QuestionI've had this 95 Sable GS /4 cyl. for only 3 wks. Bought from an individual. "Fine little car". Hmmm, maybe.
First, there's always been a slight hesitation when driving. Doesn't matter what speed, in town, interstate..etc. It felt like maybe dirty injectors, or fuel filter probs. After driving it for about a week, I noticed that when you accelerated after coming to a complete stop, it started to visibly jerk & act like it was choking or was stopped up somewhere in the fuel line. I was told by the prev.owner it was just "the nature of the car". I put injector cleaner in it according to the directions, but it didn't help.
After a few days the hesitation & shaking got a little worse. THEN I would have to hold my foot on the brake, & slightly give it a tiny bit of gas to keep it from stalling out.
In the meantime, there was this hard plastic-on-plastic "rubbing/creaking" noise that keeps getting more & more noticeable. It was coming from the underneath, middle of the car (to the right of the gas pedal). Not a continuous noise,but was getting more & more frequent.(Went from maybe once every 1/2 hr of driving to every 5-10 minutes). That noise transformed itself into more of a "possum stuck under the front of the car" noise..a light whumpa-whumpa-whumpa sound.
THEN..2 days ago, I stopped at a light, & the car completely stalled out. Got it started and went maybe 1/2 block to a stop sign. Stalled again. This happened two more times and then it just DIED. When I opened the hood, there were trickles of white smoke rising from every part on that engine. Not a huge billow, like the whole thing blew up, but literally trickles rising from the air filter, the oil dipstick, the coolant overflow jug, any place where there was any kind of an opening or part-against-part. That was also the first time that the gauge inside went from Cold/Normal range to **almost** hot. But yet all of the fluid levels showed up fine, in perfect range.
I got it towed home, and was told that my "only" problem was a bad fuel pump. AND that something called a "Support Rod" was broken. They (the prev owner) put on a new fuel pump, & about the support rod just said, "Well, I wouldn't take the car on any long trips". Now I am scared to even get it out of my driveway. I know you can't diagnose "long distance", but after reading how the car was acting, etc... Does a bad fuel pump sound logical? And what is this "support rod" thing anyway? Is it the same thing as a tie-rod?? Is it dangerous to drive the car at all?? I'm getting a really bad feeling that I was snookered on this cute little car.
At this point, I am scared enough to just get rid of it, but I doubt anyone would want it with a broken rod! I am a single mother with limited income, so a MAJOR repair is SO inconceivable at this point. Help, Advice, Encouragment...Please!
Thanks! Judy
AnswerWhat you are descring COULD be a fuel pump problem. Could be other things as well. But the smoke doesn't make much sense unless something burned up.
The support rod is probably one of the engine mounts, the 4 cylinder used a strut to help keep the engine from twisting and to cut down on vibration. I doubt anything serious would happen except for noise or vibration until this part failed completely.
Unfortunately you probably did buy the wrong vehicle, although I can understand it was probably cheap enough that you could buy it(no offense intended) The four cylinder Taurus/Sable is one of the most trouble some that Ford ever built. Is it driveable now? Without visually checking the car out there is no way for me tell you it is safe to drive, especially after smoking as you stated. Have you checked the coolant with the engine cold? There should be about half the reservoir full, and the radiator should be full.
The only thing I can think of that would have "smoke" coming out all those places is if a coolant hose broke and sprayed coolant all over the engine. Did you notice any kind of smell at that time? Coolant smells kinda sickly sweet, oil smells like burning tires or sulphur.
Good luck
