2010 - 2012 Taurus Owners Beware

[IHaveAMustang]

Looks like the 3.5 Duratec likes to grenade itself at roughly 80k - 90k miles. Water pump bearing blows and dumps coolant into crankcase and cycles it through the engine.

I had just pulled into my parking spot at work and noticed the fans went to 100% and my temp gauge spiked to 'H'. Did some searching on several Taurus forums and people with Flex's, Tauruses and any other vehicle that uses the 3.5 are having this issue. Several have ruined their engine, I am hoping I caught it in time.

Had it towed today to a shop, he is going to look at it to make sure I didn't warp the heads with heat. If everything checks out, it is still a 12 hour job because of the ridiculous location of the water pump. He'll have to do 2 or 3 oil change in my engine as well to flush all the oil/coolant mixed.

Fun times.

[95DRGT]

Just sold a 2010 with 78k- missed it by that much

[garycrist]

All of the 3.5s do that. I have an EDGE with 160K in 10 years. To do an intervention and fix the water pump before it goes is 12 hours + parts.

When it breaks, we will find a used one knowing we put about 15-16K
miles per year or about $3500. That's a nickle a mile! An 80K Taurus,
why sweat the small stuff?

[Gasser64]

Ford just can't get those right can they

[IHaveAMustang]

All of the 3.5s do that. I have an EDGE with 160K in 10 years. To do an intervention and fix the water pump before it goes is 12 hours + parts.

When it breaks, we will find a used one knowing we put about 15-16K
miles per year or about $3500. That's a nickle a mile! An 80K Taurus,
why sweat the small stuff?

The key for me is, I had no idea.

I knew Honda's maintenance at 105K for an Acura MDX is to replace the water pump and timing belt, otherwise they are both at risk for breaking.

I had no idea about replacing a water pump in a Ford with timing chains at 80K. If I had known, I would have happily had it replaced.

[svauto-erotic855]

Most Extended life coolants kill shaft seals and a leaking shaft seal is what causes the bearing to fail. The GM and Ford extended life coolant gels, makes scale and become corrosive if fresh air has a way into the system. The only extended life coolants I have ever seen that are worth a shit are Toyota, or Evans. All of my work trucks are full of green coolant that gets changed like clockwork every 18 months. Power flushing the cooling system every 2 years is the only way to keep problems at bay on some designs.

[4king]

No

[IHaveAMustang]

No

Any chance you can expand on your thread response?

[beefed88]

The key for me is, I had no idea.

I knew Honda's maintenance at 105K for an Acura MDX is to replace the water pump and timing belt, otherwise they are both at risk for breaking.

I had no idea about replacing a water pump in a Ford with timing chains at 80K. If I had known, I would have happily had it replaced.

Honda also isn't 12 hours labor. More like 4.

[IHaveAMustang]

Alright, got a call from the mechanic that the car is ready.

Dropped it off Monday 7/31, so it was a long job.

He did it for a great price ($900) because I told him I wasn't in a rush, which is why it took so long.

I had my dad's 2000 GT to drive in the mean time (forgot how much driving a stick in rush hour traffic SUCKS)

But he states the engine is not blown. I know they had to completely drain the coolant out to do the repair, and I told them to do a couple of oil changes to flush the coolant out of the places the engine oil lubricates. How likely is it that my bearings were damaged by the ethelyne glycol/oil mix? I would hate to drive this 100 miles then my bearings go out and then its time for a new engine.

I will inquire as to how many oil changes they did and if they changed the filter each time. Shoot, I may just buy cheap oreilly's 5w-20 oil and do one more change just to be sure.

Thoughts?

[broke again]

Drive it like it is.

[Torinoman]

Option A: Drive it like it is and maybe it has bearing damage and implodes in a year and you buy a new motor then. However, best case scenario maybe it doesn't have damage and you get 5 years of use and sell the car.

Option 2: Pull the motor now and replace it on the off chance you have bearing damage. Find out it has no damage but you already paid to pull it and inspect it so best case you paid to pull a good motor for no reason.

Yeah, option 2 sounds like the plan.

[txstangnut]

who did you use? Seems really cheap.