2003 Ford Taurus: hesitation when accelerating

Filed May 22, 2014 · Transmission · 160,000 miles · MN

Car has/had been driving and shifting perfectly,(no slipping, no hesitation, nothing). After driving approximately 4 miles, turning car off for roughly 10 minutes, restarting and driving about 1 mile transmission acted as if it was shifted into neutral. After stopping, attempted shifting through all gears including reverse, same result. After further inspection found fluid level right at full mark, and fluid was as clean as the day it was new,(not burnt at all). Was told by the local ford dealer that this was a common problem with this year taurus and that there is no service bulletins or recalls, (customer pay only). Car has been parked since it broke down because we are waiting to see if ford may/will get forced to address this obvious issue. Thank you.

Filed Apr 23, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · 73,000 miles · FL

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.

Filed Jun 15, 2009 · Engine · 68,454 miles · MI

While driving at highway speeds (65-70) when accelerating to pass, car bucks violently (at 70k miles on odometer). Also, random rough idling since date of purchase of vehicle in july 2003. After taking car in numerous times to dealership while under warranty and they were unable to diagnose even after hooking up recorder. Did my own research on line and discovered a faulty camshaft synchronizer was the problem. This is a $400 repair that ford is aware of as there is a service bulletin on it. However, the failure rate is usually after the warranty expires making it the responsibility of the consumer. I have also personally spoken with a dozen taurus owners who have experienced the same problem. Lodged a complaint with ford motor company who did not respond or follow through. Very disappointed as this could pose a serious safety problem for consumers not to mention catastrophic engine failure if the synchronizer fails completely. If your taurus has a rough idle that is intermittent and the diagnostic says there is no code, it is probably this problem as the service bulletin from ford indicates that the cam synchronizer does not throw a code to the computer system. Also, if your car bucks or hesitates on hard acceleration or there is a high pitched chirping sound, it is the cam synchronizer. If you take it to the dealer tell them what it is so they don't charge you an additional diagnostic fee that will show no problems! It's bad enough to have to pay $400 for a part that shouldn't fail, but does after the warranty expires. Ford should have issued a recall on this and other vehicles that had the same problems (know to occur in the f150 as well).

Filed Jul 26, 2008 · Engine · 75,000 miles · TX

This vehicle continues to get check engine light with code p0175. The vehicle bucks and jerks and hesitates. The car also has been using alot of gas as well which is abnormal.

Filed Jun 25, 2007 · Electrical · TX

Vehicle hesitates or stalls out while in motion. All the dash lights come and then there is a sudden loss of electric power. Have two of the same vehicle and have the problem with both. Ford has tried to correct this but all attempts have failed. Both cars are still under warranty and have about 54000 miles. The cars have been driven with recorders and computer but no codes come up. Lately, they have been hesitating/stalling at least a couple of times a week. Sometimes they stall while driving and sometimes while at a light. The worst is when the lights all come on and they hesitate while moving at 65 MPH with an eight wheeler or SUV right behind. My wife, two daughters, & I have all experienced this situation and it's very frightening.

Filed Jun 25, 2007 · Electrical, Engine · TX

Same as complaint no. 10194207 but with a second vehicle. It hesitates or stalls with no notice other than all the dash lights coming on for a few seconds. Then, there is a loss of power. Happens when car is in motion and at intersections. Car can be going 60 MPH or can be at a stoplight. Has been on flight recorder and computer, but no codes. Different fixes have been tried by ford, but so far nothing has worked for very long. Had both cars in shop again this month for the problem. No one is able to identify the specific problem, so the trial and error method has been for the most recent stays in the shop. Left one of the vehicles at ford for about a week earlier this month. The other was in on and off 2 or 3 times this month. The hesitation and stalling and repeated repair attempts have been going on for awhile because we were told the problem was fixed or could be fixed, but now it is very unlikely with two cars having the same problem and yet to be fixed.

Filed May 2, 2005 · Engine, Fuel system · 38,500 miles · CA

Engine experiences a very short hesitation when accelerating from a stop. On one occassion engine stalled in intersection. Vehicle has been to dealership on two instances and problem is still there.

Filed Jun 21, 2004 · Electrical · 137 miles · CT · crash

Intermittent hesitation during aceleration. North bound, two lane ct 85. Clear, dry pm. Resevoir to my right, trees, signaled for a left turn, no oncomming traffic. I slowed to make turn, then accelerated. I saw a vehicle pull out to pass, several cars behind. My car started to gain speed, then hesitated, the RPM started to build up. The SUV struck my right rear light, and bumper. The accident scene was rual, over a mile to nearest dweling. No phone. Other driver returned to scene. No witnesses stopped. After the body repair work was complete, the service department at simon ford could not find any proble. Probleb manifested itself 5 or 6 times on the way home. It also showed up driving back to simon ford. Did not recur while mechanic was with me, for test drive. Problem has occured about 12 times since. The 2003 ford turus currently has 482 miles on it. Purchased with 64 miles, and accident at 137miles. When problem occurs, after about one second RPM builds to about 1500 RPM, then hangs there for one to two seconds, before increasing. It is as if the engin cut back to two cylinders, then increases to four, and finanly back to six.