1993 Ford Taurus GL 3.8L from North America

Summary:

A very poor quality vehicle

Faults:

Water temperature sensor (twice).

Front engine mount.

Windshield wiper motor.

Air conditioning suction line ruptured (caused by bad motor mount listed above.

In-tank fuel pump/fuel level sensor replaced.

Constant-velocity axle boot is leaking grease.

Brake booster does not let brakes completely release, so the brake drag at certain engine speeds.

Overheats for no apparent reason. Runs fine again after cooling down.

All this in just the 18 months we've owned it.

General Comments:

We received the car as a gift from my wife's uncle. I knew of the bad reputation of the Taurus / Sable before hand, but we needed another family car. I am an aircraft mechanic by trade. I thank God He has given me the skills to do my own repairs. I can't imagine what we would have paid if we hired someone to repair all these things for us.

Overall, the car looks great, the interior is not as comfortable as it looks, it rides rough, and it squeaks and rattles everywhere.

I would sell the car, but I would feel like I would be intentionally giving someone else the shaft.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 9th August, 2004

1993 Ford Taurus from North America

Summary:

A car to avoid unless you like repair bills!

Faults:

The reoccurring problem with the car is stalling. This happens as soon as the car slows down for a red light or turn, or when I have to stop for traffic. I usually try to pop it into neutral to keep it from stalling out.

There's no pattern to the stalling as to frequency. It's more likely to stall in humid or wet weather, but there's been rainy days that I've had no problem.

The car failed to start at all last month. The engine was turning, but it wouldn't catch. One new fuel pump later, it seemed to run fine... for about a week. Now it's back to stalling again.

Nothing shows up on the diagnostic test the mechanic does. It's frustrating, increasingly expensive, and dangerous.

General Comments:

I can't wait to be able to afford to get rid of this car. I really should know better: every Ford I've owned has been a nightmare. My last car, a Toyota Camry, gave me a minimal amount of grief for over a decade.

There must be some design problem in this model since other people have listed the same stalling problem for '92 and '93 Fords. Has there been any recalls?

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 20th July, 2004

13th Jul 2005, 18:49

Dear 1993 Taurus owner.

I have experienced the same problem. The car has stalled several times each summer, no rhyme or reason. It would act like it was vapor locking, but we know that is not the case due to the fuel injection. So I replaced the "black box" above the radiator. No problem until the next summer when it did exactly the same thing. I replaced the fuel pump in gas tank with an OEM from Ford. No problems after that. What happened was the fuel pump was bad from the previous year, chances are the "black box" was good all along. The inner fuel pump was going bad and would heat up the winding, inturn causing the fuel pump to run at lower speeds. No meeting fuel psi demand the car began to starve for fuel, acting like it was vapor locking.

This summer, it started to stall again at lights or after starting up and will not re-start again. No rhyme or reason and would show no diagnostic readings. It would run for weeks with no problem, then act up. Two solutions, one look at the grounding terminals at the battery and grounding points to the car. If there is substantial corrosion and it is common with the Taurus. Replaced the terminals and cable with new ones and clean the grounding points. This took care of my problem. The other fix can be a bad "black box" especially if it is whining, this can be caused by the poor grounding connection or a bad box. Due to placement and high heat above the radiator the black box can act up or go bad after a short time. The Ford dealer was not helpful in any circumstance, other than just keep spending dianostic hours on it and replace parts until something works. I learned these items from mechanics, reading and researching. Hopefully, my comments will help someone out. Overall, I love my Taurus, its my daily driver and beater and can't complain about it. I bought it at 99K miles and has served me to date at 168K miles and going strong. Like many older cars stuff will need to be replaced, but it still beats a $28K new car price tag!!!