1996 Ford Taurus

SECOND CAMSHAFT FAILURE WITHIN ONE YEAR. REPAIRING DEALER WAS REQUESTED TO CHECK VALVE TAP IN SEPTEMBER. ORIGINAL CHAMSHAFT REPAIR WAS DONE HOWEVER CAR CONTINUED TO EXPERIENCE ENGINE PRESSURE AND TIMING PROBLEMS. REQUESTED SERVICE DEALER TO CHECK VALVE TAP IN SEPTEMBER 2001. DEALER REFUSED TO DO SERVICE, EXPLAINED THAT THE PROBLEM WAS ABOVE THEIR HEADS. COMPLAINED NUMEROUS TIMES TO FORD CONCERNING REPAIR AND DEALER'S RESPONSE. DEALER NOW BELIEVES CAR NEEDS NEW ENGINE. INITIAL REPAIR WAS $3000 AND TOOK TWO MONTHS. FORD HAS BEEN AWARE OF THE FAILURE OF THE CAMSHAFT SPROCKETS FOR AT LEAST 3 YEARS. HOWEVER, NO ACTION HAS BEEN INITIATED TO REPAIR ALL PROBLEMS AT ONE TIME ONLY TO HANDLE EACH CAMSHAFT AFTER FAILURE RESULTING IN LARGE REPAIR BILL.

ENGINE CHECK LIGHT ON THE FRONT PANEL LIGHTS UP WHEN CAR IS TURNED ON. THE "OD" OR OVERDRIVE BLINKS WHEN THE CAR IS DRIVEN AT/OR ABOVE 60MPH. WE TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER AND WE PAYED 80 DOLLARS FOR A CHECK-UP (FORD DEALER LOCATED ON 46-12 NORTHERN BLVD,, ASTORIA QUEENS, NY). THREE HOURS LATER THEY TOLD ME THAT THE CAR HAD A MALFUNCTION IN THE TRANSMISSION. HENCE, THE TRANSMISSION HAD TO BE CHANGED AND THE COST WAS $2,300 DOLLARS. THEY NEEDED TO KNOW IMMEDIATELY! I REFUSED BECAUSE THE COST SEEMED TO HIGH AND I WASN'T COMPLETELY SURE IF THIS WAS REALLY THE PROBLEM. I THEN TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC DEALING WITH TRANSMISSIONS ONLY. THEY TOLD ME THAT THE TRANSMISSION HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE LIGHT TROUBLE. THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM NOT EVEN BY USING THE COMPUTER. I DECIDED TO TAKE IT TO ANOTHER AGENCY (FRIEND OF MINE) WHO KNOWS ABOUT TRANSMISSIONS. HE SAID THAT HE HAD FIXED MANY TAURUSES BEFORE, BUT HAD NEVER ENCOUNTERED SUCH A PROBLEM. FINALLY, I DECIDED CALL FORD TO FIND OUT ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. THEY SIMPLY TOLD ME TO TAKE IT TO THE DEALER, WHICH I HAD ALREADY AT FIRST. I TOOK IT BACK TO ANOTHER FORD DEALER LOCATED AT THE OPPOSITE END OF NORTHERN BLVD. THEY TOLD ME THE SAME THING AS THE LAST FORD DEALER. AFTER ALL THIS CONFUSION, I DECIDED TO IGNORE THE PROBLEM. IT'S BEEN ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AND I HAVE BEEN TO FLORIDA AND BACK ALREADY TWO TIMES FROM MY HOME (NEW YORK). I USE THE CAR ON A DAILY BASIS. I AM VERY UPSET AND CONFUSED ABOUT ALL OF THIS. I REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON AND I THINK I DESERVE AN EXPLANATION THE FORD COMPANY. I SENT IN THIS INFORMATION TO YOU PEOPLE (NHTSA) TO SEE IF YOU CAN HELP ME OUT ON THIS PROBLEM. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! -CARLOS. *AK

MY CAR WAS RUNNING HOT. THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT WAS ON. I TOOK MY CAR IN TO BE SERVICE. WHEN THEY DIAGNOISED THE CAR , I WAS TOLD IT WAS FREEZE PLUGS AND THAT THE CHARGE WAS 1,575.00. I TOLD THEM TO FIX MY CAR. WHEN I PICKED UP MY CAR IT WAS SHAKING. I TOLD THEM THAT THE CAR WAS SHAKING. THEY TOLD ME TO DRIVE THE CAR. IT TOOK MY HUSBAND 2 MONTHS TO GET THE MONEY IN ORDER TO GET THE CAR. IWAS TOLD TWICE TO DRIVE THE CAR. WHEN I FINALLY BROUGHT THE BACK IN THE NEXT DAY BECAUSE THE SERVICE SOON LIGHT WAS BACK ON, I WAS TOLD THE I HAD A BLOWN HEAD GASKET, AND THEY WANTED ANOTHER 495.00 FROM MY HUSBAND AND ME TO FIX MY CAR.

ON AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WE WERE DRIVING AND ENGINE CHECK LIGHT CAME ON AND WOULDN'T GO FASTER THAN 45, CAM SENSOR, CAMSHAFT, DIED ROUGH IDLE, EGR SENSOR BAD, SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT, DIES AT STOPS AND SLOW DOWNS, FUEL PUMP DOESNT HOLD PRESSURE, LONG CRANK TIME NO TURN OVER TILL ABOUT A MINUTE SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT CAME ON.

THE INCIDENTS HAVE ALL BEEN THE SAME: THE CAR IS USUALLY GOING UNDER 35MPH. THE CAR STARTS TO SHAKE, THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS UP, THE CAR ACTS AS IF THERE IS NOT ENOUGH GAS GETTING TO THE ENGINE AND THE ENGINE EITHER CUTS OFF OR BEGINS TO CHUGG AND SHAKE ANY TIME THE CAR SLOWS OR STOPS. I'M SURE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND HOW FRIGHTENING THIS CAN BE SINCE I NEVER KNOW WHEN THIS SITUATION IS GOING TO OCCUR AND I'M PETRIFIED THAT IT WILL HAPPEN DURING RUSH HOUR ON A MAJOR ROAD CAUSING ACCIDENTS AND MAJOR DAMAGE. THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED, I WAS WITHIN FEET OF A SERVICE STATION AND BROUGHT IT TO THEM. THE CODE ON THE ENGINE LIGHT SENSOR WAS, "EGR". THEY DID A 60,000 MILE SERVICE, CHECKED THE EMISSION SYSTEM, AND FOUND NOTHING. AFTER 41 MILES, THE ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON AGAIN. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE SAME SERVICE STATION. THEY REPLACED THE DPFE SENSOR. I'VE SINCE TAKEN IT BACK TO THEM 3 OR 4 TIMES, WHENEVER THE CAR STARTS TO SHAKE AND THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT TURNS ON. THEY HAVE DONE EVERYTHING THAT THEY CAN THINK OF TO FIX THE PROBLEM AND ARE AT A LOSS AS TO WHAT TO DO. THEY EVEN HAD A CLASS WITH 50 TECHNICIANS GIVEN BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DIAGNOSTIC MACHINE AND USED MY CAR AS THE EXAMPLE. THEY TOOK APART THE ENTIRE EMISSION SYSTEM AND "ROTO-ROOTED" IT. I DROVE LESS THAN 10 MILES AND THE CAR STARTED SHAKING AGAIN. SO FAR, I'VE SPENT CLOSE TO $500. BECAUSE THE GARAGE WHERE I ORIGINALLY TOOK IT DIDN'T FIX THE PROBLEM, THEY HAVEN'T BEEN CHARGING ME FOR RETURN VISITS. I CONTACTED FORD'S CONSUMER HELP LINE ON MAY 2, 2000. DAMIEN SAID THAT BECAUSE I'D HAD SO MUCH TROUBLE, HE THOUGHT THAT I WOULD GET SOME FINANCIAL HELP FROM FORD AND HE'D LET ME KNOW IN TWO DAYS. WHEN I DIDN'T HEAR FROM HIM, I CALLED FORD AGAIN AND SPOKE WITH CAROL. SHE SAID THAT I WOULD GET NO HELP AND THAT MY FIRST STEP WAS TO TAKE THE CAR TO A FORD DEALER & THAY WOULD HELP ME. THEY DON'T WANT TO HELP ME. WHAT CAN I DO? *AK