My sister bought a '99 Taurus with 43K miles from an elderly person. I have not seen the car yet (she lives 500 miles from me), but I was wondering if any of you know of any oil-related issues or have any oil advice for this particular model? My sister is a 70-mile daily driver, >90% highway miles, gentle on the car, and will have the oil & filter changed often at the dealer, almost certainly with Conventional oil. Given the miles between us, I will probably have little influence on what she does, but I will be seeing her over Thanksgiving and thought that any tips from you might be helpful! She does not have much money, but does keep-up the maintenance items pretty well (oil, tires, brakes, etc) - she has put over 100K miles on each of several cars, so she has a proven track record. Thanks!
'99 Taurus - any oil-related issues / oil advice?
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My father has a 98 Taurus Wgn with a 3.0 Duratec V6. It started a slight oil leak from the pan gasket around 105,000 miles. The high mileage oil has been slowing it, with hopes it will stop. It has been a good car, with the exception of not keeping the cooling system flushed...some frost plugs let loose. You may suggest to her the importance of regular coolant flushes. Oh, and the trans started slipping in cold temps at ~112,000 miles, because it was never touched! After two flushes and two new filters, it has been working great. As far as oil, it gets 5W-30 Castrol GTX, HM and syntec blend, always running great. 24-28MPG.
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With a 70 mile per day commute I would think that she would be a good candidate for a synth for a 6month OCI ..or quarterly on a good dyno.
Assuming a 6 day week (1 day on the weekend matching the daily commute) ..she's putting on about 22k a year.
Probably when you take her habits into account ..she would probably be better served with a 3-4 month OCI on whatever the dealer has. Can you see her handing the dealer service writer a Blackstone sample jar (a great gift from her brother)? Would she check the oil once a week if she used a synth ...and would she be willing to pay what the dealer wanted for synth or go where they offered it (or go to WallyWorld and buy it for the dealer to put in as was mentioned)?? It may put too many variables into the mix.
I don't know this vehicle in the 99 model year ..so I can't comment on any unfavorable (or favorable) characteristics that it might have in regard to oil fatigue. Search the UOA section ..there appear to be a few 99 Tauri there for you to compare.
[ November 13, 2004, 03:21 PM: Message edited by: Gary Allan ]
Assuming a 6 day week (1 day on the weekend matching the daily commute) ..she's putting on about 22k a year.
Probably when you take her habits into account ..she would probably be better served with a 3-4 month OCI on whatever the dealer has. Can you see her handing the dealer service writer a Blackstone sample jar (a great gift from her brother)? Would she check the oil once a week if she used a synth ...and would she be willing to pay what the dealer wanted for synth or go where they offered it (or go to WallyWorld and buy it for the dealer to put in as was mentioned)?? It may put too many variables into the mix.
I don't know this vehicle in the 99 model year ..so I can't comment on any unfavorable (or favorable) characteristics that it might have in regard to oil fatigue. Search the UOA section ..there appear to be a few 99 Tauri there for you to compare.
[ November 13, 2004, 03:21 PM: Message edited by: Gary Allan ]
My elderly father has a '99 Taurus with the 3.0L Vulcan that currently has 45,xxx miles...he's been pretty good about getting regular oil changes at the local garage where I used to work in high school (a LONG time ago), but that's about ALL he did to the car...when he was recently in hospital, I took the car for a couple of days and went through it...oil and filter (Exxon Superflo 5W-30 and a SuperTech ST3600 from Wally World), ATF and filter, coolant flush (it was brown...uck), cabin filter (which interestingly enough was missing...did it never have one?)...
The Taurus is a good rugged car, but I've heard reports the transmission is the weak point; you have to change the ATF regularly...you may want to check out www.tauruscarclub.com , too.
[ November 13, 2004, 04:41 PM: Message edited by: RF Overlord ]
The Taurus is a good rugged car, but I've heard reports the transmission is the weak point; you have to change the ATF regularly...you may want to check out www.tauruscarclub.com , too.
[ November 13, 2004, 04:41 PM: Message edited by: RF Overlord ]
This is no joke. From what I understand the '99 actually has an upgraded valve body that fixes most of the AX series transmission problems - but I'd still make it a habbit of having the tranny fluid changed. Both engines available in the '99 are pretty reliable, and should take well to any oil.
Hi,
I had a 99 I just sold and it really did well with Pennzoil oil.
The UOAs are here--> First ones with Headgasket leak
The 2nd thread ---> Taurus UOA
I liked the car to drive and very easy to change oil and filter. I had a Fram Sure Drain and worth the $$.
Got good MPG for size of car (it was a wagon).
Take care, bill
I had a 99 I just sold and it really did well with Pennzoil oil.
The UOAs are here--> First ones with Headgasket leak
The 2nd thread ---> Taurus UOA
I liked the car to drive and very easy to change oil and filter. I had a Fram Sure Drain and worth the $$.
Got good MPG for size of car (it was a wagon).
Take care, bill
A little
These cars have an odd heater system. There is a bypass hose that lets the coolant bypass the heater core.Why I dunno.
I get quite a few with plugged heater cores, usually I can unplug them with a garden hose and a few blasts of air. I then add a restrictor in the bypass hose so that the heater works a little better.
Another odd thing is that the heater won't get warm water untill the T-stat opens.
Replacing a heater core on one of these cars is a very expensive nightmare. Whole dash has to come out.
The book time to replace the radiator was 7 hours! Someone figured out the secret and now it calls for 5 hours! Replacing the rad isn't something you would want to do at home since it comes out the BOTTOM of the car!
I get quite a few with plugged heater cores, usually I can unplug them with a garden hose and a few blasts of air. I then add a restrictor in the bypass hose so that the heater works a little better.
Another odd thing is that the heater won't get warm water untill the T-stat opens.
Replacing a heater core on one of these cars is a very expensive nightmare. Whole dash has to come out.
The book time to replace the radiator was 7 hours! Someone figured out the secret and now it calls for 5 hours! Replacing the rad isn't something you would want to do at home since it comes out the BOTTOM of the car!
The bypass hose is actually a Ford fix. Originally the Vulcan 2V motor had the rear head coolant going through the heater core. When the heater core blocked up then the rear head got no coolant and warped the head blowing the head gasket. If it is the 2V motor be sure this has been done to the car. There is a recall on this.
I have a 99 Taurus with the 3.0 Vulcan (pushrod) engine. These engines are very reliable. Ford now recommends 5w20 for these engines. I've been using Motorcraft 5w20, and the engines seems to idle smoother and has a little more pep. I change the oil and filter at 5000 miles. I get 25/30 mpg.
As mentioned above, the transmission is the weak point. Get regular flushes per the owners manual.
As mentioned above, the transmission is the weak point. Get regular flushes per the owners manual.
Wow man, hang on to that '99 Taurus as it's the last year of the oval design, and the probably only made several hundred thousand of those :^) (We have a 93 and a 99).
I am currently running 3 qts of Mobil 10w-30 with 2 qts of Mobil 1 T&S in both cars. I did try Delvac 15w-40 in the 93 with the Mobil 1 T&S for one interval, and while it ran very nicely when warmed up and always ran quieter than 5w-30, it made for a lumpy idle when cold. I wish I had found this site earlier as I didn't start using a synthetic blend in the 93 until over 100k miles, and while it's still running well at almost 178k miles it does consume about a quart per 1k miles. The 99 now has 75k miles and doesn't burn any. I had always used a dino 5w-30 previously, typically changed at the Ford dealer.
The tranny seems to be the major weak link so plan on a full flush at least every 30k miles and preferably sooner. I use just enough Lubeguard red to stop what seems to be called 'torque converter shudder', where it vibrates at a stoplight. Use too much and it can start slipping. We had zero problems up to 75k miles and then went thru a starter, headlight switch, two fuel pumps, wiper switch, water pump, air conditioner, radiator, engine and tranny oil pan gaskets, and a couple of O2 sensors in the next 100k miles, and it's now a symphony of rattles. The 99 has a stiffer chassis but is a bit heavier. We were amazed that the 93 would get 28 mpg cruising at 70 to 75 mph with air, six people and a full trunk, and the 99 has hit 29 mpg. We ended up sticking with the Taurus as it seemed to be the cheapest solution for carrying six people.
I am currently running 3 qts of Mobil 10w-30 with 2 qts of Mobil 1 T&S in both cars. I did try Delvac 15w-40 in the 93 with the Mobil 1 T&S for one interval, and while it ran very nicely when warmed up and always ran quieter than 5w-30, it made for a lumpy idle when cold. I wish I had found this site earlier as I didn't start using a synthetic blend in the 93 until over 100k miles, and while it's still running well at almost 178k miles it does consume about a quart per 1k miles. The 99 now has 75k miles and doesn't burn any. I had always used a dino 5w-30 previously, typically changed at the Ford dealer.
The tranny seems to be the major weak link so plan on a full flush at least every 30k miles and preferably sooner. I use just enough Lubeguard red to stop what seems to be called 'torque converter shudder', where it vibrates at a stoplight. Use too much and it can start slipping. We had zero problems up to 75k miles and then went thru a starter, headlight switch, two fuel pumps, wiper switch, water pump, air conditioner, radiator, engine and tranny oil pan gaskets, and a couple of O2 sensors in the next 100k miles, and it's now a symphony of rattles. The 99 has a stiffer chassis but is a bit heavier. We were amazed that the 93 would get 28 mpg cruising at 70 to 75 mph with air, six people and a full trunk, and the 99 has hit 29 mpg. We ended up sticking with the Taurus as it seemed to be the cheapest solution for carrying six people.
Changed oil in my wife's Taurus today. I am reminded that if possible leave the drain plug out when you remove the oil filter. The oil will stop running out but when you take the filter off a fair bit more will come out of the drain hole. It helps to have a really big drain pan.
I have seen this phenomenon on a few vehicles.
I have seen this phenomenon on a few vehicles.
Patman
Staff member
Yep, this used to happen on my 95 Firebird Formula too. I bet another 1/8 to 1/4 of a quart would come out of the drain plug if I removed the oil filter with the drain plug off. This was even after the drain plug had been open for two hours too.quote:
Originally posted by JohnnyO:
Changed oil in my wife's Taurus today. I am reminded that if possible leave the drain plug out when you remove the oil filter. The oil will stop running out but when you take the filter off a fair bit more will come out of the drain hole. It helps to have a really big drain pan.
I have seen this phenomenon on a few vehicles.
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