Problems with 2003 Ford Taurus VISIBILITY

Blower fan doesn't work. *ak

Windshield leaks water and air. found on your website that their was a recall for the same problem but my vehicle was not included in it. *nm

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that when it rains, water drips from the passengers side of the dashboard into the vehicle, causing interior damage. the air conditioner fails due to the water damage and the blower had to be replaced by the dealer. the powertrain was unknown. the current mileage is 37,000 and failure mileage was 35,000. returned usps, made 2nd attempt 07/03/07, attempt failed. *lj

Purchased used '03 taurus ses from non-ford dealer, on 3/2/06. april 22, after heavy rain noticed puddle of water on passenger side floor. following monday morning during drive to work...still raining and misty...windows fogging up...turn on heater/defogger/ac...not working! call dealer to advise of the water and heater/ac not functioning...advised still covered under 3/36 factory warranty...however, ford advised warranty expired 3/31/06. dealer then had their mechanic take a look...advised there's a leak behind firewall causing water to get in...and also cause of motor blower not working...est. $500-600 to repair...not including part for motor blower! they would need to contact ford about price on motor blower...i decide to check pricing online and discovered the numerous complaints from other consumers! contacted ford customer relations asking if they could make an exception on having covered under warranty as it was not quite 30 days beyond expiring. they contacted service mgr. at ford dealer closest to me...told that they would agree to repair work according to ford's guidelines and discount repair cost...i dropped car off today for them to "asses" the problem which will cost $80 on top of the $109 paid to other dealers mechanic. i'd left several messages with service mgr...to discuss...never called back! i put $4k down payment on this vehicle and only about to make 2nd car note...i'm certain that i, like many others who've complained, will be responsible for the costly repair. *nm

1. purchased car in april 2003; 2. noticed water leaking into passenger side (on floorboard) of car during heavy rains after purchase. problem occurs only during heavy rain and has caused a bad smell inside car. the fire retardant insulation is saturated and is cause of odor. 3. received recall in june 2006 regarding stop lamp switch assembly and air filter. not certain if recall related to leaking water problem, however problem continued after dealership performed recall repairs. 2. *tr

2003 ford taurus blower motor went out due to a water leak that is known by ford motor company. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated the front defroster is inoperable resulting in water leakage on the passenger side of the vehicle. the dealership was alerted however no repairs have been made.

During a snow fall, my wife had just started her 2003 taurus and turned the heater/defroster motor on high. she cleaned snow off the exterior windows and when she re-entered the car, the blower was not running; it would not run at any speed. she had to drive home with no heater/defroster working. she had no choice because she had to get home. this type failure has occurred on many taurse's. service bulletin 031506 has been issued and ford has redesigned the replacement blower, a tacit admission that the original design was faulty. when the ford dealer called me with description and cost of repairs i specifically asked if a tsb had been issued, the ford dealership told me no tsb had been issued. the car was 6 weeks out of warranty and the repairs cost me $450. i have owned about 2 dozen various american cars over about 35 years and i know american car quality has improved tremendously since the 70's. but any company that treats its customers the way i was treated in this case deserves to continue losing market share. i actually hate to have to say this, but our next 2 cars will probably be japanese. *jb

Blower motor/defrost no longer works. *nm

Blower was making a strange noise and the next time i started the car to turn on the heat the blower wouldn't work. i purchased a new blower motor from a ford dealer. to my knowledge, there was no prior evidence of water on the floor or leaking from that area; however, when we took out the old blower motor, water poured out onto the floor. when i called the ford dealer back, i was told from the parts department, that there had been customer complaints of blower motors burning out from water leaking into that area. *nm

Blower motor on 03 ford taurus ceased to operate. no accident involved. fuse and relay ok. dangerous because visibility problem due to frost. called ford customer service unaware of problem! internet research revealed that ford is aware of a problem. (tsb 03-15-6). called dealer, they claim we have no recourse because car is no longer under warranty. *jb

I own a 2003 ford taurus ses. it has always had a front window water leak, however in the last few months the leak has made the vehicle impossible to drive when the weather is inclement. the vin of this taurus is [xxx]. today i had the windshield removed and the glass installer told me that the reason the windshield leaked is that there was no adhesive at both of the bottom corners of the glass, and that this allowed the water to enter the cabin area. it was so bad that during the last few weeks, there would be water dripping from the lower parts of the dash board and the water had filled the heater fan housing, frozen and made the fan totally inoperable. this is definitely a safely issue as the fan was totally inoperable and would not allow the de-fogging of the windshield. *jb updated 07/17/2012 *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

During a snow storm, while traveling home from work on a slushy road, the vehicle's blower motor quit working. this is the second time this has happened. the car became most un-drivable after about 10 minutes due to condensation and frosting on the windshield. i almost ran into the car in front of me one time. *nm

Water collects in blower case of the climate control system, shorting out the motor due to defective hvac air intake design. this is dangerous because there is no way to keep the windshield clear of condensation while driving, limiting visibility. *jb

Car heater motor failed - full of water- repairman says it'll keep happening because of design flaw of 2003 ford taurus wagon. *jb

Heater blower motor and blower motor resistor failed due to water leakage into blower motor resistor caused by poorly designed cowl vent screen(passenger side). ford has had numerous complaints about this same problem. they issued tsb #03-15-6 to detail the repair procedure and redesigned the passenger side cowl outside screen/vent panel to eliminate the problem. while it might not be a serious enough problem to recall all the cars covered under this tsb, the repair of the defect should be borne by ford motor company, not the consumer! they charged me $382.57 to repair something that was a design flaw with the vehicle. *jb

Our 2003 ford taurus started to leak from somewhere. the floors became wet when it rained. we took the car to the ford dealership and they fixed"the problem. this happened 3 more times each time they claimed to have fixed the problem. we were left without a car for a week the last time ,and still we have problems with the car. the water damage has left my car with a foul smell and has shorted out our blower for the second time. ford in waterbury ct has given up on the car and claimed that they cannot find where the water is coming from. this happened over the course of about 1 1/2 years. since this time our warranty has ran out and the problem is not fixed. we are aware of recall # 03v087000, but we are not sure if this is part of it. i have researched the internet to find many descriptions of ford models 2001-2003 with this same problem. at this point the value of my taurus has dropped significantly, and i cannot trade in this car knowing that this problem has not been resolved. i'm not sure anyone would even want this car at this point. we are very frustrated and feel "ripped off" by ford. this was a beautiful car when we bought it but is now plagued by water damaged carpets and unhealthy mold. the heater/ac/blower does not work and on very cold, icy, or hot days it cannot be driven due to safety hazards.*ak please help us to resolve this problem we have nowhere left to turn. ford taurus 4 dr sedan tan. *ak

Dt*: the contact stated the front windshield glass leaked during rainy weather and puddles of rainwater form in the floorboard. the vehicle was inspected by the dealer. the dealer replaced the sealant around the windshield glass. afterwards, the problem persisted. there was a nhtsa recall # 03v087000 regarding visibility. the vin was not included in the recall. the manufacturer was not alerted. the battery needed to be replaced, because the vehicle would not start. the air condition failed. updated 09/22/06. *jb

I found this web site ( ttp://forums.carreview.com/show thread.php?t=2030 ) while looking for information on how to change the heater fan blower resister on my 2003 ford taurus. what was described on this site is exactly what happened to me a couple months ago. my wife noticed a puddle of water on the passenger's side front of the car. not long later the fan for the heater went out. the above mentioned site said that a ford admitted design defect allowed water to get into the heater system and causes the blower to go out. this is definitely a safety issue because i can't drive my car when it is cold because the front window will fog up and i can't safely see out the window. i feel that ford should replace the resister/ blower motor or whatever went out on my 2003 ford taurus to cause the fan to quit working and they should fix the design defect that allowed water into the heating system. thank you for your time, i hope something can be resolved soon.*ak

Blower fan switch only works on high. i suspected that it would either be the blower switch itself or the relay. i replaced both and quickly determined that those two components were fine. after reading complaints associated with this problem, i suspect that my problem is associated with tsb 031506. like the other plaintiffs with the same issue, i strongly believe that ford motor company should offer to repair this costly global issue with their 2003 taurus models. *jb

Consumer 2003 ford taurus fan blower became inoperable after 50,000 miles. *ts *jb

Multiple failures of resistor # f6dz-19a706-aa due to water damage ultimately leading to failure of heating / cooling fan motor caused by water damage. a tsb had been issued for a known problem of water leakage into passenger compartment. tsb # 04-15-3. *nm

Blower motor for heat and air conditioning system no longer functioning, wet floor in passenger side, musty odor. oem has fix under tsb but because the vehicle is outside of the 3/36 warranty they refuse to cover repairs. *nm

Blower motor failed because of an "act of god" (dealer's description). the vehicle has a comprehensive warrantee to 75,000 miles and the motor failed at just over 51,000 miles. cost $350 to replace and only warranteed for a year even though this is most likely a design defect in the car. *nm

I had noticed some water leaking into the passenger side floorboard but could not determine it's source. apparently, a cowl (i may be misspelling) was cracked and leaking into the blower motor which caused the blower motor to fail. the $400 dollar repair is hefty but i don't have much choice. with a michigan winter right around the corner, a broken blower would be a huge safety issue as my windshield defrost won't work. the dealer said this is a common problem which sounds absurd for a car that is only two years old. apparently, ford has issued a technical service bulletin regarding this issue and developed a kit which solves the problem. they are aware of the problem and should not expect their customers to pay for an obvious design flaw which may compromise a passenger's safety. *nm

Car has a faulty windshield installation as described in recall number 03v087000. there is excess wind noise and squeaks and rattles at speed, and the window leaks on the passenger side during heavy rain and in the car wash. the local ford dealerships have been unresponsive, as they claim the vin number does not appear in their system as being eligible for this recall. *tr

Recently i noticed that there was water leaking into the passenger side floorboard after a heavy rain. a day later, my air conditioning stopped working and i could hear a gurgling sound coming from the system. i took it to the dealership and they told me that they had to install a "rainhat" kit over the cabin filter to prevent water from leaking into the blower motor by way of the cabin filter. well, the question becomes, why wasn't there anything there before? i went home and did some research and saw that ford issued the following tsb regarding the issue: 14 of 53: visibility:defroster/defogger system:windshield:blower bulletin date: aug 2004water in the blower case or on the passenger side floor, an inoperative climate control blower motor, a motor that operates on high speed only, and/or a blower motor resistor failure. vehicles built 5/1/2001 to 12/15/2003. *tt repair was $500. he's my concern. ford must have known there was design flaw if they (a) posted a tsb and (b) developed a "rainhat" kit to solve this problem. basically any owner that has a car built between those times will be doomed to pay this repair if they weren't lucky enough to have this fail before the warranty expired. i think that's absurd! i've talked with other owners and they were lucky enough to notice the leak before their blowers went out. the dealerships charged them upwards of $100 to install the "rainhat" kit. if i would have known that this was a problem i would have gladly paid $100 for the kit rather than $500. my dealership even admitted that this happens quite often, but they can't do anything about cost until ford issues a recall. again, this is a design flaw that needs to be addressed by ford. i don't believe it's right for the consumer to have to pay for a product design flaw. the safety concern here is of course the windshield defogger not being able to operate.

Dt: the windshield has a glare. the glare mirrors the dashboard onto the windshield. there is a light tint, but the consumer says one can not tell that there is. the dealer said they could not correct the problem, it was manufactured that way. no corrections or repairs have been made at this time. the consumer has taken the vehicle to the ford dealer for this , and they simply said they could not do anything about it. *ak

Heater and air conditioner fan motor stopped working. water leaks in on the passenger side with large puddle on passenger floor. water leak has been noticed several times but blower motor just stopped working. *jb

Heater blower not working large puddle of water in passenger floor pan. *jb

2003 ford taurus that was purchased in 2004. jan 05 the blower for the heating and cooling system began to work on high only. dealer tested and replaced part number f6dz-19a706-aa this fixed the problem. this was repaired again in jun 06 and may 07. the part has now broke again feb 08. the problem is due to a water leak that ford cannot repair for some reason. *tr

The heater was unable to function, making it difficult to see the road in inclement weather. took vehicle to dealer for check up, and results indicated that the heat motor tended to get water or ice in it, causing it to malfunction.*ak

Continuous water leak on passenger side which fills up floorboard and has effected the fan motor on the heating and air system...fan has quit blowing. this is a factory defect and that was mentioned to the dealer several times but they state it was not written down so they would not honor the warranty. *ak

The interior of the vehicle has a strong smell of gas when the heat and defroster is on. consumer feels nauseous, making the ability to concentrate on the road difficult. taken to dealer, but the cause is undetermined.*ak

I own a 2003 ford taurus and at 47,000 miles the fan blower went out! i had no heat being forced out of my vents. now at that low of miles should it have went out so early?? i had a $500 repair bill after that because i was told my car wasn't running smothly and it needed to have emission cleaning done on it. that costed me another $80. in my personal opinion my car was running very smoothly and the motor was practically silent when running. *ak

18 may 2004, after rain showers, vehicle blower motor quit working. could not see out of front windsheild after 15 minutes from condensation build-up. on 24 may 2004, took vehicle to fomoco dealership they replaced blower motor and said a seal failed. *nm

Heating system does not operate properly. variations in temperature are up to 20 degrees between dash vents. when heat is set at floor and dash vents, defrost vents provide 60 degrees. this, at times, causes windshield to not clear snow as it freezes upon impact. variation in heat causes driver and passenger discomfort and requires excessive manipulation of controls to maintain some comfort. this decreases driver alertness. cold from front defrost requires driver to seek ways to keep hands warm, such as sitting on them or wearing gloves. ford and local dealer advise there is no problem.*ak

The blow fan motor stopped working in my 2003 ford taurus. the dealer changed the part due to the fact it was covered was under a extended warranty. i had the same problem with my 1997 ford e350 cargo van. i had to pay for my own repair that time. why are these fans burning out on newer ford vehicles? several people have told me of the same problem. *nm

Blower motor in my 2003 taurus only runs on high. this has been an ongoing issue with year and model. water leaks in and burns the blower out. recently had to drive with no defroster ond ue to no blower. had the blower replaced now it only runs on high,it apparently needs a new resistor. there have been many complaints and nothing has been done about it. *tr

The heater in my car failed. we called the ford parts department and they told me it was a known problem that the cowl, relay and blower failed due to water leakage. we took the car in they said the cost would be 400.00 which i could not afford at that time. now i have no choice winter is here and i need my heater working. there are numerous complaints about this problem its time ford fixes the problem at their cost not ours! i've also been told that i need front ball joints my car failed inspection. this car is only two years old i shoudn't be having these major problems. i can't remember the exact month or day i took the car into westbrook ford dealer but cost us 40.00 to tell me what i already knew the the blower didn't work because of water leakage. *nm