bradleyheathhays

I don't think this would have anything to do with it but it's worth mentioning. Two months back I did a slow speed rear end into the back of a lifted pickup. The front of my hood hit his trailer hitch right at the hood latch point which crumpled the hood and broke and pushed back the upper radiator support...what the hood latches into. The equipment on that support, radiator ect were also pushed back but luckily nothing came in contact with the engine. Pushing the upper radiator support back had the effect of pushing both front fenders outward about 3/8 inch. Just yesterday I got the car back from having the front bumper plastic and that upper radiator support piece replaced. I was referred to that shop but I'm not too sure how good they are..definitely cheap though. What I'm wondering is...is it possible something got disconnected then not reconnected properly from that job that's resulted in my transmission misbehaving?

Have an '02 Ford Taurus that's been grandma driven for all of it's 95k miles. After doing some very easy driving in town for a couple hours today I accelerated up to about 50 and noticed the car didn't seem to be responding to the gas pedal anymore. Looked down and the engine was doing 4k rpm so I let off the gas. Pumped the gas a couple times to see if the car responded and got nothing. Coasted to a stop in a safe lane and tested it in all the gears...nothing. The car stays put if you put it in park but you can roll it back when in any other gear position. The gear leaver on the tree does still give resistance when you move between gears. No music was playing and there was no noticeable sound whenever the breakage occurred. Called a friend and was advised to check the gear shift linkage at the top of the transmission. I'm not familiar with what the arm's full range of motion is supposed to be but I noted it's position while in park and low 1 and it seems to be moving well. Felt the connections and they seemed solid. Without the benefit of being able to do a proper run-up to a transmission fluid check I wiped and re-dipped the stick and it read fairly high although I hadn't added any fluid for at least 10k miles. The fluid was just a shade darker than light pink and although I didn't check specifically it didn't seem to have a burnt smell. There's no way low engine oil could cause something like this is there? Any ideas?

Damn, it took 30 years of driving to cause my first accident, and on Friday the damn 13th. Did a low speed rear end into the back of a lifted truck and got into it's trailer receiver. The only place it made contact with was at the very front center of the hood close to where it latches. Unfortunately the impact was enough that there's a longitudinal hump in the middle of the hood now, bowed 6 inches on each side above the quarter panels, which weren't involved at all thank God. Both my headlights are cracked at the top, but not because they got hit; I think it was because the hood and it's latch was pushed back during the collision possibly deforming the support structure, causing the to separate. The hood is lifted up about 3 inches above each headlight and when looking in at the support material just behind each headlight, one side shows cracks and the other cracks and about a 1/2 gap in the material. Can't tell but it may resemble fiberglass, not really sure? My best guess is that the whole front bumper is gonna have to come off and that entire front support piece be replaced. Any advice on how hard this can be? I do a lot of my own work but I really don't want to be getting into this especially with the weather getting so bad now. When I go junkyard shopping for parts, what year Tauruses are compatible with my '02?

I'm outfitting my middle aged '02 Taurus with a new starter and need some advice on what brand starter to get. I'm tempted to get this reman Motorcraft, the fourth one down in the orange remanufactured section.. CLICK HERE For $123 that seems reasonable for a OE reman. If not this one I'll probably be going for a reman of another brand so why not go OE? The other reman options I'm seeing at the car stores are... Napa brand Bosch Denso Driveworks at Advance Carquest Duralast Valucraft Ultima Bestest Should I go with the Motorcraft or one of these? $123 sounds almost too good although I really don't know.

Right thanks for the good advice. I've seen other places that mention the same oil contamination you mention. In the end I think that's what it's gonna be, but I'm interested in testing the starter's draw as you mentioned. How would you go about doing this...with a multimeter?

So this '02 Taurus with only 87k miles on her starts right up every time multiple times a day except for twice in the last 3 weeks. The first time was 3 weeks ago and the second was today. It happened the same both times. Turn the key and stop to let the pump prime, then when I turn to the start position the engine turns real slow and sort of in fits. Usually when a battery is low the engine turns slow but in rhythm. During my 2 starts the engine barely seemed to turn and the crankshaft rpm seemed to vary. On both starting events I let off the key and tried to start 2-3 times with rests in between. But then eventually on the 4th try it starts right up just as quickly as a normal start. I have No clue as to what might be causing this. Only thing I know to do is, next time it does this to put a voltage meter on the battery to see if it's weak. Actually though, because both events the engine ended up starting up like normal that would indicate something other than the batt. Electrically this car is a little odd though. The interior light never comes on when the doors are opened, for years, and then last week it comes on twice when one of the rear doors is opened.

Last time I installed a remote start system it was on an old Dynasty whose wiring was too delicate to work on really. A couple weeks after installation it started ok but a ton of white smoke came from under the dash. I uninstalled the entire system and everything was fine after that. So in picking out a starter for this '02 Taurus I want something simple that will work with this car well. The start systems I'm seeing are generally designed to do door locking and unlocking, trunk release, etc. As this car already has those functions on a fob I won't be using any function on any future remote start system other than the remote start. Can anyone with knowledge of my car recommend a decent but low cost / low extra functions start system that would work well with my Taurus? Thanks

Well that's the bedrock answer then because I run the fan in the dash and floor position. Guess I'll start using floor only and see if that tube stays cold. twin...yeah it's sad but the Vic is done for. I'm getting it dragged back to my place and part it out. See what you think about this.. I'm driving down the interstate doing 60 for about 15 miles, take an off ramp and come to s stop at the bottom. Hit the gas to go again and nothing happens, in any gear. Take it back to the shop and the see the drive shaft is turning so figure it's the differential. When moving it on the lot the right rear wheel basically FALLS OFF and is now turned sideways as if it's being steered. Mechanic says he's never seen that before. She needs a new radiator and front end job too so at 320k she's going home.

I have an '02 Taurus with 85k miles on her that I just bought. Today when I was checking something under the hood I noticed this metal line cold and dripping with water... I had the air on but turned to the position of arrows pointing out of the dash and floor vents only. The defrost or a/c function was not selected. It seems to be doing it consistently. I haven't traced all the parts of this car's a/c system yet but I don't know of anything else under a hood that turns cold and sweats. Why would my compressor be working when it's not selected? What tests should I run?

Thanks yall. thought I was good.

This may sound like a stupid question, as I'm prone to ask sometimes. But...I drive a '96 Cherokee with the inline 4.0 non-interference engine and it doesn't like driving in the heat so much. Since I'm a car down right now I'm driving it a LOT more than I used to. After a lot of driving in this hot weather it starts slower, but still starts and runs ok. So to help it out I've been raising the hood and putting 2 box fans right on top of the engine to help it cool. I hadn't thought about it but my Mom asked if cooling it down too quickly could be bad for the engine. And since I don't know I thought I'd ask here. Any harm in using my method to cool an engine down much more quickly than normal?

Wow after all this and it turns out to be the rear end. Just got it to my mechanic and he watched the driveshaft when I gave it some gas, in gear, and it turned. So I guess that's where the sound was coming from. Although my trans fluid smells a little, a mechanic who works on these crown vics a lot says the fluid always smells somewhat burned. I'm super easy on this car so I'm not sure why the fluid would smell like that. Newly changed out like 15k miles ago.

Just now got back from trying to get it going for the first time and no success. First I disconnected the battery for a few minutes like someone had suggested. Checked trans fluid and it seemed at a good level, but definitely dark and burnt smelling. The coolant I had put in there before was still in there so the reservoir was full. The front of the engine was caked with white which I'm assuming was caked on and dried coolant. Started the engine and moved the shift lever through all the gears and that felt normal. Put it in drive and didn't feel anything engage at all. Gave it some gas and something whirred in the trans. The more rpms the louder the sound got. Almost sounded like something rotating...but it seemed to be coming right from the transmission. I just checked the trans fluid last week and it seemed to look fairly new. What in the world could have happened to cause this? So what do I do now? Is the trans toast or could I maybe try putting new trans fluid and filter in and see what happens?

I'll be trying to start her tonight for the first time so we'll see. Crossing my fingers. The other possibilities that have been mentioned to me so far is a broken input shaft or the MLPS, and I don't know what either one of these is. Was told if it ws the MLPS that it would be throwing a code. So wouldn't you know I'm having a problem getting it read. Wonder if there is a way to get a multi-meter on whatever the MLPS is and test it? Also, what is the input shaft and is it something in the drive line?

Sadly this may be the last post I make on the old '11 Crown Vic (320k). So yesterday I heard a quiet hiss coming from the front which turned out to be a very small radiator leak...in the middle of a fin somewhere. Doing errands around town today I kept extra coolant with me and added it as it needed. After filling it up I make a 60 mph trip to a nearby city about 20 miles away. When I get to a stop at the bottom of the off ramp, I hit the gas it it doesn't move. No extra lights on the dash except for the check engine light which was already on for something else. I put it in park and back in drive, tried all the gears but got nothing, not even in reverse. Thinking it might have something to do with my coolant situation I checked it and ended up putting in like 1.5 gal of coolant which is much more than it's taken before. Only thing I can imagine is that the leak got worse on the interstate and I didn't notice it. Did the no coolant issue cause the transmission to overheat somehow? There was a slight burning smell in the cabin so something definitely overheated. The overheat light on the dash never came on (I think I have one?) and the engine ran fine the whole time. I was traveling at 60 mph though so I wonder if that would be enough to cool the engine off while the transmission still overheated? What in the heck happened and what do I do, besides sell the damn thing.