Taurus SHO QUESTION!

[2001GTTT]

Hey guys i am looking at a 1992 Taurus SHO with just over 100k on the clock. The ad says it has developed a crankshaft oil seal leak. How hard is this to fix? I have access to a lift and all kinds of tools so is it worth it? The price is really really low and I love the car. What do you guys think??

[97LaserRed]

front or rear main seal?

front should be easy, rear gotta pull the tranny....

[PaxtonShelby]

Rear main seal is a huge pain just like Laser said. You have to pull the tranny, which involves dropping the subframe. If you're going to that trouble you might as well replace the clutch while you're in there unless it is new. Regardless, you should upgrade to a ceramic throw out bearing ( $90 from shonutperformance.com ) because the stock throwout bearings are notorious for failing and destroying the pressure plate fingers.

If it's a front seal it is still a bit of a pain - just not nearly as bad as the rear main.

They're neat cars - but maintenance is a PITA.

[2001GTTT]

so would you say its worth it? I love the car and its in decent shape especially for the money, but i want to make sure its not something im gonna have to fix every week. whats your guys take on it??

[PaxtonShelby]

so would you say its worth it? I love the car and its in decent shape especially for the money, but i want to make sure its not something im gonna have to fix every week. whats your guys take on it??

Depends on which seal you're talking about, whether you can fix it yourself, and what the price of the car is. Give us some more info and maybe some pix and we'll try to help. We already know it is a 5-speed, as they didn't make autos in the SHOs until '93. What options are on the car - does the A/C work? - condition of tires / brakes / body - has the 60k service been done? - plugs & wires ever replaced? ( they will run you $130 or so at best just for the parts ).

They're really neat cars, and lots of fun to drive. And I can vouch for how well they protect you when you get rear-ended at 35mph...

They don't nickel & dime you to death - but certain repairs - like a clutch replacement or rear main seal replacement - will cost you if you have to farm it out. Not so much the cost of the parts...just the labor to do the job.

RIP little red '95 SHO...

[2001GTTT]

ok, i have access to a lift and tools, and lots of people to help me, so labor shouldnt be a problem. The car is a 92 MTX, with 100k miles on it. He is asking $800 but im sure i can get it lower. He said it has all new exhaust, and he just replaced the oil pan seal?. It has a broken headlight which is no big deal, and the interior and exterior are in pretty good shape. He is a mechanic at goodyear so i guess maintenance has been done by him and he says it runs good, but as for the 60k service and i asked him about that ceramic throwout bearing he didnt know if it had been done or not, so i guess he didnt do them. Honestly though if i can pickk up the car for like 600 bucks i think its worth it. I just wanted to make sure it wasnt a car thats gonna nickel and dime me.

[PSPstang]

usually a $600 vehicle will nickel and dime you to death.

[2001GTTT]

usually a $600 vehicle will nickel and dime you to death.

which is why im asking the questions that im asking lol. I just figured for a 92, 100k wasnt too bad. just need a winter beater.

[PSPstang]

IMO they are too exotic of a car for someone on a budget too expensive to work on.
although they do run pretty well.
my father bought a 90 when it was three years old, it had clutch issues at around 50K

we did it ourselves, but changing a clutch in one of those is a major PITA as paxton said, subframe needs to come down. my dad made brackets to support the motor with the subframe out.

if you have to get one, i'd look for an auto.

[Martin0660]

IMO they are too exotic of a car for someone on a budget too expensive to work on.

Nailed it Russ. I considered one for a driver several years ago and really dug into them. I do EVERYTHING myself, and considered the "SHO issues", and steps involved to correct / maintain them to be beyond what I wanted to take on. (and I live with 2.3 turbo cars).

What I found out there where lots of money pit cars that would eat all the time, or pristine well maintained cars that where about to eat all the time. I love the cars, just could not get over the maintnace needed to keep them right.

Bob Myers

[biminiLX]

if you have to get one, i'd look for an auto.

The autos have their own problems as well and IMO there's no reason to consider an SHO unless its MTX. I delivered pizza for almost 3 years in an '89 SHO and drove a '94 MTX for another 3 years. The '89 only required a PS pump other than normal maintenence and the '94 had no problems until the TOB ate the PP fingers as Ron mentioned (clutch looked perfect at 120k).
The SHO is expensive to repair if you cannot do the work yourself or have a reasonable mechanic. I don't see how its any less reliable than any other 10 y/o used car and in many way its better---engine is bullet proof, all suspension and base parts are standard Taurus (read cheap).
Difficult to work around that sweet engine, but otherwise I would've love to had found a nice one last year.
Good luck.
-J

[FineLineMtrSprt]

The reason the higher mile ones nickel and dime you to death is A LOT of people drove them like they were normal Taurus'...not taking care of them...doing proper timely repairs,things of that nature. Being all the "special" parts they had a lot of people just said screw it...its a tore-ass...and just left them be. Just gotta really watch them. When i worked at the ford dealership...there were 2 types of SHO's that would come in... MINT ones that looked new and the owner loved and took care of..and BEAT,run down ones the owner would say....ITS HOW MUCH TO FIX THIS...its just a taurus....ill drive it till it dies or sell it to some kid.

[PaxtonShelby]

For $600 or so you're probably safe. Just don't be surprised if you end up doing a clutch replacement at some point, and if you do, DEFINITELY purchase a ceramic TOB from shonutperformance.com. Otherwise you will be replacing your pressure plate ( thanks for the support J!!! :) ). If the rear main is the problem, check the clutch and put in a ceramic TOB while you have the tranny dropped.

If you get near 120k miles on it you also really need to get the 60k service done on it. shonutperformance sells the 60k service parts kits.

SHOs are neat cars ( especially the gen-1 and gen-2 versions ) with a devoted following. They were really fast back in their day ( 220 horses and 7000 rpm engines were hard to come by back then ), and are still relatively capable and reliable cars.

If the body is solid and you don't plan on beating on the car too much it should do the trick as your winter beater. If I could find a solid cheap one I might pick it up - the '90 LX I got from silverworm is way too clean to see the snow!

[SV1000s]

Pull the front plug wires and check to see if they have oil on them...the seals around the spark plug wells leak over time causing oil to get down in the plug wells. That'll cause her to smoke a bit and burn through some oil...

I went through 3 sets of motor mounts, 2 tranny mounts, 2 rear main seals, waterpump, front main seal, 2 catalytic converters, struts, countless tires, 2 throwout bearings, 1 clutch/flywheel, etc... Moral of the story, don't enter burnout competitions or race your SHO...lol

the motor's are great but the rest of the vehicle was made in the USA

Still wish I had my 91..she was a screamer

[KeystoneJohnny]

I have had a few of these cars myself all MTX's. Common problems are as mentioned including standard problems. I'll ad in the auto climate control breaks often in them which will be a little harder to find a good one in the junkyard ebay would be the way to go when it does. Also, like SV1000s said. DON'T be doing burnouts, hole shots etc... You will if lucky only destroy the clutch. I blew a couple trannys apart. Motor is definately a convo piece when you pop the hood. Always looked super cool for a sixxer. Just remember parts are a little more than you average daily driver. And mait. is a must with these cars. But bottom line is if you like it buy it. Good luck either way.

[Terminated]

Def. cool cars. I almost bought one as my first car, but it had 125k and I needed a driver cus I was driving about 40 miles rd. trip each day.

So I went with the next best thing. A Thunderbird SC with 101k. If you wanna talk about cars with an exotic setup, it was only used in that car, parts are hard to find and no one knows anything about them except the die hards.

Ford definitely had a knack for their performance vehicles in the 90s, but damn if they're looking good nowadays.

If you get it, good luck with keeping it all together. It's good to see them still around because they just don't make cars like these anymore.