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Do these symptoms occur on flat road or hilly - up and down country roads?
And tell us what transmission maintenance you have done on your car so far.
In extreme cases, rotors and drums can become to rusty and get large pits or lose their structural integrity. Then they would need to be replaced, but are not all that expensive.
flat surfaces, doesnt matter. But thanks for the reply
Driver's side pwr lock solenoid replaced under manuf. warr. Remote keyless would unlock other three doors, but not driver's.
Cruise wouldn't "set" intermittently until brake switch recall, but has worked every time since.
No support behind corners of rear bumper left huge indent in plastic after very minor parking lot mishap. Crawled under car on a warm day and "popped out" bumper cover with mallet and hair dryer with fairly good results.
Original equipment Cooper Continental tires have very poor traction/braking on wet or snow covered roads.
Vulcan engine has more than adequate power. Don't know what complaints are about with this unit.
Firm seats, firm ride, tight handling on dry roads.
Excellent A/C. Rear seat vents work well.
Lots of room in trunk and interior.
Good value when bought as a used car.
45k miles now, and no problems since manuf. warr. has lapsed
We had test driven one listing for about $400 less, but it seemed to have a changed-out odometer (shame! shame!) and sounded like an old clunker. Wouldn't buy from that dealer ever.
I test drove a Duratec (also very clean) just to see if there was any noticeable difference. The Duratec with just my wife and I inside didn't accelerate all that much better than the Vulcan with my wife, myself, the sales lady, my 5 and 3 year olds inside. Neither would win a drag race with my 2003 Yukon XL even as we had it loaded for this summer's vacation (4 adults, 14 year old BIG boy, 10 year old girl, and the aforementioned 5 and 3 year olds together with luggage enough for all to cover a 2 week vacation).
That's OK though. I didn't buy it for drag racing anyway. I got it to get a reasonably-priced, highly-crash-test-rated, hopefully-reliable vehicle for my only-twice-a-week-but-30-miles-each-way commute through the dangers of Dallas-area rush hour traffic. (In the two years I've been doing this commute -- only twice a week, remember -- I've seen 4 or 5 cars upside down, perhaps a dozen other major multi-car accidents, as well as the usual stand-your-hair-on-end close calls; a couple of the latter almost-involving me. It's worse than a jungle out there!)
Interestingly, on the way down to look at the Taurus, we passed an accident in a construction zone. A big box truck had a Taurus wedged up at about a 45 degree angle on the concrete barrier (those double-angle types designed to deflect vehicles up rather than smashed), facing backward,and apparently still pretty much intact.
I'm guessing that the Taurus attempted an ill-advised sudden lane change trying to reach the left turn lane a hundred or so yards further along. The truck must have clipped him and spun him around. Then the Taurus hit the barrier hard enough going backward to force the passenger side wheels up the side of the barrier. Meanwhile the truck, doubtless sliding on locked-up wheels, pinned the car up and probably forced it to the eventual angle before both slid to a stop.
I suppose the driver got out of the Taurus with some difficulty as the driver's side was wedged in by the truck and the pavement (that is I think maybe his driver's side tires were on the ground, but they might not have been!). The high side of the car had to be a good 8 feet up in the air and hanging over the dirt where Highway 121 will eventually have 6 main lanes.
SES has 150 hp Vulcan engine, SE - I think - may have 150 hp or 200Hp Duractec engine.
For the recall issue, just call Ford and give your VIN, they will tell you whether your car is due for a recall.
I have my SES for 3 years, not a single issue with transmission or engine.
When cars get old they start to drive you nuts...those of us who have had "old" cars have all experienced it. At some point, it becomes clear that in the long run its easier on your mind (and sometimes even your wallet) to move on. I think that's the point you're at...and think you'd be in the same position whatever kind of car you were driving.
Higher trim levels usually just had more optional equipment as standard and it varies from one year to the next.
Jokev2, while I sympathize with your problems, it sounds as if a poor dealer and your inability to properly describe or demonstrate the problems and to get action, especially on the transmission was your biggest issue.
The other problems some of which were intermittent are sometimes very hard to diagnose.
That said, you did buy a used vehicle with unknown prior use/abuse, and you really now are getting up in years and mileage, so repair rates will increase on all older cars.
I had similar problem on my Dad's '00 Taurus, started troubleshooting by adding R134 first - didn't fix it. It turned out the AC relay was defective, so I had to remove an extra R134 from the system and luckily did not damage the AC by R134 “over dosage”.
I couldn't get a good grip of the problem, but jumping to red zone looks excessive. If you have been dealing with Ford Delaership then you have a case that the same issue has been coming up over and over despite what dealership has told you. Talk to Ford Customer Service.
For stalling issue, I believe you have clogged Idle Air Control Unit, Engine light may be related to DFPS sensor or EGR Valve. These are not expensive items and if you are technically inclined you can pull them out and inspect them except DFPS sensor. You can't opened that piece.
First, go to AutoZone and get your CEL read, see what the code is and you can move from that point. Or post here, we'll try to guide you...
Car Dealers - - sometimes the worst part of owning a car!
Could anyone share his experience and provide further trouble shooting steps in order to find the exact mulfanctioning component that causes the computer to generate code P0411? Has anyone had CEL to come on with such code? If so, what was the fix?
Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
I am VERY leery of Fords - any words of wisdom? I think I should keep looking...
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I also would doubt you really need $2800 in "repairs". Sounds to me like this dealer is trying to pack you with unneeded service.
If you have no known driveability issues, ie the engine starts OK, runs OK, mileage is OK and transmission shifts OK, AC works, no coolant or transmission oil leaks, etc., I would just have them do the recommended maintenance in the book and nothing else.
If in doubt, go get a second opinion and consider not going to that dealer again. Try an independent shop as well. Taurus has been around a long time and lots of shops can work on them and typically for much less money than dealer shops.
Sorry, but too often its just a way for the dealer to pad the Service Dept's profit. I agree...find an honest independent shop with mechanics who know how to fix cars and who know what the manufacturers require for the various service intervals!
If you speak to FoMoCo, its "dealers are independently owned and operated". They have free reign to charge you whatever they want with the excuse that they know your car. At $80.00 + hourly labor rate you know what you're in for the minute you drive into their shop. Yes they have at their disposal state of the art latest equipment and they're also on line with Ford's data base.
My trusty mechanic has a family owned 12 bay shop and charges $40 and hour. The shop doesn't work on my car for free but I never felt ripped off either. These guys follow the manufacturer's schedule. Dealers at first tend to follow the manual but along the way they push things to increase the bill. Your car is already in the shop and you are at their mercy. Should you be assertive and say no there is no telling what they might do to your car.
I was more specific when provided a code generated by computer of '00 Taurus several posts ago - P0411. Unfortunately no one responded even after I provided a specific code. I guess only because no one is familiar with that code.
I am not sure, but it is my understanding that most codes generated by Taurus' CPU will not point to the exact component that causes the problem while I had CEL code checked on my Mazda Millenia and was pointed exactly to Knock Sensor. May be I am wrong, but in my situation the only way to get an answer is to pay $85.00 diagnostics fee at dealership.
Yes, go get it fixed under warranty. If it is consistent and repeatable, they should be able to track it down. One good thing about having a vehicle and engine that has been around a long time, the mechanics usually can find and fix it quickly as they have a lot of experience with the quirks.
And, after a fresh tank of gas, it is not doing it so badly. So, maybe that small-town gas station wasn't such a good idea...? :-(
Could be you got a bad batch of gas. If it happens again, you may want to get it checked out before the warranty expires.
I don't know if it applies to your car, but a while back I got an extended warranty notification on my 2000 Taurus Duratec for the DPFE sensor, which apparently has a tendency to fail earlier than Ford intended. Some of the symptoms, I was told by Ford, were stalling and hesitation. Might apply to yours?