We were driving on the freeway when the car began to lose power. We were close to an off ramp, and exited. At that time, the temperature gauge started to climb, and the engine stopped. We had the car towed to a garage near our home. An engine core plug had failed, the resultant lose caused the engine to overheat, and damage the head gasket. We had to replace the engine for $3900. I have contacted ford motor company, but they state that there is no recall for this engine problem, so I am sueing them in small claims court. Dt
1997 Ford Taurus engine complaints
Page 3 of 6: complaints 41 to 70 of 150, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Re: 1997 taurus 3.0 vulcan - frost plug corrosion and head gasket blown!.
Driving down freeway, car overheated, then stalled, then wouldnt start. The engine was blown, head gasket blown and there was water in the oil. Have extended warranty thru universal and they are not honoring warranty. Was never informed on the cooling recall.
Catastrophic failure of head gasket while traveling at highway speed. Caused total failure of electrical power systems inhibiting braking and steering making control of the car difficult and endangering driver, passengers and surrounding vehicles.
The coolant is leaking from underneath the vehicle. The engine has rusted and the water pump is warped. The dealership is aware of the problem.
Engine is ticking. Took vehicle to dealer ,and stated that motor needed replacing. Please provide any further information.
While driving, the vehicle stopped running. The sprocket on the camshaft had come loose which threw off the timing/pistons, hitting a valve, and destroyed the engine. Contacted dealer. *ak
This failure has happened to atleast 100 of the 20,000 taurus sho vehicles manufactured it is only a matter of time before it happens to all of them. Ford has done nothing to resolve this defect or bad design problem becasue there has not been any loss of life. It is only going to be until there is some unsuspecting mother and child that dies from losing control of the vehicle on an expressway when this happens. Then maybe ford will try to rectify the problem. Please do what you can to force ford to rectify the problem before the loss of life has occured. Not only will ford not fix there mistake but they have the only parts to repair these vehicle and have set the price to puchase these parts at an outragous amount. $1000 for a new cam. $500 for a gasket set $12000 for a new engine.
Cam gear failure, car stalled at 40 MPH in traffic, lost all power, ford motor company has been notified, unwilling to admit any problem with camshaft gear, and will not help with repair bills. 100 documented cases of cam gear failure can be found at www.v8sho.com.
The car slams into 1st gear from 2nd when slowing down, also when you put the car in reverse from the parked position, and sometimes from park to drive. The coolant resevior looks as though someone filled it with mud.
Engine coolant turned brown and supposedly corrosive due to so-called poorly designed cooling system. This caused my timing cover to begin leaking and my head gasket and engine to fail while on our family vaction in seattle. I have noticed numberous other complaints regarding this problem in your files and was wondering if there is any recourse that can be taken. I am looking at a bill of approximately $4,0000 to replace the engine. Please suggest any action that I can take to recover all or part of this cost from the manufacturer.
While standing still at light and without warning vehicle shutdown and became inoperable. Dealer has been notified.
While stopping at a light and without any indication vehicle would stall. Dealer has been contacted. Please provide further information.
While driving heard a noise and vehicle cut off, which was as caused by cam failure. *ak
Piston cracked, causing vehicle to have a late acceleration and could cause an accident. Cause unknown. Dealer will be contacted.
Screw in engine sheared off, causing engine to overheat. Please provide further information.
This is a failure of the secondary sprocket on the camshaft of my 1997 taurus sho. This to me seems to be a manufacturing defect the camshaft is attached to the cam by splines which under the stress of the engine spin un the cam which throws off the timing and destroys the engine. Ford knows of this problem and asked the people of v8show.com to send them some cams so they can test them. I am an owner that owes $6000 on a vehicle which is completly out of order sitting in my garage because I do not have the extra money anywhere between 5000 and 15000 to fix it. 5000 is for a used engine wth 50,000 miles on it. 15,000 is the cost of a new engine from ford. Please help in anyway you can.
Vehicle stalled at 70 MPH. Dealer determined that head gasket blew, and engine needed to be replaced.*ak
Coolant is leaking onto motor. Dealer has inspected and repaired vehicle; however, problem has reoccurred. Please provide additional information.
While traveling on highway and without prior warning vehicle was leaking anti freeze from underneath the hood. Dealership was aware of problem.*ak dealer found freeze plug had rusted out, dealer stated that this condition was a defect, manufacturer denies any claim.
While driving vehicle suddenly jerked forward and then stalled out. Have contacted dealership.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
While driving at approximately 70 MPH engine lost all power, and there was a "ticking" noise coming from engine compartment. Dealership examined vehicle, and determined that camshaft failed, and the engine had to be replaced. Please provide any additional information / documentation.
This is the second blower motor to need replacing.
Ford provided a no-charge service program, number 98b23 to owners of 1996 and 1997 taurus and sable vehicles equipped with a 3.0l engine. The purpose was to check the cooleng system and install a coolant by-pass kit. This program was eligible through february 28, 1999, regardless of mileage. Only first owners were contacted. My daughter as 2nd owner was not. She gave me the car in june,2001 and neither one of us had an inkling of the coolant problem. My car engine blew with no warning. We are lucky to survive the incident. Ford doesn't want to hear about the incident. All they can say it's out of warranty. This is a potentially dangerous problem with this vehicle. I think it should be investigated. The public should be aware of the design flaw so they could take care of it before it causes a serious accident. I would like to be contacted to hear from you if anything can be done about this.thanks.
We were driving on a busy freeway when the engine failed and completely stopped . We had no prior knowledge that the car had a cooling system problem. My daughter gave me the car so I would have a "safe" vehicle to drive. She owned it for the 3 years prior. Bought when it was a year old. Was never notified of a recall or adjustment for the cooling system by a kit provided by the ford company.the ford co. Has an extended warranty to 100000 miles on their ford taurus 3.8 engine but not this 3.0l although the same problem exists, blown head gaskets, cracked heads, etc. Would appreciate some help. This at least my 4th form I filled out trying to get an answer from you. Can I expect one or am I just blowing in the wind? Lillian c. Carson.
Engine has caught on fire. Dealer has yet to be contacted. Please provide further details.
Radiator leaks water and cannot be driven. Dealer has yet to be contatced. Please provide further details.
No summary listed for abover vehicle.
Camshaft secondary sprocket failed, spinning on the camshaft tube causing the engine to stop instantly when the valve and pistons tried to occupy the same space in the combustian chamber. New replacement engines are not available for this vehicle, only salvage units. Rebuilds, if possible on this model exceed $4800 at the very least! I have been informed while performing some research on this problem that it is "a common problem for this motor" according to a local ford dealership.
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