1997 Ford Taurus Service and Repair Manual

This factory service and repair manual for the 1997 Ford Taurus is written around the 3.0L OHV V6 in its flex-fuel or gasoline form, the 3.4L DOHC V8 and the 3.0L DOHC V6, three naturally aspirated engines. It covers the four-door sedan and the four-door wagon in four trims: G, GL, LX and SHO. Procedures, specifications, torque values, wiring diagrams and diagnostics are given per engine, and because two of the three share a 3.0L displacement, the OHV and DOHC versions are named explicitly wherever a figure applies to only one of them.

Engines covered

• 3.0L V6 (182 cu in) — OHV, naturally aspirated, flex-fuel or gasoline
• 3.4L V8 (207 cu in) — DOHC, naturally aspirated, gasoline
• 3.0L V6 (181 cu in) — DOHC, naturally aspirated, gasoline

Body styles covered

• 4-door sedan
• 4-door wagon

Trims covered

• G
• GL
• LX
• SHO

Known issues on the 1997 Taurus. Five recalls are on the federal record. On cars with the AX4S automatic transaxle, a servo cover can separate while driving and spill transmission fluid onto the catalytic converter, where it can ignite; a sharp edge on the park pawl abutment bracket can keep the pawl from engaging the park gear; and the headlamp aiming instructions in the owner guide are unclear enough to leave replacement headlamps aimed wrongly. NHTSA lists 867 owner complaints, headed by the power train, then engine and engine cooling and the service brakes. Transaxle procedures, park pawl specifications and headlamp aiming steps are in the manual.