Comments: 1-15, 16-30
Head gasket replaced at 60,000 miles.
Rotor problems at 60,000 miles.
Dome light and door ajar lamp stay on.
Service Engine Soon light comes on for no reason.
Aside from the gasket and rotor problems, I've only predominantly had electrical problems. I can deal with that as long as the car gets me where I need to go.
Spraying the door hinges did not help with the dome light problem. I just pulled out the dome light and floor bulbs, now the door ajar light works correctly.
I think the Service Engine Soon light is fluke this time. The first time, with the head gasket problem, it would blink while the car was stammering then stay on. Now it just pops on and the car is performing just fine.
The problems I mentioned above pale in comparison to all of the problems I had with my '86 Taurus.
I love my Sable. It's very comfortable, powerful, and handles well in the snow.
Impressive sound system (MACH).
I only gave it a 9 for performance because while it is fast and powerful once you get moving, I would like more power "off the line".
The paint quality is tremendous, and the chrome factory rims shine like aftermarket rims. As a matter of fact, they reflect on the concrete both day and night!
I have a 97 Mercury Sable LS, and have loved it! My dome light, service engine soon light, and door adjar light stay on from the minute I turn on my car, and the dome light stays on for a while after I turn off my car. Anybody know why?
I also have a Mercury Sable 97, and have had problems with the Dome Light and Door Ajar staying on. I've had to get this fixed twice, and I'm around 68,000 miles.
I too had problem with my mercury sable ls sedan, the first problem that every one had was the dome light staying on,so I had the dealer fix the problem,but it came back I tryed to ajust the drivers car door to make it shut differnt, the dome light now goes off you have to slam the door and it worked fine, boy let me tell ya the problems I had when I bought the car,i really woundnt have boughtn the the car then, the car only had 66,000 miles on it,well the front motor mount was busted, bad rotors, at 67,000 miles the coil pack which is the ignition coil,went bad costed me 300 dollars to fix, of course the dome lights since day one, turn signals didn't work needed a new turn signal flashr stat, no brake lights,they had a short in them, that happend right after I bought the car, well to top it all off I lost my motor at 68,000 miles, mine was the 24 valve doul over head cam,luckly I had a warranty which costs to fix it was around 2500 dollars including a car rental, but also if you stepped on the gas pedal hard the transmission bang some times and slip, ya it now has 100,000 miles on it the check engine service light came on,it was time for a tune up,it costed me 300 dollars to tune up my car what a joke, and the reason I kept the car so long I had car loan to pay off,but now iam tired of this car, iam paying off the car loan soon,going back to a older car I actually can work on, but I do own a 1968 mustang convertable that I can work on, iam going back to a cheverolet as my driver, oh yes I did own a 1989 sable before this sable,it fell apart,i guess I should have learned my lesson.
Mercury Sables and Ford Taurus' have a dome light switch that is located in the door (s). A simple fix that I found was to lubricate the latch mechanism in the door with WD-40. Open and shut the door several times. This worked like a charm and helped to free the light switch that was stuck.
I too had a problem with the interior dome lights staying on along with the door ajar light. I found a simple solution to this problem. Take a can of W D-40 with the long nozzle and thoroughly spray in the latches of all four doors and trunk. This was found on-line and worked like a charm for me.
I was in disbelief! One of the largest issues I have been having with my 99 Sable LS was the pesky issue with the dome light not turning off. I recently spent 15 minutes at the airport parking light slamming my door just to get the light to go off. I took the door apart and discovered the switch was not where I would have guessed it to be -- and then found the switch had to do with the latch mechanism. I adjusted the hook that is mounted to the body because I had hypothesized that the latch was not being pushed all the way through to the "closed" position. Needless to say, the issue appeared again in about a week, especially when it is about 45-50 degrees outside and a little damp.
I came home from the grocery store today, with the dome light on all the way to the store, all the time in the parking lot and all the way back home. I read the string about the WD-40, and thought, "what the heck?" I just doused the mechanism with the WD-40, opened and closed the door a couple of times, and it worked itself into the mechanism like a charm! No more issue (although I will make sure to keep the WD-40 in my car just in case).
Thank you to all who mentioned the trick for helping to save me big money at the mechanic's office!
By the way, other than the dome light issue, I love my Sable. It is comfortable and has all the bells and whistles (I got it used on a pretty good deal). I have driven an '85 Ford LTD (Police Car), and an '87 Town Car, but this is the best Ford I have had in my driveway to-date. I have found it to be pretty darned reliable, even at over 128,000 miles.
Ryan, from Ohio.
I have a 97 mercury sable the only problem I have had is I had to put new brakes on it now they grind every time you put on the brakes how can I fix it if any one can help send me a message farmboy_38024@hotmail.com I would appreciate it thanks.
I have a 1996 Sable and had the same electrical issues. The door ajar light would be on making all of the interior lights stay on. I pulled out fuse 37 which is the interior light one as a work around and then read about the WD-40 solution. I sprayed and opened and closed the doors a few times and...voila the problem was gone.
Thanks for the help.
I have a 97 sable with about 175,000 miles on it. What problems I have had with it. The dome light would constantly stay on. I ended up removing the light to solve that problem. The check engine light used to stay on for a couple thousand miles and then go off for the next couple thousand. I had a head gasket replaced at 130,000 and just found out today from my mechanics that the head gasket blew and that one of the cylinders is filled with oil. This car was a hand me down from my parents. They took extremely good care of it and I also did when I got it. From the most part it has been reliable, but I will never own another sable again. There are too many problems.
Today my speedodmeter quit working on my 97 (150k miles) Sable and it feels like I have no power steering. I checked the fluid level is fine, the belt is good (just 1 belt on the car). OK not so bad, but then all of a sudden it wouldn't shift out of 1st gear. I checked the trans fluid is fine.
I turned the car off and back on, and pulled away and the speedodmeter was working and the car ran fine, shifted normally, steering was OK again. However, when I stopped at a light and started to go again, the speedodmeter stopped and the steering went, and it shifts VERY HARD, but did shift.
Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong??? I hope it's not the trans, but I think if it was the trans it wouldn't work at all. And why does it run fine when the speedodmeter starts to work, and run bad when it doesn't??? I thank you for your help.
TJ ozman0666@aol.com
Real simple question: I have a 97 SABLE and I would like to know what fuse feeds the cigarette lighter and what fuse feeds the extra power socket lower on the dash. I do not have a book with the car to look it up.
Thanks
going crazy trying to figure out which fuse.
Check your speed sensor.
I will start by saying that overall I love my Sable LS. I was hit on the driver's side by a tractor trailer and was pushed 500 feet, the car was totaled and I was OK. I went in search of a replacement Sable. Found one, but have only had it for a year and a half and have already had to replace rotors twice. My mechanic showed me the rotors and instead of wearing through the brake pads, it seems as though they are wearing around the rotor not ON the braking surface??? Can anyone explain this? Am I going to have to keep replacing them every 15,000 miles??? Is there anything else that I can have done within reason to keep the rotors from wearing so fast? Is it a design issue? Any thoughts welcome... Should I get the highest quality rotor possible??? It is frustrating...
I also have a 97' Mercury Sable. I had problems with the dome light staying on, too. We just took out the light. Too lazy to try the WD40 trick. This car won't shift out of first gear most of the time and when it does, it takes a while. Found out that when you stop the car and put it in park then back in drive, it will work most of the time. I believe it's the speed sensor which only costs about $30 for the part. I will get that changed soon and we will see if that's the problem.
Those Sable switches (anti-theft switches) are prone to malfunction and I was told by the parts guy at the local Ford dealership that they sell many of them. Mine is a 97. I bought one the first time my dome light stayed on. The worst part is trying to find out which one is acting up! The next time I took the switch out (you might need to find someone with rubber arms to help) and soaked it in WD-40 overnight. It worked like a charm.