12th Nov 2006, 11:17

Hello all!

Well I guess I'm not the only one that's had problems. Tranny yes, Dome light yes, door ajar yes, just replaced the a/c compressor this week! Now it seems that my headlight won't shut off, I had to disconnect the battery so I wouldn't drain it.

My 1998 Taurus has over 200,00 miles on it (346,000 Km) and to be honest it has been a decent car. I had the tranny replaced at 160,000 miles (226,000 Km) by a tranny shop and guess what its going again in less mileage than the original one. I want to try and keep it going over the winter and then get rid of it.

Has anybody else had a problem with the headlight and if so what did you do to fix it?

P.S. before this car I had a 1992 Tempo 5-speed and when I got rid of it it had 370,000 miles (426,000Km) and all I did was regular oil changes put on 1 set of brakes,4 mufflers and 3 sets of tires. That's it! That car didn't owe me a dime.

Would I buy another Ford? YES!

Cheers.

3rd Jul 2007, 19:27

I have a Taurus 98 SE, the problem with my car is when engine's temperature raises at normal warm and then I turn it off, I can't start it again instantly, I must wait for around 5 minutes before it starts again. I don't know what the problem is, I guess I have a problem with temp sensor, but I'm not sure.

17th Jul 2007, 10:29

I also have a 98 Taurus SE and have had the problem with the service engine soon light staying on. For the other problems that other people listed, I have been lucky and haven't had any of those. The only things that last winter I found that my battery was dead and felt that something must be draining power from it. So I bought a new battery and everything was fine - Until a month ago when it started dying again and something is draining power away, so every time I want to drive it, I have to jump start it, then its fine for a few days. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

25th Aug 2007, 11:22

Hi there:

I have a Ford Taurus and have had many of the same problems that everyone else has had. (the check engine soon light -mechanic changed sensor-, interior light stayed on- mechanic repaired; changed battery once) I regularly maintained my car by having regular oil changes etc. It certainly is a comfortable car, but can be costly for repairs. We do have to repair items as the need arises.

I have certainly enjoyed my car.

11th Sep 2007, 09:46

I have a problem with my Taurus 1998 (148,000 miles) For about the first 1/2 a mile while driving my RPM will go up to about 3500 but the car will only go about 10 miles per hour. After this first 1/2 mile the car will kick out of it and drive fine. If anyone can help me with this problem it will be greatly appreciated.

8th Oct 2007, 14:25

I have a 1998 Taurus SE and have had the following problems:

1. Interior lights stay on even though doors are closed. I was told by a Ford dealership that two of the door sensors needed to be replaced for $700 - thanks to this site, I'll try the WD-40 solution first.

2. After running for a little while, the engines idle will rev extremely high when the car is put into neutral/park (2000 – 3000 RPM+). This problem only occurs during hot/humid weather and will go away once the temperature drops. I was told by a Ford mechanic that the problem may be addressed if the cars’ battery is disconnected for about a day, since it may be related to a fault in the computer chip. Once the battery is reconnected, the chip goes back to its default settings. He also warned that a few quirky things may appear to happen as well. I tired it and it seemed to work for a while, then the problem reappeared. I have tried it recently and again, it worked. No quirky problems have appeared.

3. Intermittent problems with the turn signal lights not working - it seems (as someone else noted) to be related to the humidity level, occurring more frequently under high humidity and/or rain conditions. I was told that replacing the multifunction switch would solve this issue (at $400). I passed on this and will try to do it myself or live with the problem until I can buy another car, preferably a Toyota or Honda.

7th Nov 2007, 03:03

I have a 98 ford Taurus with 80,000 miles on it. It seems that for the first 10 minutes that I drive it, it runs really good, but after it warms up, lookout. Everytime I come to a complete stop and then takeoff it wants to jerk pretty bad, it's almost like it starts out in gear, then goes to neutral, and then goes back into gear causing it to jerk. It will only do this if you come to a complete stop, if you coast through a turn and then accelerate it will not jerk. I have been driving it like this for quit some time now and just the other day the check engine light came on now and will not shut off. I am not sure if this light is on now because of this other problem I had or if it"s something totally different. I think my problem has something to do with the transmission, but I'm not sure. Would anyone out there know if I'm having these problems could there be any possible quick fixes or would it just be best to get the tranny rebuilt? I got a tranny flush and put some Scott's Tranny slip fluid into the transmission fluid, but neither of these seemed to fix the problem. Thanks for the help!!

7th Nov 2007, 18:13

7th Nov 2007, 03:03:

Getting those "tranny flushes" is a waste of time, and may actually do more harm than good. All the flush does is loosen dirt and metal shavings from the filter and put it back into the transmission, or worse yet, ruins the filter, so the same dirt and metal shavings can roam freely and tear up the transmission. Read other posts on here and you'll see everybody saying "Why did my transmission fail?? I had just had it flushed at the local lube place!" There you go.

You need to have the transmission pan removed to physically remove and replace the transmission filter, drain out the old fluid, and put in new fluid. This isn't hard, but it requires laying under the car and getting dirty. Also pay particular attention to what kind of fluid you put in. Different auto makers require different fluids in their designs. In a late '90's Ford, you should be using Mercon automatic transmission fluid, not Dexron, not "whatever"---Mercon (or something like Valvoline that clearly states on the bottle that it meets the specifications of Mercon)! There is also a difference between Mercon 1, Mercon II, and Mercon III--they are not interchangeable! Check your owner's manual, and if you don't have it, then ask your Ford garage.

Your power steering pump also takes Mercon ATF, NOT power steering fluid.