2008 Ford Taurus X: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Feb 22, 2015 · Transmission · 160,000 miles · PA

We bought our taurus x used in 2013. Drove around fine for a month or two, would notice that occasionally it would buck as it shifted from 2-3 or 3-4; then would drive 'funny' until the car was shut off and then started back up; the speedometer would fluctuate and when accelerating the speedometer would drop even as we were increasing speed. If using cruise control on the highway it would go exceedingly fast as a result. This happened off and on for most of a year, we would just shut the car off and turn it back on and would be good to go. Could not recreate it, but would happen at least once a week. Last fall, the transmission finally cooked as a result. Now the car will only drive in reverse and 1st, when it shifts into 2nd, it loses power like the gear won't fully engage. Almost got smacked at a red light when this first occurred, since I was halfway through the intersection and lost power. Mechanic drained and flushed the tranny, he said the fluid was cooked. He tried an additive, but it was ineffective. Needs a new tranny. Been sitting since then, a replacement tranny with labor is at least 5k, and the car is only worth about that in perfect condition.

Filed Jun 15, 2012 · Acceleration, Transmission · 54,000 miles · WI

Driving on highway from milwaukee wi, to oshkosh, wi. After driving around an hour at freeway speed with cruise control set at 70, car suddenly accelerated on its own and RPM went up too. Took car off of cruise control and continued driving. The car did it again after a few minutes, accompanied by a loud 'thunk' noise. Immediately got off freeway, turned off car and waited till driving again. Problem did not reoccur then. But happened again next day on way home. Since then it has occurred numerous times. Generally only happens on long trips at freeway speeds after driving about an hour to hour and a half. We do not use cruise control any more, but it still happens on every long trip. Have taken to dealership and contacted ford. They don't see any service codes so nothing has been fixed.

Filed Feb 9, 2012 · Acceleration, Electrical · 50,506 miles · VT

The vehicle was traveling at 70 MPH with cruise control on, in heavy traffic. I tapped the brake pedal to release the cruise control and the vehicle lost all electrical power and stalled in the right hand lane of the interstate. Several commercial vehicles had to make a sudden stop to avoid a collision. The vehicle had to be pushed off the interstate. The local ford dealership performed a standard computer diagnostic test and informed us that the computer was unable to locate a reason for this complete loss of power. We contacted the ford customer service division and were advised to continue operating the vehicle until the problem recurred. In the event of another loss of power we were advised to have the vehicle towed to a dealership so the problem could be investigated.

Filed Jan 16, 2011 · 32,000 miles · MI

While driving on the expressway at 70ish MPH, with the cruise control on, I applied slight pressure to the gas pedal to accelerate around a slower car. When I did, the engine revved to around 3500rpms, but did not gain speed. The engine continued to rev, and since I wasn't accelerating I needed to slow to match traffic flow. I tapped the brakes with no result. The engine was still revving, and next I manually turned the cruise control off at the hand control. The engine continued to rev, and I tapped the brakes again with no result. In urgency I applied heavy pressure to the brake. At that time I heard a snap, and the engine stopped revving, and my speed came down. This all happened within about 6-8 seconds, and resolved just before I had to decide on a place to fly off of the highway going 70 so that I wouldn't kill anyone. This only occurred once as I continued my trip without use of the cruise control. The car was brought in to the dealership where diagnostic testing and road testing were done without duplicating the problem.

Filed Aug 20, 2010 · Acceleration · NH

At 62k my 2008 taurus x began having "surging" issues while what was first felt at high way speeds. It almost felt as if I was driving with somebody that had the bad habit of pressing down on the gas and letting off continuously, only I knew this was not the case for it was myself driving. It was worse when the cruise control was engaged. The problem did not occur everytime driven but the frequency began to increase. One day I turned the car on and you could hear the surging in the idling and see it in the tachometer. This day I was coming to a stop with my foot on the brake and the entire car lurched forward causing me to almost rearend the car in front of me. Once stopped I stepped on the gas to pull forward from the stop and the car would not go although my foot was pressed down on the gas pedal. I continued to drive the car home and while accelerating up a hill the car was waiting until about 3500 rpms to shift - almost like it was slam shifting and bucking until I got to cruising speed at the top. My car is now at the ford dealerships and has been for 3 days. I have been told it was not throwing any error codes but ford head quarters had been involved and once they placed a certain code into my car others came up. Right now I am waiting for the throttle body to be replaced - or so I have been told.

Filed Oct 6, 2009 · Acceleration, Brakes · 6,922 miles · NC

Failure of vehicle to stop. Two incidents - 10/25/08 & 7/13/09. Traffic light turns red, and I tried to brake and car does not stop, engine remains at traffic speed and roars. Shift to neutral and still no response and then turn car off and on. Back to normal and proceed to safely get off road and call ford service. First time cruise control was on an they replaced cancel switch on brake. 2nd time no cruise control and had just left one light and another turns red. Ford cannot determine what is wrong with the vehicle. They drove and could not duplicate and returned with black box to record incident. 2 weeks later I receive a call that on a hunch they ordered a new throttle body and replaced it 8/8. No one feels safe driving this vehicle. I am afraid it will happen again and this time I will not be the first car to approach a traffic light or someone will pull in front of me and I will not be able to stop. The service department at my local ford said there have been no similar incidents. I have contacted ford customer service on line and they have only replied that someone will forward it to the proper department and that I should contact my local dealership, who retains repair records. The local dealership does not have any answers and would not drive the car unless they had to. Which since I purchased the vehicle leaves me no option. I was wondering if there have been any similar incidents. The vehicle in question is a 2008 ford taurus x.