Vehicle
Mercury Sable
A Ford Taurus, and the two nameplates ran together for so long that separating them is only useful for parts lookup. The 3.0 Vulcan and the 3.0 Duratec are two unrelated engines sharing a displacement and a model year — the Vulcan is a pushrod design and the Duratec a four-cam V6, so a timing or camshaft code means completely different work depending on which is fitted. Establish that from the VIN before anything else.
Generations
-
First generation 1986–1991
The Taurus in different trim, and the only Sable with a four-cylinder. The 3.8 Essex is here from the start, and its head gaskets are the era's known failure.
- Body styles
- Sedan · Estate
- Platform
- Ford DN5
- Engines
-
- 2.5 four-cylinder — petrol · 67 kW (90 hp) · 176 Nm (130 lb-ft) · HSC
- 3.0 V6 — VULCAN · petrol · 104 kW (140 hp) · 217 Nm (160 lb-ft) · Vulcan
- 3.8 V6 — ESSEX · petrol · 104 kW (140 hp) · 292 Nm (215 lb-ft) · Essex
- Transmissions
- 3-speed ATX automatic · 4-speed AXOD automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive
-
Second generation 1991–1995
The four-cylinder is gone and both V6s carry on, with the AXOD gaining electronic control as the AXOD-E and then the AX4S.
- Body styles
- Sedan · Estate
- Platform
- Ford DN5
- Engines
-
- 3.0 V6 — VULCAN · petrol · 104 kW (140 hp) · 217 Nm (160 lb-ft) · Vulcan
- 3.8 V6 — ESSEX · petrol · 104 kW (140 hp) · 292 Nm (215 lb-ft) · Essex
- Transmissions
- 4-speed AXOD-E automatic · 4-speed AX4S automatic · 4-speed AX4N automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive
-
Third generation 1995–1999
A new platform, and the Essex 3.8 gives way to a second 3.0 — the twin-cam Duratec, which shares its displacement with the pushrod Vulcan beside it and almost nothing else. One gearbox for both.
- Body styles
- Sedan · Estate
- Platform
- Ford DN101
- Engines
-
- 3.0 V6 — VULCAN · petrol · Vulcan, pushrod
- 3.0 V6 Duratec — petrol · twin cam
- Transmissions
- 4-speed AX4N automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive
-
Fourth generation 2000–2005
A Taurus under the badge, sold with two unrelated 3.0 V6s — pushrod Vulcan or four-cam Duratec — which decides what a camshaft or timing code means.
- Body styles
- Sedan · Estate
- Platform
- Ford D186
- Engines
-
- 3.0 V6 — VULCAN · petrol · 116 kW (155 hp) · 251 Nm (185 lb-ft)
- 3.0 Duratec V6 — petrol
- Transmissions
- 4-speed AX4N automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive
-
Fifth generation 2008–2009
The revived nameplate on Ford's D3 platform — a Volvo-derived architecture, so it shares nothing with the car that carried the name before it.
- Body styles
- Sedan
- Platform
- Ford D3
- Engines
-
- 3.5 Duratec V6 — petrol · 196 kW (263 hp) · 338 Nm (249 lb-ft)
- Transmissions
- 6-speed automatic · 6-speed Ford 6F50 automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive · Four-wheel drive
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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