Steering Wheel Problems of Ford Taurus - part 1

Catastrophic failure of driver-side front spring during a turn on residential streets, causing temporary loss of control and near collision. Ejection of broken portion of spring caused no injuries nor damage to tire of vehicle in question; however, other vehicles passed over resulting debris and drove on, possibly suffering tire damage that was not immediately apparent. Evidently, Ford has acknowledged a problem with these front coil springs, issuing a recall, but has failed to extend it to cover all failures. The incident described herein demonstrates that the condition is clearly a safety issue.

See all problems of the 2000 Ford Taurus 🔎.

I own a 2002 Ford Taurus that has approximately 39,000 miles on it. On Monday June 13, 2011 I was backing out of the parking space at work and heard a loud noise. I got out and my left front tire was flat. I attempted to use the scissor jack that came with the car but it collapsed and broke. I had to have the car towed. The front strut and spring broke and exploded into the tire. Today I have spent $1,200 for the repair of both front springs and struts and 2 new tires. I want to know who to address so that I can get reimbursed for this obvious safety issue. I could have been killed if I have been on the road driving. I am reporting this incident to the federal agency that looks into safety recalls.

See all problems of the 2002 Ford Taurus 🔎.

2002 Ford Taurus wagon, front coil spring failure with tire puncture. Slowing as approaching traffic signal, speed 22mph, front passenger coil failed. Broken coil spring then punctured tire, ripping large gash in inside sidewall causing immediate deflation and body of car dropped to the ground suddenly. Cut in tire is 180 degrees around tire, . Incident required use of a tow truck and replacement of both front coil springs and replacement of one tire. Thankful that this incident didn't happen five minutes later on the freeway at 65 mph. As loss of control would have been probable.

Front drivers side coil spring broke and punctured the front drivers side tire.

See all problems of the 2003 Ford Taurus 🔎.

At 7:30 am on April 29, 2011, I left my apartment and got into my car to drive to work. I turned on the ignition and went to back out and immediately I heard a scraping noise. I got out of the car and noticed the tire was completely flat. I called aaa and they arrived by 8:00 am and the gentleman removed the tire and found that it was tore in half in a semi-circle shape. He then looked at the spring and realized that it was completed broke in half as well. The spring was completely cracked and was broken off from the top where it was mounted as well. He then called a tow truck to come, which took the car to a nearby mechanic to repair the issue.

While backing out of our driveway the drivers side front coil spring broke puncturing the tire, separating the axle, and damaging the stabilizer link. Fortunately no injuries occurred.

My car was just sitting in the drive way, untouched, when the coil spring just broke and a piece went in to my tire for no apparent reason. It should also be noted that on June 3, 2011, I was having a muffler replaced whenthe mechanic noticed that my rear coil spring was broke with a piece of the remaining coil spring within a half inch of my tire. It was quite costly to repair each time. I feel extremely lucky to not have been driving my car at the time this occured.

On the morning of April 4, 2011, I started my 2002 Ford Taurus se wagon and put it in reverse. The moment the car began to move, I heard a loud "bang" sound and then the car would not move anymore. I got out and saw that the front tire on the driver's side was flat. I checked the tire and found that it had been slashed by the spring that had just broken. I had to have the car towed to the Ford dealership. The mechanic said that when the coil spring broke it damaged the sway bar link as well as cutting up my tire. Both front coil springs, 1 sway bar link, and 1 tire had to be replaced. I did some research on the internet and found that many others have had this same problem. There is a recall on the 1999 - 2001 Taurus, but not the 2002. Ford is being very negligent by not extending the recall to the 2002 Taurus. It is unfair that I, and many others are having to pay for repairs that have been caused by faulty parts. The only thing I am grateful for is that this happened in my driveway and not while I was traveling on the highway. By ignoring this problem and not extending the recall, Ford is not only causing financial hardships for customers, they are also endangering the lives of many people. Please do what you can to continue the investigation of faulty coil springs on the Ford Taurus.

While maneuvering in a parking lot, the right front coil spring failed, puncturing the tire and rendering the vehicle undrivable.

Daughter and two grandchildren were driving my car on four lane busy state route in heavy traffic when she heard a clunk. As she proceeded she began to smell rubber. In a few seconds tire lost all air and she had difficulty maneuvering vehicle. She was stopped in left most lane and was trying to get to curb lane with hazards flashing. Car was hard to steer but after about 10-15 minutes she finally able to cross through traffic and get to curb lane and eventually into a businesses driveway. When tire was removed inner side was completely ripped 360* like as if a can opener was used. . . . . Coil spring was broken, part of it missing and rubbed clean from tire.

This is for my parents car. Thank goodness it was found out when my father went to move it instead of while driving down the highway. Flat left front tire due to broken left front coil spring and damaged strut. Ford knows there is a problem with their springs and yet they won't place this model year under recall. My father has already stated he will not buy another Ford after both front coil springs broke in his 2005 f150 last year. I have spoken with a few Ford mechanics that admit Ford has a problem with their springs and all blame it on the inferior metal being used. One would think technology advanced so this does not happen. My 1973 & 1980 camaros both had intact original springs when I purchased them and yet we cannot get 10 years out of modern vehicles???.

Just as with NHTSA campaign id number 04v332000 for the 1999-2001 Taurus, three of the four coil springs broke in this 2002 Taurus shredding the right front tire while driving on the interstate. The car had to be towed and four new quick struts, new front stabilizer links, a new rear sway bar link, new front right inner and outer tie rod ends, and a new tire needed to be installed. Owner repaired vehicle. Manufacturer unwilling to repair or recall at this time. Failure mileage was 140,811.

While exiting my driveway the left front spring coil let go puncturing the tire and rendering the vehicle inoperable. Had to have vehicle towed to repair facility for replacement. Ford motor company had a recall on this component on some other of its vehicles, but I was informed my vehicle was not in the recall. It seems to be an ongoing problem. When are they going to admit the problem and fix it, when someone has a serious crash or dies?.

1/4/11 backed out of driveway left front coil spring broke and ruptured tire ( all tires new less than 800 miles) replaced spring and tire 1/8/11 same thing again only right rear spring this time and ruptured tire so I replaced both rear springs and right front then found out it damaged strut and sway arm end link so I replaced both rear struts and end links and two tires this is when I found out that Ford had a recall on 2001 Taurus' for same concerns these repairs were done with no help from Ford what bothers me the most is I have worked for Ford as a tech. And then a service manager total time 22 yrs. This problem is a Ford concern these springs break at the second coil where it overlaps first same as 2001 models.

Vehicle parked in driveway. When exiting loud noise coming from front drivers side. Condition worsened as I got further away from my home. I realized I could not drive the car like this as the noise was very loud and I was smelling burnt rubber. Returning home I saw the front end had collapsed. Laying on the ground I could see the sway bar link had broken and was lodged in the spring. The vehicle was towed to a repair shop. Repairs totaled $950. 00. Front struts and spring and sway bar link. Coil springs rusted and broke. I was very lucky; if I was driving I could have been killed or hurt someone. I checked the internet and see numerous complaints about this situation on this vehicle.

Drivers side front coil snapped, puncturing tire.

Starting on trip in driveway, heard scraping sound as pulling out of driveway and then front passenger tire blew. Slowly backed car few feet back into driveway. Jacked car up and pulled tire off to replace with Mini spare and noticed broken, sharp end of coil spring sticking straight out at where tire was. Apparently, coil spring broke and impaled tire. Tire had circular scrape completely around inner surface of tire where the tire had rotated against spring edge. Spring had then completely gone through tire causing blowout. Luckily this happened in driveway and not at highway speeds. I understand this is a very common failure on Ford Tauruses and there is a recall for cars from model years 1999 - 2001. This recall should be extended to at least cover 2002 model year cars.

Rear passenger side coil spring broken.

We were leaving our home on Saturday, December 18, 2010 and after putting the car in reverse heard a noise and found the drivers side front tire had suddenly gone flat. After removing the tire we found that the coil suspension spring had broken and punctured the tire. Ford has recalls on the Taurus for this same problem but does not include the 2002 yet they are having the same problems as they did through 2001.

Drivers side front coil spring in the strut broke and slashed the adjacent tire. This was noticed when the car was beginning to be backed out of a parking spot. We had to replace both strut assemblies for safety sake, replace the damaged tire as well. We opted to replace the other three tires due to wear. Also, the garage recommended we replace the ball joints and lh side tie rod end. The front end was aligned as well. Total cost $1871. I am outraged that there is a recall for 1999 thru 2001 Taurus cars but nothing covering up to and including 2003's. I also think it is ridiculous that the cutoff to repair this problem occurs when a car exceeds 100000 miles. This is a known design defect and all Ford Taurus cars should have been recalled and repaired. My daughter was lucky this failure occurred in a parking lot and not when going 65mph! severe injury and death could have been the result and other people may have been involved! I implore NHTSA to force Ford to engage in a retroactive recall for all affected Taurus cars. It is inexcusable to have a design defect of this magnitude on the public highways. I can understand a broken spring can occur, but the complaints clearly show that the spring then slashes the tire, causing an immediate blowout and potential loss of control of the vehicle.

Driver was backing out of a parking space leaving work. Upon pushing the gas pedal to back out of the parking space (traveling approximately two feet) there was a loud bang and the front left front of the car fell. The car was towed to a local garage, where the mechanic said that the front left spring had broken, puncturing the front left tire and causing it to blow. In addition to the broken spring and punctured tire, the front stabilizer link was also broken.

The suspension coil spring fractured and punctured the tire next to it, causing the tire to explode.

I heard from an acquaintance that there were several issues posted on the NHTSA website regarding the failure of coil springs on the Ford Taurus. I too experienced the complete loss of control of my 2003 Taurus while driving in heavy traffic due to coil spring failure. With the initial jolt and subsequent dragging of the car to bring it to a safe area to bring the car to a stop, I actually thought I had hit a person or large object. When I got out of my car I found the the front end of the car sitting on top of my tire. My mechanic actually took pictures of the car as he could not believe the amount of damage that had occurred. I had to replace the struts, springs, sway bar links, lower ball joint and axle shaft. All of this at 61k miles!! for a cost of $1300. 00. In closing, my 2003 Ford Taurus has been involved in 2 serious malfunctions posted to the NHTSA website which could have easily resulted in serious injury or death to myself or fellow motorists if I was not able to react quickly and control the car with a complete collapse of the front end or complete loss of power with the transmission failure (ref #fbn24-10467). Both of these issues occurred within 4 months (5k miles) of each other (66k - 71k) and cost in excess of $4,000. 0 to repair. Given the number of coil spring complaints received by the NHTSA and the open investigation (NHTSA action number: ea08018) , I would think either Ford or the national highway transportation safety administration take responsibility and issue a notification of these serious issues with this car (and the other year/models listed in nhsta action # ea08018)) and the steps to remediate those issues before the issue causes serious injury or death.

Left front coil spring broke while driving. The problems with the springs breaking is not just the front springs. On 4/2/10 I replaced the back springs with a quick strut assembly do to car sagging and the right rear spring was broke slowly digging in to my tire. I know of a few others that have had the same problem. I just happen to come across this site and thought I would post.

The vehicle is a rental from hertz. While making a right turn her index finger got caught inside of the steering wheel. Please provide additional information. Dealer notified ts.

While driving steering column malfunctioned, causing loss of steering.

See all problems of the 1998 Ford Taurus 🔎.

Vehicle is experiencing intermittent vibration in the steering wheel at highway speeds, when braking or accelerating, tires were balanced and the front tire was found to be out of round, which still did not correct the problem.

See all problems of the 2001 Ford Taurus 🔎.

While traveling at low speed and when making a left or right turn, steering wheel will lock up and power steering goes out. Consumer states when driving at a speed of 65 mph and slow to 10 mph to turn right or left the steering wheel locks up completely, dealer replaced the belts but did not fix the problem.

While pulling up to park tried to turn car off and it would not turn. Took vehicle to dealer, and they said the steering column broke.

See all problems of the 1996 Ford Taurus 🔎.

Consumer states that when turning the vehicle the steering wheel does not allow the vehicle to make sharp turns. Contacted dealer and the dealer is not willing to doanything.

See all problems of the 1999 Ford Taurus 🔎.

On the ball joint part, the mechanic told us that our sterring wheel could have locked up and we would have been unable to steer in traffic.

See all problems of the 1997 Ford Taurus 🔎.

Steering wheel shimmies.

While driving steering went out totally, wheels turned freely, bolt came out of steering column, dealer replaced bolt.

Steering column failure.

A metal to metal noise is heard coming from the steering column, also the steering tightens when making a right turn.