9th Jul 2009, 18:00
When the cooling fans stay on.. replace the cooling fan relay that's located behind the battery. Try whacking it with a hammer first to unstick the relay. Or drill off the cover and unstick the relay, and reinstall it with bolts.
22nd Feb 2010, 00:25
I have a 2002 Sable and it has got me stumped. I have replaced nearly everything, but still it boils out the coolant, but does not overheat unless I allow it to become completely dry of coolant. The heater does not work, except for about 30 seconds if it has been turned off and then back on after a little time passes. I have flushed out the entire system and the heater core as well. I understand that the blend door may have something to do with the heater not working, but would that have any effect on why the thing is boiling over, but not overheating? I will never buy another car like this one, but for the moment I am stuck with this one. Can anyone give me any answers about this thing? Thanks!
26th Mar 2010, 00:25
I just bought a 1997 Mercury Sable GS with 93k on it. For the first two weeks, the car drove like a dream. Then just yesterday on a 28 mile round trip on mostly flat surfaces, my car began to overheat, and when parked or standing still, it would also shoot out coolant from reservoir. I took the car to a trusted certified mechanic, who told me my thermostat was stuck due to rusting, my radiator would also need to be replaced, and to top it off, I have a coolant leak somewhere between engine and transmission at about a drop a minute when parked.
Now I hear through all of these comments, and using common sense, that I will need to change all stated above, along with water pump, hoses, and I will have to continue this every 50k or so.
This car also has the same problem with slipping into neutral at stops, and I have to place it in park or rev it up to get back in gear... all in all this sounds like THE NIGHTMARE CAR OF AMERICA!!! I swore I would never buy Ford again, and this time I mean it!!!
For now I guess I'll spend all my time and money trying to keep this family of five's transportation on the road.
Thanks to everyone who commented; you all gave really good ideas, and hopefully we will have prevented other from going through this nightmare!!!
19th May 2010, 01:44
I have a 96 Mercury Sable. I bought it from a friend who said it was working fine. After I got it, I drove it for about a day and had the same problems with overheating. So my dad changed the thermostat and we flushed the car, the antifreeze was coming out very clean. It still overheats, so we went to change the water pump, but couldn't get to it. Also my dad said the tension on the pump was fine, and didn't think it was defective. Also when it's overheating, the antifreeze boils out, the heat doesn't work and the top hoses are very hot and the bottom hoses are cold. I don't really have money for a mechanic to look at it. Anybody have any suggestions? I'd appreciate it very much.
16th Jun 2010, 15:38
Hi, those with the transmission shift problems on your Sables; it's most likely a shift piston, which is made of aluminum, and there is a replacement/repair part for it, but it will take someone with transmission experience. I found this out when doing my tranny.
Thanks for the other comments on the overheating problems, and concluding on a bad water pump design. I'll give that a try. I do know that it can cause the engine bearings to wear prematurely, since heat and lack of oil will destroy your engine.
22nd Jun 2010, 23:42
I own a 1997 Sable and had the same over heating problem. Instead of replacing all the related cooling parts I did some good old fashioned investigation, and I found the problem. In the coolant container the 2 small coolant lines that pass over the top need to be taken off. Inside the two plastic nipples there will be metal tubes. These will probably be plugged. Take them out , reinstall the 2 small hoses and there will be no more overheating problems.
31st Aug 2010, 18:39
I changed the plugs and wires on my 1997 Sable, and it still idles rough. My mechanic returned 5 plugs instead of 6. The check engine light indicated bank 1 plug needed changing. Could the bank 1 be too difficult to remove by a not factory trained mechanic therefore it was not changed?
5th Nov 2011, 19:25
I have a 1997 Mercury Sable V, Duratec. I have experienced overheating after owning it for 10 years. I replaced the thermostat, but the temperature gauge still reads overheating after 10 minutes. I started squeezing the hose and would feel a "gulp"and the temperature would drop to the normal range, but then rise again. Is this air bubbles, or is the water pump going out?
9th Nov 2011, 15:33
I have felt a gulp at my throat right when downing a "Pilsener". But I am sure you don't have beer in your Sable's cooling system.
There could be an air bubble forming and interrupting the circulation. Also it is possible that the hose is internally deteriorating. Then when you push on it, the circulation gets restored for a moment.
My guess: it's a bad hose.
20th Mar 2012, 08:02
My 1997 Mercury Sable began overheating at red lights or stops. It turns out that the temperature gauge controls the flow of coolant into the engine. My temperature gauge was rusted and prone to staying stuck in the off position? Anyway, my engine doesn't run hot at red lights any longer. Now, it's just my "Service Engine Light" that is permanently "ON".
6th Jun 2012, 20:15
My oil light came on and the engine made a "clunking" sound. Now the engine won't turn over. Oil level is good, no antifreeze in the oil or anything. The car just clicks, like the battery is dead, however I had it checked and it's fine.
Oh yeah, the RPM rose for no reason before the clunking started. Any advice? Is it possible the engine seized that quickly? How can I tell if it is seized? From the sounds of it, this 97 Sable is a nightmare.
15th Feb 2009, 09:25
That post is not very constructive. Not all people have the space, knowledge, and tools to fix most problems on their cars. This is why there are so many shops to offer service. I'm a certified mechanic and I've come across three of these models of mercury and they have all been in trouble because of poor design, poor workmanship, and shoddy cheap materials. It is not normal for water pumps to fail this often and for any engine to be prone to overheating. I've had customers come in with gently driven adult vehicles experiencing serious problems before 80,000 miles. This is not normal. This is a trend caused by, simply put, a car that's not worth your money. I only wrote this because I have a customer coming in today and I have to half tear this thing apart and I already know what I am going to find. Stay away from this car.