Four problems related to engine shut off without warning have been reported for the 2011 Ford Taurus. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2011 Ford Taurus based on all problems reported for the 2011 Taurus.
The car shuts off while I am driving. There is no power steering and no nothing. Each time I have been able to get off the road and each time the car starts right back up no problems but I am afraid of what may happen the next time. This has happened at different speeds and different times of the year. The first few times I took it to the dealership they said they could not find a problem. This last time they gave me a loaner car to drive while they take a deeper look into the problem.
Was driving at 65 mph on highway when I tried to accelerate nothing happened and I noticed all dash lights were on. I coasted to shoulder, shifted to park and pushed ignition button and it restarted. This has happened 5 other times and luckily there was a shoulder available, but the holman Ford dealership, (who is the only one who has ever serviced the car), says they have no idea what the problem is. It was a very dangerous situation and I noticed gm had similar problem and recalled autos due to death!! I have been lucky but now fear this car, after 5 times. It is not a stall. It just shuts off.
Just hours after routine oil and filter change, I pulled out onto the highway, accelerating to access the roadway at a reasonable speed of traffic. The engine began to slow, and then stopped completely. . . . . No power, nothing!!!! I was almost rear-ended and catapulted into oncoming traffic. The dealership was contacted and brought the car in, where the service manager said the engine shut down was caused by an insect that "got thru" the screen on the air filter valve(?) and attached itself to the filament that reads and adjusts the air/gas mix. The system couldn't read it and the engine "automatically shut down". This is a huge safety risk. . . . How can an engine be shut down by an insect, regardless of auto speed, location etc etc etc. Any "automatic" engine shutdown is an inexcusable design flaw and should be corrected before there is a fatality. . . . It was almost my fatality. The service manager also said this was "only the second time" he had seen this problem in the Taurus.
First incident: pulled up to a stop sign and the car shut down. Second incident: driving on the highway and the car shut down. Third incident: pulled up to a stop light and the car shut down.