

 

Being that this thread is two years old and the OP's only two posts were in this thread, I wouldn't expect an answer. Please refrain from bumping old posts.

Your mileage is impressive though. You should make a post in the introduction forum. We'd love to hear about your car.

 

The Tec is fine. It's just a leak-prone engine at higher mileage, and it's useless to try to fix it.

And the leaks all seem to be very slow anyway. Just oil.