CarComplaints.com Notes: Most people need a car where the coil springs don't puncture or shred tires while driving. The Taurus fails in that respect.
The 1999-2003 Ford Taurus has a huge problem with coil springs breaking, which can puncture or even shred tires while driving.
The US government spent THREE YEARS (2008-2011) investigating the 2002-2003 Taurus coil springs. Although Taurus/Sable from earlier years were recalled, ultimately the NHTSA did not force a recall. They determined that because there had been no deaths & very few bad crashes & injuries, the broken coil springs defect was no big deal & not a safety defect. Tell that to all the owners who had close calls...
Chirping noise from driver's side developed while on vacation. It caused the gas mileage to drop from 29mpg to approximately 19mpg hwy. After about a month, the car began to run excessively rough. To rectify the the gas mileage, the sensor had to be replaced. To eliminate the squeaking, the entire assembly had to be replaced. The assembly is not something a novice should attempt to replace. Some mechanics wouldn't even attempt to replace it since it has to be aligned perfectly.
Well, the engine started the squealing. Acceleration began making the engine hesitating when going up hill or needed to increase speed in a short amount of time. The car was eating gas like crazy. Finally, after a few months of this, the engine began cutting out in the middle of trips. Then one day, it wouldn't stay on for more than a second.
I took it in for a diagnostic. They replaced the CAMSHAFT SYNCHRONIZER and SENSOR and cleaned my FUEL INJECTORS. $600.00 later, my car is running fine again.
I probably need to get the whole fuel system and filters cleaned.
My mothers car started to squeal really bad and we took it to several mechanics and no one could diagnose the problem. They kept saying it was a belt or pulley that was squealing. But the noise wasn't coming from the belts or pulleys. It was coming from the middle of the engine. The noise come and go. I finally took a hose and started to trace the noise, until I traced it to the Camshaft Synchronizer. I later found out that the Camshaft Synchronizer has a bearing that usually goes out on these cars. I went ahead and bought my part on Ebay, which was cheaper and brand new. It took me about two and half hours to replace it and the noise went away.
- piloortiz,
Del Rio, TX, US
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I have a 2002 Ford Taurus. There was an intermittent squealing/squeaking noise coming from the engine and without checking it seems to sound like a belt so I didn't think much of it. When I got fed up with listening to the squeaking and lifted to hood to apply some belt dressing I realized that the noise was actually coming from the center of the engine rather than off to the side where the serpentine belt is. I tied pinning down where the noise was coming from by using a garden hose to listen through but I wasn’t able to narrow it down. I had it in to my local mechanic and they diagnosed a bearing issue with some type of pump in the front of the transmission. They pulled it apart and found that one of the bearing was gone and replaced it however it didn’t do anything for the noise. It seems to subside a little after running the engine for a while but it doesn’t really go away all together. Again it seems to come from the center of the engine and my mechanic doesn’t have any other idea what it would be. The car doesn’t run any different that it did before it started making the noise, engine, transmission all seem to be working the same.
Any idea what it might be? It has been suggested that it may be the CMP (camshaft position sensor)?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The OE cam shaft synchronizer failed in 2010, a year later the mechanic's replacement failed as well.
- Adam S., Gr, MI, US