Five problems related to engine belts and pulleys have been reported for the 1997 Ford Taurus. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Transmission going out at such a low mileage, serpentine belt failure,cam sensor & false distributor shaft, & multi-functional switch in steering column.
The pulley that drives the belt froze and fell off causing the power steering, the alternator, water pump and battery failures. Yh.
The ignition tension pully froze up and caused the belt to come off and the motor to overheat. The motor overheated this one time that I know of and cause all the alluminum in the moter to warp, basicly ruinning the motor. The car was shut down with in 3 min I did not know what was wrong. The extended warranty that I purchased from the dealership would not cover the parts damaged due to overheating, eventhough a covered part caused motor to over heat. Thank you.
While driving either in rain or over a puddle of water and making a right hand turn , water will get into the serpentine belt, causing loss of power steering for about 30-60 seconds . There is no guard or shield to protect belts from getting wet. Ford claims they cannot fix defect.
This problem is with Taurus, sable & windstar, it can not be repaired. . . Now what? no safety defect listed. TSB 98-9-4 was issued regarding this problem, the corrective action being to replaced the front end accessory drive belt.