Vehicle experiencing problems with engine.
1997 Ford Taurus engine complaints
Page 4 of 6: complaints 71 to 100 of 150, newest first, as owners wrote them.
This is a known issue to the ford motor company. They have known for a long time of the head gasket in their 3.0 engine problem and refused to admit it. In researching the engine I found that there is a secret extended warranty to 100,000 miles for this problem if the engine has major damage which mine did.
Consumer states while putting vehicle in reverse, radio and windows quit working, sometimes when putting vehicle in reverse the steering wheel will get tight, possible electrical problem.
While traveling at about 65 MPH vehicle made a funny noise, and temperature gauge went above high. Consumer pulled over, and had vehicle towed. Please provide any further information.
A/c compressor seized causing drivebelt failure and loss of steering, alternator, and power brakes.
Check engine went on and engine stopped accelerating, reservoir emptied, dealer says out of warranty.
Car is in shop having 2 cracked heads replaced. Mechanic was advised to keep all parts for further investigation. The ford taurus 3.8 engine has an extended warranty because of head gasket failure. The ford company told me that the 3.0 engine was built in atlanta ga. And there were no recalls on it.the alldata service bulletin 97-24-16 issued 11-24-94 said to simply extrapolate the 3.8l engine for the warranty extension on the 3.0. We almost had a bad accident because the engine died with no warning on a busy freeway. If it is a ingition modular problem also I don't know at this time. I feel this veh engine should have lasted more than 91,334 miles. If ford has a problem with the engine it should be acknowledged before anymore breakdowns occur.
The engine failed due to spontaneous overheating while at hjighway speed.
Camshaft makes a ticking sound that is not at all normal.
Service engine light went on, engine over heated, no coolant left in resevoir. No leaks? Let cool and filled with 5 quarts of coolant. Light stayed on. Drove to ford dealer for diagnostic test. Report back was coolant contaminated with hydrocarbons (used gas). Dealer believes head gasget blown or cracked block. Recommend replace with long block. Approx $4800. Asked dealer about alldata service bullitan 97-24-16 and extrapolating to the 3.8l extended warranty. Dealer said no. Never recieved notice of coolant problem they said out of warranty. Need help.
The rear camshaft sprocket broke requiring the engine to be replaced. The cost of the used engine was $2000 and the cost to replace the engine was $2100. Ford was contacted and refused to repair or contribute to the repair cost. I understand this problem is becoming widespread.
This problem is with taurus, sable & windstar, it can not be repaired...now what? No safety defect listed. *ak tsb 98-9-4 was issued regarding this problem, the corrective action being to replaced the front end accessory drive belt.
The car had about 35,000 miles on it when purdhased it, factory warranty was carried over to us as the new owners. Soon after the sale of the car to us, ford came out with a brown coolant recall, which ran until september 1999. All owners of these 1997 taurus were supposed to be notified of the recall by mail. If notified car owners brought their cars in during this time period, the ford dealers would correct the problem at no cost to the owner. Ford motor company never informed us of this recall. It was not until she brought the car into north bay ford (in santa cruz, ca) to repair a cracked coolant holding tank on july 19, 2000, that she was told of the required recall work need on her ford taurus, but the work was no longer covered under a warranty payment program and the cost was now the owners problem and there was nothing the ford dealer could do about it. At this time we paid the bill, which was over $500. The brown coolant recall program was required because of a design error in the routing of the cooling system hoses into and out of the dash heater coil and the proximity of the hoses around the engine exhaust manifold. The result was that this problem caused the coolant to turn into brown mud from excessive rusting of the engine block. We never experienced any over heating problems with the car until the coolant tank began leaking. Now, because of the excessive rust in the coolant, a galvanic reaction develops with freeze plugs in the engine block. The dealer insisted on changing the plugs, but he only changed 2 of the 4 plugs. The job also included a complete engine flushing to remove all the old rusty coolant. On july 7, 2001, brown coolant began running out onto the ground for the second time which required another $500 to repair. Ford motors will not do anything to cover the cost of there engineering error.
A recall for brown coolant had been performed on the car in december of 1998. The brown coolant from what I understand now was rust. The dealership replaced two freeze plugs, however the plugs used are not the same as the original. The new plugs were held on with a clamp. It turns out that the rust was already in the coolant system and after two and a half years and approximately 30,000 miles later the clamp rusted out and the coolant poored out of the car which in turn caused the cylinder to crack and burn two head gaskets. Apparently their recall was a bandaid that didn't heal the wound and only caused further damage over time.
Consumer has problems with engine when vehicle reaches speeds above 35-MPH enigne will stall. This is an intermittent problem. Has not contacted dealer.
Sand from casting process is inside cooling system. Ford has issued a tsb on this problem. Please provide additional information.
I notices there are several complaints regarding a cooling system problem. I too have an issue with brown rusted coolent that caused the head gasket to fail. I was told today that it will cost aproximatly $5000.00 to repair. They want to replace the engin, radiator, heater core, water pump, etc. The service manger at the dealer said that this is caused by poor cooling system design that causes a rust build up and the eventual blown head gasket. Since this is an obvious design flaw with many accounts listed on the federal safety agency, I would like an investigation and the possible recall by the manufacturer (ford).
Coolant discolorated( rusty and brown) goodyear mechanic explained it was what is called "brown death" caused by engines not being properly processed at foundry(possibly left sand and metal shavings inside engines. Engines overheats, coolant runs out freeze plugs blow out thermostat locks up water pump fails temperature gauge doesn't register that its overheating
Engine is knocking as consumer accelerates with speed. *ak transmission have been replaced twice in 37ooo miles. Front wheel bearing failed at 15000 miles. Rotors failed at 24000 miles.
Was driving vehicle when suddenly engine blewout. There was no prior warning. Would have water coming out of freezing plug. Took to dealer, and mechanic replaced engine.but, problem still exists. Engine has been replaced 5 times, and problem was getting worse.
There is a fuel smell in passenger's compartment due to oil leaking from oil pan.*ak consumer states the smell is so bad it makes her sick to her stomach.
Head gasket blew out, leaving it inoperable. Please provide any additional information.
Midas repair shop found head gaskets had blown. Vehicle started heating up/ choking, and white smoke was coming out tailpipe. Manufacturer's reponse was that they weren't aware of problem, and no recall was issued.
Water pump failed. During inspection and repair a rust colored fluid was noticed to be contaminating coolant system.
Noticed brown coolant during maintenance. Had some problems with overheating about two weeks prior. Notified manufacturer, was told out of warranty, no recalls, not a wide spread problem. Took to non-dealer shop. Found leaking head gasket. Replaced head gaskets, thermostat, coolant overflow container, and anti-freeze. Resurfaced cylinder heads. Performed cooling system flush. During routine maintenance at ~50,000 miles noticed brown coolant again.
I own a 97 ford taurus that likes to ping. It started in 1998 and at the start of a cross country trip, went away, but came back. I took it to a dealer in tacoma wa, and was told that they cleaned a cylinder and that the owners manual says that light pinging is ok. They blew me off. I moved to fort knox, ky and the whole trip it lightly pinged. I put on over 5,000 miles in less than a month so it isn't carbon. Used name brand fuel the whole trip. It got to the point here that I took it back to ford and was told by ford, that ford has this "pinging"problem in all their engines. V-6 to v-8 and in diff. Vehicles. He had just replaced a 4.0 liter that day. . He wouldn't help me because I was out of warranty by 3 months, have 37,000 on the ford and I didn't have enough documentation on the problem. I work with a guy who owns a 98 taurus with the same problem. I have changed fuel brands and octane ratings and it doesn't go away. There are times when it takes a few hours of driving to start acting up, but it is there. Hills, steady driving, city driving, it doesn't matter. I am worried that I will eat an engine and ford will tell me "oh well". Can you shed any light on this ford known problem? Thank you for your time.
Coolant fluid shot out of radiator onto engine and vents, and mist appeared all over passenger's compartment. Took to dealer, and dealer replaced radiator and hoses. Five months later, water was leaking from bottom of vehicle, took to dealer, and they said it was related to heater core recall. Dealer they replaced heater core pump assembly and core assembly. 14 months later, radiator started leaking. Dealer said it was part of the same recall, but they were going to charge consumer.
Air conditioner failure.
Afraid to drive car, don't know when to expect next failure. No contact from manufacturer, do they care?no safety defect listed.
Engine head gaskets have blown. Dealer has been notified.
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