My son is away at college and was driving our 1998 ford taurus se with less than 100,000 miles. In the middle of driving the car just stopped and would not go into gear. From reading other complaints this seems to be a transmission defect in the ford taurus. We have been the owners of this vehicle since being purchased new off the dealer lot. Cost to fix this transmission problem is prohibitive and makes no financial sense given the current kbb value. Ford needs to recall these vehicles and correct the defect. Now we have our child stuck at college 3 hours away with a junk vehicle also stuck 3 hours away while still paying costly insurance on it.
1998 Ford Taurus: stuck in gear or won't shift
5 of the 545 complaints about the 1998 Ford Taurus describe stuck in gear or won't shift.
- owner complaints
- 5
- of this car's complaints
- 1%
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? 36 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below
Stuck in gear or won't shift by model year
What owners say
Transmission started slipping. Took it to dealer who couldn't look at it for 2 days. Drove across the street to have another shop run it on their computer. After turning car back on, it would not shift into any gear or move. Had to have it towed to another shop. When they took the transmission pan off found broken chunks of metal. Had to have a complete transmission rebuild to the cost of $2600. Always kept our dodge products to 190,000 miles with no major problems. After bought this card heard ford taurus often has tranny problems. Won't buy another ford. Nlm
Engine will not shift into high gear sometimes. Car will hesitate when shifting and sometimes the gear selecter says it is in gear but car will not move.
Transmission does not shift smoothly / jerks forward when placed in park / skips gears.
Vehicle at first wouldn't shift into gear. Stepped on the brakes and downshifting, it jerked. The dealer cannot duplicate the problem.
Service bulletins that may apply
- General (PCM) power train control module programming procedures
- Groan/buzz/vibration when the gear selector is in park with the vehicle parked on an incline
- New transmission cooler flusher - service tips
- Torque converter clutch not engaging when commanded and/or diagnostic trouble codes P0741 or P1744 stored...
- Some vehicles equipped with an AX4N/4F50N transaxle may exhibit a shudder during a 3-4 shift
- Some vehicles may exhibit a groan/buzz/vibration when the gear selector is in park
- Some vehicles may exhibit a park pullout clunk noise when shifting from park to another gear position
- Brake shift interlock
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 1998 Ford Taurus won't shift
Is stuck in gear or won't shift a common problem on the 1998 Ford Taurus?
5 of 545 owner complaints about the 1998 Ford Taurus (1%) mention stuck in gear or won't shift. The model year with the most reports is 2003.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 1998 Ford Taurus?
There are 0 recalls and 36 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 1998 Ford Taurus
Coil spring 33Adaptive cruise 27Sudden acceleration 24Brake failure 22No deployment 20Grinding brakes 19Jerking 14Headlights 12Fire or smoke 11Seat belt 11Transmission failure 11ABS 9Check engine light 9Stalling 9Fuel pump 8Hesitation 7Slipping 7Power steering loss 6Tire blowout 5Won't start 5
VIN decoder
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