Hey from NC

[IvanM07]

Hi everyone, I'm Ivan, from Charlotte, NC.

I don't have an EcoBoost yet but have been looking in my area and found a 2016, 2017 and 2018 Taurus SHO I'm looking at trying to decide which one to buy within the next 2 weeks or so.

Is there any real differences on the interior or electronically different between the 3 years? Also, Is there anything to be aware of or to check when buying one? This will be my Daily since I've put on about 60,000 Miles on my Jeep SRT in the last 2-2.5 years and the 11-13.5mpg @ 93Octane made me interested in getting one haha.

I've looked through several of the Mod pages and tried to look into as much as possible and think I'll probably go with a Tune, Downpipe, Intercooler, tstat and plugs within the first month or so. I Don't Imagine I'll be doing much more to it after that. Possibly the MDesign CAI, I understand it's not super lifechanging as far as gains but the look and sound from a CAI on my Old Hellcat was well worth it and am hoping for a similar sound here as well

I have an existing Diablosport Trinity T2 and HPTuners Interface, are there any tuners here on the forum that use those handhelds? If at all possible I'd like to not have to get a 3rd. It looks like SCT is the main one folks have been using, are tuners more accustomed to using SCT or is it just a better platform than others?

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

[TopherSho]

Welcome!

Onto the topic what to look out for  ::

It is a tough thing to scope but the #1 issue is the PTU.  Ford gives zero poops about it breaking down and it has no service schedule and is 'filled for life'.   With that in mind the lesser mileage option might be good,  and or check to see if the PTU has been ''serviced'' aka-replaced and go for the one with the fresh ptu.  the Issue is the unit is snugly flanked by exhaust, sits behind the tranny and is behind a shield and gets not real cooling airflow so the oil gets thick and cooked, and looses it protection FAST.  Another option might be to see ''where'' the car came from with a car-fax.  If it has been in colder climates it may have more life left in it. Either way with a strong tune,  if your the wrenching type buy a spare and shelve it,  get a revision g or later if you can.  The forums have a method of doing a drain/fill on the fluid,  and you should opt to do it every 15-30k depending on how hard you beat it.  It is a bear to do just FYI.

Probably the next most important thing is the rear bank of the engine bay is also a hot spot.  no air flow cooks the injectors,  and the turbo in the back gets hotter and if the previous owners did not change the oil often enough the turbo oil lines get gummy,  and or the turbine gets loose in the housing from failing lubrication.    if your a wrencher check both turbo spindles for play,  replace as needed.  For the injectors look at the plugs,  if they are gross % sticky or you have one that has excessive carbon you may have a sticky injector.  these engine can pop the rings with bad injector like mine did.

some members have had issues with the RDU, but I think they were early days tuning issues ..  but buying a spare RDU is cheap and doesn't take a lot of shelve space.


Plugs should be changed often,  25k or so depending on the tuner and aggressiveness of the timing

hmm what else.  Oh skip the octane adders,  if you search a bit you will find a number of members had issues with octane adders fouling both the plugs and the O2's .. not sure why the same engine in the trucks don't have this issue. but the SHO's get dirty with a number of octane adders.

There is a gearhead after market IC,  I strongly recommend it, it can save you from running METH to cool down the IAT sensors,  unless your like me and do it anyways

E30 makes these cars raging hulks,  but the fuel system is severely borderline,  if you get a E30 get it from AJP or Gearhead.  IMO no e30's from anyone else.  otherwise you may end up lean/fuel starved in the middle of a run.


there are LOTS of opinions on oil to use,  but everyone (almost) pretty much agrees,  change the oil OFTEN.  Dealers choice on the brands


Jury really cant agree on the MSD coils,  I use them but I do not think they were worth it in the end.  mileage may vary..

PPE-Engineering downpipes are member used-confirmed direct bolt-n-go.  no o2 j-pipes, extenders etc, pass emissions like a champ.


the crowd favorite tire 'seems' to be the Conti-dws-06   but we have a wide range of tires in use.  kinda depends on region.


ohh tires == rims,  super light rims on the front make for horrible chop.  **BUT** I do not think anyone has tested the super light rims WITH the new trans mounts, I am super curious if super lights will work if the powertrain is less squirrely and bolted down more.


That's all i can think for now ...

[bpd1151]

Welcome aboard the forum, as well as your impending purchase and resulting SHOsanity!

Ha!

Topher did a wonderful job of articulating the highlights and what to look for.

No real difference between the three model years you are considering. Here again Topher did well in lowest miles, as well as checking CarFax to see where either of the three originated. Winter climates will most certainly exhibit rusting on undercarriage and other bits (if driven in said climate). So you may want to opt to balance mileage accrued against location came from.

Only thing I can possibly think of having changed was/is the version(s) of Sync software. But there have been many who've successfully updated to current versions over older ones.

They're great cars. Solid. Fun. Maintenance is tantamount however to maintaining that solidity and dependability. Where else can you lug around a family of 5, a trunk large enough to hold numerous groceries, and still be able to take it to the local track for some spirited fun?

Enjoy and post up pics of whichever one you end up with, as well as an option list etc.

Good luck!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[PDSHO]

Greetings from Nebraska.


Greg