Last night, this car died while traveling. No sputter and no loss of voltage. It cranks but will not fire. I have not tested yet to ensure there is no spark, but considering it simply died as though the alternator went out without losing power to the accessories and is still able to crank, I'm fairly certain it is not the batt or alt. Since it did not sputter to death, I am ruling out fuel pump, fuel relay and clogs, this is not an intermittent problem and it has never occurred before, as far as I know, so no shorts in my opinion. I am suspecting something in the ignition system such as coils, etc. First, does this have coil packs or is it a distributor. If it is coil packs, then I believe I can rule that out as well as there was no rough idling or accelerating. If it is a distributor, then I am thinking somewhere from the rotor back to the coil and all the sensors in between. Same for the coil packs but ignoring the packs.
My question is what would be the most likely cause for this gen and model? Does it have an Achilles heel in the ignition system after so many years or might it just be wear and tear to a sensor or rotor, etc? Does anyone have any other ideas as to who the culprit might be?

 

There is an CCRM (Constant Control Relay Module) under the radiator cover on the drivers side. It has a fairly large wiring connector going to it. First check all the fuses and to be sure all are good.

 

I would look at the CCRM as 'way2old" has mentioned.

My personal experience on this generation of Taurus/Sable is as follows:

I had a 1994 Sable that ran fine one evening. Put it in the garage, then the next morning, it would not start. Everything worked fine and cranked fine, but would not fire up. Found a "GREEN" wire going into the CCRM. Cut out the bad section of wire and spliced in a new piece and all worked fine from then on.

I would also check for a "GEEEN" or just plain bad ground connection from the battery. This can cause the CPU to not have a good ground for the injectors to fire. To see if this is the issue, you can spray some fuel into the throttle body. If the engine fires up, then you could have a ground issue.

But check the CCRM and surrounding wires in the area first. It sets right where road crud can get to it.