Vehicle stalls at traffic light several times. Strange sounds from engine.
2003 Ford Taurus engine complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 90, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated that after igniting the vehicle, smoke was coming from the outside of the vehicle. In addition, the engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. Updated 04/14/15*lj updated 7/20/15*cn updated 7/29/15*cn updated 9/21/2017
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle overheated without warning. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic, who stated that the radiator fluid container needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
When accelerating to go up a slight incline, the vehicle "surged" and lost all gears. I let my vehicle coast to a stop and put it in park. The vehicle will go into and out of park, but when placed in any gear is motionless....will not move in reverse, or drive. This vehicle only has 52000 original miles on it!
My husband picked me up from school and he went in the store and the car while me and my 1 year old were in the car started smoking like from the air conditioner part the whole front part of the car, my husband ran out of store stating car was on fire he pulled car way from gas station, I got out of car and got my daughter out, fire was coming out of hood and bottom of car high we called fire department everything is on camera, than a police officer came out. The fire department put out the fire.
Was driving in traffic when throttle became stuck open. Engine revved high. I put it into neutral, applied the brakes and pulled over. Engine was revving at 4000 RPM's. Open engine hood and noticed the throttle cable mount/harness had broken loose and came out of alignment. I then drove home and tried to call a service station, but it was after 5pm on saturday and could not find an open service station. Will call ford on monday morning.
Numerous problems!!!car died in the middle of an intersection.has happened 3 separate times. Have had car towed several times. Car won't start after being run for afew miles;will start again after cool. Mother has cancer and need this vehicle to get her to her chemotherapy and doctors appointments. Mother also uses a walker and after getting chemo treatments which physically wear her out it is extremely dangerous, frustrating, and highly inconvenient to get her into a tow truck!!!!! Hundreds of complaints all over the internet and still nothing. Apparently someone(perhaps your department)needs to look into this very prevalent issue!!!!!
Went to my mothers for thanksgiving dinner. On the way home going 55 mile an hour the car stared excelling in speed. My husband was driving and knew to put the car in neutral to get the car to stop. He had to constantly stay on the brakes to slow it down. We got the car home, I looked on line and saw the complaints on your website. My husband then took the car to the local for dealership. He took a copy of the complaint with him. Ford service dept. Said they didn't want to see that article and wanted $80 to even look at the car. The car is not fixed, we plan on trying to get it fixed in the near future. If you would like to see what it is doing, that should take place in the next few weeks.
I was driving down state road 9 an as I started around a curve my RPM shot up an MPH gauge went down envied revved up. I had no drive no neutral no reverse no nothing.
Entered highway on-ramp. As I merged onto highway at approximately 55 MPH, I notice that the car was accelerating faster than usual for the amount of throttle I was using. I took my foot off the throttle completely and the car continued to slowly but steadily accelerate. Without placing my foot on the throttle, I continued down the highway to the next exit. As I approached the light at the end of the exit, I began braking. Feeling the engine fight the brakes, I moved the shift level into neutral and brought the car to a stop on the shoulder of the exit. As soon as I placed the shift lever into neutral, engine RPM shot up as if the accelerator was being depressed. Repeatedly pressing and un-pressing the accelerator pedal did not nothing, nor was the pedal stuck on the floor mat. I turned the car off and place the shift lever into park. Starting the car again resulted in the same behavior: engine RPM shot up even though the accelerator pedal was not depressed. I turned the car off and opened the hood. I identified the throttle body and notice that a plastic clip had become dislodged from the point where the throttle cable enters the throttle body. After several minutes of reinserting and wiggling the clip, I was able to get it to stay in its proper place, and thereafter, the throttle behaved normally. I carefully drove to the nearest ford dealership where they replaced the following part: yfiz*9a825*ca actuator asy. I have this invoice available if you need it. I have not experience any other issues with the throttle.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled while driving. The contact stated that every light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was restarted but the failure recurred. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the fuse needed to be changed and the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified and stated that there was nothing that could be done because there was no recall. The failure mileage was 70,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The latest incident was today. Vehicle was started, idling, put into reverse with foot on the brake. Engine suddenly increased speed and vehicle lurched backwards. Vehicle was put in drive with foot on the brake, engine would periodically increase speed and vehicle would lurch forward. On several other occasions while driving, notably at speeds 20-40 MPH, vehicle speed would start increasing on it's own. On those occasions, the increase was not rapid or extreme, these were thought to be flukes, but now it's lurching after the vehicle is put in drive or reverse. The frequency of these incidents with this vehicle are increasing and I believe this is a serious safety issue.
Total transmission failure out of no where. Multiple other phantom engine failures/engine inexplicably dies.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact had to have the vehicle pushed to their residence because it could not be restarted. The dealer was notified of the issue who advised the contact that there were no recalls. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 32,000.
I was driving down a side street when the car quit moving forward. I coasted to a stop and tried reverse, and it would not go in that direction either. The engine was running when this occurred. I had a baby in the car and a trunk full of groceries. I got out and checked all the fluids. They were full. The transmission fluid was clear. The maintenance book said not to change the transmission fluid until 100,000. My car has only 73,000 miles. This car is well maintained. I paid to have it towed to the nearest car repair shop. They determined it was a transmission problem and could not fix it. I then had to pay to tow it to another shop that informed me that this was a characteristic problem of a 2003 ford taurus. If this defect is known by ford's and they chose to ignore it and not fix our cars, I hope you will do the right thing and make ford's fix it without me having to pay a huge bill which is hard on a limited income. I saw this address on a facebook page. The address is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/fight-for-recall-of-2003-ford-taurus-transmission-problems/156915101017448. Please check out this page. You will see the many people are having this happen. I just stumbled upon the page by accident. I wonder how many more there are out there not knowing that there are a lot of us driving ford's defective cars. Please make them accountable. They did not hesitate to take car payments for years. They should not hesitate to fix a car that they built. I was from detroit and always believed in buying american, but my opinion has changed. That is a shame. Thank you very much. I hope you can do something to help me.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle would accelerate even when his foot was not engaging the accelerator pedal. The contact also stated that he was able to maintain control of the vehicle by engaging the brakes. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The current mileage is 184,341. ..updated 04/16/12 *bf the consumer stated the engine did not slow down normally when the accelerator was released. The vehicle would maintain speed for 15-20 seconds after the accelerator was released. The engine idle was set too fast. Updated
Vehicle made noise while driving on flat ground. Asked passenger if they heard the noise and they did not. Car continued to drive approximately 2 more miles. Car started to fail while driving uphill. The car made a revving sound and then stopped moving. Turned flashers on and pulled over to the side of the road. Scared that car would not park. Tried to change gears and vehicle went into park. Still scared so hand brake was applied. Called father and uncle to move car. Car had to be pushed backwards down the hill into a parking space at a secondary school. Next day, car was towed to residence. Vehicle will be towed to transmission specialist in february for diagnosis. Had to worry about getting to work to even pay for repair. Scared to imagine the cost.
Was pulling out of the car garage and put in reverse the car started back and the engines RPM roared up and crashed in to neighbor tree went across the street and crashed in the other neighbor tree and house all of this in reverse.
2003 ford taurus. We were driving down the road and the engine revved up like it was in neutral. No power at all. The car started slowing down in traffic and there wasn't anything that we could do about it. We coasted over to the shoulder of the roadway. We put the car in reverse - nothing, put the car in drive - nothing. We had the car towed to the mechanic. It will cost $2,500.00 to fix. The car only has 53,000 miles on it. Ford knows about the defective transmissions on these cars but fails to do any recalls.
Was going to work on 11/13/2011 at 5a.m., warmed up car , jumped in said car put it in reverse ...nothing; put it in drive....again nothing= blown transmission...no warning at all!!
I was driving on a major highway with my children and all of a sudden my car's transmission light came on, my car started bucking, and soon lost power and I was forced to put my car in park in heavy traffic and restart it.
It should be a transmission problem. When I was driving at 65mph the car lost dragging force suddenly and I had to push the car to the emergency zone. Then I cannot move the car anymore with any shift (r, d, od, 1). I found many 03 taurus had the same problems from some other websites. The model should be recalled because it has nothing warning sound or damage clue.
Oil change was performed on my 2003 ford taurus (mileage was 73,200) 8 am the morning of march 8, 2011 at a ford dealership. When the dealership was finished w/my car, I drove to work, less than 5 miles away. I parked my car at my office and it sat in the parking lot until 5 pm that day when I drove my car home. The afternoon of march 8, 2011 we had a thunderstorm pass over w/1-2 inches of rain. When I got in my car to drive home I noticed a spot on the passenger side floor mat but didn't check it until I arrived home. When I opened the passenger side door and removed the floor mat, I could see the carpet was soaking wet. I immediately used several towels to soak up the water. The morning of march 9, 2011, I drove my car back to the dealership where I had the oil change. I asked the service manager to look at my car, showing him the damp passenger side carpet. I asked him if someone bumped something under my hood when they changed my oil the day before. I asked him if they knocked something loose that would have caused the leak on the floor. He said 'no' but asked me to return to the dealership the following morning march 10, 2011. I did return to the dealership, they looked at my car and told me I had a cowl leak and it would cost approximately $400 to fix. I have not had it fixed but I've noticed from reading about other 2003 ford taurus owners, they've had this same problem.. Is there not some way ford motor company should be held responsible and pay for these repairs?
Spark plug ejection 2003 ford taurus ses 24v.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact was decelerating to approximately 30 MPH when the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact was able to restart the vehicle as it resumed normal operation. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they were unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure recurred intermittently when decelerating to approximately 30 MPH and under. The failure mileage was 170,000 and the current mileage was 182,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated that the rpms suddenly increased and the transmission surged violently. The contact referenced a related tsb (tsb 018746, engine and engine cooling) but no related recalls. The contact called the manufacturer who stated that repairs would have to be repaired at the owner's expense. The vehicle had not been repaired as the parts were on back order. The current and failure mileages were approximately 68,100.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. While driving approximately 55 MPH the engine began make a knocking noise and a check engine service light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was driven onto the emergency lane and would not restart. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that a valve spring head broke off inside of the engine causing engine failure. The authorized dealer replaced the engine with a remanufactured engine. Within a few days, the failure recurred and the vehicle was taken back to the authorized dealer who stated that they did not know what was wrong with the engine. The vehicle was not repaired and the failure continued to occur intermittently. The failure mileage was 73,887 and the current mileage was 80,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. The contact stated that the check engine light illuminated on the dashboard.the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the cam sensor was replaced. Approximately 5 months later the failure recurred and the vehicle was taken back to an independent mechanic where the cam sensor was again replaced. The failure recurred again and the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the cam sensor was reset. The failure has not recurred. Approximately 1 year later while driving at approximately 20 MPH the front passenger side tire blew out. Upon examining the vehicle the contact noticed the coil spring was broken and pierced the tire. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the front passenger side coil spring was replaced. The contact also stated that approximately 2 months later while attempting to operate the vehicle it would not shift into gear and would not move. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where it was in the process of being diagnosed. The failure mileage was 77,000 and the current mileage was 90,600.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. While driving the vehicle at any speed and any road condition, the contact would observe an unusual screeching noise from the engine. The dealer performed a diagnostic on the vehicle and advised that the cam shaft synchronizer sensor had failed. The vehicle was left at the dealer where the contact was awaiting repairs. There were no recalls and she was advised the repairs would be at her expense. The manufacturer would not provide any assistance. The failure mileage was 87,000 and the current mileage 87,200.
2003 ford taurus. Consumer states problems with coil springs *tgw the consumer questioned the lack of a recall for an obvious safety problem and perhaps defective material. The front and rear coil springs ruptured on the consumers vehicle. The ball joints, front stabilizer and serpentine belt all had to be replaced on different occasions. The caliper froze, and the rotors were warped. *jb updated consumer letter 10/27/10.
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