1995 Ford Taurus Engine changes

I dont really see the sensor doing that, it basically just measures EGR function through exhaust backpressure.Has it ever set a check engine light when it isnt running right? Do the fans come on when the temp gauge goes to hot? or is it possibly just the gauge spiking

Hi Jack. No, no check engine light and I just finished letting it run to get the temp up and the fan did come on and did it's job. When I first start this thing up in the a.m. you couldn't as for a sweeter running engine and when I stop and restart, the pedal doesn't respond and the temp goes up. I have a "new" rebuilt water pump in, cleaned and put the EGR valve back in. New thermostat (180). If I had to guess at when the problem starts, I would have to say when it hits a certain temperature.

When the temp goes up does the fan come on? When you say it has no pick up, is i like it is choking for air? or possibly plugged exhaust? Will the engine rev up in park?

The fan comes on when the needle is about a 1/4 " away from the red marker. It does it's job and it goes off. No, it doesn't feel like its choking for air. I don't think the exhaust is plugged since I can feel it coming out. There's a hole in the muffler and if I put my hand over the pipe, the exhaust goes out the hole. I compared the exhaust coming out of this car to my 95 Buick and it feels about the same. It does rev up in park. I have a radiator cleaner in it now, but I don't think it's dirty. I just came back from a drive to the store and going over, everything was great, although the temp went to about the middle of the gauge. I started it up and got the same result. If I step on the pedal thinking that I'll get "zoom", I get mush, but when I back off the pedal a bit it starts to pick up. As I continued to go home, the trip got worse and the temp was fluctuating the whoel time, but never went below the middle.

The middle of the gauge is where they should run (around 200-degrees). Problem for me is defining what you call "mush".But if you back off the pedal a little it will accelerate? You may need to check fuel pressure.does the coolant level ever get low or is this just the gauge moving around?

As I said before, when I first start in the a.m., the car can't run any better. My first ride amounts to about twenty minutes and I stop to go in a store. I come out start the car up and apply the same amount of pressure to the pedal that I would in the initial start of the day, but I don't get the same reaction, so I call that mush. Maybe spongy would be a better word. I notice that if I ease up on that pressure(because it seems like holding the pedal down retards the acceleration) it starts to pickup but not nearly what I experience in the initial startup. So, by that time I'm on the way home and the car is not running good, few coughs, and dragging, lacking zip and then I have to go up this hill and then the temp goes way up as I climb that hill and after I get to the top and go down, the engine cools some but generally, it stays between the center and the red zone. The coolant level is fine. When I drained to add the cleaner, I had about 12- 13 quarts of liquid and I think that's the capacity. There are no leaks. I replaced the ECT which had a little variance in the resistance test, and it was original equip, but it made no difference. Also have a new fuel filter. I removed and cleaned the EGR valve. I also did a simple vacuum test with a hose and my mouth and the plunger worked OK.

Hmmmmmmm. This vehicle may need to go on a scanner to watch what is going on.Since it doesnt set a light (check engine) im leaning towards something mechanical, thats why I asked about exhaust flow.I have seen MAF sensors act like that, plugged exhaust,TPS sensors,Doing the ECT was a good call though, they too will act like this once hot and in closed loop.Check for vacuum leaks around the intake area as well.Would like to know what thefuel pressure is when hot and after having been driven for a little bit as well

I wish a check engine light would come on. The thing that baffles me is why I have that period from the time I start up in the morning that is so perfect and then after it heats up and I restart, I have the problem. Why isn't there a problem right off. It's been suggested by others that the cats are clogged. There is no evidence of that and if they were, wouldn't that be obvious as soon as I start it up in the a.m.? What mechanical possibilities are you leaning toward?

fuel pressure would be great to know, still possibly plugged exhaust.Try loosening the exhaust manifolds before the cats and warm it up and restart it to see if it acts the same, jusy to definitly rule that out.either that or it may need to be on a scan tool like I said to see if all the sensors are working ok, even without the check engine light

I'm not prepared to do that since, it's no easy thing to do. I'm convinced that the cats aren't clogged because of the way the car rides so good until it heats up. People that I talk to agree that if the cats were clogged it would show up at the start and not after the car heats up.

OK, if they are partially plugged it will build up backpressure slowly (over running time) until it gets to the point it cant breathe, just trying to definitly eliminate all possibilities.Fuel pressure ?

How can I measure the fuel pressure as a layman?

With a mechanical gauge.Some auto parts stores have them that you can rent.The schrader valve where you test it will be on the fuel rail

How about a common tire pressure gage. Also, I need to know what the pressure should be.

Looks like 45-45 psi key on engine off. I have never heard of using atire gauge before, I dont recommend it.The fuel gauge needs to thread on and stay so that the pressure can be checked while running

Haven't had any luck borrowing/renting a suitable pressure gauge yet, but per your suggestion to check for vacuum leak, I hooked up a vacuum gauge at the port on the upper intake manifold and got a reading of 14-15, which I think should be in the area of 18-24, correct me if I'm wrong.

It does sound a little low.Is it steady? It wont be in the 24 range idling thats a high vacuum reading like you would get holding amanual trans in gear and letting off.

I did another check on that. It does idle steady at that range and then when I rev up it drops down for an instant and then goes back up and won't go any higher than 16 even if I go higher on the rev. When I finally let it go, it jums to about 20, but quickly settles to the 14-15 area at idle.

14-15 is the low end of the acceptable spec.Any luck with a fuel pressure gauge?

The consensus of opinions tells me that if the fuel pressure was low or bad, that I would experience problems continually and not on a basis that my car is experiencing now. I'm leaving this forum on this problem and will seek help or advice elsewhere. Thank You. Bob Sukovich

updated 7/1/10
I was able to get a combo vacuum/fuel pressure gage and checked both. The fuel pressure went to the top of the scale and the vacuum checked out at 17-17 1/2 contrarty to the 14-15 that I got with my old gage. My last message indicated that I was going to go to other sources and post my problem there and one of the replies that I got from a member that it sounded like my engine was "eating a head gasket". There are absolutely no indications that I have a head gasked problem; no water in the oil (discoloration), no change in color on the oil filler cap or the rad cap. So, as my young son, at the age of 6, once told me as he wandered further from the house, "I am getting loster." Regards, Bob

good luck, have seen many fuel pumps lose performance after warming up, they are after all just electric motors

You will need a real fuel pressure gauge designed for fuel injection.need to know the actual pressure.Head gaskets dont always give the tell-tale signs....... have seen them bad that dont even show on a chemical test

I just got done with using the scanner and got a 111 on KOEO and engine running. Ran the car at idle for a good hour and temp went up and down and the fan kicked in at
the A in normal and cooled it down. One thing I did see as I was watching the temp gage is that it had little blips, so to speak, that were fractional, i.e. jump up a little jump down a little with no emphasis on the word jump, if that is of any significance. When the fan cooled it down, it was pretty steady.Had an occaisional bubble in the reserve tank and noticed that the water in that tank wasn't even hot, but tepid. Now I'm thinking that maybe my radiator may be, at least partially, clogged, but would that cause the problem that I posted originally.

No, but a bad head gasket will, especiallyif you are seeing any bubbles in any part of the cooling system (radiator or recovery tank)

Jack,
I'm conceding that there is a head gasket leak. This a.m. I removed the radiator cap and there was a string about an inch long of brown paste, and I know that is what you get when you mix oil with water. So the mystery is over except to find out what side is leaking. I prefer the right side, since it's in the front and easier to work on for me. Have you had an experience with things like Thermogasket?

No, I fix them the correct way.If I may make a suggestion.... do both sides regardless of how difficult it may be.When you strip of the front head, you will see how little is left to remove the rear one too, not to mention if the head gasket is bad on one side, who's to say the other isnt right behind it.I highly suggest doing both, along with a pressure test and surface.

I concur, but at the risk of frustrating you, It's difficult for me to "buy" the head gasket thing. A further look at the rad cap stuff proved to be rust, rather than oil & water. The doubts come from the fact that there are no obvious symptoms and the car is so markedly affected and, it seems, that the car doesn't act up until it gets to op temp. I'm going to do a compression test next and see what happens there. Have a good day. Bob

I've started to take things apart and realized that you may not be aware that I had the distributor out when I removed the front cover. Could inproper timing cause the problem? Meanwhile, I removed the fan to get at the 3 plugs on the right side of the engine or in front as you stand in front of the car. There is no evidence of water, but each has a black mark on the insulator about 1/3 of the dia around. I don't know if that has any significance.

Jack, Today, July 4, 2010, I ran the engine. It got to the second a and the l in normal and the fan came on and cooled things off and I repeated the process 3 thimes. I pressed the gas pedal, gently, and it seemed like it was retarding or starving. I decided to attach the vacuum gage, since it felt like a vacuum leak and by now the engine was up to op temp. I am getting a reading of around 12. I don't know if this means anything, but it doesn't seem right. I wanted to check the timing, but there is no way that I can see the pointer or the markings that apply. Ford did not intend for people like me to do these things on a car. So, that's where I am today. Hope you enjoy the 4th. Regards, Bob

One other thing. Got any advice on how to set the timing with a light. Can't seem to see the things you are supposed to.

Jack,
I think this thing might be boiling down to a distributor timing problem. I was puttering in an attempt to get the engine running smooth. Since I can't time the engine with a light because I can't see the pointer and the other stuff, I put a vacuum gage in place and loosened the distributor enough to be able to turn it. I started it up an discovered that I have to turn it as far as it can go, CW, to get it to run best with the vac going at 17 1/2. I noticed that the cable/connector to the distributor is folded under the distributor and that doesn't seem right to me. I think it should be straighter and in line toward the distributor. I think I might be off a cog or two on the installation of the distributor. Where should #1 be (using the clock numbers) if I'm standing at the fender right side facing the engine.

Jack,
With all of he verbage that I have written in the past couple of days and today, I have to tell you that I made a discovery. I was going to reinstall the distributor, thinking that I might be off a cog on the gear with the intention of getting the timing set better. I took the distributor cap off and discovered that the tab on the rotor that makes contact with the carbon on the top inside of the cap is gone and there is some melting of the plastic. I thought that this might have happened today, so I put it back in and the car started and ran without it. No doubt I'm going to replace it, but before I do, can you tell me what happened and is there something that has to be corrected before I just go ahead put it in and run the car.

Replace the cap and rotor, move the firing order one spot in the same direction that you are rotating the distributor.This is like advancing it alot so you will be able to move the dist back to where it started.The engine doesnt care where #1 is on the cap as long as the firing order is right and the timing is set properly

OK. I think you mean to lift the distributor out and go one cog on the gear. ?

No. move the plug wires one spot on the distributor cap.You can leave the dist in the engine

I think I got it. Then I will have to turn the dist. CCW in order to reset it and at the same time, it should straighten the cable/connector going to the distr. One thing that throws people off is when they put that raised #1 on the cap when they molded it.

Moving the wires didn't work. It brought the cable/connector back out to, where I think it should be, but that's about it. I was able to move the distributor CW or CCW, but I couldn't get the car started. When it cranked it always sounded as if wires are crossed. (which they weren't). So I revereted to the original position and started the car again. I moved the wires in the CW direction.

Jack, I started over, I went back and got #1 up and checked the damper and the arrow was at the slot on the damper puller. I then pulled the distributor and went over one cog and re-positioned #1 and straightened out the cable/connector going to the distr. It's better, but I think the timing is off a little still and I'll probably take it to the garage to have the timing set. There is absolutely no way to use a timing light on that car to set the timing, unless I'm missing something.Too, I'm going to pull the radiator and flush it because, I still think the temp comes up too soon.