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All doors appeared shut but the alarm would not engage and the instrument panel showed door opened.
I looked really carefully and noticed that the lift gate did not close properly even though I tried on numerous occasions. It looked a little bit out of alignment. I went to dealer's service dept. and they re aligned and greased the lift gate. It took me several minutes to notice the problem. I don't know why this happened. Perhaps I hit a pothole or something and the knock misaligned the door.
http://www.batauto.com/articles/brkfld.shtml
I completely agree with you, great link.
But for danielj6 I stand by my point that except for DIY'ers most people never change 'em, and getting them out at 65K - 100K is a marked improvement over that. The few times I've been in brake shops I haven't heard them advise, "gee, you have high mileage, you should get the fluid flushed".
You can replace the switch if need be. The switches are supposed to be pretty cheap, but the door panel has to come off to get at the inside of the door in order to remove the switch. I haven't needed to do mine, but I understand that if spray and lubrication don't do it, the switch is bad.
P.S. Glad you liked the site.
I'm not participating in the discussion regarding brake fluid changes. You're obviously using my name by error.
Thanks,
Rob
It seems odd that people change their oil religiously but expect the rest of the fluids to last indefinitely.
Recently, I found it necessary to replace the tires on our 2000 Taurus Wagon at 29,000 miles due to excessive wear on the inside of the front tires.
After performing a four-wheel alignment, the Goodyear technician informed me that he could not bring the camber on the left front wheel to within the specified range, and that the right front wheel was barely within the specified range.
He explained he often encounters this problem with Tauruses, Sables and Windstars, due to a defect in the design of their front strut assemblies. Particularly, they are welded into place. If they have not been welded precisely during manufacture, they cause the vehicle to be permanently misaligned. The only remedy is to drill out the welds and reposition the strut assembly. This is expensive, and requires realignment.
Upon learning this, I drove to the Ford dealer where I bought the car and where I have had my three Ford vehicles serviced over the last nine years, and requested that they repair the problem under warranty. They feigned astonishment that I was experincing this problem, and suggested that the front suspension had somehow become bent. I dismissed this obvious dodge immediately, related what the Goodyear technician had told me about this defect in Tauruses, and insisted they repair it under the warranty.
After the service writer conferred with their alignment specialist, he returned and explained that the problem could indeed be corrected by drilling out the welds and repositioning the strut assemblies, but that this would not be covered by the warranty. I would have to pay 150 per wheel, and $79 for yet another realignment.
Dissatisfied with this response, I filed a complaint with the NHTSA, as this is obviously a safety defect, as well as with the Marketing Practices division of the Federal Trade Commission. I then contacted Ford "Customer" Service. To my surprise, the calltaker was very sympathetic, explained that this was a common problm with late-model Tauruses and Sables, and told me that Ford's engineering department is examining the problem and will soon be coming out with a program to fix the problem once they have identified the best means of doing so. He told me that he could not yet have it covered under warranty, but that, were I to have the work completed before the warranty expires, he is sure they would reimburse me once the recall program is approved. He indicated he would do more checking, and call me back.
When he called me back, he very apologetically explained that he had been misinformed, and that Ford has already decided they will take no action to correct this problem. He explained he was informed he should tell me this is really just routine maintenance!
If anyone else has suffered this problem, complain to the NHSTA and FTC, and pursue the matter through your state consumer protection or "lemon" law statutes. If your car is still in warranty, file an Adjustment Board complaint, which is a prerequisite to a complaint under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. If there are enough of us with rights under Magnuson-Moss, we can file a class action against Ford.
Also, please let me know if you have also suffered this problem. The more people complain about this, the more likely the government will confront Ford about it and, in turn, the more likely Ford will finally do the right thing.
Ironically I know of two people that had alignment/premature tire wear problems with another four door sedan...but it was the Toyota Avalon! Yes, the Avalon, that bastion of Asian quality. A good friend of mine owned a '98 and his tires wore out at about 20,000 miles on his first two sets of tires. My father recently purchased a 2001 Avalon and he could actually see the metal radial belts on his tires at 16,000 miles (he'd rotated them once in those 16,000 miles). He was shocked and expressed his displeasure w/the appropriate Toyota people but they wouldn't do a thing for him. Told him that he must have "hit" something with the car and also reminded him that he hadn't rotated his tires at the appropriate intervals (apparently that justifies the appearance of metal).
I live in the Ann Arbor/Detroit area and have a number of friends that work at Ford and some tier one auto suppliers. They all assure me that for the last several years Ford has been doing everything they can to reduce costs (not a surprise), and sometimes that comes at the expense of quality. Another point they make is that Ford will be doing away with the Taurus in a year or so (apparently the majority of their sales are to "fleets" so the Taurus doesn't command as much attention as it should in the typical consumer segment), so it's kind of like the ugly stepchild right now. Yes quality is still very good - and much better than it was 5-10 years ago - but I don't think it's as good as it "could" be. However I'm relatively happy with my Taurus and am pleased as punch that it's holding up so well at approx. 100,000 miles...knock on wood.
- R
Thanks for your thoughtful response. Ironically, I almost bought an Avalon instead of the Taurus wagon, after many years of resisting buying Japanese in favor of Fords (1990 SHO, 1986 F-150)! In the end, I calculated that the Taurus would be a good enough value for the money to warrant taking a chance on its presumably inferior quality, that it would be a better family car, and that I owed it to my Midwestern, UAW country roots to buy a Midwestern, UAW-produced vehicle.
Thanks for the reassurance that, despite this alignment hassle, I won't likely regret my choice in the long run!
M
Thanks for your response, with which I couldn't agree more. I'm certainly not going to risk another set of tires while I await outcome of legal proceedings. That would indeed be foolish.
Neither am I going to write this off to experience. Ford is in the wrong, and, like almost any large, publicly-held, MBA-ridden, cynically-managed American company, will only do the right thing for those in my predicament once they sense the cost of inaction will far exceed the cost of correcting the problem, e.g., Pinto fuel tank, truck primer coat "hidden recall", transmissions slipping out of Park, TFI failures, and so on, and on, and on.
Again, thanks!
Mebcaux
The heat is not work on my daughters
'96 Taurus. Station Wants $550 to fix.
Took it to the local service station..left it for the day. He told me the heater core was blocked heblew air through the core and it was totally cloggng. He would have to remove the whole dash to get at the heater core. nearby Volvo tech who does repairs for me from time to time told me they do not blow air...but run hot water from a hose through the two ends of the core sticking out of the fire wall. He showed them to me. I did it in my drive way yesterday. It is 10 degrees out
,,I got soaked...I was frozen...But I FIXED IT !!! The car heats up !!!!! The garden hose blew brown yeech out...flushed it out both ways on the core in and out. Feels Good....
Thanks for the information and phone call. I sure wish I had gotten your post a few months ago. I sold my Taurus in late October to CarMax. I was tired of constantly getting it aligned and getting two new tires each year. Although it was a minor problem, I was tired of spending so much time at the tire shop getting it aligned only to have Ford tell me it wasn't done properly...etc. etc. etc. I unloaded the car and leased a 2003 VW Passat Wagon, with which I am EXTREMELY happy. Hated the thought of leasing, but it was the easiest way to get out of the Taurus and keep my notes the same. Thanks again for the information. I do hope everything works out in your favor in the end. Take care!
Happy to help! Ironically, I also took a hard look at the Passat Wagon before deciding upon Taurus! Given all the trouble you had, you might still consider filing complaint with NHTSA and/or FTC, as well as going after Ford under the warranty, which should have covered the losses you experienced.
Update to all on strut tower issue:
I called what I understand to be one of the most reputable suspension, frame and axle shops in the Denver area. Their service manager told me they have done hundreds of these repairs on Tauruses and Sables in order to properly align them. He explained that (if I understood him correctly) the weight of the engine is sufficient to cause the frame, body, and strut tops to bend inward slightly over time, making it impossible to achieve proper camber on realignment. He stated that this is foreseeable, and that welding the strut plates to the body is therefore a very poor design, but one many manufacturers now employ.
He also stated that, whereas many attempt to correct the problem by drilling out the welds and repositioning the assemblies, they find that this often will not enable sufficient correction. They instead normally prefer to use a strut-bending tool, as it usually results in better correction. His estimated cost to repair: $195 for both sides, plus alignment of $48.50.
The Goodyear shop does not use a strut-bending tool, but instead will either drill the welds or realign the subframe. Their charges: $150 for both sides, realignment at no additional charge if I return within 30 days.
I would welcome any thoughts on the relative merits of strut-bending versus weld-drilling, sub-frame realignment.
By the way, I still think this is a design defect, but I won't try to resurrect the debate on that point!
Thanks!
The problem mostly occurs on the right side, below the oil filter on cars with the 3.8L engine. (of course including sable and continental) There is a metal ring welded to the inside of the front subframe. If the weld becomes broken - the ring will move in and out when you first hit the gas or stop abruptly at low speeds. Have a mechanic weld on the ring and put in new bushings.
No more of that noise - of course there are many more...
The strut tower braces sound like a great idea. I wish they'd just installed a prop rod, to start with. The hood support gas struts on my 1990 SHO failed long ago, so I now use a broom stick to hold up its hood! Effective, but a pain to retrieve it from the trunk when I need to check oil, etc., and not too elegant.
Thanks!
Mebcaux
When I mentioned the compressed air in the heater core, that was in the fall as routine maintenance. We didn't have a compressor, so we used to hook up the hose to the hot water tap as you did (as I recall, mom didn't like it too much).
I'm getting great heat from my '96, and the coolant is green and clear, so the previous owner may have dealt with it before I got it. I'm glad to hear that the heater core hoses are accessible, it's been too damn COLD for me to bother checking where they are. I just keep checking the coolant and hoping for the best.
BUT, for some frightening reading on the coolant system, check this out:
www.cartrackers.com/Forums/live/Ford/132.html
http://www.shoclub.com/
http://www.shotimes.com/php-bin/index.php
Thanks for the tip on web sites. I had seen and consulted SHOTimes before, but not SHOClub. I'm glad to know about it. Looks like I might have finally found a source of rocker panel trim panels I've been seeking for two years in order to get some minor body work accomplished!
mebcaux
GM p/n 12456148, "bar kit".
P.S. A rear strut tower brace REALLY stiffens up the back of the car and eliminates all kinds of squeaks, creaks, and groans (from the car, not me. I'm getting more creaky by the day). LOL
2) Frequently is difficult to put transmission on D and R. The
lever becomes hard to engage.
3) Directional signal doesn't stay on sufficiently and at the slighest movement of the steering wheel it goes off. It will refuse to stay on depending on direction of wheel.
Well, back to the service dept. before the basic warranty expires.
My wife hates me for it but, when I truly feel I've been wronged by a company, I spare no expense in "communicating" my displeasure in a number of letters. I further go on to inform the offending company that I will take whatever legal means necessary to publicize their misdeeds. In order for this action to work however it has to go beyond "I'm going to tell 10 friends and they're going to tell 10 friends, etc." If the head of the company doesn't respond to me the first go 'round (pretty typical...hey, I understand they're busy), I then write additional letters to them and begin to copy the board of directors, major institutional shareholders, etc. I've sent letters to George Bush and Dan Quayle because were board members of some companies I was p*ssed at. It also helps if you state what major news organizations will begin to hear about the issue if it isn't resolved appropriately. Remember one little 10 minute blurb on 60 Minutes can have a devastating impact on a company like Ford - not that I think it would be EASY to get on 60 Minutes mind you! :-)
Anyway, it's something to consider. I've done this on things as small as a $20 pair of pants. Without fail it always works. But I only do it when I feel I'm 100% right. (Oh yeah, copying your state attorney general always helps too). Now that I've thought hard about this I do recall having a rough spell w/my Taurus alignment and some odd tire wear. But my local tire shop - a great group of guys - mentioned some other problem and fixed it with the new tires (again, which still look practically brand new after ~40-50,000 miles).
Good luck,
Rob
The drain bolt is plastic. It has a center hole which accepts a #50 Torx (hex really) or a normal 19mm socket. Of course the hole in the shroud is too small to fit a 19mm socket but oh well, they can't get everything right. You can loosen the bolt all the way, it won't fall out. Be careful putting it back since it's plastic.
This discourse is the reason that I keep coming to this board. Consumer Reports doesn't have anything like this.
There was nothing in the brochure indicating what the symptoms of a failure of this part was, so out of curiosity, I called the "Ford Customer Relationship Center" number. The Customer Service rep checked the database and read me the service information, which somewhat vaguely stated that the "malfunction indicator light" (I think this is the "Service Engine" or "Check Engine" light), and you may "experience hesitation and stall/restart".
I have not experienced any problems with mine, but if any of you have and did not get this warranty extension notice, you may want to keep this in mind.
Is the trans on a 3.8L different from the 3.0L or will I be trying to find a rare (expensive)transmission? Anything special I should know before I swap trannies?
Any other caveats would be welcome.
Thanks!
I would suggest you take it to the dealer the night before and leave it outside on their lot so they can cold start it in the morning and then they will at least be able to replicate the problem and maybe find the fix.
My '00 Duratec has been fine, though it is stored in an unheated detached garage overnight, so may not see quite as cold temperatures as yours.
Could be you got some bad gas or some with excess water content? Maybe a can of isopropyl alcohol (Heet) would help if it is the gas.
Thanks
Between leaving it overnight and having a box hooked up, I would hope that they can find something.
You might also want to try asking a Ford dealer tech at www.flatratetech.com for some ideas. Click on Ford Owners support (under message forums) and I am sure someone can help you. They've been helpful to me.