How reliable are the Gen3's??

[SHO SPD]

I need something more reliable than the Gen 1, and 2, But I still want a SHO, so how are the Gen 3's? I know about the cam failure, bt what is that exactly? Thanks

 

[fuller911]

The cam failure is when the cam sprocket breaks loose from the shaft and freely spins, more or less killing the motor. Just get a ATF Cooler for the tranny. I've seen several with well over 100k and have no troubles. I think they are far more reliable than previous generations but have less performance because lack of mods.

 

[SCOTTDW]

GENIII SHOs are quite cheap. A 96 is ridicuously inexpensive. I drive a 98 and soon it will be parked in some gosh-darned cat fish farm in North Mississippi. Until then I have a two year warranty and I will drive this mug like i popped the ignition down in the parking lot on Beale Street. Very hard to sell this GENIII as we are coming in to cold Fall air and it starts to leap off the pavement when goosed...got to keep mine for a while...

Scott
Magnaflow Performance
BFGoodrich GForce KDWS

<small>[ September 15, 2002, 12:23 AM: Message edited by: SCOTTDW ]</small>

 

[biker889]

were selling our 1996, drop me an e-mail if interested.

 

[Ian Macoomb]

I'd say that they're probably a bit more reliable than a Gen I or Gen II but only because of their age. Change all 8 coils and the reliability will go way up. They seem to be a soft point in this car.

I'd say get one, weld the cams first, like right now, then change the coils out (NAPA not Ford), then change the front subframe bushings with Aluminum ones.

 

[Fine89]

If the SHO body/trans is like the wifes Gen3 Taurus, the brakes stink and the trans is good for about 100K - DOH!

 

[fuller911]

Ian,

Stupid question. What coils are you speaking of? I plan on keeping this contraption for a long time and will take all measures to do it.

thanks

 

[SHO5]

Selling my 97 with CAMS WELDED that means no trouble with the cams. I also got borla exhaust, a performance chip, lowered looks sharp. no problems with this car 71k drop me an email if interested.

 

[SCOTTDW]

Will be taking my 1998 on a 2000 mile plus excursion the first week of October. Will post of any problems or success stories. Also, I almost forgot....SHO5 you have a performance chip on a GENIII? Tell us more! Also , when did you get your Borla cat-back cuz I could not find one two years ago. But this chip has me even more inquisitive..what has it done to the 0 to 60 time of your GENIII?

Scott
98SFSHO
Magnaflow Performance
BFGoodrich G-Force KDWS

<small>[ September 15, 2002, 10:51 PM: Message edited by: SCOTTDW ]</small>

 

[SHO5]

well the chip at first took low end power and gabve me more high end power. ZBut then i sent it back and they reprogramed it. that was one time. I sent it in about 10 times because they always had a problem with it. Now it works awesome. Shifts faster gets better mileage maybe 1-2 more mpg's. Faster.but i still with all that stuff on it got 0-60 in 7.7 sec. thats with a mechanical stopwatch. Got the borla in the beginning of the year or late 2001. Sounds great and well worth the $850. I got 2.5 in round tips and looks really sharp. Lowered it 1/2 and looks even sharper. All my work was done by Doug at Performance Plus in Madison, Wisconsin. I recomend him to any of you who live in the area. But the chip is from superchips.com but bought it at performance plus. I do recomend the chip you may have some probs with it you have to be patient and wait for the right program.

 

[stephen newberg]

" If the SHO body/trans is like the wifes Gen3 Taurus, the brakes stink and the trans is good for about
100K - DOH!"

The brakes and the transmission are different on the SHO than on a normal Gen3 Taurus. The SHO in general shares a fair number of various parts, but in an overall systems way, the main thing it shares with the Taurus is the body shell, with most of the rest being somewhat or completely different. Ford would have done much better with the model if they had differentiated the body shell a bit more also and just called it an entirely different car, rather than leaving the Taurus association.

pax, smn

 

[SHOZ123]

I think the stock brakes on this car are very good. All ATX Ford trannies of late are POSs.

 

[Tacmedic]

"The brakes stink and the trans is good for about 100,000mi"
My '96 SHO Brake rotors warp if you look at them wrong and I just replaced the entire trans @ 106,000mi so they can't be that much better than the SLO

 

[OzzmanNT]

Tacmedic:
"The brakes stink and the trans is good for about 100,000mi"
My '96 SHO Brake rotors warp if you look at them wrong and I just replaced the entire trans @ 106,000mi so they can't be that much better than the SLO

The brakes are just fine in the SHO, but if you overtighten the lug nuts (aka impact wrench) then you will have some nice warped rotors. Also I guess if you like to go splashing through puddles of water after heaving braking then yeah that'll cause it too.

Other than that Brakes are great.

If you need rotors, it was mentioned on the list to just get the Autozone rotors as they have a really good warrenty and are fairly cheap.

 

[Osiris]

My 96 has been solid for the last two years. It's suffered none of the problems my GenII did.

Then again, my car has low miles and gets babied most of the time.

I'd say after taking care of the cams and simple PM will alleviate most concerns.

 

[Tacmedic]

I have to disagree with Ozzman. I think the brakes are adequate but not great. They will fade after several hard stops, (I have tried several different pads), Mine have had problems with warping rotors, ( Wheels tightened with torque wrench, no puddle splashing), and the ABS is overly intrusive. I may be spoiled as I compare them to my '98 Cobra, but I am ALOT harder on the brakes on my F-450 based ambulance, (11,000lbs+) and I have never had any warping or fade problems, (yes, they are HUGE under the 19.5" wheels).

 

[SHO5]

Ive never had any trouble with my brakes. I think they work awesome. The SLO has 11.6 in disc in front and 8.9 in drums in the back. And stops 60-0 in 139 ft. Thats not that bad considering 8.9 in drums in back.
Once again 97 SHO for sale email me

 

[SHODWN]

The Gen 3 brakes are fine, they do warp but thats mainly caused by overheating the rotors with overtightened lugnuts.

Tranny's are dying like they do in every car, coils do as well. Cams should be welded as soon as you can.

 

[Ian Macoomb]

fuller911:
Ian,

Stupid question. What coils are you speaking of? I plan on keeping this contraption for a long time and will take all measures to do it.

thanks

I was refering to the coil-on-plug ignition coil modules. I've replaced 3 and I've got another going (and it's taking its time to go to).

Maybe the bad coils are a environmental problem. Maybe the extreme temperature changes is ******* them? Who knows.

 

[stephen newberg]

Have never had any problems with the coils at all. Or much of anything else serious, really, for that matter. At over 90K now. Did have warpage on the original set of rotors (front and back) at 38K. Replaced under warranty and no problems since. Other stuff has been normal things that wear out. Tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, etc. In general the car is pretty solid, from a reliability standpoint.

But Kirk is right, get the cams welded or pinned for peace of mind (and possibly to save a serious problem later) and then just motor on.

pax, smn