How would you rate reliably of the 2003 Ford Taurus SES with 193,000 miles
Is it yours? Are you thinking of buying one?
this is mine
I like the 3.0L engine. I have one of those in my 2001 Ranger. I've also owned a 1999 Taurus with a 3.0L engine.
I don't like that they have zero tolerance for overheating even for a short time.
I think I spend more time glancing down at my temp gauge than my speedometer on my Ranger. (I really like my 2001 Ranger and I don't want anything stupid to happen to it)
Your oil pressure should be more of a concern than your coolant temp if you maintain the cooling system of your Vulcan. The non-distributor models slowly eat cam synchros and eventually cause loss of oil pressure. The Vulcans were designed to run for 5 minutes while overheating without causing catastrophic damage to the engine. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-the-ford-3-0-liter-vulcan-v6/
https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/3_0performance.shtml
My '99 has a Vulcan as well, pushing 280k this week and still going
The Vulcan was one of Ford's better engines of the last 30-40 years. It was designed for the original 1986 Taurus. It's made to be simple to maintain and reliable (Ford introduced their now-iconic yellow-on-black labels in the engine bay on this engine). It was used in many vehicles, so spare parts abound. Maintain it, and it will treat you well. The automatic transmission it's hooked up to will be the source of problems down the line. My '99 Ranger has this engine and it's at 280k miles. The transmission was rebuilt at 251k. They did a bad job. It clunks oddly on a specific shift. The truck will probably rust out from underneath that engine before it gives out.
