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1995 Ford Taurus shaking

Tiny
TBUCSFAN56
  • MEMBER
  • 1995 FORD TAURUS
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 125,000 MILES
My daughters car started idling roughly in drive while setting at a stop light or stop sign. But when she continued driving it stopped. When it is in park it does it a little but not as bad when she is driving it. I thought it maybe a fouled plug but after seeing it I am not sure. After she turned it off there was a small metal like smell. Any ideas?
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Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 AT 6:55 PM

10 Replies

Tiny
SERVICE WRITER
  • MECHANIC
  • 9,123 POSTS
Is that a 3.0 or a 3.8 engine?

Has she been having to add any coolant or is it low?

How old are the wires? IS there any more of a problem when damp?

Does this tend to occur when warm or cold or both?
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Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 AT 7:12 PM
Tiny
TBUCSFAN56
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It is a 3.0 liter
Coolant is fine, the wires are 4 years old, it started this past Sunday the day after a cold, wet snow the day before, it was in the 40's Sunday and she noticed it around noon when she took her boyfriend to work. It ran fine Saturday.
Warm or Cold doeasn't matter. But when I looked at it around 4:00 pm today she said it wasn't as bad. It is so slight but I notice a difference.
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Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 AT 8:04 PM
Tiny
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Try a moisture test on the wires. Mist water over them and see if you get a significant change in the roughness.

Might want to do a little carbon cleaning as well.
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Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 AT 5:49 AM
Tiny
ED ARMES
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  • 129 POSTS
Coolant may not be low but could still have internal problem. Let the engine cool and remove the radiator cap. Start engine and see if there are any air bubbles in the radiator coolant. ( You can't see them in the resevoir.) Ford had problem with the water pump impellors failing on the 3.0 V6. The blades start to corrode and fall off the impellor. This allows an overheating problem to sneak up on you. The cylinder heads will warp and you will first notice a low speed miss which dies out with acceleration. Coolant will then begin to leak into cylinders when engine is shut off.

You should do a compression check and see if any cylinders are 15 pounds or more lower than the rest. This would be a quick cheap check for internal problems before you spend any bucks shot gunning unnecessary items.
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Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 AT 8:40 PM
Tiny
TBUCSFAN56
  • MEMBER
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OK, I DONE EVERYTHING YOU GUYS KINDLY SUGGESTED AND EVERYTHING IS FINE. SHE TOOK IT TO A GARAGE AND THEY SUGGESTED REPLACING THE IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE. WE DID AND NOTHING CHANGED. ITS LIKE THE FUEL, AIR MIXTURE IS OFF? WHEN DRIVING IT THERE IS NO LACK OF RESPNCE OR MISSING. JUST WHEN YOU HAVE IT IN DRIVE AND YOU ARE SITTING AT A STOP THE IDLE IS A LITTLE ROUGH. IF ANYONE THINKS OF ANYTHING ELSE I AM OPEN TO TRY MORE. I DO THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE COME UP WITH SO FAR. I AM LIMITED IN WHAT I CAN THINK AND DO. THAKS
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Friday, March 14th, 2008 AT 1:47 PM
Tiny
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When they checked it, did they check for any codes in the computer? If so what were the codes?

My suggestion is to find a shop that can diagnose properly. We can give procedures and speculate, but there are good shops that can troubleshoot these problems. IT may get more expensive atempting a diagnosis over the net on this particular problem then it may be to have a quality shop solve it.

It may be the start of a cam sensor problem, a weak fuel pump and a myraid of other things. If you want to find the codes we can go further. IF no codes are shown, We can try other test procedures.

What were the reults of the compression test?
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Friday, March 14th, 2008 AT 6:17 PM
Tiny
ED ARMES
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Could be simply a bad distributor cap and rotor. These usually get neglected during tune ups.
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Saturday, March 15th, 2008 AT 8:19 AM
Tiny
MARCELINO36
  • MEMBER
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OK, I DONE EVERYTHING YOU GUYS KINDLY SUGGESTED AND EVERYTHING IS FINE. SHE TOOK IT TO A GARAGE AND THEY SUGGESTED REPLACING THE IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE. WE DID AND NOTHING CHANGED. ITS LIKE THE FUEL, AIR MIXTURE IS OFF? WHEN DRIVING IT THERE IS NO LACK OF RESPNCE OR MISSING. JUST WHEN YOU HAVE IT IN DRIVE AND YOU ARE SITTING AT A STOP THE IDLE IS A LITTLE ROUGH. IF ANYONE THINKS OF ANYTHING ELSE I AM OPEN TO TRY MORE. I DO THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE COME UP WITH SO FAR. I AM LIMITED IN WHAT I CAN THINK AND DO. THAKS[/quote:7af06f38df]

If anyone has figured out this problem, I sure would like to know.I have a 2000 Taurus and it is doing the SAME thing.I had new plugs/wires and still does it only during damp and raining weather though. It spitts and sputters and Idle is very rough ans when I give it gas to take off, It hesitates before it kicks in.I took it to the shop and nothing came up as far as codes go. But I do have a LOW coolant light that is on and has been on for about 6 months now but coolant is fine.
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Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 AT 7:08 AM
Tiny
ED ARMES
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Tbucsfan56:

Have you checked all the above solutions yet?

For all concerned, I don't see how damp weather would come into this low speed miss by an EGR valve but an EGR valve stuck open with carbon could cause this low speed miss and would not show a code.?
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Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 AT 6:58 PM
Tiny
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Did you try the moisture test at the coils. Check the electrical connections at the coil.
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Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 AT 7:27 PM

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