Problems with 2003 Ford Taurus VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

3 occurrences of throttle sticking open when attempting to accelerate when either passing or merging onto express-way. the first occurrence was when passing a vehicle on a road shortly after a full stop going about 35-45 mph the vehicle continued to accelerate even when pumping the breaks. the 2nd time was not until about 6-8 months later while accelerating rather quickly to merge safely into traffic on an expressway and the car continued to accelerate. slowly at first and then after getting off at next exit i barely was able to apply the breaks to pull over. i was able to shut it down and after a few minutes attempted to start car and the accelerator raced so i immediately shut it down again. after waiting 10 min. or so i was able to restart the car and it performed like nothing had happened. i was in an area of detroit that i was not going to stay there unless i had to so i again drove making sure i slowly accelerated until getting up to expressway speed. the 3rd occurrence happened in much the same way the 1st one happened. i think my response was different this time in that i did not attempt to pump the accelerator to try and unstick. if memory serves me i went into a coast mode until i saw the tack come down to a normal rpm speed. after the 2nd occurrence i removed the floor mat from the drivers side, so i know that after it happened the 3rd time it definitely was not the result of a jammed floor mat. the weather on all 3 occasions was not wet. the 2nd and 3rd happened during this past summer. no repairs have been made although we were going to have this looked at before winter. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated while driving 15 mph she applied the brakes and the vehicle independently accelerated. the contact thought there was a brake problem and her son changed the master cylinder. six months later the failure recurred three more times. the contact was informed by the local news about nhtsa action number pe12033. the vehicle had not been repaired. the failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 90,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving 40 mph when the vehicle suddenly accelerated. the contact depressed the brake and was able to decrease speed. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 185,000 and the current mileage was 202,000.

While driving my daughter experienced a sudden acceleration and braking did not stop the engine from accelerating. she placed the vehicle in neutral and while still having difficulty braking was able to stop the vehicle and turn off the engine. car was towed to service location and cruise control was disabled to remedy the issue. fortunately no damage or injuries resulted. *tr

I bought the 2003 ford taurus used at the end of 2008. i did not start to experience the sudden acceleration problem until 2011. luckily, i'm a well-trained driver from the days of high school drivers ed. classes and my dad teaching me everything from driving in different weather conditions to what to do if your brakes fail, etc. the occurrences have gotten more frequent; i called in a complaint months ago to ford but the lady i spoke with acted like she didn't believe me. she stated that my car was an older model and that they were looking into things about a newer model, she also said if i were to fix it just keep the receipt. so in other words come up with the money yourself or have an accident. the cars rpm needle starts to rise and it's about 5500 to 6000 before i can get it to engage. i ride the brakes until i get to a red-light and then put it in park and rev the engine to get it back down to normal. other times i've had to pop it in neutral, push the accelerator until it starts to come down then back to drive. this is unnerving, especially when i have kids in the car, in heavy traffic or near a school at 3:00. ford needs to acknowledge this problem before someone gets hurt, if they haven't already. *tr

I was driving eastbound on i-90 (mass. pike) in massachusetts, about 60 miles outside of boston, with my fiancee in the passenger seat. road conditions were ideal. temperature was in the high 80s. sun was out, about 4 p.m. in the afternoon. suddenly, the rpms went through the roof, but the car did not slow or speed. i tested again and same thing happened. i signaled right and was able to move over one lane and again onto the shoulder. once parked, the car would not go into gear. i just got revving in park, drive, reverse, lower gears, etc. transmission failure. no power to the ground. repair costs came to $2,000. i would consider this a safety problem since i was not able to control the speed of my car on a busy highway. i was lucky enough to have space to my rear and right when the incident occured, but had i been boxed in, there certainly would have been an accident. it appears this is a common problem with the '03 taurus.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 75 mph with the curse control engaged, the vehicle would not decelerate while braking. the contact had to shift the vehicle into neutral in order for the vehicle to slow down. the contact then shut the vehicle off. the contact did not call the manufacturer or take the vehicle to a dealer. the failure mileage was 160,000.

Driving on the interstate at around 65 miles per hour the car started to accelerate on its own. i was unable to brake, so i pulled the car over to the side and put the car in neutral. in neutral the cars rpm shot up to 4000. i turned the car off. upon examination of the throttle it has been discovered that the cruise control cable clip or adjuster that connects the cable to the throttle is cracked and not longer holds the cable in place. i have been able to manually adjust the cable back into position and drive the car, but it continues to fall out and accelerate on its own. has happened several times and is very dangerous. i have been unable to locate this "clip" to have the problem fixed. *jb

Ford taurus 2003 ses, engine 3.0l car was purchased on may 28, 2011. left side electrical along with components of the turn signal snap back when attempting to use this safety feature made for vehicles. on 06/15/2011 the front right brakes of the vehicle went out and required the vehicle to be towed to a local repair shop. during the drive home which was from a distance of about 20 miles i experienced uncontrollable steering and almost lost control of the vehicle. the replaced brake caliper bolt came loose and was lost along the highway. on 07/19/2011 after the vehicle was towed back to the repair shop the a/c compressor had failed again along with the transmission as the transmission was slipping roughly during normal driving conditions. the vehicle was towed and was blowing hot, brakes grinding, transmission flare shifting 2-3 shift. repair shop stated slipping at 30mph and stated rebuilt transmission. during a week period around 07/22/2011 the brakes were grinding again and the lower ball joints were installed. transmission slipping around 30mph and ac was still blowing hot. transmission was rebuilt during this time frame due to flare shift 2-3 shift. vehicle was towed back to the shop each time. 08/17/2011 check engine light on, transmission does not shift, grinding noise when accelerate and brake, a/c blows hot. on 08/31/2011 the transmission would not shift, stated need to replace all electronics in transmission, one or more solenoids are defect. 09/12/2011 odometer 112377 out o. on 09/20/2012 mil 140,768. balanced 55 series and above rear right wheels balanced parts for flat with plug. vehicle was inspected for power steering fluid and it was normal. the vehicle jumps when put in reverse and into gear and seems to want to stay on cruise control. i will post further comments to my complaint as there is not enough space for facts. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact was driving approximately 20 mph, attempting to park the vehicle when the brake pedal was engaged; yet, there was an unintended acceleration. the vehicle failed to stop and crashed into four unoccupied vehicles and small trees. the contact sustained no personal injuries; however, there were three bystanders that sustained minor injuries. a police report was filed. the front end of the vehicle was severely damaged. the vehicle was towed to a collision center. the failure mileage was unknown. the vin was unavailable.

The vehicle begins to throttle and then shut off at any time if your foot is not on the gas. the vehicle also stays or goes up in speed while you are driving. i had thought this was the fuel pump but learned it is not. im afraid that whatever the problem may be i could be driving the speed will go up on its own and then force the car to shut off and die leading to an accident. therefore i must say i do not drive this car often or far. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus sedan ses. the contact stated that while the brakes were depressed the engine revved and the vehicle accelerated unexpectedly. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was notified. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 119,000. the vin was unknown.

Vehicle speed control: linkage 2003 ford taurus station wagon; 3.0l dohc a black plastic connector along the throttle cable under the hood became disconnected from a gray plastic piece. the black plastic piece became stuck against the edge of the gray piece, causing the throttle to stay wide open & undesired acceleration & some panic. it appears that this could be repaired by simply inserting 2 screws to secure the 2 plastic pieces together. *tr

On february 5, 2010 my 2003 ford taurus caught fire at 1:00 p.m. parked under our car porch and there was no one in the car and no one had driven the car for 5 hours on saturday morning. the shreveport fire department was call to keep the house from burning down with the car. the city fire marshall said the fire was caused by the cruise control switch. i told him no one uses the cruise control in that car because we just go in town and there is a red light at every corner. he stated that he had been to many other fires just like this one and it was always the cruise control switch. my husband is emotionally disabled and i nearly had a nervous breakdown just the sight that our investment was burning up and there was nothing we could do. i have call the fire marshall for a written copy of his report. i have taken pictures of the vehicle and their is some minor damages and lots of smoke damage to done to the house. *tr

I have a 2003 ford taurus. in the past, i've had the pedal stick and the car will accelerate on it's own. when i pushed on the brakes, it takes me about 3 times as long to stop the car and once it's stop it is still trying to go and the rpm was above 3. i was also pushing the brakes as hard as i could and the car was still trying to go. the first time this happened was in the winter of 2010. it happened roughly 5 times in the winter of 2010 and 3-4 times in the winter of 2011. it did not happen in 2012 due to the warm winter climate, at least that is my guess. i also remember it happening when it was very cold outside. the one time it was around 0 degrees. it felt like the pedal would get stuck. the only way i could get it to stop would be to aggressively keep pushing the pedal and then it would get unstuck. one time i let it go to see how far it could speed up on it's own i got it to 50 mph without pushing the pedal before i got nervous and was able to get it to stop. i've also noticed in the past that the pedal sometimes will feel like it will get stuck but in those cases the car won't accelerate on it's own like i explained above. i brought all of this to the dealer's attention but they wrote me off and said it could have been due to the cold. i never thought to report it till i heard about other incidents similar to mine recently in the news. *tr

I having so much trouble issues on this car i want refund money for this was $1,900 refund back to me...updated 11/13/15 *bf *js

On wednesday, november 25, 2009, i was driving my parents 2003 ford taurus sel around town, doing last minute shopping for thanksgiving, when all of a sudden the car took off, as if the gas pedal had gotten stuck. my mother was in the front passenger seat and i told her what was happening. i tried stepping on the gas pedal to see if it had gotten stuck, but that did not help and i was getting very concerned. i kept my foot on the brake and then put the car into a lower gear and then into neutral, all the while, the engine continued racing, and turned off the engine. it took me almost two blocks to get the car stopped. i immediately called the auto club for a tow truck, as there was no way i was going to turn the engine back on. i then called my father and told him what happened and he proceeded to come down to where we were. the tow truck came and the driver was the one who found that the plastic housing that holds the cruise control cable had broken and the cable slipped back and was wedged-up against the side of the broken housing. i took photos of this. the car was taken up to our mechanic. the cruise control has never been used. we contacted the ford customer service who took all the information and gave us case number 0436723349. they told us to take the car to the dealership to have the part replaced. my parents took the car to the dealer, but they only offered to replace the part; however, we wanted someone to witness it and see what it looked like before the part was taken off and discarded and we would have had no way to prove it even happened. they just wanted my parents to leave the car all day to have it checked out, but my father opted to take it back to our mechanic who would save the part and give it to my father.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. the contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the vehicle accelerated up to 75 mph without warning. the brakes were applied, but the vehicle continued to accelerate. the contact was able to maneuver the vehicle onto the shoulder and stop. the vehicle was then towed to the dealer. the dealer inspected the vehicle and found that the cruise control throttle cable was fractured. the dealer replaced the throttle cable. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 94,000 and the current mileage was 112,000. the vin information was not available.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving approximately 45 mph, the contact depressed the brake pedal but the vehicle would not decelerate. the contact placed the vehicle in neutral and applied excessive pressure to the brake pedal in order to stop the vehicle and turned the engine off. the failure recurred twice. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. there was a recall under nhtsa action number: pe12033 (vehicle speed control:cruise control vehicle speed control:cables) that could have been related to the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 50,000.

Cruise control cable become disconnected and get lodged behind throttle linkage. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford taurus. while driving 45 mph, the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated as the contact turned onto a road. she attempted to stop the vehicle, but was unsuccessful. she was finally able to shut off the engine and the vehicle was towed. the tow truck driver stated that a cable had become stuck, which caused the failure. the failure recurred approximately 3-4 weeks later. the contact performed the procedure the mechanic showed her in regards to the failure and continued driving. the contact's son explained that it was the cruise control cable that was stuck and he proceeded to disconnect the cable. ford informed her that her vin was not included in the cruise control recall. the current mileage was 75,300 and failure mileage was 74,000. updated 04-08-08 *bf

Throttle sticks at the top of the pedal. the 'barrel' going from the air cleaner to the carburetor has a butterfly in it, when the butterfly returns, it gets stuck, there appears to be some kind of seal material. to throttle up sometimes means excessive pressure on the throttle, when the butterfly breaks loose, the car will lunge forward. *jb

I was going to work the monday after thanksgiving 2005, i stopped at a light and then proceeded to go, went to push the gas pedal to speed up, and it revved, and i coasted in a parking lot.*ak

Dt the vehicle surged forward when in park. contacted dealer, they checked it, and said was a sensor problem. they had to have an order to fix it. did not say from who or why. had not contacted the manufacturer. this happened on august 12, 2005. *ak

Owner was driving in a parking lot at approximately 5 mph and suddenly the vehicle began to accelerate. owner drove into a large plant which got caught under the vehicle, causing the front of the vehicle to become airborne. this caused damaged under the vehicle and the front bumper. *ak the dealer replaced the iac valve assembly. *nm

2003 ford taurus problems with sudden acceleration.***no answer required***. *mr while parking the vehicle accelerated suddenly and jumped over two curbs. the vehicle came to a stop after hitting a flower pot which became lodged under the vehicle. *nm

Involutary acceleration of car at low speeds while the traction control is engaged due to slippery surfaces. this has happened four times in the last month and, everytime the driver's foot was on the brake pedal and not on the accelerator. the dealer has had the car twice and has not been able to replicate the conditions. ford motor company refuses to take further action. *ak

On my 2003 ford taurus sel the throttle body sticks causing an unusually high amount of gas pedal pressure to release it and once it releases the high pedal pressure applied causes a rapid, dangerous acceleration of the vehicle. this is the 2nd time this problem has occurred with this vehicle the first repair was done by the ford dealer on january 15, 2005 and now it is occurring again. this appears to be a common problem with ford vehicles and there are websites devoted to discussing this. in every occurrence the throttle body must be replaced. *tr

The consumer experienced sudden acceleration. the manufacturer has been contacted by consumer. *jb

Dt: sometimes the vehicle will accelerate when the consumer would take his foot off of the gas pedal just as if the cruise control was on when it was not. this has been happening off and on since december 2004. there were other problems with the vehicle that were not related. when the consumer had taken the vehicle to the dealership, they had replaced different parts on the vehicle. although the repair made improvements, it did not completely fix the problem. the dealership could not find the exact problem. *ak (11/15/05) ford repurchased the vehicle. the consumer received compensation but did not feel that it was fair. *sc

Dt: while coming to a stop the caller hit the brake and the vehicle surged forward. it happened when vehicle was in park as well. also, there was a sudden loss of power and rough idle when on the highway or city streets. the caller said there was poor gas mileage. tool vehicle to dealer 7 times, on february 11, 2005, july 6, july 22, 2005, july 27, 2005 , and august 12, 2005. called the manufacturer, and manufacturer said they have had this problem in other vehicles. dealer said they could not fix the problem and someone form the manufacturer will get back to him. *ak

The consumer experienced unexpected acceleration. the driver stated while sitting at a stop light he lifted his foot off the brake the and vehicle suddenly accelerated. *jb the vehicle hit another vehicle in the rear . this same instance recurred another time and on the time, the vehicle was in the park position. ford suggested that nothing was wrong with the vehicle. *sc *jb

Consumer complained that the vehicle would continuously accelerate to 200 rpm and causes the engine to overheat. vehicle had been to the dealer on two occasions, but problem recurred. dealer contacted the manufacturer, and manufacturer informed that dealer that was the normal characteristic of that vehicle. *ak

Intermittently driving at any speed, the cruise control would disengage with out warning. the cruise control would have to be reset in order for it to be engaged again. the vehicle has been examined by the dealer, who could not duplicate the problem. *ak checked vehicle with a ford engineer, but cruise control won't disengage. it has to be set at 55 to 65 mph to disengage. *la

2003 ford taurus experienced sudden acceleration when brakes were engaged.*mr the dealer acknowledge the problem, but has been unable to correct it. *jb