Low Brake Fluid 2009 Ford Taurus

[Bladecutter]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
changed the oil on the taurus yesterday with pennzoil platinum ultra black 5w20, the expensive kind at walmart, and filter.


I'm sorry...

What oil did you use?

You know what?
On second thought, what company do you work for?
I want to know what kind of company has you on it's staff as an "engineer".

Oh wait, I figured it out.

You're a Custodial Engineer at a tech-ish company.

So, never mind my question about what "oil" you "bought", and put into a "Ford Taurus".

BC.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
Need to do the spark plugs and serpentine belt (s) soon. There's a main serp belt as well as a smaller ps belt. The front spark plugs are easy but any advice on the rears? Any suggestions? Heard it was hard. Harder than on the camry since the belt is way under as well as the rear spark plugs. So I'll buy the best spark plugs so I don't have to do this again. Motorcrafts are 6 from the dealer. Ngk iridiims are better and last longer, right? Worth the investment since ifbi dont diy, the labor will be high or if I diy, it'll be a pita so either way, I want these to last so I dont need to do the job again for quite some time.
Just buy OEM plugs

Fords like Motorcraft, Toyotas like NGK & Denso, Chevys like AC Delco, and Jeeps like Champion spark plugs.

 

[PandaBear]

Without being impolite or insulting, here's my 2 cents of opinion:

Rule number 1 in fixing anything: look up how things work before I start taking things apart. It is easy today, back when I was a kid we have to really look around without internet. Good place to start is autozone's online guide, youtube, forums of the particular make and model (i.e Taurus car club, Toyota Nation, etc) and look at those how to.

Rule number 2 in fixing anything: make sure you know when to stop before you get stuck. Do you need the car every day, do you have all the tools, did your tools work as expected, do you run into problems that no body told you about, and most importantly, do you even know what questions to ask when you get stuck?

Rule number 3 in fixing anything: how much does it cost to ask a professional to fix it, and is it worth fixing it or fixing it yourself? I'd not spend $100 on tools to do a job that cost $50 once in a lifetime, unless it is for fun, but then it is about fun and you have to admit it and know when to stop and ask for help instead of hacking along.

Rule number 4 in fixing anything: check every step of the way and see if it matches your instruction. Did you take apart the wrong thing, did you lost any part or break any part, if anything doesn't make sense, double check your step to see if you made any mistake. It is ok to make mistake, just don't make it a bigger mistake, stop when you still can and ask for help.

There, I hope it helps.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: artbuc
Originally Posted By: engineer20
Heard it was hard.

You hear a lot of things. You must have good ears.

He only hears the voices in his head.

 

[engineer20]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Originally Posted By: engineer20
Need to do the spark plugs and serpentine belt (s) soon. There's a main serp belt as well as a smaller ps belt. The front spark plugs are easy but any advice on the rears? Any suggestions? Heard it was hard. Harder than on the camry since the belt is way under as well as the rear spark plugs. So I'll buy the best spark plugs so I don't have to do this again. Motorcrafts are 6 from the dealer. Ngk iridiims are better and last longer, right? Worth the investment since ifbi dont diy, the labor will be high or if I diy, it'll be a pita so either way, I want these to last so I dont need to do the job again for quite some time.
Just buy OEM plugs

Fords like Motorcraft, Toyotas like NGK & Denso, Chevys like AC Delco, and Jeeps like Champion spark plugs.


if you're completely serious, that's good to know, and I'll get motorcrafts. But given how much people have been just being sarcastic, I don't know if this is honest or just playing around, but I'll assume the better and that you were serious, so I'll get the motorcrafts? Motorcraft iridium or just regular?
and motorcraft oil filtesr are pretty good, i opened one up the other day ,no torn media (heard about motorcraft/purolator torn media on this site), but what about for a torque strut mount, use motorcraft or anchor? for the serp belts ,is motorcraft good or dayco? thanks. i know a dealer that can give me a discount and motorcraft oem dealer parts aren't that expensive and are reasonably priced, unlike toyota dealership prices.

 

[Nick1994]

I'm serious.

Motor mounts are another part to get OEM, the aftermarket motor mounts are often junk

 

[engineer20]

@nick, sounds good
but if the motorcraft motor mounts were so good, why did they fail? the anchor has a lifetime warranty and I heard they weren't bad and some aftermarkets, like moog are sometimes better than oem, so my question is, is anchor still a bad aftermarket, or is anchor better than oem like moog? or don't go witha nchor? Thanks.

 

[Nick1994]

Sometimes you can get a good one, but more than likely it'll be junk and die in 6 months.

Parts have to fail at some point, 7+ years out of a motor mount isn't so bad. Some 1 year old Ford Focus's have bad motor mounts

 

[engineer20]

Alright, I'll go with OEM and return the anchor mount which I've already bought. It does have a lifetime warranty, though. Is it a hard DIY? I can't really find much DIY information about it, or for this car in general, and often look at "ford 500" diys but they aren't aren't available either. Is it a tough job?

Also, how are moog aftermarket suspension components? Some say they're better than aftermarket, and they're readily available at advance auto with a lifetime warranty, are they any good or no? HOw about driveworks? Driveworks suspension parts seem better than masterpro from oreilly and duralast.

 

[Nick1994]

Every car is different as far as replacing motor mounts, some are easy, some are hard.

Moog is excellent.

Like I said before, for most things quit worrying so much about brand. It won't make a bit of difference. Motor mounts and spark plugs are the exception, as OEM is the best choice.

 

[PandaBear]

Stop replacing parts before you can tell for sure they need replacement!

Why do you think your motor mount is bad? Vibration? Cracks? Just leave it alone if your car is not shaking like a duck at the red light. I still have many mounts that are 20 years old and my engine didn't fall off yet.

Why are you replacing spark plugs? What does the user manual said on the spark plug replacement interval and model number? Why don't you just use them instead of switching around to different brands and models? If you are not getting a lot of misfire or failing emission test, just leave them alone until you get your caliper done.

Focus! Focus people!

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
Alright, I'll go with OEM and return the anchor mount which I've already bought. It does have a lifetime warranty, though. Is it a hard DIY? I can't really find much DIY information about it, or for this car in general, and often look at "ford 500" diys but they aren't aren't available either. Is it a tough job?


Rule of thumb is, if you don't see a lot of DIY instruction online, chances are that it is pretty reliable and you don't need to do it (as in you misdiagnosed your engine mount problem and the engine mounts are still good).

Quote:
Also, how are moog aftermarket suspension components? Some say they're better than aftermarket, and they're readily available at advance auto with a lifetime warranty, are they any good or no? HOw about driveworks? Driveworks suspension parts seem better than masterpro from oreilly and duralast.


The answer is all over the place depends on who they outsource the production to, and the installation (whether it is put on correctly, by who) matters more than the parts.

A lot of times things go bad because the design is not sufficient, and if aftermarket use the same design and material they too will fail just like OEM.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
if you're completely serious, that's good to know, and I'll get motorcrafts. But given how much people have been just being sarcastic, I don't know if this is honest or just playing around, but I'll assume the better and that you were serious, so I'll get the motorcrafts? Motorcraft iridium or just regular?
and motorcraft oil filtesr are pretty good, i opened one up the other day ,no torn media (heard about motorcraft/purolator torn media on this site), but what about for a torque strut mount, use motorcraft or anchor? for the serp belts ,is motorcraft good or dayco? thanks. i know a dealer that can give me a discount and motorcraft oem dealer parts aren't that expensive and are reasonably priced, unlike toyota dealership prices.


I'll tell you one way how do you find out whether people are serious or not: google and see if you find what people are saying, and find out how things work first before finding out which brands are good or bad.

Regarding to spark plugs, you should go look up the user manual or under the hood's label to get the model number. Just use it if you don't know why you want something else (did you modified your engine or did you try to save money). After you really learned how things work and why OEM isn't good enough, you can then try things out at your own risk.

What are you trying to accomplish replacing spark plugs? Did you get a lot of misfire? Did you reached a mileage that the user manual ask you to replace?

 

[GaleHawkins]

engineer20 thanks for starting this thread. I just picked up the 2006 Five Hundred and have a lot to learn. Ford used the first Volvo S80 chassis for the Ford 500/Taurus 2005-2009 but when with the 3.5L mated to the Ford/GM speed in 2008-2009. I am impressed with with ours that came with 110K miles.

Best of success.

 

[engineer20]

the rust on the rotor did get removed and is gone as I began braking, it formed due to sitting there for so long
one panel near the wheel well also rusted in the "time off" the taurus took
I sanded it down by hand and then I didn't use primer since I couldn't find it but used like 10 layers of duplicolor spray paint, wsa that ok or no? should i have used my dremmel for sanding?

 

[engineer20]

car has 95k, spark plugs need to or should be replaced at 100k as well as the serp belt, accoring to the manual. when the weather gets better, by spring/summer, it will be near 100k, perfect to replace these wear items, and even if the spark plugs are good, it doesn't hurt, esp as i want to drive this ford to 200k and prove not all fords are found on the road dead, i heard favorabe reliability reviews on this model taurus. Heard it was reliable, but many fords aren't, as well as many domestics, living in the region, I had to support the US auto industry, and this one seems like a decent domestic, no major issues. I do know some domestics are reliable, but a good number still aren't, though their quality is improving.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
car has 95k, spark plugs need to or should be replaced at 100k as well as the serp belt, accoring to the manual. when the weather gets better, by spring/summer, it will be near 100k, perfect to replace these wear items, and even if the spark plugs are good, it doesn't hurt, esp as i want to drive this ford to 200k and prove not all fords are found on the road dead, i heard favorabe reliability reviews on this model taurus. Heard it was reliable, but many fords aren't, as well as many domestics, living in the region, I had to support the US auto industry, and this one seems like a decent domestic, no major issues. I do know some domestics are reliable, but a good number still aren't, though their quality is improving.


Yea, the foreign cars like Toyota use metric cotter pins, but the domestic ones use SAE. I guess the metric ones hold up better?

 

[engineer20]

i can post a picture later, but I took a picture of cotter pins or metric cotter pins in the "metric" section of ace hardware, so I don't know why you guys are so uptight about it, does it matter, and out of complete seriousness, you probably should use metric, but you said domestics use SAE but I can't tell if that's serious or if you're just joking. Don't modern domestics use metric too, as many of the nuts/bolts are metric on domestics, rather than sae? or for ford at least.

 

[engineer20]

would caliper paint be recommended? i' thinking about paiting the newly installed caliper so it won't rust/corrode, and it looks kinda cool, maybe black caliper paint, it's no longer leaking, guess it wasn't the hose, it was the caliper, the old caliper even after remanufacuture, was still leaking, the carquest reman (still with a bosch fomocompany core) worked and isn't leaking, though i did get a hose from the dealership as insurance and may be replacing that soon

 

[Bladecutter]

Here's an idea.

Identify a problem with your car.
Buy parts to fix it.
Fix it.
Do something else with your life.

You are spending so much time asking questions that the answers don't matter.
And we know you're asking these questions on purpose.

We don't care, because we know you don't care.

Just fix your car, and move on with your life.

BC.