While driving down the road, a loud humming started to get loud from the front of my car. Then loud clunking/dragging noises. My car started to slow down and the noises got louder. I had to turn on my hazards and slowly drive back home block by block. There is nothing visibly dragging. But I now have to get my car towed from home as it’s not safe to drive. This isn’t the first time this car has had issues with the steering hub, suspension, tie rods, ball joints, control arms, sway bar, etc. I have had to fix and replace that entire area a multitude of times since I’ve had this car.
Ford Taurus harsh shifting problems
130 of the 16,904 owner complaints about the Ford Taurus describe harsh or hard shifting, most of them for the 2002 model year.
- owner complaints
- 130
- worst model year
- 2002
- typical repair cost reported
- $800
- typical mileage
- 85,000
Is there a fix? There are 7 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Coil spring 23Slipping 12Jerking 10Transmission failure 6Loss of power 5Hesitation 4Grinding brakes 4Ball joint 4
What owners say
Please allow submission of additional information regarding issues with my 2013 Ford Taurus Police Interceptor. As stated on the previous complaint filed on 1/9/2024, I got my car service at AutoNation Ford Service Center on 12/16/2023, and I brought it back to the service center on Saturday, 12/23/2023 because of the car’s poor performance and engine had laminated on 12/17/2023. I went to pick up the car on Thursday 12/28/2023 in the morning, the Ford representative said the car is fine, and there is nothing wrong with the car. I say thank you and drive off. So, I am driving the car for about 5 minutes, it feels sluggish. Then the engine light comes on, I make a U turn and return the car to AutoNation Ford for service. As things stand now, my car is still AutoNation Ford service center, due to the defects which are causing poor performance while driving the 2013 Ford Taurus Police Interceptor, issues such as: Rough Steering, Bad Ignition Switch, and braking issue. Per my previous statement, I drove the car for about on 12/28/2023, it felt extremely sluggish. The hard shifting in vehicle, and steering wheel was rough . The brakes have more issues than normal. The engine light came on.
Car shop replaced front suspension struts 1/23/19. I told owner that made the clunking noise ever worse. Kevin said well, your car needs lower control arms, bushings, &engine mount. Had that done by same car shop on 9/16/2019. I told Kevin that did not take care of clunking noise. I took car to an auto shop where I moved to for maintenance. They told me my struts were bad. Called Kevin in Fayetteville & the struts were going out of warranty later that week. I drove up there & the replaced struts on 1/27/2020, under warranty but charged me labor. The clunking continued. Around 6/29/2022, my car steering locked up while I was driving on a busy street. I turned the car off & waited a minute to restart. It drove properly then. I took it to auto shop & the owner said the struts were bad. This would be the 3rd set of struts since 1/23/2019. This car shop owner told me the problem read the strut bearings and they’d never been replaced. Owner said that is the base component of strut replacements. According to my invoices, I don’t see a charge either time for “strut bearing”. I’ve filed a Complaint with the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office in Little Rock. I asked for money reimbursement for all the charges from Kevin so I can have the local car shop (being the same one that told me strut bearings not being done) was do this 3rd set of front struts. The response to AR Attorney General from Kevin is a joke! I have all documents pertaining to this.
On 4 separate occassions, my 2009 Ford Taurus limited automatic transmission dropped out of gear while I was accelerating slowly away from a stop The times they have occurred Is from a stop sign into traffic. It dropped out of gear at about 5 mph and made a growling noise. . I put my foot on the brake. When I started it again everything worked fine. . I was leaving a parking lot and I had reached a speed of 5-15 mph when there was no longer any gear, then it slammed into gear for a moment, went a few feet, then dropped out again, then slammed into gear again. I was able to coast to the curb in a residential area and turn the engine off. Fortunately no traffic was coming.Another time I pulled into traffic and slipped out of gear Iwas able to back up only and parked it. Then several hours later I started the engine again and had no further trouble. so far. I was checking out recalls and service bulletins on it today and I found that other owners reported similar problems. If I had been pulling out into traffic and my transmission failed the way it did, there could easily have been an accident. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS ISSUE !!!!!!!
The car looses power. The RPM go up but speedometer doesn't move. Dash shows dashes. When you stop and cut the car off and turn it back on it slams into gear. After waiting a few minutes the car drives fine
The car looses power. The RPM go up but speedometer doesn't move. Dash shows dashes. When you stop and cut the car off and turn it back on it slams into gear. After waiting a few minutes the car drives fine.
Vehicle keeps slipping and making clunking noises when going down the highway. I didn't have this issue until a month ago and it seems to be getting worse. The guy at belle tire said the rack is a common issue with ford taurus'. Trying to keep away from bump and turns but I have a lot when driving in grand rapids. I've almost hit cars because it randomly pulls me in one direction. Vehicle is only moving when it happens and happens both on the highway and when I'm going in reverse with the wheel turned all the way in one direction.
The car has low miles for the year 42k. The transmission has always been erratic, hard shifting, holding gears for too long. A new problem that is happening, in the morning car clunks extremely hard into second gear. I went to accelerate onto a busy road and the transmission banged so hard it startled us and lost power. There's a safety concern with this because it lost all power and we were almost hit by an approching car. After doing searches on the internet, I found this is a common problem with a lot of ford taurus model. The ford company is apparently aware of this problem in their transmissions and won't do anything about it. I purchased the car with 23k miles on it. As of today, we are concerned about our safety in traffic.
I own a 2013 ford taurus limited. I keep my vehicle well maintained by myself or the mechanic. I have has clunking sounds coming from the passenger side front end. My mechanic replaced both front struts and both sway bar links. The noise had stopped for approx: a week. Noise came back mechanic changed strut saying bad strut. Again have same problem. Details of bad clunking noise.......noise seems to be front left side, I and be parked and move steering wheel 1/4 turn left and right and hear noise. It seems to effect steering at low speeds turning. I travel 500 mile a week for work 98% highways. I have read countless complaints and no one has a solution. From others replacing steering modules, steering unit $2000, strut replacements. Control arms, wheel bearing??????? Need assistance I owe more on my car than its worth and cant afford to keep paying for a problem that has not been determined by ford or anyone else. I hope accidents do not need to happen before this issue is taken seriously.
80,200 miles - during a 2 hour drive on the interstate going 80mph, my transmission lost the low gears. As I tried to slow down in construction, my car experenced loud hard jolting shifts when it attempted to downshift, bouncing my mother's head off the dash. It was super sluggish like following and hard to bring it to a stop. When stopped and shifting through the gears you could hear it slam into gear a few seconds after shifting into drive. Resulted in a costly transmission replacement.
Related recalls
Power train: axle assembly: axle shaft
- What is wrong
- Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2014-2016 Explorer, 2014-2015 Taurus and 2014 Edge vehicles equipped with 2.0L or 2.3L engines and front wheel drive. The support bracket for the front drive axle halfshaft may fail.
- Risk
- The failed bracket could result in a loss of park function which can cause unintended vehicle movement, and loss of motive power while driving which increases the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the link shaft bracket, free of charge. Parts are not currently available. Owners received an interim notification detailing safety risk December 8, 2020. A second letter will be mailed when parts become available in January 2021. The recall began February 2, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1‑866‑436‑7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20S63.
Recall number 20V692000 · Recall details
Power train: axle assembly: axle shaft
- What is wrong
- Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2012-2014 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX vehicles manufactured September 2, 2010, to November 30, 2013; 2013-2014 Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS vehicles manufactured August 25, 2011, to November 30, 2013; and 2013-2014 Ford Flex and Lincoln MKT vehicles manufactured September 12, 2011, to November 30, 2013. In the affected vehicles, the halfshaft retention circlip may not have been properly installed, and as a result, the halfshaft may move outward and disengage from the linkshaft while driving and without prior warning.
- Risk
- If the halfshaft and linkshaft become disengaged while driving, power will no longer be transmitted to the wheels, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash. Additionally, if the parking brake is not applied before exiting the vehicle, the vehicle may roll away despite the transmission being placed in 'Park', increasing the risk of injury to exiting occupants and bystanders.
- Remedy
- Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicles to make sure that the halfshaft is properly retained. If it is not, dealers will replace the linkshaft and also replace the halfshaft if it shows evidence of spline damage, free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2014. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1‑800‑392‑3673. Ford's number for this recall is 14S10.
Recall number 14V393000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission: cooling unit and lines
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: passenger vehicles equpped with the "california" emissions package. An incorrect transmission oil cooler line was installed. The line contacts the anti-lock braking system module support bracket and over time, can wear and develop a leak.
- Risk
- Transmission fluid leakage onto the exhaust manifold or catalytic converter can result in a fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will install the appropriate transmission oil cooler line.
Recall number 98V288000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: passenger vehicles equipped with ax4s automatic transaxles. The low/intermediate servo cover can separate from the transaxle while the vehicle is being driven. If this occurs, transmission fluid will leak contacting the catalytic converter.
- Risk
- The catalytic converter temperature may be hot enough to ignite the transmission fluid and cause a vehicle fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the transmission and replace these servo covers.
Recall number 97V097000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission
- What is wrong
- The automatic transmission park pawl shaft may not be free to rotate as intended. If the park pawl shaft does not rotate, it would prevent the park pawl from engaging the park gear when the shift lever is in the park position.
- Risk
- This condition could result in the vehicle rolling as if in neutral with the shift lever in the park position.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the park pawl shaft rotation and those shafts with restricted rotation will be replaced with a shorter shaft that will not restrict rotation.
Recall number 96V176000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission: gear position indication (PRNDL)
- What is wrong
- The park pawl abutment bracket has a sharp edge which can cause the parking pawl to hang up and not engage the park gear. This would allow the vehicle to move even though the gear shift indicator shows that the vehicle is in park.
- Risk
- Unintended and unexpected vehicle movement can result in personal injury and property damage.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the park pawl abutment bracket.
Recall number 96V166000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission
- What is wrong
- The park pawl shaft was improperly positioned when the roll pin that retains it was installed during transmission assembly. If the shaft was not properly positioned, the roll pin may not have lined up with the groove in the shaft and have been crushed at assembly. Also, a burr could have been raised on the shaft.
- Risk
- This could result in the park pawl occasionally not engaging when the transmission selector lever is placed in the park position. This could result in the vehicle rolling as if in neutral if the vehicle operator does not apply the parking brake.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the park pawl shaft roll pin. If the roll pin is damaged, both the roll pin and the park pawl shaft will be replaced. In addition, owners will be reminded to fully apply the parking brake, in addition to placing the transmission in park.
Recall number 96V086000 · Recall details
Questions about the Ford Taurus harsh shifting
Which Ford Taurus years have harsh or hard shifting problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2002 (14 complaints), 2000 (13 complaints) and 1997 (11 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix harsh or hard shifting on the Ford Taurus?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $800 (median of 17 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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