Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus. While driving 75 MPH, the vehicle jerked without warning. The contact drove and stopped at the interstate where she noticed a strong burning odor coming from the vehicle, which caused breathing issues. The contact had to open the windows while driving. The contact also stated that the engine light failed to turn on. Once the contact shut off and restarted the vehicle, the engine light turned on. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the coil plugs, PCM, and computer burned out and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was 85,197.
2008 Ford Taurus engine complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 30 of 30, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have seen many many complaints about this same exact issue. The wrench symbol lights up on dash when driving and engine revs as if it is in neutral, low gas mileage symbol lights up and instead of saying how many gallons until empty, there are just 3 dots ( ---). I pull over, turn car off and putting it in park or any gear, it jerks and is loud. It seems as if everything on the car is just shutting down, yet still working. The wrench symbol happens more often, and all the other symbols are only sometimes. I just spent $1000 on the transmission getting repaired so it shouldnt be that. It also says " tire pressure monitor fault" when this happens. The car is very jerky and jerks forward. Doesnt seem very safe. After pulling over and turning the car off, it seems ok if I let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Sometimes, not all the time though. I never know.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the PCM sent excessive energy to the coil pack causing it to melt. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 178,516.
Waiting at a flashing red arrow to turn left. Traffic cleared, I accelerated, got barely into intersection, car choked, would barely move. Semi truck put up huge plumes of blue smoke from tires burning on dry pavement. Truck barely stopped before t-bone in my drivers door. Certainly would have been killed. Coil pack on cylinder #2 burned out, also burning out PCM computer on board. Repaired and replaced both. Cylinder #2 coil pack burned out 2 more times since. Cylinder #4 coil pack burned out once since. Pcm computer had to be replaced twice more since original incident. Ford has had a tech bulletin out since 04/2011 on this problem. The loss of engine power with no prior warning is going to get people killed. I would not be writing this right now, if the semi would have been going a little faster, or would have been a little closer. Googled problem...very, very common, and mostly on cylinder #2. Ford motor company unwilling to do anything. Spoke by phone 06/09/2015
2008 ford taurus. Parked in driveway with foot on brake...all of sudden the engine accelerates rapidly and I proceed to hit the side of the house. The next day was just sitting at stoplight with my foot on the brake and the engine for no reason accelerates to over 4000 RPM.
2008 ford taurus. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle stalling problems. *smd the consumer stated the vehicle stalled eight times, since he purchased it new in april of 2009. The dealer was unable to determine the cause of the stalling, without a code.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving 10 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 30,000 and the current mileage was 40,000.
Stopped at a red light, suddenly engine surged, racing like it was going to take off. I stayed on the brake, then put the car in park, it continued to surge. Moved it back to drive and within a few seconds the surging stopped. I was able to continue on without incident. My mechanic checked the vehicle out without finding anything. I took it to a ford dealer. They went over it, took it out on the road for a test, nothing showed. My concern if it should occur when I didn't have my foot on the brake.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle jerked as there was a sudden loss of acceleration without warning. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the failure was unable to be replicated. The contact mentioned that the engine was replaced but did not resolve the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 85,000 and the current mileage was 35,000. The VIN was not available.
At a complete stop, car lurched forward at full throttle. I have had the car in for this problem previously. The dealership said no codes were stored and they could not duplicate the concern. This is a real safety issue.
At highway speed, vehicle suddenly, without any warning lights, stops running, resulting in loss of all power assist to maneuver vehicle to safety. Unable to restart vehicle. Towed to repair shop. Problem determined to be failure of "coil on plug" ignition coils, which shorted out PCM/processor assembly (main computer). Additionally, this mis-firing resulted in partial low effiency in catalytic converter, which will eventually impair vehicle's ability to meet emission standards. Total repair costs: ignition coils (6), spark plugs (6), and PCM replacement - $2,314.14, catalytic converter replacement - $1,589.95, for a total of $3,904.09 ford motor company has been aware of this problem since at least 2010, and has issued two technical service bulletins regarding this problem.
At a complete stop, and waiting to turn, engine revved up and lurched forward for no apparent reason. (unintended acceleration). Foot was on brake at the time. This occurred twice within an hour on the same day.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus. While the contact was driving approximately 5 MPH, the engine stalled without prior warning. Upon restarting, the vehicle resumed as normal. The similar failure occurred three different times. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 46,000. The VIN was unavailable.
It began with only the wrench light going on and the RPM would go up and the car would lurch forward. I would reset it with a code checker and I would not have the problem. The problem and the light would eventually return. It was recommended to change the air filter, the air filter was changed and the problem went away for approximately 3 weeks. Now not only my wrench light but my engine light also goes on and it returns every day after resetting it. After I looked up the problem on the internet I found that the problems seems to appear in other ford models. I am very surprised that this is not a recall. This is a safety hazard and eventually someone will get hurt or killed before anything is done about this issue.
2008 ford taurus, engine dies unexpectedly. Died three different times while making a left turn. Almost got hit with on-coming traffic two times, also dies at stop signs and waiting for light to change. It is very dangerious because difficult to steer with engine dead. Had in shop 2 times but no help.
I was approaching a stop light, decelerating at approximately 5 to 8 with my foot on the brake when the accelerator sped up significantly pushing the car forward. Even though I applied heavy force to the brake pedal, the engine and RPM gauge kept increasing to between 1800 and 2400 RPM's, far from the avg of 800 when coming to a stop. I put the car in neutral and the RPM and engine speed kept increasing just as if the accelerator was stuck. I put it in park and the same thing happened. I pulled the handbreak and immediately turned the key off. Upon restarting the car, the idle was normal. This is the 3rd time it has happened.
While driving my 2008 ford taurus with 80k miles on 01-21-11 the car started missing. Drove the vehicle directly to my mechanic. Diagnosis was a badly burnt coil on the #2 cylinder. In order to get to the #2 cylinder and spark plugs my mechanic made me aware that the air intake manifold needs to be removed and while that is taking place I should have a tuneup since one is recommended at 90k anyway. Coil in the #2 cylinder was replaced and tuneup completed and car was still missing. Further diagnosis showed that the computer that runs the engine and transmission was ruined when the coil burnt out and for the car to run as it is supposed to it will also need this computer. So I am going to incur a $1000.00 or more in expense because my excellent condition 08', 80,0000 mile car is missing. It would seem to me that a system that allows this much possible damage and expense to happen when a coil goes bad is a flawed system.
I was entering I 70 east in columbus ohio off the james road exit, while attempting to merge into the outside lane. I sped up to adjust my speed, as a vehicle was in the same lane. When I accelerated, the car automatically took over and suddenly accelerated and revved up high and fast. My first reaction was to hit the brakes, I did, but the brakes would not depress or brake. I was trying to think of everything to do and monitor the cars around me, as well. I tried holding down the brakes hard and taking off while the car went flying by two exits, I knew I would not be able to exit because I couldn't stop. I continued with trying to locate the flasher and thinking about hitting the emergency brake but, I didn't because I was unsure whether it would come to a quick stop. I kept pushing down and up on the brake pedal. Suddenly, the revving began to settle down (a fast downward revving sound) and I was able to brake the car. I was unsure whether to pull over so I decided to continue to my destination which was only 3 exits away. I parked and looked at the car and especially the area near my feet, there was nothing interfering with the brakes or the accelerator. I panicked all the way home, not knowing what would happen so I stayed off the freeway, believing the freeway speed would cause a similar issue. As soon as I got home, I researched the issue and found some similar instances with the same make and model. I will call the dealer tomorrow. I had a previous experience with the transmission stopping on the freeway and disengaging while driving and when I stopped. When I would pull over and switch the gears, the car would make a loud dropping sound. And it would be difficulty to switch gears. The car shifts at times and kicks back. The dealer replaced a sensor but, it has not resolved the issue completely. I've taken it back and they found nothing. I hope they will find something, as I am afraid to drive this car after tonights experience.
Usaa fleet vehicle caught fire while in normal operation on a downtown street in ga.
This incident occurred in a rented 2008 ford taurus. I left a restaurant, drove a very short distance to my hotel, pulled into a parking space, began applying the brake and the engine surged uncontrollably. No matter how I braked, I could not stop it. It tore out a small tree and lodged into the wall of the hotel.
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