HoodWeber 1998 Mercury Sable Wagon

[asavage]

This thread is for my old friends Doug & Maggie, now in Newberg, Ore. They've got an assortment of old cars, and Doug wants a Wagon with a roof rack in his harem . . . er, stable of vehicles. I found this one next door to the "new" shop where we moved in our business park.

1998 Sable, silver/dark blue, 140k miles, Vulcan 3.0l V6 (ie the same pushrod engine as in my Aerostars, many Rangers, Taurii, etc.). Sitting about a year. Purchased for $350 and represented as being driven to where it was parked but with a "blown engine".

VIN is 1MEFM 55U2W G6026 15

Pics are for Doug & Maggie, and also for myself for reference, so there are some repeats. Not great for storytelling, but necessary sometimes for reference when reassembling, etc.

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A small dent on passenger rear door.



Interior fairly dirty.




This engine fired up pretty easily. However, it has a valve stuck open on the firewall side bank, center cylinder.



I found (via CL) a wrecked/totalled 2002 Taurus with only 70k on it, and bought this engine for $475, pulled and placed in my PU. I was able to start it and hear it run before buying it, and they pulled it out that night. I picked it up the next day

The intake & exhaust manifolds are different, but the head casting numbers are the same (I'm told), and there are only minor differences in the block. Utilizing the Sable's intake/exhaust and wiring harness should make this a snap to retrofit.

Other good news: I got a 2.5 year-old Interstate battery with the deal for $10 more, and a spare starter too. Even the serpentine belt is in great shape! This is a nice, clean engine.



Note the raised 'X' in the block's casting on the cylinder sides. This was reportedly done to reduce noise and strengthen the casting. The black sensor just below the casting plugs is pretty much the only difference between the 1998 block and the 2002 block. It won't be used when installed in the Sable.



Servicing the engine assy, PS rack, or transaxle requires removing the whole shebang as one unit, from the bottom. Having one cherry picker, two floor jacks, four jackstands, three piano dollies, and a nice, flat floor is the second-best way to deal with this. The best way is to pay someone else to R&R it. My helper had to go to San Diego, so I'm doing this myself.



The new shop is much smaller than the old, so space is very much at a premium. I can't get a good side shot to show this, but the Wagon has to be lifted way up in the air, to clear the struts and valve covers. The factory way is to use a special jack, a car rack, and separate the balljoints & tie-rod ends. This method (from a guy who does this a lot, and posted pictures) leaves the struts mounted to the cradle and takes everything down together. Downside: you need a LOT of lift.

The wye pipe and cat converters have to be removed before you can drop this out, and that was a good 90 minutes of cursing and Dremeling the old bolts off. Lots of sparks



Tomorrow, I start swapping the engine, then the manifolds & valve cover gaskets. Future has a trans flush too.

[asavage]

The engine was unbolted from the transaxle at the bellhousing, but wouldn't separate. I was banging my head against the wall, so I Googled for that problem, found a tip:

Did you take out the bolts on the passenger's end of the transaxle?

So, I took some pictures:

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The firewall-side motor mount integrates with the transaxle. The two bolts are not obvious when it's on the floor, the bolts are under a large casting, and covered in goo.

----------------------------

To install the 2002 engine in the 1998 chassis, these items had to be swapped to the new from the 1998 engine:

• Exhaust manifolds (they are entirely different)
• Intake manfold (different fuel rail locations, and the EGR tube to exhaust manifold can't be mated from old exhaust to new intake)
• Use the 1998 wiring harness
• Oil Pressure Switch (different connector)
• Alternator (1998 has an extra connector. Old alternator will bolt directly into place in the new accessory housing)
• One dbl-ended stud on water pump front lower (retains PS high pressure line)

What's new during this project:

• Engine oil drain plug & gasket
• Oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, cabin filter
• PS filter. The 1998 has a factory OEM inline filter, but it's $180 from the dealer and not available aftermarket. I replaced with an ATP JX160 (3/8" hose barbs; it can also be used for the AT line; a 5/16" version is part No. JX150)
• Oil pressure switch
• Gaskets: Intake manifold-to-head; lower intake-to-plenum; EGR-to-plenum; Thermostat housing (but the thermostat is not new); exhaust manifolds-to-head; valve cover
• Spark plugs (platinum, 100k mile)
• Torque converter seal
• Upper/lower radiator hoses
• Front brake pads, right rotor (left is turned)
• All wiper blades (all are different from each other)

[asavage]

This '98 Sable Wagon has a factory steel PS filter. It's located on the inside side of the engine cradle, driver's side. It looks just like a filter

I called the dealership, and the parts man confirmed that it's a PS filter, he'd never seen or heard of one on a Sable before, and then found that he has two in stock! He pulled one, described it accurately. Then the kicker: it costs $180, or $240 with the hose attached.

I just ordered a ATP FX160 inline filter with 25um paper filter and integral magnet, 3/8" hose barbs, about $22, and that's what I replaced mine with.



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The Magnefine/Raybestos/ATP JX160 inline ATF filter (with a 25 micron element and magnet) retrofits well to this application; the Magnefine fits well into OEM filter clamp on the left subframe rail.

For the search engine, the OEM filter looks like an AC Delco part, with a number of PF-2125, but Google didn't find me any info about that.

The Magnafine inline filter can be had cheaper than the way I bought it locally, but I live in the sticks and I like to buy local.

[kassim503]

wow, nice swap Al

Didnt know there where PS filters, period.

[asavage]

Got it running tonight, no drama so far.

The Blend-air actuator is clicking. It's basically a motor-and-potentiometer that drives the blend door. Searching taurusclub.com, I found that it's a common problem: stripped plastic gear(s).

I pulled mine out, and sure enough: stripped:

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For the search engine: part No. is F7DH-19E616-AA

It's relatively easy to remove on this rig. Take off the sound-deadening panel under the glovebox, deform sides of glovebox inward to release the stops, and swing the glovebox down (ie open it too far). Two screws to remove from inside the glovebox area, four from the driver's side, and it pulls right out.

It seems that this is a common-enough failure that Dorman makes a replacement, part No. 604-206, $30-40 depending on where you shop:

[plenzen]

I did not know that these inline filters were available either. I think that in addition to an "aux" cooler for your automatic that one of these bad boys might be a good addition as well.

P

[asavage]

The ATP part No. for the version of this Magnefine filter with 8mm (5/16") hose barbs is JX150; the 3/8" (~10mm) version shown above is JX160.

[asavage]

A bit of a tutorial on this repair.

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The old blend-air actuator with the stripped gear:



The Dorman 604-206:




On this column-shift, no-console 1998 Sable, access to the blend-air actuator is fairly good. The actuator is located here, but all work is done from the left & right sides.




Here's line drawings of what you're facing up under there:




Working from the driver's side floor, three of the five 8mm-head screws can be removed. Two retain the steel shield and are easy, the other is up fairly high. I used a 1/4" drive ratchet, and a std. & deep socket.



Now work from the passenger side. Remove the sound-deadening panel below the glovebox. Although the diagram below indicates three retainers, mine had only two. They pry out. They're designed to be one-time-use-only, so plan ahead and pick up a couple of new replacements. 1/4" dia. seem to work OK.




With the sound panel out, access to the fourth 8mm-head screw is quite good:



To access the last/fifth screw, you'll need to empty the glovebox and swing it out of its cavity. Pull inward on both sides, to get the two stops inboard, then swing it out.



With the glovebox out of the way, get your flashlight up there, move the wire bundle aside, and the last screw becomes visible.



With all five screws removed, the actuator pulls out easily.




The actuator's shaft is asymmetric. I found that when installing, I had to move the blend door lever by hand against the spring a little, in order to align the shaft & socket.

[asavage]

I had three dashboard-related problems to repair, so I tackled them at the same time, doubling my chances of getting confused

• One of the instrument cluster lamps was burned out, making it impossible to read the top of the speedo at night. Yes, all five lamps were replaced!
• The column shifter bushings were bad.
• The MF Switch gave unreliable right turn operation.

First, a view of this mostly-disassembled. Other than dropping the steering column down and removing the plastic surrounding the key & MF Switch, this is how much must be disassembled to get to the lamps in the instrument cluster: the radio & HVAC controls must be removed, the HL switch, etc.






I removed and cleaned the clear cluster cover, as it's very easy to do at this stage. Dirty condition shown.


The MF Switch is a snap to replace on these later-model Fords. Hardest part is getting the plastic shroud off and on. The switch is retained to the column by two T15 screws. It does not "surround" the column, so it just unbolts from the left and fall off.



The plastic shifter bushings were bad. The closer one isn't even in its saddle anymore, and the rear one is badly worn. New bushings from Ford were about $12 for the pair by the time they got to me. New ones got Teflon grease.

[plenzen]

DASHBOARDS

ICK

I "Used to could", but the rotator cuff is done and the neck is done so no more.
IF I have to go under for any kind of repair like the kind that you are immersed in I would have to remove the front seats and may even pull the steering wheel, but, I try and avoid it all together. A small LED style flashlight close by would work wonderfully and a shot or two of silicone spray lube on the bushings.

All it does is illicit a string of profanity and manufacture busted plastic bits and bleeding knuckles

I salute your patience, tenacity and your flexability .

P

[asavage]

The Sable has gone to Oregon with Doug & Maggie.

I only drove it home three nights.

After two of those overnighters in my driveway, this is what I found when I opened the hood later in the day:

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Mice in these parts love Ford injector wiring.

[asavage]

Aftermarket motor mounts are not all made the same.

This is an aftermarket, "Made in India", supposedly hydraulic like OEM, motor mount.

Notice anything peculiar about the alignment of the mounting holes? Like, they're off by 1/4"?

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This cost about an hour, before Mark Hartz figured it out. Then another 10 minutes with a Dremel to create ovals where once were circles