1998 Ford Taurus

I PUCHASE THIS PROGRAM CAR WITH 19,089 , IT CAME WITH THE ORIGINAL FACTORY OF 36/36,000 MI. WARRANTY. I ALSO PURCHASED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY OF 72 MONTHS OF 60,000 MILES. ABOUT 500 MILES AFTER I FIRST PICKUP MY CAR THE TRANSMISSION STARTED SLIPPING, I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY FOUND NOTHING WRONG WITH IT WHEN THEY PUT IT ON THEIR COMPUTER. THEN THEY TRIED TO MOVE IT. THE TRANSMISSION HAD COMPLETELY BURNED UP, AND HAD TO BE REBUILT. THE NEXT TIME THE TRANSMISSION STARTED HAVING TROUBLE, WAS ON AUG 28, 2001, AT 55,000 MILES. THE CAR STARTED EXPERIENCING PERIODS WHERE IT WOULDN'T ENGAGE, HAD EXTENDED SHIFTS, OR SHIFT HARSHLY. WHEN I TOOK IT TO THE LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP, I WAS TOLD THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEED TO BE REPLACED, THIS IS 36,311 MILES AFTER THE FIRST TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED. WHEN I ASKED FORD ARE THEY GOING TO EXTEND THIS WARRANTY BEYOND THE 12/12000 THEY TOLD ME THERE IS NO NEED. I CHECK ANOTHER WEBSITE HTTP://WWW.AUTOSAFETY.ORG AND FOUND OUT THAT GEARTRAIN MELTDOWN, AND CRACKS IN THE FOWARD CLUTCH PISTON, HAS PLAGUE FORD TAURUS'S SINCE 1986.*AK

CRUISE CONTROL WILL NOT HOLD THE VEHICLE AT A SET SPEED WHEN GOING DOWN HILL. VEHICLE CONTINUES TO ACCELERATE WELL BEYOND PRESET SPEED. VEHICLE WILL ACCELERATE 15 MPH OVER PRESET SPEED. BRAKES ROTORS WARP CONSTANTLY. ROTORS HAVE BEEN RESURFACED OR REPLACED OVER 5 TIMES. ENGINE SPEED WILL NOT DECREASE WHEN ACCELERATOR PEDAL IS NOT RELEASED. DEALER CLAIM ALL TAURUS WITH 3.0L DURATIC ENGINES HAVE THIS PROBLEM. THEY CLAIM NO TECHNICAL BULLETINS HAVE BEEN ISSUED TO RESOLVE ANY OF THESE ISSUES. THIS REQUIRES CONSTANT BRAKING AND CERTAINLY CONTRIBUTES TO ACCELERATED BRAKE WEAR AND POSSIBLY THE ROTORS WARPING SO OFTEN. ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO THE DEALERSHIP AND NONE HAVE BEEN RESOLVED. NHTSA HAS COUNTLESS COMPLAINTS IN YOUR ELECTRIC FILES REGARDING THESE SAME ISSUES, YET NO RECALLS HAVE BEEN ISSUED. WHY? *PH *NLM **DIMSII IVOQ ENTRY POSTED AFTER 12/12/02 CUT OVER TO ARTEMIS**751827

VEHICLE CAN BE IN DRIVE AND MOVING, OR IN PARK AND SITTING STILL, THE ENGINE WILL BEGIN TO HESITATE AFTER RUNNING FOR 10-15 MINUTES. THE DASHBOARD INSTRUMENTS GET EXTREMELY HOT, THE LIGHTING WILL DIM ON ITS OWN. ALL ELECTRONICS (I.E. RADIO, AIR CONDITIONING ETC...) WILL FAIL. THE CAR WILL THEN CUT OFF WITHOUT WARNING. VEHICLE ALSO LUNGES FORWARD IF IN PARK OR STOPPED WHILE IN DRIVE, IF IT HAS BEEN RUNNING FOR 10-15 MINUTES OR MORE.

WHEN THIS CAR IS RUNNING MORE THAN 40MINUTES, THE ENGINE "BUCKS"/JERKS/HESITATES AND IS NOT RESPONSIVE--AS IF IT WOULD STALL BUT NEVER DOES, 'THOUGH THE DASH "TROUBLE" LIGHTS BLINK FOR 1/2 SECOND EACH TIME. THIS WAS REPEATED 2-3 TIMES AT EACH OF 5 SEPRATE INCIDENTS. I HAD THE ENGINE CHECKED WITH A SCANNER AT MY REGULAR MECHANIC'S PLACE AND THE TRANSMISSION CHECKED AT A RELIABLE TRANSMISSIONS SPECIALIST. NOTHING FOUND. VARIOUS ROAD TESTS COULD NOT REPRODUCE THIS EXPERIENCE. I DID REPLACE THE FUEL FILTER. OTHER INCIDENTS OCCURRED 6/21 ABOUT 15-MIN. LATER AFTER BEING STUCK IN BUMPER-TO-BUMPER TRAFFIC FOR 20 MINUTES ON A 55-60MPH ROUTE I ALWAYS USE. THE 3RD INCIDENT WAS 7/6, ACCELERATING AFTER A FULL-STOP INTERSECTION. 4TH&5TH WERE ON 7/8 WHEN DRIVING @25-30MPH, BUT DRIVING FOR A WHILE. I DO NOTICE AFTER DRIVING 15-20 MINUTES REGULARLY, THE AUTOMATIC SHIFT @BETWEEN 35-40MPH HESITATES. I HAVE BEEN KEEPING MY HIGHEST SPEEDS DOWN TO 60MPH OR LESS, AND USUALLY DRIVING NO MORE THAN 1/2HR. EACH TRIP. I'M AFRAID TO TAKE A LONG TRIP FOR FEAR THE CAR WILL HESITATE, LOSE POWER, OR SLOW DOWN IN HEAVY EXPRESSWAY TRAFFIC. I AM CONCERNED FOR MY SAFETY.*AK