I have a '97 mercury sable that was totalled from front end damage, but the car is driveable. It is probably not worth fixing, but I have the chance to buy a '99 taurus that has a bad transmission. Both vehicles have the duratec 3.0 l 24 valve engines in them. My question is can I swap the tranny from the sable to the taurus, and would I be better off doing the motor and the tranny?

 

I would assume that you can change the tranny from one motor to the other, but if you don't have to, I'd do the motor and tranny alltogether.

 

Depending on the year of the two cars, there is a good chance that they are interchangeable. Also, if there is a 1 or 2 year difference, that really shouldn't matter either, they should still be able to interchange.

 

96-99 Duratecs all would have had the AX4N. However, in mid-1998 they change the fluid spec from Mercon/DextronIII to Mercon V (semi-synthetic), so just make sure you are clear on that.