Mercury Sable

It is also possible to find a replacement mast. I found a source on eBay and paid about $15 for just the mast / nylon drive part.

In my case, the repair did require the antenna be opened up (2 mounting bolts, and 4 small cover screws), but many times the mast can be repaired just from the outside.

Try a search on "Taurus antenna mast repair" - that should get you started.

take it to the ford dealership

u can disconeect power from antenna at the back of the radio. the electric motor has a stripped gear on it. a replacement is not expensive, but you can remove antenna assembly and replace with a normal antenna in the same place

Copied from the "Related Question" below, written by DustedDisgusted:

• Is the coolant at the proper levels?

  Is the coolant 'fresh' - still has most of the original color (green, yellow)

  Note: One symptom of a leaking head gasket is "milky" looking coolant ?

• Next, let the engine warm up, feel the top radiator house, if it's not hot/really warm...

  * Thermostat may have stuck closed

  * Cooling system blockage - flush it

  * Water pump -

  * Metal water pump impellers are prone to rusting away if the coolant hasn't been changed often enough.

  * Plastic/nylon impellers tend to wear away, or even break (ala original Ford Contours)

• If that's ok, let the engine run and make sure the cooling fan comes on, if it doesn't, check: fan fuse; the temperature sender; or the fan may have failed.

  Turn on the a/c and the fan should come on immediately (you could possibly have a bad pressure switch in the a/c system that would keep the fan from coming on, but that's unlikely)

• Next turn off the engine and feel the lower radiator hose, it should be very warm, if not you possible have a flow issue, either the water pump or a clogged radiator core.

  The best way to check for lack of flow is to remove the radiator hoses and run water through it, comparing inlet volume/time to outlet volume/time.

• If these are all good, could be a head gasket.

  One test is to get a smog test station to check for HC's (hydro-carbons) in the cooling system by removing some coolant and sticking the "sniffer" in the radiator neck while in manual gas reading mode. there should be no hc's present. any reading warrants removing the heads for further diagnosis.

Other ideas?

1. Thermostat sticking closed.
2. Low coolant level, causes are (coolant leak internally or externally, for internal leak check for antifreeze in the oil, it will be cloudy or look like a milkshake.
3. Water pump failure.
4. Blown head gasket,signs are ( oil in antifreeze, air bubbles in coolant recovery tank, caution hot coolant can spray out without warning)and or white smoke (steam) out the exhaust, and or low compression in one or more cylinders
5. Engine cooling fan malfunction (manifests when vehicle at a stop and running)
6. Plugged radiator (either internally or externally)
7. Collapsed radiator hose
8. Incorrect or seized radiator cap

Does the engine cooling fan come on at 230 degrees and turn off at 190 degrees? You could have a bad cooling fan, relay or sensor problem. If all of these check out you need to check for leaks and repair them. Also a stuck thermostat can be the bad apple.

There was a recall on this car for problems with the cooling system, so the first thing to do is check to see if the recall was performed. Also, there was a TSB, number 01-11-6 dated 06/11/01 addressing this problem. It involved, among a number of other things, replacing the water pump with a modified water pump. The new water pump is part number 1F1Z-8501-AA.In addition, I would replace the serpentine belt with Ford part number F7PZ-8620-AB since there was a problem with the serpentine belt slipping.

If, after all this is done and it still overheats, the freeze plugs may have to come

out to inspect the block water passages for obstructions.

Engine overheats when a car or truck overheats idling, in town, on the highway, while towing, etc. it is important to find out the reason to prevent engine damage.

First, with the engine cold, make sure the radiator is full of coolant; if it is low, fill it and keep the radiator cap off while the engine idles to insure all air is bled out of the system.

Check the coolant level daily; if the coolant goes down without visible leaks, it may be a head gasket starting to leak which will also cause the heater to blow cold air due to the lack of available coolant.

If the coolant stays full, but the car continues to overheat, the next step is to replace the thermostat in the engine and flush the cooling system if that has not been done over the last few years.Buy a thermostat at a parts store and a PRESTONE flush kit which has excellent directions on the package.

After completing these steps and the vehicle still overheats, have your cooling fan sensor/switch ( if equipped)checked out to insure it is coming on.

Water pumps are seldom the cause as they are mechanical and will continue to work until their bearings give out.

Finally, the radiator itself is often the problem as it tends to build up corrosion internally which prevents it from transferring engine heat to the coolant. Remove it and have it 're-cored'.

One of these steps will solve the problem.

In addition to this comprehensive round-up, I would suggest that water pumps can fail without the bearings going out. The impeller can wear and/or break loose from the shaft.

See "Related Questions" below for more

You should service the cooling system. Flush the radiator, replace the thermostat, install a 50/50 mix of new coolant, bleed the system, verify that the cooling fan/fans are working properly.

Thermostat stuck closed or the water pump has plastic impeller that broke. When my 97 sable water pump failed as above, it would be okay idling, but overheat when revved up or driven any.

check the coolant temp sensor, and make sure the fans are going if they are electric.The thermostat could be the problem. If the thermostat is not functioning, which happened to me on a long distance trip, the temp gauge in the car will not show any increase in temp. Sooner or later, like when you stop at Burger King, you will notice your car is overheating, coolant is pouring out onto the pavement, you are astounded since your temp gauge shows the engine temp is normal. What happens when the thermostat malfunctions is that it won't open up, allowing the cooling fluid to enter the engine, thus causing overheating. Good news is the thermostat is a cheap part, you can get it replaced for an hour's work of a mechanic, or if you are handy, you can replace it yourself. Check the rubber hose that goes to the engine from the radiator to see if it needs to be replaced, replace it at the same time (replace it if its cracking or very old).In my case, I was in a location that I could not get a new thermostat, so the mechanic took out the faulty one, urging me to get a new one soon and have it installed. I did that, and all seems to be well. The deal is that the thermostat keeps the engine temp in synch with all the electronics. You can drive it without the thermostat for a while, which just means that the cooling fluid goes right into the engine immediately instead of being controlled by the little thermostat (basically a gate that opens when a certain temp is reached). However for optimum performance, you should have the thermostat on there. But in an emergency, ie no part available, you can run without it.

Check the cooling system. Does it have enough antifreeze? Is it leaking any? If so, check the hoses and radiator. If that's okay, it could very well be the thermostat. If it gets stuck closed no coolant gets circulates. It's an easy fix. Just don't buy one from an autoparts store... buy a motocraft (ford) part. The aftermarket ones don't really fit like they should.

Make certain that the water pump is working. Replace your thermostat, it's probably stuck closed. If you follow the upper radiator hose out of the radiator, it will end in the thermostat housing. Take it off and you will find the thermostat inside. Note the orientation of the thermostat before you take it out so you know which direction to put the new on in.-Jesse

• Remove the axle nut seal cap.
• Remove the axle nut with socket and wrench
• Brake drum should come off
• ** If tight, then remove the brake adjuster dust cover on the inside of the brake drum housing
  • loosen the adjuster with special tool purchase for this activity at any major auto parts store.

Re-install drum in reverse of explanation

To get started on changing rear drum brakes on a 1996-1999 Taurus / Sable, check out Autozone's online Chilton's Repair Manual linked below.

NOTE: Autozone now requires free registration to access the repair guides. More than worth the extra effort for these photo/illustrated instructions.

There is no nut holding the rear brake drum on. The drum is simply held on by factory clips and the wheel itself.

To remove the drum, remove the wheel. There may or may not be factory clips on 3 of the lugs / studs, these hold the drum on at the factory and must be removed - if they exist. Twist off with pliers, if they get wrecked, they aren't needed for re-assembly.

Usually the drum will then pull off with a bit of side to side wrangling. If you can hear the brakes rubbing on the drum when turned, or the drum won't come all the way off (there may be a ridge on outer edge of inner drum) you'll have to turn the brake adjuster so the brake shoes are no longer in contact with the drum. On the back of the backing plate, above the axle, there is a rubber plug that a brake spoon can be inserted and turn the shoe adjuster until the shoes no longer touch the drum.

Also, sometimes the center of the drum rusts to the hub so a few whacks with a heavy hammer around the center of the drum to make sure it's loose can't hurt, don't over do it though.

Jack and secure vehicle Remove wheels Make sure Emergency brake is released Remove and discard clips if any on studs Drums should come right off, if not lubricate center hub with WD-40 or similar product and sometimes hitting them with a hammer will loosen them sufficiently to remove If they are really frozen due do either "E" brake dragging or just time, you may have to get a puller to get them off, but drums will probably have to be replaced if this technique is used.

See "Related Links" & Questions for additional information on Taurus brakes.

Remove tire. Remove the clips that are on the lug bolts at the drum. If you break them that is okay they are exactly necessary. The drum should come off. If not then open up the auto-adjuster access in the back of the drum. If is under a rubber rectangular piece. Pull this out. Now use a flat headed screw driver to rotate the adjusting screw up or down. (I never can remember which way is which.) This will back the brake shoes off of the drum so that you can remove it. It doesn't take much.

• Remove the axle nut seal cap.
• Remove the axle nut with socket and wrench
• Brake drum should come off
• ** If tight, then remove the brake adjuster dust cover on the inside of the brake drum housing
  • loosen the adjuster with special tool purchase for this activity at any major auto parts store.

Re-install drum in reverse of explanation

To get started on changing rear drum brakes on a 1996-1999 Taurus / Sable, check out Autozone's online Chilton's Repair Manual linked below.

Jack and secure vehicle Remove wheels Make sure Emergency brake is released Remove and discard clips if any on studs Drums should come right off, if not lubricate center hub with WD-40 or similar product and sometimes hitting them with a hammer will loosen them sufficiently to remove If they are really frozen due do either "E" brake dragging or just time, you may have to get a puller to get them off, but drums will probably have to be replaced if this technique is used.

See "Related Links" & Questions for additional information on Taurus / Sable brakes.

There is no nut holding the rear brake drum on. The drum is simply held on by factory clips and the wheel itself.

To remove the drum, remove the wheel. There may or may not be factory clips on 3 of the lugs / studs, these hold the drum on at the factory and must be removed - if they exist. Twist off with pliers, if they get wrecked, they aren't needed for re-assembly.

Usually the drum will then pull off with a bit of side to side wrangling. If you can hear the brakes rubbing on the drum when turned, or the drum won't come all the way off (there may be a ridge on outer edge of inner drum) you'll have to turn the brake adjuster so the brake shoes are no longer in contact with the drum. On the back of the backing plate, above the axle, there is a rubber plug that a brake spoon can be inserted and turn the shoe adjuster until the shoes no longer touch the drum.

Also, sometimes the center of the drum rusts to the hub so a few whacks with a heavy hammer around the center of the drum to make sure it's loose can't hurt, don't over do it though.

hello I have a 1993 Ford Taurus wagon and the rear drum brakes are similar on most model fords except for the size of shoes and drums and most auto parts stores computer can look up the right size by year and model but bring old parts to compare to make sure to avoid problems,

To remove the old drums first jack car on safe location ,then remove lug nuts, tires. then spray some liquid wrench or wd40 solvent on rusted studs so they sink around the stud drum area holes, let sit for a few minutes and then get a hammer and bank around the drum mildly all the way around and then bank mildly between the studs flat on the drum all the way around. This will loosen the rust and make it easier to get the drums off gently pry the drums off with screwdrivers evenly until the drum is worked off the old shoes. on some flood or nothern cars with water damage a lot of banging may be the key to removing drums. ,

once on the inside of brake area , i first remove the upper cross spring near the adjusters and let it hang and then remove the two side retainer springs and pins that hold the brake pads. THen i can pull the whole assembly over the axel out wards and then on the back of the emergecy brake lever just remove the U shaped retaining clip off the pin and lay the brakes on the ground . Clean the backing plate with a small brush and parts cleaner to remove all comtaminates . Clean off the adjustor for reuse. Reassembly is using a new spring kit match the brake shoes and springs up like the ones that came off , after putting on the new clip on the emergcy brake lever to the brake shoe, fit the shoes in place and relace the two sping and pins that hold the brakes shoes in place , then just make sure the adjustor and sping across it are replaced just like it was removed in the begining. If the drum is damaged, relace it as any scratches will eat of the brakes and make it unsafe . Fit the drums on the shoes and if loose remove and adjust the adjustor out or in until the drum fits without play or binding. you can gage when you are close . Repeate the same for the other side. When you are done check your brake fluid level and drive around going into reverse and backing up a 20 or so feet at a time and then applying brakes to evenly adjust the back brakes with the self adjustors . You are now a lot safer with a strong brake job. Most folks only do the front brake pads so This will make all four brakes work and last a lot longer and be a lot safer for the life of the car. Enjoy you Job it pays off in the time ahead to invist the time now . Thanks The Rocknrollman

See "Related Links" & Questions for additional information on Taurus brakes.

If vibration occurs while braking, then the brake rotors have a thickness variation and maybe in need of being 'turned' or "Blanchard Ground".

From StopTech:

The driver can feel a 0.0004" deposit or TV on the disc. 0.001" is annoying. More than that becomes a real pain. When deposit are present, by having isolated regions that are proud of the surface and running much hotter than their neighbors, cementite inevitably forms and the local wear characteristics change which results in ever increasing TV and roughness

An important note is that your brake rotors DO NOT WARP. They develop a thickness variation due to pad deposits on the rotor surface. This is caused by poor driving habits and improper brake application or by a poor or improper Break-in or bedding process.

Habits to avoid:

• Keeping the brakes applied after hard braking will cause pad deposition. Refrain from using the brakes after a hard application until the rotors have cooled sufficiently. (Usually a mile or two)

• "Stabbing" or quick hard brake application can cause hot spots on the rotor more likely to retain pad material.

This excess pad material (if caught in the early stages- because sometimes the above is not avoidable and vibration is starting to appear) may be easily removed with some garnet paper or with hard and even braking from 60MPH to 25MPH and allowing the brakes to cool. More stubborn deposits can possibly be removed with semi-metallic brake pads used hard (after bedding/break-in).

Allowing pad deposits to remain on the rotor surface for an extended period can cause the rotors to develop a material called "Cementite" this occurs due to the brake pad composition and the rotor composition. Every time the deposit comes in contact with the brake pad, the local area increases in temperature (much more than that of the rotor) this high heat (about 1200-1300°F; 649-704°C) transforms the cast iron under the pad deposit into an iron carbide called Cementite. Cementite is a very hard, very abrasive compound which is a poor heat conductor and causes further cementite formation. The more heat being generated (due to more pad deposits and wear from heavy brake usage) the worse the cementite gets (it grows and gets deeper into the rotor) and consequently the worse the vibrations will get. Cementite is invisible to the naked eye, as it is just simply a structural change in the metal's chemical composition.

Once cementite formation or a thickness variation has occurred, it's imperitive to "turn" (a process which the rotor is placed onto a special lathe which resurfaces the rotor's braking surface) or "Blanchard Grind" (a machine which counter rotates the rotor against a grinding stone to remove cementite) that axles rotors as soon as possible. (If only one rotor is affected, both rotors should be turned. Brakes must be done in axle pairs ONLY. The variation in thickness of the rotors, as well as the difference in stopping power can cause unpredictable handling.) Continued exposure to cementite may cause the entire rotor to have to be replaced due to the depth of the formation. Continued exposure to a thickness variation can cause premature pad failure and poor braking performance.

For do-it-yourselfers: Whenever the rotors are turned, you must first clean them with brake cleaner and a clean rag to remove excess metal shavings from the surface of the rotor. Even if the rotors look clean there are small miniscule shavings of metal that can cause damage to the pad and rotor surface, causing premature failure and result in poor break-in performance. Make sure to change the brake pads whenever you replace or turn the rotors. Remember that your rotor surface is a mirror image of the brake pad and it will cause premature braking system failure and poor braking (and break-in) performance. Ideally, if the pads do not have any thickness variation, the newly turned rotors should be bedded with the already broken-in pads. However, if the pads have thickness variations they should be replaced before bedding.

Properly break in the pads and rotors after replacement and turning.

To do so find a safe area (a long stretch of uncongested and not frequently traveled road that you will not impede traffic flow on) to accelerate to 60MPH and perform a series 10 increasingly hard brakes to approximately 10-5MPH without interruption or stopping AT ALL. During the process DO NOT STOP COMPLETELY as this will cause a pad imprint or non-uniform pad material transfer and result in a bad break in causing premature brake system failure and poor braking performance. (You will be redoing what you are trying to fix here!) Quicklyre-accelerate in between the stops to 60MPH. The object is to heat up the brakes slowly to high temperature to burn off the bonding resins in the brake pad to prevent brake fade and uneven deposits. As you stop you want to stop "with purpose." Essentially on the verge of activating the Anti-lock brake system of the car, without triggering it. As StopTech recommends (where the majority of the information in this writing comes from):

In terms of stop severity, an ABS active stop would typically be around 0.9 G's and above, depending on the vehicle. What you want to do is stop at a rate around 0.7 to 0.9 G's. That is a deceleration rate near but below lock up or ABS intervention. You should begin to smell pads at the 5th to 7th stop and the smell should diminish before the last stop. A powdery gray area will become visible on the edge of the pad (actually the edge of the friction material in contact with the disc - not the backing plate) where the paint and resins of the pad are burning off. When the gray area on the edges of the pads are about 1/8" deep, the pad is bedded.

After the 10th braking cycle you ideally do NOT want to touch the brakes at all until they have cooled down to ambient temperature. (Depending on your speed and the ambient air temperature, approximately 1-5 miles.)

The break-in process is two fold. It prepares the pads for use by removing the excess resins and paint on the surface of the pad, and "re-beds" the rotors for use.

For more information on "warped rotors" and other brake myths, visit the link in the "related links" below.

Now to install: 1. Clean the CMP sensor surface and ensure that the O-Ring is in place. 2. Position the CMP sensor into the engine and tighten the retaining bolt to 71-106 inch lbs. 3. Attach the CMP sensor connector 4.Connect the negative battery cable.

Since the water pump is driven by the serpentine belt, see the "Related Questions" below for information on changing it.

Note: be sure to check if there's a serpentine belt routing diagram inside the engine compartment before you take it off! If there isn't one, make your own drawing.

This being a 3.8 the upper intake is in the way. Remove the upper intake manifold before you continue.

Follow the speedometer cable from the firewall down past the engine rearward of the engine behind the intake and down to the transaxle (transmission) near where the right hand (passenger side) axle goes in. Eventually your hand (wrapped around the speedometer cable) will be unable to continue as a heat shield gets in the way.

The heat shield is clipped on and you can just pull it off. Behind the heat shield lies the sensor. Unplug the wiring connector (2 wires) then remove one bolt to remove the sensor from the transaxle. Be careful not to kink the speedometer cable while removing the speed sensor. If you kink it your speedometer will bounce until you replace the cable with a new one.

With the sensor out of the transaxle, you can now separate it from the cable for replacement.