Ok, I'm more of a Town Car guy, but I just bought a 96 Sable LS wagon
as a beater/ driver. It's a 3.0 24v and has 127k on it. I
have a few questions... Is it a reliable car? What are some key
items I should watch for? How do I get the keyless entry pad
code? How do I change the cabin air filter? Anyway, the car
is a dirty rag inside and needs cleaned badily. It was a nice car
in it's day. It has the 3rd seat, climate control, leather (1/2
cloth) and chrome wheels (pitted and crappy looking) It may clean
up nice. It has a few records in the glove box. Newer fuel
pump, tune up with plugs and coils, serp belt and a fuel filter.
Anyway, I hope it cleans up well, but I gave 650 dollars for it, so who
cares if it is a rag. It runs fine and seems to shift like any
other Taurus I have driven (softly and sloppy) I hear the transmissions
are junk, but the fluid looks ok and it goes into all gears fine.
Who knows, any help would be cool. BTW what does the Duratec get
for mpg and is it a reliable motor?



Thanks,



E

 

In my opinion the duratec is a great engine. Reliable too, as are most engines if you keep regular oil changes going. If it didn't have a recall tranny change (check for ford dealer sticker under the hood) then I think someone got lucky getting 127Kout of it. My '96 LS sedans' keypad codeswereonacomputer box or something that looks like one in the firewall on the drivers side of the engine compartment. They're will be alot of #'s just look for5 digit ones.If you figure that out, thenhit the last digit twice and it might pop your hatch.(that pops my trunk) And of course, holding down 7-8 and 9-10 will lock the doors onanyFord / Lincoln / Mercurywith the keypadoption.If you figure out where the cabin filter is let me know. When I first got the car, that could filter out a dead skunk smell. Not so good these days. Anyway, you picked the Sable with the right engine. They also came with 3.0 Vulcans that were underpowered and just basically all-aroundsucked.