your opinion on a 93 Taurus SHO?

mic_lx · Nov 4, 2009

Ok guys, I've found a white 93 Taurus SHO ATX for less than $3k with 124k miles.
The exterior is in pretty good shape, original SHO wheels. The interior is also pretty good, leather is not torn or anything.. it has no radio but who cares since I have a MP3 unit at home which I can use.

I drove the car and pulls awsome, handles really well, no rattles or suspension noices, ice cold AC, both front seats are powered and work perfectly... really no issues inside, transmission shifts well and smooth (I really don't mind the SHO having an ATX since I will still have my stang).

The only two issues are... it has an oil leak (which I don't know from where it's comming from buy I would guess it's comming from one of the valve covers since the oil began to burn and smoke started comming from the front of the car... maybe it was hitting the exhaust manifold.
Second issue... while in park I revved up the engine and left it steady at 4k and it sounds like it has a miss, but when I drove the car it ran pretty good, probably spark plug wires or a spark plug?

Anyways, I really like the car and from the lot that's selling it they say that those two issues will be fixed before the sale is done.

So what do you think guys?

NERD · Nov 4, 2009

The best way I can describe the 93 SHO, It's a quick quality piece of ****..

Win · Nov 4, 2009

I have always Liked the old SHO's. I would personally like to have one. Any pics of it.

I wouldn't pay 3grand for it though.

joekd · Nov 4, 2009

I owned a 93 ATX SHO a long time ago, even with 100K+ miles that car could still burn the front tire through 1st and 2nd gears

The 4K is an overrev limiter, as you mentioned it only happens when non-moving. Keeps people from popping motors due to revving them with no load

Other than that oil leak the only thing I would be careful with is see if the valve lash adjustments have been done, if not plan to pay a fortune to have it done by a trained ford tech who knows the Yamaha motor

mic_lx · Nov 4, 2009

joekd said:
I owned a 93 ATX SHO a long time ago, even with 100K+ miles that car could still burn the front tire through 1st and 2nd gears

The 4K is an overrev limiter, as you mentioned it only happens when non-moving. Keeps people from popping motors due to revving them with no load

Other than that oil leak the only thing I would be careful with is see if the valve lash adjustments have been done, if not plan to pay a fortune to have it done by a trained ford tech who knows the Yamaha motor

great, so that 4k rev thing is not an issue then, cool! No wonder why it revved up to 6k just fine when I floored it in D.

How hard is to do the valve lash adjustment? I'm not planning on doing it of course, but wouldn't any mechanich know how to perform valve adjustments? Or is there something special to be done with the Yamaha motor?

5litrarag · Nov 4, 2009

POS.

Move on.
I think I remember a friend saying that trans parts for the auto cars aren't easy to come by anymore.

Inspector13 · Nov 4, 2009

No parts for those are easy to come by. A friend of mine had on with a manual trans. It was a fun car and ran with my 3.2TL all day long. Very nice for road trips. Although when they break down (they WILL break down) parts are hard to find and costly. It's a nice niche vehicle if you don't plan on keeping it super long.

joekd · Nov 4, 2009

mic_lx said:
great, so that 4k rev thing is not an issue then, cool! No wonder why it revved up to 6k just fine when I floored it in D.

How hard is to do the valve lash adjustment? I'm not planning on doing it of course, but wouldn't any mechanich know how to perform valve adjustments? Or is there something special to be done with the Yamaha motor?

Again it's because you were in drive, the overrev is when in N or P (no load)

To be honest I have no idea on the lash cost or details, mine was done for free at a ford dealer due to a major screwup that was their fault (caught a mechanic using my car for a taco bell run and smoking in it while driving)

The recommended 60K service is valve lash and timing belt, check out www.shotimes.com http://, they should cover it in the FAQ's

OnyxCobra · Nov 4, 2009

I would pass, not the most user friendly car to work on as you can tell by looking at the engine.

Matt94GT · Nov 4, 2009

i say it falls into the same category as the thunderbird supercoupe, I had one, I was scared of working on it so I flipped it, lots of stupid 90's futuristic features that will be acting up...or will be soon saying as its getting pretty old.

Win · Nov 4, 2009

OnyxCobra said:
I would pass, not the most user friendly car to work on as you can tell by looking at the engine.

Yeah there not the easiest things to work on. When i worked at Pep Boys i helped a guy work on one and then right after that a V8 SHO came in Even worse.

OnyxCobra · Nov 4, 2009

lol yes the V8 ones look like absolute nightmares. I recall talking to a tech once and he said you have to remove the intake manifold to change the spark plugs. no thanks lol.

Matt94GT · Nov 4, 2009

speaking of SHO's i saw a brand new one yesterday park beside me, looked pretty good for a ford sedan.

hottwheels04 · Nov 4, 2009

This is what I think of when I hear ford taurus sho lol hahaha :angel4:

http://www.break.com/usercontent/2006/8/Conan-OBrien-and-his-Taurus-SHO-143331.html#id143331

OnyxCobra · Nov 4, 2009

LOL that SHO vid with Conan is hilarious.

dafizuck · Nov 4, 2009

95gtjeff said:
This is what I think of when I hear ford taurus sho lol hahaha :angel4:

http://www.break.com/usercontent/2006/8/Conan-OBrien-and-his-Taurus-SHO-143331.html#id143331

Thats actually exactly what I think of too... was just too lazy to look it up and post it, so thanks for doing that, haha.

mic_lx · Nov 4, 2009

Thanks for the input guys!
Yeah I know that engine looks complicated by just looking at it, but at the same time it looks beautiful.

This is why I'm considering it.
I have a 90 Ranger 4.0 and my stang, you just can't get more than one person in each of them, I really dont use the truck that much anymore and I've always wanted a SHO since high school.
The car would be left in stock form if I buy it, so I will let the mech deal with all the trouble when changing spark plugs or wires.
Im still undecided...