Owner-reported complaints naming the electrical system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming the electrical system — wiring, battery, charging, control modules, infotainment and electrical accessories. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2008 Ford Taurus submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 13 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
THE CAR LOOSES POWER. THE RPM GO UP BUT SPEEDOMETER DOESN'T MOVE. DASH SHOWS DASHES. WHEN YOU STOP AND CUT THE CAR OFF AND TURN IT BACK ON IT SLAMS INTO GEAR. AFTER WAITING A FEW MINUTES THE CAR DRIVES FINE. *TR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD TAURUS. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, ONE OF THE ENGINE CYLINDERS MISFIRED AND THE SPEED DRASTICALLY REDUCED TO 35 MPH. THE CONTACT COASTED THE VEHICLE TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND NOTICED THE IGNITION COIL WAS MELTED UNDER THE HOOD. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE. THE DEALER STATED THAT IF THERE WAS NO MISFIRE ON THE COIL, IT WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE CONTACT REPLACED THE COIL BUT, MOMENTS LATER, THE NEW COIL OVERHEATED AND MELTED THE PCM. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THEY DID NOT THINK IT WAS A SAFETY CONCERN. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 174,000.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD TAURUS. WHILE DRIVING 75 MPH, THE VEHICLE JERKED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT DROVE AND STOPPED AT THE INTERSTATE WHERE SHE NOTICED A STRONG BURNING ODOR COMING FROM THE VEHICLE, WHICH CAUSED BREATHING ISSUES. THE CONTACT HAD TO OPEN THE WINDOWS WHILE DRIVING. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE ENGINE LIGHT FAILED TO TURN ON. ONCE THE CONTACT SHUT OFF AND RESTARTED THE VEHICLE, THE ENGINE LIGHT TURNED ON. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE COIL PLUGS, PCM, AND COMPUTER BURNED OUT AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURES. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 85,197.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD TAURUS. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH, THE FUEL, PRESSURE SENSOR FAULT, AND THROTTLE CONTROL TRANSMISSION WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE GEAR SHIFTER REQUIRED EXCESSIVE FORCE WHEN ATTEMPTED TO SHIFT OUT OF PARK. IN ADDITION, THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE SPEEDOMETER GAUGE FAILED TO PROVIDE THE ACCURATE READING. THE FAILURE RECURRED NUMEROUS TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 135,000.
BROUGHT CAR INTO THREE DIFFERENT DEALER TO DIAGNOSE WHY ALL DASH LIGHTS WERE COMING ON AND OFF. EACH TIME THE PCM WAS WIPED CLEAN AND WAS TOLD THEY WERE UNSURE. THE LAST TIME I BROUGHT THE CAR IN WAS FOR A POSSIBLE BAD SPEEDOMETER READING AS WAS PULLED OVER FOR GOING 70 IN A 55 AS WHICH SPEEDOMETER WAS READING 55. BROUGHT IN FOR BOTH CONCERNS AND DETERMINED THAT THE ABS MODULE WAS BAD AND THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER IS BAD ALSO. SPEEDOMETER BEING OFF IS A SAFETY HAZARD FOR ALL AND SHOULD HAVE NO REASON TO GO OUT. NO TELLING HOW LONG SPEEDOMETER HAS BEEN OUT, BUT THE ABS MODULE STARTED PROBLEMS AROUND 90,000MI.
VEHICLE BEGAN TO OPERATE ERRATICALLY, BROUGHT TO DEALER FOR DIAGNOSES DETERMINED PCM FAILED AND IGNITION COILS WERE BAD REPLACED. WHEN ON ROAD COULD CAUSE VEHICLE TO BEHAVE IN HIGHLY DANGEROUS MANNER THAT EVEN AN EXPERIENCED DRIVER COULD FACE INJURY OR DEATH AND DANGER OTHERS ON ROAD. MILLAGE APPROXIMATELY 93000. NO WARNING SIGN WERE GIVEN.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD TAURUS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 70 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE PCM SENT EXCESSIVE ENERGY TO THE COIL PACK CAUSING IT TO MELT. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 178,516.
WAITING AT A FLASHING RED ARROW TO TURN LEFT. TRAFFIC CLEARED, I ACCELERATED, GOT BARELY INTO INTERSECTION, CAR CHOKED, WOULD BARELY MOVE. SEMI TRUCK PUT UP HUGE PLUMES OF BLUE SMOKE FROM TIRES BURNING ON DRY PAVEMENT. TRUCK BARELY STOPPED BEFORE T-BONE IN MY DRIVERS DOOR. CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE BEEN KILLED. COIL PACK ON CYLINDER #2 BURNED OUT, ALSO BURNING OUT PCM COMPUTER ON BOARD. REPAIRED AND REPLACED BOTH. CYLINDER #2 COIL PACK BURNED OUT 2 MORE TIMES SINCE. CYLINDER #4 COIL PACK BURNED OUT ONCE SINCE. PCM COMPUTER HAD TO BE REPLACED TWICE MORE SINCE ORIGINAL INCIDENT. FORD HAS HAD A TECH BULLETIN OUT SINCE 04/2011 ON THIS PROBLEM. THE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER WITH NO PRIOR WARNING IS GOING TO GET PEOPLE KILLED. I WOULD NOT BE WRITING THIS RIGHT NOW, IF THE SEMI WOULD HAVE BEEN GOING A LITTLE FASTER, OR WOULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE CLOSER. GOOGLED PROBLEM...VERY, VERY COMMON, AND MOSTLY ON CYLINDER #2. FORD MOTOR COMPANY UNWILLING TO DO ANYTHING. SPOKE BY PHONE 06/09/2015
2008 FORD TAURUS. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO VEHICLE STALLING PROBLEMS. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE STALLED EIGHT TIMES, SINCE HE PURCHASED IT NEW IN APRIL OF 2009. THE DEALER WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE STALLING, WITHOUT A CODE. *JB
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD TAURUS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE ATTEMPTING TO SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF, THE IGNITION SWITCH CYLINDER FRACTURED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE THE IGNITION SWITCH CYLINDER WAS REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 86,000.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD TAURUS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATE 40 MPH, THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN THE DEALER FOR DIAGNOSIS. THE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT THE COMPUTER WAS PROVIDING INCORRECT CODES TO THE TRANSMISSION, RESULTING IN A TRANSMISSION FAILURE. THE TECHNICIAN ALSO STATED THAT THE COMPUTER REQUIRED A PROGRAMMING REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 180,000.
IT BEGAN WITH ONLY THE WRENCH LIGHT GOING ON AND THE RPM WOULD GO UP AND THE CAR WOULD LURCH FORWARD. I WOULD RESET IT WITH A CODE CHECKER AND I WOULD NOT HAVE THE PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM AND THE LIGHT WOULD EVENTUALLY RETURN. IT WAS RECOMMENDED TO CHANGE THE AIR FILTER, THE AIR FILTER WAS CHANGED AND THE PROBLEM WENT AWAY FOR APPROXIMATELY 3 WEEKS. NOW NOT ONLY MY WRENCH LIGHT BUT MY ENGINE LIGHT ALSO GOES ON AND IT RETURNS EVERY DAY AFTER RESETTING IT. AFTER I LOOKED UP THE PROBLEM ON THE INTERNET I FOUND THAT THE PROBLEMS SEEMS TO APPEAR IN OTHER FORD MODELS. I AM VERY SURPRISED THAT THIS IS NOT A RECALL. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD AND EVENTUALLY SOMEONE WILL GET HURT OR KILLED BEFORE ANYTHING IS DONE ABOUT THIS ISSUE. *KB
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD TAURUS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH, THE VEHICLE WOULD SUDDENLY STALL WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO RESTART YET THE FAILURE RECURRED ON AN INTERMITTENT BASIS. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED BY A DEALER WHO INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THEY WOULD NEED TO RESET THE COMPUTER SYSTEM. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 99,000.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .