Well, while I was considering selling my Bronco I thought about one of these. Let me cut to the chase though. I had been at a Ford Dealership and was picking up a part for my Bronco and I talked about a Taurus SHO to one of the ladies that worked there. She said they're good cars, but considering it's the SHO that I could expect to pay a lot for parts and whatnot if I ever breaks down.

Well, this was back before summer had even started. All summer I had considerd selling the Bronco and finally decided on it. I tried to kid myself and say it was the gas milage was the reason (I just needed an excuse to buy something fast). Well, I had the Bronco up for sale and got no calls.... well, I decided NOT to sell it (I was going to buy a Fiero GT first then a T-Bird) and I got a bunch of calls and I said it's not for sale. Well, recently my girlfriend moved into the dorms at her college and I'm about 15 minutes or roughly 10 miles away from her. So anyway, making a few trips a day back and fourth isn't so good for my milage. Not to mention when MY schooling starts I'll be going even further. Probably about 15 miles in the opposite direction. So figure I'd be going AT LEAST 30 miles per day, and on a few days possibly 50 or 60. Obviously, this is about $40 per week or more and it's totally going to kill me on a college budget. So once again I'm back to selling the Bronco (Or trying to find a beater civic for like $500 which I've had no luck with) and I figured a Taurus SHO would be perfect for myself. I've always liked my friends plain jane Taurus (It's quick, he he) and I figure a Taurus SHO has plenty of room to haul friends and things plus it probably gets decent milage and it's pretty quick as well.

So what is the milage, power ratings and etc on the SHO? I'm looking at the early ones with the 5-speeds. I see a lot of them around here for a decent price. Also, how much are the parts? Are they as rediculous as Ford says?

 

dassmoof, check out this site first. wwwV8SHO.com I would be very careful if I was you about buying a used SHO. They are horrendously poor on reliablity. New ok used terrible. I've owned 2 of them. A Gen I and a Gen III. Loved them both but got rid of them before things started going wrong.

 

DO NOT buy a V8-powered SHO. They are a time bomb waiting to happen, you'll be looking at a MINIMUM of $5,000 to fix that engine when the camshaft lets go (and it will), and Ford is doing absolutely NOTHING to help out customers with them. Don't say you haven't been warned.

 

The Gen 1 SHO with the Yamaha engine in it was pretty fast. It was the six cylinder one with 220 Hp/5 speed. It got decent MPG too. And yes for those who didn't realize it , Yamaha built that six cylinder for Ford just for the SHO.

 

Skip the SHO...try a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe!!

 

I was thinking about the 6/cyl anyway, heh heh. I didn't even know they put a v-8 in a SHO

 

I'd guess even the V6 SHO would be a bit of an oddball, part-wise.

 

Actually, the Yamaho built V-6 engine is as reliable an egine as you are going to find with proper maintenance. Read Here. The Taurus SHO Gen I and II's are the prefererred choice on account of the V6 engine. The prices on SOME of the engine parts may be a little higher in SOME cases, but nothing that should scare you away. The V8's (1996+) are indeed known for bad cams that need to be welded and then are good to go.

Check things out for yourself here:

What should I look for in a used SHO?

http://www.shoforum.com/

Good luck!

 

I owned an 89(first year). These were good(except for the clutch) until about 80,000 miles and then things started to break. Most reliability guides rate the early model SHOs as some of the least reliable cars. They made the Consumer Reports "10 Worst Vehicles" list in the mid 90s.

The clutch on the early V6s wears out at about 30,000. There was a class action suit where Ford had to pay for clutch replacements on any SHO that required one for the early model years. The 89 was the worst on clutches, I highly recommend against buying at least that year. The bell housing had an aluminum shaft that the throwout bearing rode on. The shaft would look like a chipmunk had nibbled on it after about 30,000 miles and the clutch would start to stick and then glaze thus requiring replacement long before the actual clutch material was worn off. You had to replace the entire bellhousing to repair this for the next 30,000 miles or so. If the clutch seems to be tight and has a "notchy" fell to it, that is a good sign the shaft looks like Alvin and the Chipmunks have been at work.

The V6s seemed to have problems with sensors going bad which would cause the engine to start to stumble and die on hot, stop and go traffic type days, the dealer never did figure this one out. Cost me thousands to have them try. I finally got the answers from a SHO owners page.

Also required a MAJOR tuneup every 60,000 miles, including cam belt, cam adjustment, and the usual stuff, to the tune of about $1,200, at least back in the 90s. Parts for these things are EXPENSIVE since they are almost a custom design and low volume production and "where else yah gonna buy parts from, boy?" Try $35+ for a thermostat. EGR valves are VIN specific and cost almost $100, plus you will need the PFE sensor at about $100+ while you are at it. The fog lights are $100+ each, if you can find them, and if there is gravel on the roads you will lose one every year, at least I did. Tip, use that headlight plastic film from 3M, available from Griot's Garage to protect the lights, works pretty good.

The newer ones are a mystery to me since I have never had an interest in the SHO since my 89. So I have no opinion on the newer V8s.

I did not like the mechanical reliability of the car, and I consider myself a fair mechanic, at least better than the dealer I went to who would just remove and replace without figuring out the problem. They cost me about $2,000 per year to maintain my SHO in the last few years of service when I was foolish enough to think they could do a better job than I could, I was wrong. $1,000 for a heater core replacement, yeow!?!

If you need a reliable car, I would stay away from the V6's, I have no clue on the V8s. The V6 was a heck of a fun car to drive but it cost a fortune to maintain and when it broke, it would cost way more than a regular car.

Only good thing about the SHOs that I can see, is that they depreciate like pork futures in Iraq, so you can get them dirt cheap.

I bought a Chevy after the bad experience with the SHO. Prior to that, we had owned mostly Fords and never a Chevy. I like the Chevy MUCH better than the SHO.

Just my opinion,

Jim Henderson

 

Hi Jim,

Sounds like you had a real lemon, sorry to hear it. Keep in mind that any first-year model car is bound to have kinks to be worked out.

The clutch issue was acknowleged by Ford and straightened out over a decade ago, so I don't think clutch probelms are even an issue today unless you have a very early model with an original clutch, which is highly unlikely.

The 60K tuneup (valve lash adjustment, timing belt, etc) is a byproduct of having a high-performance engine. The whole process is doable by anyone who knows how to turn a wrench and has a little patience. In fact, a step-by-step guide to virtually any SHO maintenance procedure can be found on the internet, no problem.

Like I mentioned before, some of the parts on the Yamaha built Ford engine will cost you a little more, but most parts will not. I don't know where you got your parts way back when but these days there are multiple vendors of aftermarket parts for the SHO engine. And as for the rest of the car (aside from the special engine, police package suspension and brakes), it's nothing more than a Taurus (which is a nice car in and of itself), so all other parts are very easily obtainable.

My guess is that your heater core problem had nothing to do with the specific model of the car. I've heard of heater core problems in Fords across the board due to electrolysis or the infamous "brown coolant" problem...but I have not heard of heater core problems arising just because the car is an SHO.

There's my .02 right back at ya...

 

Driving home, I noticed a SHO sitting on the lot of a local dealer. It looks like about a '91 or '92. I might go take a look at it after school just for the heck of it

 

I had an '89 SHO, I put 140,000 miles on it. On the ORIGINAL CV joints. I repacked them once, and they were still good-to-go at 140K.

I did have to replace the fan motor. That was a specific low-profile one, that cost 4x a regular one.

The speedo cable snapped at 137K. I had it replaced within a week. It was pretty easy to do. I think it cost $65.

The original front rotors warped. Not uncommon with Tauruses. The replacement set never warped.

Foglights were fond of rocks. Very similar issues with mustang GTs of the same era.

Ultimately, I was tired of fixing the A/C. It was a common problem with Fords of that era. The compressor was nothing special, and there was even a recall where Ford redid the seals in the A/C system. It just wasn't a good A/C system, and a black car in Texas needs good A/C. If I lived in a cooler climate, I would have held onto it longer. It was a good car.

 

More accurately, it's a product of having a CRAPPILY DESIGNED performance engine. Give me a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe: parts available EVERYWHERE, cheap, & plentiful (it's a Fox-body, like a Mustang), no valve adjustments needed (solid lifters in the 90's? give me a break), no oddball $35 thermostats or $100 sensors, timing belt is about an hour to hour and a half job.

That, and it's REAR WHEEL DRIVE!

 

More accurately, it's a product of having a CRAPPILY DESIGNED performance engine. Give me a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe: parts available EVERYWHERE, cheap, & plentiful (it's a Fox-body, like a Mustang), no valve adjustments needed (solid lifters in the 90's? give me a break), no oddball $35 thermostats or $100 sensors, timing belt is about an hour to hour and a half job.

That, and it's REAR WHEEL DRIVE!

 

I don't really know that much about the TB Coupe... don't really see that many early-mid 90's TB Coupes around my area. I thought that the mid 90's V8 models had some 4 speed automaic trannies with problems. And if I understand it right, many of them came equipped with the same 3.8L Ford engine that is known to blow head gaskets (which, BTW, is why I sold my '93 Sable with the 3.8L in it).

As for rear wheel drive, I'm not sure that's such a great thing, my personal preference is FWD sedans, much better traction and overall stability, particulalry when winter hits.

And to be quite frank with you, I really don't care much at all for the styling of the late '80s and '90s T-Birds (although on the other hand, I absolutely love the new "concept" design!). The Taurus is a much better looking car for that era.