Two problems related to power train have been reported for the 1996 Ford Taurus. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
On Aug. 4, 2003, I noticed my car was shifting into neutral on a stop. On Aug. 5, 2003, my car was shifting into neutral on a stop, and hesitating before slamming into first upon acceleration. On Aug. 6, 2003, my car stopped shifting back into first when it neutralized at a stop. It had to be manually shifted to park, and back into drive. If I turned off the overdrive, which is automatically engaged on this car, she drove like new, but if I forgot to manually disengage my overdrive, my car very loudly reminded me to shut it off.
Recall #96s51, dealer having a hard time getting the part.