Automatic Transmission problems of the 1997 Ford Taurus - part 1

The gear won't go into park. When its placed in park the vehicle continues to move. I had to call road side assistance because I didn't know what to do. No injuries were cause or the police weren't called. This is dangerous and its a recall for my vehicle.

Yesterday evening me and my family stopped at a gas station and my girlfriend went into the big apple in canton, maine. She was in there for awhile and I had been sitting in the car with the engine running. I went in the store to see what was taking so long and while I was in there I heard the children screaming. All three of them were in the back seat and the car backed up by itself and I ran out of the store after it. It ran into a telephone pole and I immediately demanded to know who touched the car. Nobody had, the car was still in park. It must of backed up about 10 to 15 mph before hitting the pole. If the pole had not of been there the car would of crossed rt. 108 and could of been hit by traffic. My children were so scared they wouldn't get back in the car.

97 Ford Taurus when in park the car will still roll forward until you apply the brake,there is a recall on this #96s50 local Ford dealer was helpful but said my VIN#1falp52u3va267890 could not be found under this recall but the car is doing the same thing as recall states. They said they didn't really no what to do so that's when I called your number and they said I could file a complaint on line . No one has been injured by this yet,but I would really like to get this took care of,any help you could offer would be great. Thank you.

I own a 97 Ford Taurus wagon, I purchased it used from a non Ford dealer in 2000 with 43,900 miles on it. In may 2001 I had to have a new transmission put in at 54,000. Miles. Now in August 2005 at 112,000 miles another transmission has to be put in. I definitely think there is some type of problem or defect with the transmissions if the car is not even 10 yrs old & is going on it's 3rd transmission. Ford did replacement of the previous transmission, told me it was a new one.

1997 Ford Taurus experiencing problems with the power steering. The power steering had gone out due to the wrong automatic transmission fluid being placed in the vehicle.

The consumer was unable to change gears. It was determined the transmission was no longer operable.

Vehicle stalls momentarily and then suddenly jumps into gear while driving. The transmission was replaced 14 months ago at a cost to me of $2684 and now I'm told it needs to be replaced.

The pump that is attached to the transmission is aluminum and is causing the part to fail and overheat. While the vehicle is in drive it will not move at all and will accelerate without prior warning.

The transmission leaked a liquid substance which caused the vehicle to jerk and made the gears difficult to switch.

The forward clutch metal band gave out causing the transmission not to move or shift into gear. Please fill in additional information. Dealer is aware of the problem. Ph.

Would like to know the number of reported failures on this automatic transmission component for this model year vehicle.

Transmission would intermittently slip from drive to neutral while driving. Dealer was notified, and unable to duplicate the problem.

No summary listed for above vehicle.

Consumer stated there is a reoccurring problem with the automatic transmission, which is causing vehicle to hesitate when driving up on an incline, dealer and manufacturer were notified. Consumer also stated this happens when driving on a leveled surface.

Vehicle would not go into overdrive. Servo cover could have been the problem. There was a recall, 97v097000, dealing with transmission servo cover. Also, engine light came on, and vehicle was not shifting. Had not contacted dealer. Consmer stated that even though there is a recall his claim was denied by manufacturer stating they needed a receipt for every 30,000 miles saying that the transmission was serviced, consumer had the transmission replaced, however the next day vehicle began experiencing same problems, after three attemps to fix problem it was determined that the clip for 3-4 shuttle valve breaks, however there was no recall for the clip.

While vehicle was at a light transmission locked up and would not let consumer get out of first gear. Contacted dealer, and the dealer was not willing to do anything.

Transmission would jerk when shifting into gear. Felt like being rearended. Finally transmission quit working. Towed to dealership, and informed by mechanic transmission needed to be replaced due to being non repairable.

Consumer has had 2 incidents with vehicle rolling backwards after being put in park. During first incident consumer had vehicle in park, vehicle turned off and got out. Consumer had to run back to vehicle because it was rolling backwards, and hit her son's vehicle before she could get to it. Second incident was on 11th of may, again consumer had vehicle in park; but, this time was still inside vehicle. Only way of stopping was to push down of brakes and pull up emergency brake. Police had towing company to come out and look. They stated everytime vehicle went in reverse or park it locked gears up. Transmission was all over the driveway, and they also found gear cable was cut. Consumer complained of this problem since purchase. Dealer urged consumer to put parking brake on for each normal stop. Consumer was trying to get Ford to cooperate with problem.

Vehicle will not move forward without making a ticking noise. Dealership is aware of problem.

While driving at 65 mph. With many other cars around me the transmission just stopped the auto acted as if I had shifted into neutral and would not work in drive or loe gears. If not for the driver behind me seeing I had a problem and helping by slowing other cars down I would not have been able to coast off the road saftly. There was no warning that this was going to happen,no slippage or other problems with the tranny. The garage told me that this happens often with the Ford Taurus and is quite commin. I can see where this could lead to many accidents and think it would be something you should look into. My total expence was over $2500. 00 for repairs.

Premature failure of transmission at only 54,300 miles due to worn down bearings.

When driving at slow speeds vehicle goes from drive to neutral. This happens 80 % of time.

Service bulletin 98-3-7: intermittent neutral condition - no warranty coverage even though Ford has upgraded the part. Dealer quote was $2500. Transmission shop upgraded for $1500.

No summary.

Car continues with the neutral condition of transmission after repair transmission 7 times.

No summary listed for above vehiicle.

Complete trans failure.

I think this is a safety issue with the Ford Taurus mfr. Not willing to do anything about it. .

Transmission quit. If we were on interstate, would have caused major problem.

When I stop at a stop light or stop sign the transmission drops in to neutral and does not want to go into gear, you have to rev the engine to get it to move and then the trans. Jerks real hard, the dealer said it was the cervo's at first and now the are saying a sensor is causing the problem but that we would have to pay for it since the warranty is out!.

We bought this 97 Taurus with 56,816 miles on 3/17/99. A week later the engine check light came on. The dealer advised us to go to his mechanic and have it checked. The mechanic read a p1744 code, cleared the code, road-tested the car, and advised us to continue to drive, and see if it would reset or not. In the ongoing months engine check light came on three more times. There were no problems and the car was operating normally. These three times it was taken to the Ford dealership, the code cleared and we were sent on our way. The last time, however, we said that this problem has got to be solved! the Ford dealer said it could be many things, and would cost $63. 00 to investigate. After investigation, the dealer said it was in the transmission valve body, approximately $750. 00 to overhaul. The dealer was given the okay, and the end result was a $1,245 bill to replace the entire valve body and pump shaft. The needle bearing had failed and the pump shaft scored the bore in valve body. The car at the time of this repair 1/19/00 had 61,808 miles. This is a definite case of premature failure, caused probably by a manufacturing defect.

I was sold a 5 star lemon. The carfax wesite has 6 lemon history reports. Also my car has a recall on ax4s auto-trans. I have the reports. Please check all reports, I feel me and my family is in grave danger, please I don't want to die. Please deal with this situation as soon as possible. My life is in your hands. Thank you.

Vehicle acts as if in park, though it shifts to all gears- car doesn't move. Car locked up while driving in middle of a turn. Out of warranty by 3 weeks, but in on mileage. Dealer and manufacturer unwilling to claim responsibility.

Just the tranmission problems.

Requested dealership to check transmission at time of purchase, felt that the transmission did not shift smoothly, was told nothing was wrong.