Problems with 2002 Ford Taurus EQUIPMENT

At 6:30 a.m. on 4/4/2012 i was driving home from work when i fell asleep ,crossed the center line, hit a semi head on & my driver side airbag didn't deploy. the 2002 ford taurus was a vehicle i purchased new. the passenger side with no one in that seat did deploy. *tr

Own a 2002 ford taurus. car parked in parking garage while at work. after work went to car, started it, put into reverse, moved not even three inches, sound like gunshot, front spring blew through front tire on driver side. my son said i had guardian angel...would have been killed if car had actually made it to the road. i have only had car three years. towed to repair shop, mechanic said looks just like recall situation on 2001 taurus, same spring incident..mine naturally not covered, but this is wrong. i was not aware of recalls on 2001 vehicles. i have no money, this repair will set me back quite a bit. i am thankful that nobody was hurt by flying parts! *tr

I have a 2002 ford taurus sel. yesterday my cruise control cable got stuck in the open position while driving on interstate 45 in houston during the early evening. braking helped slow the car down, but it would accelarate back up again as soon as the brake was released. my son was able to get off the highway safely, but only by putting the car in neutral with it still revving up past 5000 rpm. he turned off the car when on the service road and it came to a safe stop. when the car was started up again, it would rev back up. my oldest son and i met up with him, and when we opened the hood of the car, the cruise control cable was stuck in the open position. there is a small nick and crack in the outside housing of the cable that it got hung up on. my son disabled the cruise control so that we could drive the vehicle home. i have a picture of the housing and have put a call in to my dealer, champion ford in houston, this morning. i am waiting for the service department there to call me back now.

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. *tr

Problems with noise front passenger side shuddering sound while driving comes and goes. problem with car running rough engine power decreased, seam like fuel is poor, some malfunction causing problems in traffic. this malfunction always happens on start up and during regular operating during driving. we have to keep letting off the gas and giving gas to try make it run right a hope to have a smooth ride. the popping noise from the front end always happen daily during driving with normal speeds. the front rotors has been changed three times since i owned this vehicle, continuing to have problem with the front end. brake pads always have been changed during these problems. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford taurus. after a hard rain, water accumulates on the passenger side floorboard of the vehicle. in addition, the heater blower and air conditioner blower only operate on the high setting. the vehicle has not been inspected by the dealer. the contact blogged and discovered the issues with her vehicle. the vin was unknown. the failure mileage was 89,000.

My a/c blower motor stopped working and was filled with water with traces of rust. i own a 2002 ford taurus and understand many people have had the same issue; just research the internet. *tr

Bought 2002 ford taurus sel from used car lot, had about 43,000+ miles in excellent condition. i have had this car less than a year. it presently has 68,000 miles (700 miles driven weekly), all highway driving. at about 55,000 miles ( i am guessing), i started hearing a clunk. today i went to change the brakes and found the drivers side rear suspension low to the tire. i carry no weight in the car. i took the tire off to find the spring had snapped and coiled around the strut perch. the car has not been abused or mistreated. i find it strange that this car would snap a spring so easily in such a sort time. luckily it didn't pop a tire while driving. i have read up on the internet to find this is a known problem for this year and make car. i have also read, that i should expect the front struts to collapse. i feel ford should be held accountable for selling a car with known dangerous and potential problems. there should be a recall on these vehicles for a potentially dangerous and faulty suspension. i have also been forced to replace the blower motor to the cars hvac system. the system has been working intermittently. i have read on the net that this also is a known ford problem. i am fortunate that i am a federally licensed airplane mechanic, therefore i do my own repairs. the parts in question are not cheap, nor is my time. ford needs to be forced to reimburse all expenditures to repair these known problems. ford needs to recall and address these known problems. *tr

I took my 2002 ford taurus to the repair shop because i did not have any heat. i was told it was the heater core and they proceeded to replace it. after i picked my vehicle up, by the time i got home i had no heat again. the technicians at the repair shop said they do not know why it is not heating. ford technicians do not know either. *tr

Tl*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.

When it rains, water enters the vehicle on the passenger side near the blower motor. rugs and mats on right side of car are saturated. all attempts at stopping water entry are futile. *tr

Ford heater automobile: ford taurus, 2002, mileage: 54,700 subject: design defect, heater motor installation background: air intake for the heater and air conditioning system is located between the hood and the front windshield. rain flows into this area and passes into the heater ducting. some of this water flows into the plastic housing for the blower motor causing early failure. potential hazard: early failure of the motor may result in the inability of the vehicle heating system to remove condensation from the interior of the windshield. in addition, the failure of the heating system during cold weather would not melt snow and ice that may accumulate on the windshield. problem: the blower motor is located under the right hand dashboard housed in a molded plastic assembly. this location is one of the lowest points in the heating system therefore water accumulates in the motor housing plastic assembly submerging the rear one-third of the motor in water. this results in early failure of the motor due to water contamination, as there is not a provision to drain water from the plastic housing. comments: this is a known engineering defect as ford sealed the housing with a rubberized compound to prevent water from the heating system flowing onto the floor. corrective action: mandate ford motor company to recall the 2002 ford taurus and other years and models with a similar system to install a drain in the heater motor plastic housing in order to drain the water from the assembly. i have retained the failed blower motor and plastic assembly for your review, if required, in order to observe the results of this defective design. note: i could not delete an error in equipment on the next window as this heater motor was installed as original equipment on the ford. please disregard the equipment window. *jb updated 01/07/08. *lj

2002 ford taurus se front drivers side spring snapped. this was recalled in 1999-2001 ford taurus's with the same problem but not the 2002. i have seen many complaints about this when i googled the problem. please help!! *i couldn't find ford on the manufacture section, so i selected chrysler to proceed. *jb

Tl *- the contact owns a 2002 ford taurus. while driving in reverse the coil spring broke and punctured the driver's side front tire. the failure speed was approximately 1-2 mph. the contact replaced the tire,but did not keep the punctured tire. the contact stated that the jack snapped as the vehicle was being lifted. the contact has had the vehicle repaired, and has the repair invoices. *ak updated 03/15/07. *jb

In august 2006 vapors from the air conditioner of my 2002 ford taurus entered the vehicle through the front vents and it stopped cooling shortly thereafter. i went in to the landers-mcclarty ford dealer and was told that my car should not ever need freon and that it may be a cheap or expensive repair job and i would have to leave the car overnight. i could not leave it. since summer was almost over, i did not use of the air conditioner anymore. in retrospect, the car felt very very hot as if extra heat was coming from the engine whenever i had used the ac prior to its failure. that ford dealership closed. in the late fall, i started using my defogger/heater and noticed an energy drain on the engine. the heater works. the problem: strange fumes enter the car through the vents. after shifting the car into park with the heater on and the engine idling, it shut itself off. i started the engine back up and it shut itself off again. i turned the heater to the off position and started the engine again and the engine stayed on. i turned the heater back on and the engine shut off again. i took the car it to another ford dealer and was told that they had never heard of that type of problem before. the manufacturer warranty had expired and the extended warranty which i had purchased expired nov. 7, 2006, the week before i took it in. i was told i had to pay $80 just for them to diagnosis the problem in addition to whatever it would cost to fix it. the shop was very busy and i was asked to leave the car, but was unable to do so because it is my only transportation. i do not use to heater at all. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated water leaked from the windshield into the engine bay, and the heater and air conditioner had problems. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that consistent leaking caused the lower motor to rust out completely. the mechanic also printed out a recall # 03v087000 about the visibility:windshield. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who determined the vehicle was not included in the recall due to the vin.

I have owned this car since july of 2005 (3/10/06). my brother went to use the cigarette lighter and when it was done heating up it popped completely out and fell under the passenger seat after bouncing off the center console. this happens every time the cigarette lighter is used. i see another complaint for this and i truly believe that this is a safety hazard for two reasons, 1 being that it could easily cause a fire in the car (especially if there are papers under the seat) which on top of that could cause a crash, and 2 if the driver went to find the lighter so it didn't cause a fire not only would he/she get burned while driving but it could also cause a crash which almost happened to me. and just so ford knows, i am holding them responsible for my burned finger.*jb

I have a 2002 ford taurus.. starting shaking while driving at 8,500 miles. took it to ford and they stated rotors were warped and replaced them. at approx 18,000 miles they warped again. ford would not cover the warrant so i ended up paying to have them resurfaced. i filed a complaint with the attorney generals office and ended up getting reimbursed for the repair. i'm now at 28,000 miles and they are shot, unable to be resurfaced and must be replaced. needless to say i'm not going to deal with ford any longer and will replace with a higher quality after market product. i have found and exorbanent ammount of other taurus owners online that are having the same problems. i was wondering if you could look into it and the feasability of issueing a recall. the warping is pretty common from what i can see and causes the vehicle to shake violently when attempting to stop , and is extremely bad when stopping from highway speeds

Saturday night dec 11, 2004, while driving on route 91 in ct, the car lost steering. the car started to veer right and when my daughter (and 2 small children) tried to steer the wheel just turned and turned with no results. she ended up next to a cement wall, with no damage to the car, after pumping the brakes. they had to crawl out of the window, because of the position of the car, when the tow truck came. a police cruiser stayed behind her until the tow truck got there. i had it towed to the ford dealer that i bought it from. they found it was with the linkage and repaired it. i hate to say it, but i still have a strange feeling when i drive now. i guess that they found a bolt was loose, removed it, checked the threads and reinstalled it. i am so discouraged with this car compared to other fords that i have had. *ak

Water leakage on the front passenger side. heater failure.*ak

While the consumer was jacking up the vehicle to replace a flat tire, the jack collapsed and the vehicle fell onto the ground. no injuries. the consumer contacted the dealer, but was told he had to order the part on his own. *jb *er

I own a 2002 taurus with 40000 miles and twice know i've had work done on my blower unit. the first time i lost all settings except high. the dealer stated that it was a bad resistor and replaced the resistor. two weeks later the same problem happened. the dealer stated that there was a problem with water getting into the blower unit. he will put in a modification and replaced the blower unit. a week later we had bad rain in new england and there was an inch of water on the passenger side of the car. the car will be going in for service again for this problem. *nm

Transmission not shifting into gear properly. hard to shift from park into gear and makes clunk noise. exhaust rattle/vibration/noise.

The manual for the vehicle didn't explain how to install a rear facing infant seat. the manufacturer was contacted and could not provide that information. *ak the driver also indicated that all the rear seat folded forward and it appeared that the vehicle was not suitable for use with rear facing child seat (the driver isn't the owner. the vehicle was a garage loaner). *ph *nlm

Sept 18, 2001 we purchased a new 2002 ford taurus. in one day radiator hose popped off. thirty days after the firs repair the hose popped off again. the dealer wanted to replace the engine to correct the problem. on 10-29-01 the car started to make a hiss noise and smoke would come from the front end when it was parked or turned off. the vehicle was taken to the dealer dirks motors. they asked if the could replace the engine again and we said no. we left the car and they told us they would let us know but we did not hear nothing from them, when we would call to ask them what was going to happen they did not know at all. on 11-5-01 the car was returned to us and with leaving the service center and not being less then 20 miles from akron, iowa the car got hot and started to smoke and i called dirks service center on my cell phone and told them i was bring it back and this time i wanted the car replaced no questions.. but the car was taking back and they looked over it and they did not call us at all while it was in service, we called everyday to see if they knew what was wrong with it and the funny thing about it was the car was at dirks motor inc from 11-5-01 to 11-16-01 and they could not find nothing wrong. on 11-16-01 this would have been the 4th time this car had been serviced and it was getting old.. on 12-27-02 the car started the hissing noise and short cuts on and the cd player stopped working and that was it.. i called the ford company at 1-800-392-3673. while talking with the call center they called dirks service center and edu'd them to have the cd player replaced and look at the engine. this car has been service for the same issue more then 3 to 4 times.. we wanted the car replaced.... we rec'd a call back from fords call center (natalie) and she edu'd to me they were going to order a new cd player and have the car looked at to see about getting the car replaced. steve irwin [email protected] p# (605) 761-0268

There is a bad odor coming from air conditioning (a/c) unit caused by mold/mildew (from water that sits in blower box). vehicle has been in to dealership four times without resolution to this problem. i am concerned about health consequences if this is not resolved. dealer has used deodorizers in a/c unit and replaced cabin air filter, all to no avail. *la

Front left coil spring broke and slashed tire with no warning at all; could have caused a horrific highway accident while traveling at 65mph. ford has recalled coil springs for sables and taurus model of 2001 no further. there is clearly a serious problem. snow states have had recalls due to salt corrosion to spring causing sudden fractures. the out come for repair; replaced coil spring, shock;bearing and new tire totaling 780.00. my concern now is do i replace the other 3 coil springs to the tune of 150.00 before the same issue arises again!!! ford should take the blame and offer the replacement before too many more serious accidents occur. *tr