2003 Ford Taurus The engine will not rev to more than 4k rpm

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jerry.slife.1
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2003 Ford Taurus The engine will not rev to more than 4k rpm

Unread post by jerry.slife.1 » Sun Feb 17, 2013 1:54 am

2003 Ford Taurus 3.0 6cyl.
I first noticed that when using passing gear it would jump in and out of passing gear. I then noticed that in park or neutral I could not get the engine to rev to more than 4000 rpm & when I rev it to 4k it shudders. I have changed the spark plugs and the fuel filter to no effect. I have no idea where to go from here. I have been told that the rev limiter might be bad, but I can't find any info on that, and I am more inclined to think it might be the PCM? I had the codes checked and it is not showing any. The check engine light is not on. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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ProTech
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Re: 2003 Ford Taurus The engine will not rev to more than 4k

Unread post by ProTech » Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:44 pm

Well, 4000RPM is pretty high to be revving anyway for a low performance V6. When in park or neutral, that is the probably the correct limit it will cut off anyway, set from the factory. You probably don't have a problem in that area, just stop trying to rev it up so much. If you feel it's shifting oddly during passing, get the trans checked out.
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jerry.slife.1
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2013 1:50 am

Re: 2003 Ford Taurus The engine will not rev to more than 4k

Unread post by jerry.slife.1 » Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:23 am

Thanks for your reply ProTech, I realize that 4k rev is fairly high, but before this problem I know that when in passing gear it would rev to over 6k before it shifted back down to the regular gear (2nd, 3rd, OD ). I did take it to a trans shop, and they told me that nothing was wrong with the tranny, but that I needed to do a tune up, and change the fuel filter. I did both of those and no joy :( Any other suggestions? I am disabled/retired and living on less than $700 a month so I can't afford to take it to a shop and have them run a scan? on it. There is only one dealership here and I wouldn't take a bicycle to them. To get to another shop is 180 mile round trip, so I need to figure this out if at all possible.
Thanks for your help :)

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ProTech
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Re: 2003 Ford Taurus The engine will not rev to more than 4k

Unread post by ProTech » Mon Feb 18, 2013 9:22 am

You must really be standing on it, if it was hitting 6k before shifting! How does it do with just regular driving? Maybe ease off it a bit and you won't experience the problem.
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jerry.slife.1
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2013 1:50 am

Re: 2003 Ford Taurus The engine will not rev to more than 4k

Unread post by jerry.slife.1 » Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:36 pm

Regular driving is fine, no symptoms at all, till you kick it into passing gear, then when it hits 4k it starts jumping in and out of passing gear, and the whole car jerks and jumps. I can baby it up to about 75 mph (just keep my foot on the gas and ease it up to 75, I might be able to go higher but at about 75 mph the car is running at about 3800 rpm). Prior to having this problem I coud run up to 80 - 85 mph with no problem.

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ProTech
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Re: 2003 Ford Taurus The engine will not rev to more than 4k

Unread post by ProTech » Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:12 pm

Well, I'm fresh out of ideas other than to take it in and at least have it scanned. A technician can hook up a scanner and go for a drive and be able to see what's happening when it starts jumping in and out of passing gear. Might be a shift adapt issue, or something else internal, it's really hard to say. If it were me, I'd just keep it under 75 and not worry about it.
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jerry.slife.1
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Re: 2003 Ford Taurus The engine will not rev to more than 4k

Unread post by jerry.slife.1 » Fri Jun 28, 2013 3:32 am

Hello all,
finally got the problem fixed. It turned out to be a bad fuel pump. Its' normal pressure was 60psi (which was correct), but under load it was supposed to kick up to about 90psi, but it only maintained the 60psi. I had the pump replaced and now everything is fine :D

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