general problems of the 2008 Ford Taurus - part 1

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and making a turn, the vehicle became inoperable. The contact shifted into park and restarted the vehicle. The contact stated while reversing, she heard an abnormal sound. The check engine and several other unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle had been diagnosed by an independent mechanic. The contact was informed that the failure was due to the power train not being connected to the solenoids. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 85,367.

I bought this vehicle used from a lot. It had 2 previous owners and came with all the service history. I first noticed the vehicle seemed like it didn’t want to go into overdrive . It would get to about 70 mph which would have the rpm’s at 3k! the 2nd time or so that we got it to these speeds (on interstate) the vehicle suddenly clunked , steering wheel jerked , vehicle lost power - I had my 2 children in the vehicle and I was pregnant. We had to pull over immediately . After sitting side the road for a few , it crunk up and we rode out . Only for it to happen 2 more times. And this is not the only thing effected by this . Not long after I got it , I started noticing a hard shift / clunk / slam when going into gear and especially when the vehicle has just tried to downshift and I pressed the gas again . Due to this , I’m unable to tell when and if we can pull out into traffic and such. I must time it good in order to not risk getting t boned etc. Also, with 3 kids in tow , a vehicle slamming their necks and heads is dangerous and scary. So , I’ve had some work done on . Trying to help my issue. Apparently my issue is the same as a lot of others . Which is an intermittent issue . And apparently no matter if all the passed recalls were addressed. Or if the owners of the vehicle serviced it often and currant . Or if the pcm was reflashed , replaced etc - the Ford Taurus x will continue to have these issues . And these issues seem to be the same issues that were addressed in the Ford recall in 2020 ( which didn’t include the Taurus x) and previous recalls . This drivertrain transmission has been an issue for the Taurus x since forever . Please check into this. Last thing we need is whiplash or life flights from this .

Had to shell out $528. 06 to replace both the 'input & output shift senors' in the vehicle. Repair involved removing the valve body on the transmission for access. Majority of the cost involve the labor to reach this area on trans. A month earlier trans locked up in low gear, dash lights were flashing? shut off engine & restarted. Ran ok then. Safety issue! recall is in order!.

Transmission clunks into each gear when driving slow. When brake pedal is pressed to move shifter from park, there is an alarm that is fairly loud coming from the dash. The brakes seem to work well and I have maintained my own vehicles, so there is no reason this should be wrong with the car. It has very low miles for the year and has mostly highway driving. It has been this way for months, getting progressively worse.

On 5/4/18. I had backed out put 2008 Ford Taurus in drive and pulling forward in traffic the cars rpm rev up loadly and car moved slowly forward with on coming traffic coming up behind me and several cars going around me. I pulled to left turning lane and stopped. I put the car in neutral then reverse felt a jerk then park. I sat there a few seconds. The wrench light appeared on dash. I put car in drive and proceeded home. While driving home the rpms rev up again twice. I pulled in my drive way as I put the car in reverse the car made aloud clunk sound and again in park the same loud clunk. In regards to recall for 2008 Ford Taurus. . Read more...

While stopped at a traffic light the vehicle just took off and I couldn't get car to stop until I put it in neutral while applying the break. Mechanic could not find a reason for this and it doesn't happen all the time . Since other people have had the same or similar problem seems like a recall problem to me. Car tries to drive itself!!!.

We have been complaining since 2016 to ted britt Ford and to Ford about the transmission and the jerking, popping, slipping, especially while turning, and they told us that they could not duplicate the problem. This is not the first time we complained. At one point the service tech told us that slipping, jerking, and popping from the transmission was normal for the Taurus x. On 10/20/2017, we broke down on a very busy road. We were driving the car when all of a sudden the car started to buckle and choke. Then we had smoke billowing from the rear of the vehicle. We turned off the engine and turned on the flashers. We found out that the antifreeze reservoir was empty. Something is clearly wrong with this vehicle and Ford does not want to correct it. We were forced to buy this car because we believe that ted britt sabotaged our 2003 Ford windstar lx. Ted britt sabotaged our windstar through disconnecting the vacuum line that fed the heating and ac. We went for three years freezing in the winter and boiling hot in the summer. They did not want to reconnect that line for our heat and ac. They disassembled a lot of our windstar and threw everything in the back of our van onto the cloth seats. Dashboard, cowl, grill, hood was off the van, tires, brake lines, engine parts, and other parts were thrown onto our cloth back seats. They made our tan seats black with the road grime and grease. Then they decided to ask us if we wanted our van back. That was very rude. We had just cleaned those seats. Now we are having problems with the 2008 Ford Taurus x. We had to call the police and our auto insurance to help us out. We filed an insurance claim to get the vehicle towed and we had to take a taxi to work.

The acceleration speeds up on its on. The electric components mis charge.

The Ford Taurus x has 57,945 miles on it. Two times while driving the vehicle on the interstate highway the dash showed all zeros and the car lost power. The check engine light came on. The car exhibited slow acceleration and unusual shifting. I took it and had the obd code read. The code indicated that it was a speed sensor in the transmission (p720). The code was reset and the car is currently being driven. It happened twice within a two-week period. I own two 2008 Ford Taurus and it happened on the same day to both of them. I will be filing incident information on the other vehicle too.

The Ford Taurus sel has 237,836 miles on it. Two times while driving the vehicle on the interstate highway then on a county road the dash showed all zeros and the car lost power. The check engine light came on. The car exhibited slow acceleration and unusual shifting. I took it and had the obd code read. The code indicated that it was a speed sensor in the transmission (p720). The code was reset and the car is currently being driven. It happened twice within a two-week period. I own two 2008 Ford Taurus and it happened on the same day to both of them. I will be filing incident information on the other vehicle too.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 50 mph, the fuel, pressure sensor fault, and throttle control transmission warning indicators illuminated. The contact stated that the gear shifter required excessive force when attempted to shift out of park. In addition, the contact stated that the speedometer gauge failed to provide the accurate reading. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 135,000.

In March 2016 my vehicle began having problems. When making a turn, right front wheel spontaneously grabs intermittently. This disables the vehicle for a period of time. This has almost caused an accident several times, as it happens as I'm heading out into traffic. I have taken the vehicle into the valley Ford dealership here in kalispell, montana 3 times in an effort to resolve this issue. The first time I took it in right after it first started happening, they told me it was the brakes. So I paid $1070 to have the brakes and rotters replaced. However, this did not resolve the problem. I have since taken the vehicle back to them 2 more times and they have been unable to resolve the issue. I am very concerned that this is a very dangerous ongoing problem. I am seeking your help in resolution in this matter. This has occurred about a dozen times.

W driving at all different speeds the transmission will jump. The little wrench light will come on the code is p0715. Tss sensor. The rpms will go up once this happens and the light is on, at this point there is no power and I was almost hit by a truck while all my family was in car. If I stop and turn the car off the light will reset its self. This is a very dangerous thing. My whole family could have been killed. Ford knows this is a very common thing in this transmission. It should be recalled before someone gets killed.

While at a stop sign or traffic light withmy foot on the brake the vehicle accelerated independently without warning. I have almost been thrown into traffic due to the independent accelerated. After this happening sevral times and phone calls to the dealer and then taking the car into the dealer. The Ford dealer stated they have seen this alot and the problem was in the throddel body. However, I had to still pay $700. 00 to have their known problem fixed. Car mileage 113,000.

Car suddenly would not accelerate from a complete stop. When driving, rpm dial will rev up to 5 or higher and will not come back down and shift the gears unless the car is shifted into neutral allowing the rpm's to go back down. Once rpm's are back to 0 and car is put back into drive, it will drive normally. Once the car has like two or three episodes of revving, the powertrain icon then comes on the dash, and stays on, and then the car drives normally again. The car has never had any acceleration issues or transmission issues. I got the car from a dealer in 2012 and it had under 60k when I bought it.

There is an intermittent problem with the transmission that has happened about 4-5 times in the past 14 months. When pulling onto a road from a stationary position (like from a driveway or gas station), the transmission had a horrible grinding sound, the vehicle would jerk around for a couple seconds and the gas pedal would not work. It felt as if there were rocks in the transmission. Then, after several seconds, it would be back to normal. I tried taking it to the pegues hurst dealership but since they could not duplicate the issue, even though the vehicle is still under warranty, they say they could not do anything about it. The Taurus x has about 64,000 miles on it currently. It most recently happened on about December 7th 2015. If this happens again while pulling into traffic, it could easily cause an accident since the vehicle loses power for several seconds.

My 2008 Taurus sel felt like it was slipping between gears when pulling out of a parking lot. 100 yards later, on an uphill street, the car would barely move and roll backwards when I let off the brake. I was blocking traffic so I had to rev the engine at max rpm to barely make it out of traffic and onto the shoulder. When I started the engine, there was a loud clunk coming from the transmission. When I shifted into reverse, there was a loud clunk and a jolt like someone just rear-ended me. Same when shifting into n or l. The car needed to be towed. The obd code reader indicated a pending p720 failure, "output speed sensor circuit malfunction". I contacted Ford customer service and they pretended to be unaware of this problem. The output speed sensor is located inside the transmission, not a user serviceable part. Even the most meticulous maintenance could not have avoided the sensor failure which clearly points to a design flaw in the sensor. My Taurus is 7 years old with 93,000 miles. A request for financial aid was declined by Ford customer service. Any car with a 6f50 transmission should be recalled as these time bombs are a highway safety hazards.

Purchased vehicle in Feb 2010. Driven to take children to and from school and back home approx total mileage round trip daily is 6 miles at most. First instance happened when approaching a stop sign and slowing down by pressing the brake but the motor accelerated rpms instead as if I were pressing the gas. Lasted few seconds and began doing as it should. Next instant happened couple months later when pressing the brake to stop after returning home from taking children to school. Tried to stop in my driveway when I reached the house and the motor accelerated instead and had to turn the switch off to make it stop making the acceleration noise. This has happened several times with each time a little more intense. Most recently, while taking my son to a travelball tournament I slowed to stop at a stop sign and it briefly revved the motor. When I tried to start going again it took a second for the car to actually go, then began running normal. Few miles down the road traveling about 45 miles per hour all of a sudden lost all ability to control the vehicle when the motor began accelerating but car slowing down as if it had been knocked out of gear. The difference was it was still in gear and pressing the brake did nothing and steering became very difficult. Managed to get off the road and stopped then it just started driving normal again. Proceeded to drive to destination and slowed to turn right at intersection with oncoming traffic when car did the same thing again. That was a month ago and has not done it since.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle begun to make an abnormal noise when accelerating from a completed stop as numerous indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact noticed that the speedometer was no longer working. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that there were 13 error codes, however; the technician was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed and the failure was not able to be duplicated at that time either. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 31,000.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus. While driving at 20 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to accelerate. The rpms increased and the transmission warning light illuminated. The vehicle was inspected by an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,000. The VIN was unavailable.

I have a 2008 Ford tauras x , it jerks intermittently, but there is never a specific speed - it jerks at take off, at low speeds, high speeds, there were 2 incidents and it was just for a moment that the vehicle seemed to have lost power no brake, no gas, no steering and I almost went out into traffice ( I was coming out of a parking lot). I called the dealer I bought it from because I thought it was the brakes and took it in they checked the brakes and found nothing wrong. The second "loss" of power was again in a parking lot at an incline I started rolling back and a couple of jerks the vehicle regained power, the check engine light would never come one, as the jerking kept happening and the 2 incidents of loss of power, I took it to a Ford dealer and they said they will charge me $100 but if the check engine light is has not on, they will not find anything because the computer records mishaps and will inicate a record by lighting up. Then my transmission clutch fell apart and had to have that replaced on 9/22/14. I thought that must have been the issue with the jerking but was going out of town yesterday 10/12/14 and accelerated to pass an 18 wheeler and my vehicle jerked really hard and continue a couple more times after that. I had to drive 65mph on a 75 mph, and not accelerate to much to fast.

This vehicle was shifting incorrectly on a busy hwy . . . From second to third. And slammed into gear eventually, extremely hard causing me to jerk the vehicle to the side. Took it to the dealer they supposedly fixed it. Doing the same thing took it back and they will not fix it because it will not throw a code. I got online and found several blogs about having the same issues and not throwing a code. It does all of this totally random. Several people have brought up the fact of being on a major hwy or interstate and this being extremely dangerous to them or their family. Someone will get hurt, this is an ongoing problem that dealers won't fix. Same transmission is used in several chryslers and they are having the same troubles. This is very dangerous and the dealers , warranty company, and Ford keep playing the blame game and passing the buck. This can be as big as the toyato's that kept accelerating and killed a bunch of people.

This car has only about 16,000 on it. I was driving on the interstate when I started getting this hard jerk and then the car speed went down to about 30 mph. After a few moments, the speed will pick back up for about a mile or 2. The hard jerk will come again and the transmission will not change out properly. This could have cause an accident on the interstate, so I got off the interstate and started traveling on the back roads to make it home. By the time I got home, I could have hardly make it. I had the car towed to a Ford dealership and they informed me that the transmission was gone out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I called the Ford company, but said it was not a recall on the transmission. This is a very serious ordeal, someone could have gotten hurt from this situation. The hard jerk, the speed dropping while the transmission trying to change out. Please look into this matter. I am sure this has happen to others, but has not been reported.

Less than 80k miles, the car's transmission acts like it lost first gear. The dealership now tells me that this less than 5 year old car needs a completely new transmission at a cost of $5,000. I understand through online forums that this problem is fairly common. Unbelievable that Ford isn't doing anything about this.

We bought our Taurus x used in 2013. Drove around fine for a month or two, would notice that occasionally it would buck as it shifted from 2-3 or 3-4; then would drive 'funny' until the car was shut off and then started back up; the speedometer would fluctuate and when accellerating the speedometer would drop even as we were increasing speed. If using cruise control on the highway it would go exceedingly fast as a result. This happened off and on for most of a year, we would just shut the car off and turn it back on and would be good to go. Could not recreate it, but would happen at least once a week. Last fall, the transmission finally cooked as a result. Now the car will only drive in reverse and 1st, when it shifts into 2nd, it loses power like the gear won't fully engage. Almost got smacked at a red light when this first occurred, since I was halfway through the intersection and lost power. Mechanic drained and flushed the tranny, he said the fluid was cooked. He tried an additive, but it was inaffective. Needs a new tranny. Been sitting since then, a replacement tranny with labor is at least 5k, and the car is only worth about that in perfect condition.

At a complete stop, car lurched forward at full throttle. Ni have had the car in for this problem previously. The dealership said no codes were stored and they could not duplicate the concern. This is a real safety issue.

Tl- the contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus x. The contact stated while at a stop sign the vehicle would not accelerate. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing where the mechanic was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 101,560. Rvk.

(my wife) driving vehicle on highway, car violently jerked (jumped) and then dropped in speed dramatically. Coasted off interstate onto exit and waited for wrench light to go off and then made it home (car would not accelerate over 20mph). We called about having it checked but was informed that they needed to have the wrench light on in order to read anything on it. It has happened a few other times and most recent as today (7/29/14) with the car not wanting to accelerate. Prior to this, my son felt the jerk and thought a tire blew. It will not accelerate so you want to hit gas pedal more and it will suddenly jump (accident waiting to happen). This is obviously an issue with all the complaints I have read. I hope this issue is taken care of quickly before a horrific accident happens. God bless.

Backing out of driveway- I noticed that steering column was not locked prior to inserting key. Inserted key, turned to start and no response from ignition. Kept turning steering column and decided to engage transmission from park to drive several times. I returned to park-ing the car and removed the key. Initially, steering column was not locked, then I turned the steering wheel several times and then the column locked. Turned the key and the ignition hesitated- the dials were jumping. After several seconds the engine turned over and dials went to normal. I commenced to back out of driveway- the engine rpm jumped, far more then what I was applying acceleration for and the transmission was hesitant ( clunking was audible). The vehicle reversed too rapidly and I applied quite a bit of brake to stop- I shifted to drive and again I could hear the transmission. The car hesitated to go forward ( transmission was clunking), jerking forward and slowing down and the engine rpm was erratic. I pulled to the side and placed car in neutral; waited a minute which during this time, the vehicle rpm went to normal. Ok, I placed gear in drive and vehicle responded normally. Have had several instances of some of the above described events happening since original occurrence. At this moment, steering column is not locked with the key removed and when turning car to start the ignition is just turning over.

Car has a tendancy to drift right or left while traveling. More pronunced drift while stopping. Excessive tire wear. Dealer inspection indicates gears in gear box are loose and gear box needs replacing and vehicle needs alignment. Second set of front tires are worn down to wear bar after only 13,000 miles. Cost for gear box replacement and four wheel alignment is $900. Dealer stated no recalls or service bulletins for steering/gear problem.

When ambient temp is below 20 degrees, harsh 2-1 downshift with impact after stopping and restarting. The transmission doesn't seem to be in any gear until movement starts thenna high impact bang occurs just as the car begins to move. After about 1 mile, the problem goes away until next cold start up. Ford dealer stated they replaced valve body because of sticky valves. Problem still there. Returned to dealer and they contacted Ford. Ford service tech(Ford service request #106142903) says problem is normal. This problem never occurred the last 2 winters I have had the car and Ford loaner car I had while they worked on my car did not have this harsh downshift. This transmission is a joint development with gm and I know a Buick owner with similar complaint and Buick could not repair the problem-he traded cars. Warranty will end for my car this coming July and I think I will have a huge repair to be made on this transmission next winter as the problem has gotten steadily worst since last fall (2012 winter season) but only when temp is 20 degrees or colder. Please inform Ford of this complaint. I would like a repair or extend my warranty to Feb 1, 2014 to cover my complaint-thank you.

At a complete stop, and waiting to turn, engine revved up and lurched forward for no apparent reason. (unintended acceleration). Foot was on brake at the time. This occurred twice within an hour on the same day.

Tl-the contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus. The contact stated the vehicle lunge and jerk back while driving 60 mph. The vehicle rpm also increase excessively. The vehicle was taken to a transmission shop who inspects the failure and stated the transmission need to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified who stated there was no recall and offered no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 91,000. Mw.

Tl- the contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that when attempting to accelerate, the vehicle would jerk abnormally and every warning light on the instrument panel illuminated. The contact stated that he pulled over and tried to restart the vehicle. The contact had to depress the accelerator pedal in order for the vehicle to start but the vehicle would not move forward when shifted into drive. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they advised that the vehicle seemed to function normally. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 80,000. Kmj.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle jerked abnormally while accelerating. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where a diagnostic was performed. The failure was located at the air conditioning condenser. The air conditioning condenser was replaced however, the failure was not corrected. The vehicle continued to jerk when accelerating. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 13,000 and the current mileage was 106,556.