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Car in for service
May. 21st, 2008 09:44 amThis should be interesting. The Taurus has been throwing engine codes for years, but they're generally unimportant ones like engine running lean, which I assumed was a vacuum leak. I fixed a couple of large vacuum leaks several years ago and that helped. I used to have a misfire code but I replaced the plug wires. Also the EGR system was throwing codes a few years ago, but everything tested OK. I did notice at the time that there seemed to be a lot of crap in the EGR passages; a toothpick shoved in there came out coated in black crud.
RING - They just called up. Bad O2 sensor (I'd kind of suspected that; it's common. Also, yes, the upper EGR passages are all crudded up. In order to clean them they need to pull the upper intake anyway, so that'll expose and fix any vacuum leaks there. And they have updated software for the PCM computer that they'll flash in for free.
Also they're going to hook their magic machine up and do an upper-end cleaning; they'll put in some weapons-grade solvents to blast loose carbon. I asked them to do the injectors while they're at it, I know the same machine can be hooked to the fuel rail port and clean that up. At 130K and a lifetime of 10-mile trips on the cheapest gas in town, a good injector flush won't hurt, and it's like an extra $20.
The couldn't find the source of the erratic speedometer readings; their scanner said nothing about it. I may set up a camera pointing at the speedo and take the thing on a trip to Ypsi or something; I have a bunch of stuff to take to recycling over there. I'm wondering if it isn't just a bad connection on the vehicle speed sensor though, and they may accidentally fix that in the process of wiggling wires.
Also they were a little baffled about the rough idle problem I reported; sometimes at a light it'll just decide to start running rough, once or twice bad enough that it stalled. It does it for about 30 seconds, then it just stops. It's like a switch turning off and on. It's rough enough that it could be 2 cylinders, which could be a bad plug wire (this model has 3 coils for 6 cylinders, so a break in a wire results in 2 cyliders misfiring).
I wouldn't be surprised if that problem is there at higher speeds too, but wouldn't be as noticeable.
All told, less than $600 unless they find something horrendous when they get the top end off. Just about where I'd guessed it would be really.
RING - They just called up. Bad O2 sensor (I'd kind of suspected that; it's common. Also, yes, the upper EGR passages are all crudded up. In order to clean them they need to pull the upper intake anyway, so that'll expose and fix any vacuum leaks there. And they have updated software for the PCM computer that they'll flash in for free.
Also they're going to hook their magic machine up and do an upper-end cleaning; they'll put in some weapons-grade solvents to blast loose carbon. I asked them to do the injectors while they're at it, I know the same machine can be hooked to the fuel rail port and clean that up. At 130K and a lifetime of 10-mile trips on the cheapest gas in town, a good injector flush won't hurt, and it's like an extra $20.
The couldn't find the source of the erratic speedometer readings; their scanner said nothing about it. I may set up a camera pointing at the speedo and take the thing on a trip to Ypsi or something; I have a bunch of stuff to take to recycling over there. I'm wondering if it isn't just a bad connection on the vehicle speed sensor though, and they may accidentally fix that in the process of wiggling wires.
Also they were a little baffled about the rough idle problem I reported; sometimes at a light it'll just decide to start running rough, once or twice bad enough that it stalled. It does it for about 30 seconds, then it just stops. It's like a switch turning off and on. It's rough enough that it could be 2 cylinders, which could be a bad plug wire (this model has 3 coils for 6 cylinders, so a break in a wire results in 2 cyliders misfiring).
I wouldn't be surprised if that problem is there at higher speeds too, but wouldn't be as noticeable.
All told, less than $600 unless they find something horrendous when they get the top end off. Just about where I'd guessed it would be really.
