1996 Ford Taurus Sho: engine failure

Filed Aug 20, 2008 · Engine · 111,949 miles · MI

Engine failure as a result of camshaft gear spinning on cam. During normal driving engine stopped in roadway,requiring tow off roadway to repair shop for diagnosis. The auto is a 1996 ford taurus sho 3.4 v8 .after studying this problem I find this cam failure is a known problem to many and could be prevented by welding the cam sprocket to the camshaft. The repair to this engine is very expensive,and I thought nhsta should be aware of my failure.

Filed May 17, 2008 · Engine · 80,127 miles · OH

I have a1996 ford taurus sho v-8,it just turned 80,000 miles and has had all regular service and now the camshaft gear has failed on the camshaft and damaged the engine!I work at a ford dealer and see this engine failure often. It seems that this is common on the v-8 sho engine around 75,000-85,000 miles and sometimes there is a ticking noise that is considered a warning sign too get repairs but there was not any warning from my engine. I have done all kinds of research and found that there are lawsuits and numerous complaints and blogs devoted to this exact issue but I don,t have any information available for assistance on these very expensive repairs that are definitely due to a design flaw and I have 18 ford technicians that are factory trained too back this up!I did not buy this vehicle new so I can,t say it was never abused but after partially disassembling the engine so far it is clear that it was very well maintained and cared for (it looks brand new inside)there is zero sludge and cams and followers are spotless. I will need to pull the rear head and send to machine shop for exhaust valve replacement and depending on how much damage maybe guides as well. I am very curious as too how many of these engine failures are always only the rear head exhaust camshaft because so far all I have seen is the rear exhaust camshaft gear failure and that is a f- in my grade book!

Filed Nov 19, 2004 · Engine · MN

I had to drive to chicago and spend over $500 to have my cams welded to prevent the common engine failure that is documented here and other sources.

Filed Dec 22, 2003 · Engine · 108,000 miles · IL

Engine replacement costs $16,000.

Filed Jul 24, 2003 · Engine · 80,000 miles · ND · crash · 1 injury

The camshaft in my car failed and caused engine failure. It was a 1996 ford taurus sho. It caused a complete power loss around a corner and I was almost involed in a head on collision. This has been happening to many sho owners. The repair costs are running me $5000 dollars. This is nothing compared to what it could have done to my family. Please help this not happen again. Ford knows there is a problem. Some may not be as lucky as me.

Filed Feb 18, 2003 · Engine · 100,175 miles · MN

Camshafts in the 1996-1999 taurus sho. I have had a failure like many others, there have been over 250 failures of this type, mine was failure number 221. I was driving the car and the engine seized causing the car to dart to the right, if there was a vehicle there, we would have collided. $8500.00 in damage, ford will not cover any of it, this is a quote from a ford rep. "metal wears" but at the rate that this is happening is alarming, 18 cars so far since 02-01-2002. At about $8000.00 each car is $144,000.00 damages febuary alone, for all 250 cars, it is $2,000,000.00 in damages (estimated). This is a serious problem with the design of the camshaft, and should be looked into.

Filed Jan 7, 2003 · Engine · 93,642 miles · MA

My automotive is making a noise from my valvetrain area that my mechanic indicates is a potential camshaft (and subsequent engine failure) problem that should be fixed before continued operation of the vehicle.

Filed Dec 27, 2002 · 118,000 miles · IL

Cam shaft failure. Cam gear separated from cam shaft, causing catastrofic engine failure. Ts

Filed Jun 2, 2002 · Engine · NY

My 1996 ford taurus sho started making a chatter noise on the top end of engine. I took it to a ford dealer in albany, ny. The dealer was orange motors. They charged me 100.00 to diagnos the problem. They said I needed a new engine and the cost was going to be $12,000.00. Since I was in shock with the price, I looked into the problem myself and found a website v8sho.com. They described my exact failrure. This is a common failure among all 1996,97,98,and 99 sho's. The engine is built by yamaha for ford. The problem is the design of the cam shaft. The timing gear sprocket is pressed onto the cam and can come loose at any time. If you hear the audible chatter from the engine, you must stop driving immediately. If you continue to drive the gear will slip on the cam and the engine will self destruct bending valves and destroying the engine. It doesn't matter how an individual maintains the car. This can happen to anyone at anytime. Ford knows of the problem. They issued special service bulliten 15879 to check for the problem. In my case the ford dealer where I took the sho didn't even tell me not to drive the car any further. When this is caught in the beginning stages you can weld the sprokets to the cam. After taking my car apart myself, I found both front cams to have a problem. One moves left and right on the sproket and the other is loose on the cam.(ready to spin completely loose and kill the engine. The cost os this safety issue should not be the consumer's responsibility. This is a latent defect by the manufacturer.

Filed Nov 19, 2001 · Engine · TN

Cam shaft failure on 3.4l v8 sho engine. Vehicle had ticking noise, then vehicle lost power and major engine failure. Upon inspection, cam is stripped and will need replacement. Estimated repair cost over $4,000 usd or replacement engine. I have 47 documented cases of cam shaft failure in 1996-1998 taurus sho's will mileage between 40,000 to 100,000. Median mileage is 85,000. Ford mechanics seem to think problem is poor design of the part, and they are destined to fail. Ford does not want to recall due to vehicle is no longer in production. This failure can be dangerous as most failures are coming when vehicle is driving, and vehicle just shuts down.