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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...

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
72,670 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2002 Ford Taurus electrical problems

electrical problem

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2002 Ford Taurus Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #32

Jan 012019

Taurus

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Takata recall: I bought a car from a man less than 5 months ago and I slowly started to notice some things. I started out with 3 windows working instead of four which I was not told. My driver side window doesn't even work and it stopped about a moth ago. A week before that my airbag light comes on, my brother was actuallly the one driving when that happened. Also, I found out that I had the wrong battery in the car so I don't know what other damage that has done. Please contact me for more information.

- Tempe, AZ, USA

problem #31

Jan 032018

Taurus

  • 146,000 miles
My 2002 Ford Taurus suddenly would not shift out of park. My back driver side brake light won't work. I look it up and saw a recall but when I called the dealership they said there wasn't a recall on my car. Please help

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #30

Mar 132017

Taurus

  • 132,000 miles
While driving my 2002 Ford Taurus, it started to stall and and not pick up speed while I was driving it. It started shaking and cut off several times. I was able to start it back up twice then it stopped in front of my job. It had to be towed to the auto repair shop. They stated the computer went out in the car. I don't understand what that means. Is there anything I can do about that. Can Ford give me any answers. Never heard of this before.

- Saint Louis, MO, USA

problem #29

Dec 152008

Taurus

  • 110,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Water leaks into front passenger firewall/floorboard area which causes fan blower motor, heater coil and all related electrical connectors/components attached. Happens all the time static or in motion.

- Escondido, CA, USA

problem #28

Oct 082015

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 182,606 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. Whether the vehicle was on or off, the brake lamps illuminated continuously. The failure recurred. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 14V755000 (exterior lighting). The approximate failure mileage was 182,606 updated 02/05/16

- Wichata, KS, USA

problem #27

Feb 072014

Taurus

  • 130,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where it was found that the fuel pump wires had melted. The contact also mentioned that the instrument panel wires were also melted. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Tabernacle, NJ, USA

problem #26

Oct 062012

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 135,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Car intermittently loses power to power windows and dash board lights. Sometimes it takes about 30 minutes to come back or not at all, until next start. Try to restart same outcome, at least it drives. Problem is if your windows are down can't raised them. Live in California fortunately very little rain.

- Winnetka, CA, USA

problem #25

Apr 292013

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 165,000 miles
I looked up my car recalls and there where 3 and when I called Ford they told me that this website is wrong and there is no recalls. Even when everything that is wrong with my car is on the recalls. I just need to known what to do now.

- St. Louis Park, MN, USA

problem #24

Dec 032007

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 40,000 miles
This is an apparent problem with many of the Ford tauruses where the heater just stops working. Each time it stops working it seems to cost over $2,000 to fix the issue. The actuator motor, the heater core, and the blower door all continue to be affected. Even after repair it seems that it will only work for about 1 year before it needs to be fixed again. Just outside of the warranty period. We have replaced the heater system 3 times and it just did it again. Research on line shows that this is a significant issue with many of the Ford products that use the heater set up like the Taurus. It may also include the for F150 truck with a similar problem.

- Burke, VA, USA

problem #23

Dec 052011

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 21,000 miles
Beginning shortly after my car was out of its 3,000 mile used car warranty, when car was parked and locked the horn began to go off anytime anywhere - up to 5-6 times a day. Why is this a safety concern? because the only way to avoid waking ourselves and neighbors up at night or having car alarm go off multiple times during day at work was to have a Ford tech disconnect the horn! I did so after the problem continued for many months - and now, with horn off, it still continues (lights blink and flash), just noiselessly. Incredible! only workaround besides disconnecting horn was to leave the car unlocked - not an option.

- Dearborn, MI, USA

problem #22

May 042012

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 170,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Coming off an on ramp onto the interstate, the car continued to accelerate and the brake would not disengage the cruise control. It reached 85 mph before I shifted into neutral, coasted to the shoulder, and shut off the ignition. I started the car and the engine revved up again, so I shut it off and called for assistance.

- Bells, TN, USA

problem #21

Jan 082011

Taurus

  • 88,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle, at times, would not start. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where it was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 88,000. Sm.

- Cinncinnati, OH, USA

problem #20

Jun 012009

Taurus

  • 80,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the anti theft device activated on five occasions, causing the vehicle to stall. The vehicle would not restart until the anti theft device de-activated. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 100,000.

- Maple Shade, NJ, USA

problem #19

Mar 222010

Taurus 6-cyl

  • 69,400 miles
I own a 2002 Ford Taurus ses, it has 69,400 miles. I have owned the car since new, it is garaged 90% of the time. A couple years ago I noticed that the passenger carpet was soak and wet, and I never thought anything of it, I assumed that maybe when driving in the rain, I had crackedthe window open and rain got inside on passenger carpet. In March of 2010, I had a house sitter, while I went on vacation. I moved my car outside, so that she could use my garage. The car sat outside for 3 weeks, the northeast had torrential rains everyday, and area flooding on streets. I had come home from vacation, drove my car and heard a noise clanking under dashboard. I took car to mechanic, he said it was my heater. I had my husband remove and replace with a new one. When my husband took the old heater out, it was completely rusted with water still on it. I thought maybe housesitter had taken my car out and she left a window open.now it is October, I am attending driving instructor school, and my teacher gave me website for recalls. I decided to check to see if any recalls, and find that there are multiple complaints on my year make and model, for heaters shortening out, I now have no A/C and don't know why along with wet carpets on passenger side L. I printed out recall 03V-087000 and took to Ford today, they state that my VIN has no campaign message for a recall. Recall#03V-087000 is for certain 2002-2003 Taurus and Sable. What is being done with the rest of VIN # that are having the same problem and are not included. I don't want to leave my car in rain and get other components short out, or possible fire, and keep getting the carpet wet, because it will cause mold to grow underneath. All cars in this year make model should be recalled if all are having the same problems. I did not save the old heater, because at the time I thought maybe rain had got in thru the window. Please help, I love my car and it is otherwise a good running car.

- Atkinson, NH, USA

problem #18

Sep 102009

Taurus

  • 69,000 miles
Water leak into passenger side of passenger compartment, resulting in failure of multiple electrical components, including blower motor. Reference ntsb item # 10011149 / service bulletin nbr 031506.

- Gladstone, MO, USA

problem #17

Dec 152007

Taurus

  • 90,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that water leaks into the vehicle through the windshield, which shortens the circuit in the floorboard. Secondly, she discovered that the heating system was inoperative. She has not had the vehicle inspected to determine the cause of the failure. The contact is in the process of notifying the manufacturer in reference to NHTSA campaign id number 03V087000 (visibility:windshield). Finally, the contact stated that the front coil spring fractured and caused the ball joints and the front passenger tire to fail. The springs were replaced, but the manufacturer did not provide her with any financial assistance. The failure mileage was 90,000 and current mileage was 101,000.

- Parkersburg, WV, USA

problem #16

Oct 012008

Taurus 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 65,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. Water has been entering into the blower motor from the cowl underneath the windshield. The failure causes the motor to short out and stop running. The contact called the dealer numerous times and they stated that there was no recall. The dealer was aware of tsb number 0415-3 for the same failure; however, nothing could be done besides sell the contact a new motor. The failure was noticed while driving 15 mph. The failure mileage was 65,000 and current mileage is 68,000. Updated 01/14/09.

- Hammond, IN, USA

problem #15

Dec 172004

Taurus

  • 80,000 miles
My 2002 Ford Taurus had a water leak in the ac/heater blower during rain storms. The dealer fixed the leak but I have had to replace the blower motor and blower motor resistor twice. My blower quit running again today. Motor and resistor need to be replaced again.

- Waseca, MN, USA

problem #14

Jul 282008

Taurus

  • 93,237 miles
Ford electrical systems switching devices continue to be under rated which results in random voltage drops and engine stalls. The underrated switching device contacts overheat which results in high resistance which results in higher heat with results in high resistance until eventually the results drops voltages below what is required to operate the downstream load. These down stream load typically are the head lights and components associated with supplying power to the spark plugs. Once the downstream device turn off from low voltage the switching device cools and resupplies the downstream load with enough voltage an current to reactive the device in varying amounts of time ranging from instantaneously to sever minutes. I fist noticed the problem years ago in a 1987 mustang and then saw it again tonight in a 2002 Taurus driven by my wife. Until the failed switching device is replaced the frequency of fails and the duration will continue to increase. This is clearly a materials failure and needs to be addressed. This has had to have resulted in engine failure which has resulted in crashes and / or deaths if the problem has not been resolved since I first noticed in the 1987 mustang.

- Seabrook, TX, USA

problem #13

Jun 012008

Taurus

  • 111,514 miles
My 2002 Ford Taurus has a leak that comes from the fire wall to the blower motor resister. It also leaks to the floor of my vehicle. At one point I thought I felt a shock! I did not know where the water was coming from until my blower went out and researched the problem. It seems I'm not the only one with this defect. I did go to the dealership to purchase a resister part. The blower and other parts ran the bill up to $400. Please can something be done.

- Plainfield, IL, USA

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