1990 Ford Tempo problems

Filed Oct 21, 2004 · Electrical · 83,000 miles · MN

Car has repeatable problem of not starting...have had it towed, due to this, numerous times, spent thousands of dollars trying to get it fixed, etc. Only to discover that it has two ignition defects...potentially... Since the car was not new when I bought it 3 years ago, I have no recourse but to bear the cost of repairs myself. I am outraged that ford got away with not recalling these vehicles!!!

Filed Sep 28, 2004 · Electrical · IL · fire

Just after pulling into the driveway, the consumer smelled smoke . He opened the hood and noticed the top of the alternator plug was burning followed by wiring burning across to the battery. The terminal block on the left fender began burning and melting. *jb

Filed Sep 2, 2004 · Seat belts · 81,000 miles · CA

Driver's side seat belt malfunctioned. Dealer refused to repair seat belt without payment.

Filed May 7, 2003 · Tires · CA

The tread on all four tires separated while driving 60 MPH (kelly metric radial size 18570r14). Please provide the dot number.

Filed Mar 8, 2003 · Body, Engine · 55 miles · MN

1.) rough idle, and oil light intermittently comes on when idling and only goes off when accelerating, but often stalls out, and doesn't want to re-start. (had oil changed twice to get excess gas out of it from trying to start it.) had to tow car three times. Paid $1,000 to try to get it fixed, but on the way home it did the same thing. 2.) cooling fan quit working and car overheated and I paid to have the radiator replaced, as petcock was leaking. Mechanic didn't notice that fan wasn't working, so it overheated on the way home with a new radiator. I figured that out. Once the fan was replaced with a working fan, no more overheating. After-market radiator was bigger than the original, causing the at fluid line to get sawed off by the pulley 3 times, before someone just plugged the line and installed a separate at fluid "mini radiator type" cooler. 3.) transmission drags; car has just over 70,000 miles on it. Has repeatable problem when starting out and shifting from first to second gear, usually jerking forward when it shifts. Putting car into drive after starting it usually ends up in the car stalling, and the idle is different when it's in gear than when in park or neutral. 4.) I received a notice about a class action settlement regarding a defective tfi module, but every mechanic I spoke with said that wasn't the problem, but the notice said that a bad tfi module wouldn't necessarily always make the car stall when it's going bad, just sometimes. Stalled in rush hour once. 5.) the driver side automatic seatbelt quit working, which caused the plastic guide for the belt to break, and when I went to ford to try to get the part, they couldn't figure out which one it was, and said that they weren't planning to have the parts available after 2002 anyway. Often, I about got strangled, as did others who rode in my tempo, when we opened the door to get out of the car. 6.)from the car overheating, the finish on the hood is peeling and cracking.

Filed Feb 11, 2003 · Brakes · WA · crash · fire

Brake adjusters failed 3 times causing brake failure

Filed May 28, 2002 · Steering · PA

Consumer slowed down to turn a corner and vehicle stopped in its tracks.engine was still running. Mechanic stated there was a problem with steering. Consumer indicated tires were stuck in turning position. Please provide any further information.

Filed Apr 1, 2002 · Engine · CA

While traveling on highway alternator belt snapped without prior warning, and vehicle shut down. Dealership was aware of problem.

Filed Mar 28, 2002 · Lights · CA

Light lenses have turned from clear to white and no longer focus the beam ahead, light lenes are made from plastic, suspect that uv protection provided on outside surface to protect plastic from sunlight and not also to the inside surface to protect light from uv rays given off by quartz bulbs. This problem was also on an 85 tempo and seems to be on many other cars. Nlm

Filed Mar 5, 2002 · Electrical, Engine · NE · crash · 1 injury

While driving 40mph and without warning, engine stalled, consumer applied brakes and vehicle did not stop resulting in a collision, which totaled vehicle. Prior to the accident vehicle shut off 4 times, dealer replaced battery, alternator, plugs/wires, and starter but this did not correct the problem.