17th Aug 2004, 14:10

Hello. I have also experienced this "OVERHEATING" phenomenon with my 1997 Mercury Sable GS... to the tune of over $1500!!! I am currently having another engine installed! I also have taken this 1997 mercury sable GS to the dealer (numerous times!!), and also to a radiator specialist, as well as other auto repair "experts" and I have yet to hear the cause of, or find the location of the overheating?! No one seems to have ANY idea?! Try having to CONSTANTLY shift the transmission into "neutral" EACH & EVERY TIME you come to a stop light, or ANY driving situation that causes you to stop for longer than a few seconds, and having to "raise" the engine to FORCE the coolant through the engine! I mean that LITERALLY!! Talk about wanting to find the design engineers and ^&%^%%* their a$$!! Eventually my engine LOCKED UP on me while on the freeway!? (Ahhh... what a lovely day!) This was in 2002. PLEASE!!! Does ANYONE now have ANY more information that may enlighten me as to "what in the %$@ is going on" with these 1997 sables? Oh yea... I purchased this car "brand-spanking new" from a Mercury dealer, so I know that this problem didn't arise out of "previous owner abuse!"

13th Jan 2005, 12:59

I own a 97 Mercury Sable, and I am also suffering from it overheating on occasion. Also some electrical problems have occurred that I am currently having problems with. I suspect that the radiator has something to do with that as well. The fuses in the engine compartment of my vehicle are located directly over the rad, and when I had inspected the fuses, they have a white film over them, which is disturbing contact and causing certain malfunctions. Although this is only a hypothesis, I am still stuck with Headlights that fail, daytime running lights that stay on until the fuse is pulled. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to resolve this problem?

Morris -Ottawa.

10th Apr 2005, 18:03

I am really scared because my 1995 Mercury Sable has just started over heating. Does anyone have suggestion or should I just trade it in.

11th May 2005, 14:06

I have wasted a lot of money on mercury sables and cougar. They simply are no good.

13th Jul 2005, 15:50

I had the post on the 6th so I figured I'd give an update. I replaced the water pump yesterday, the old one was dead. The impeller was totally trashed out; it was like a sheet of paper. It is cooling better now and the heater actually works. I am still waiting to see if it is going to stop boiling coolant out though.

18th Nov 2005, 08:59

Our 1997 Sable was overheating and we had it flushed out 4 times within 3 months. Maybe the thermostat was improperly placed, I don't know. But after the 4th flush, it finally has worked normally for the last year or more. I do know that junk kept coming out each time it was flushed, maybe it should have had the antifreeze changed regularly to begin with (before I bought it).

27th Jul 2006, 20:48

I have a 1997 Mercury Sable with 121,000. Until 3 weeks ago - I thought it was the car from heaven. It road well, great mileage and had a lot of room for my family. I was driving down the road and all of a sudden the oil light came on and just seconds later the car shut off.

We are very good at changing the oil regularly, it is definitely a "well-taken care of" vehicle. So anyhow, we coast it to the side of the road and a man standing on the sidewalk happened to own a garage up the road. He states that he heard a tap noise just before it shut off - which I lightly heard just before it shut off. He states he thinks it is the oil pump and that the fuel pump has a sensor that will automatically shut off the engine to keep it from blowing. WELL! My husband takes it apart and finds that the oil pump is shot with metal slivers in it. The shaft/drive, etc are shot and that metal pieces were laying in the oil pan. Now how did all this happen in not even one minute? With all of these warning gauges - why did something not happen sooner? Something failed. and failed terribly...

Until this moment - I would have driven this car for years - as long as it would allow me. Now I'm concerned because we are thinking about putting a new engine in it. I'm afraid that it may not be worth doing if these vehicles are known for overheating, etc. (Although mine never overheated).

Thanks for the input.

28th Jul 2006, 16:18

I had a 99 Sable GS with 213K miles on it before I lent it to a friend. The thermostat on the car went and he drove it til the engine seized. Make sure the fans come on first. The radiator, water pump, and thermostat should be changed regularly. They are not maintenance items, but they should be changed to prevent overheating. If the problem still persists, try using the radiator additive to run the car cooler or a larger radiator from an F150 (or something to the likes of it) I'm not sure if it will fit, but you get the idea.

9th Aug 2006, 19:00

I have a 1995 Sable that was left to me by my late father. He and I spent roughly $1500 in having the overheating problem "fixed." New water pump, new thermostat, low mileage engine to replace the one that was destroyed through overheating. Now, less than 3 months of having the car straight from the shop, it is totally blown again.

I told dad the car didn't seem worth the cost of fixing it the first time... I certainly know it isn't worth it a second!

22nd Sep 2006, 15:47

My 1997 sable or as I like to call it "Cash Burner" has all the same problems ya'll have all come to deal with. The problem with the Sable's are the water pump (s). The blades are made of a soft metal... If water is ran in the place of the coolant in will rust away. I'll bet that some or all of you folks have rust in the rad. Auto zone make a rebuilt water pump with stronger blades. This will correct your cooling problems. Also because the small radiator you must replace the water pump every 50,000 miles. This car should have been recalled... but Ford keeps getting your money to fix something that's not the problem.

24th Jul 2007, 22:08

Obviously, you are living in Alaska... The damn things overheat in any condition "above" 70 degrees. And, yes I've replaced every doo-dad possible to replace, including two transmissions.

Anybody out there with any "backyard garage" solutions that worked... Please respond...

29th Mar 2008, 22:09

I have a 1996 Sable, and when I shut off the car the cooling fans stay on? What could be the problem?

30th Mar 2008, 16:41

I'm not sure if that is a problem. I guess it stands to reason that if a sensor thinks the coolant is too hot, it will have the fans continue to run to pull air through the radiator fins. It seems to me that I've heard cooling fans continue to run on cars even after they've been shut off.