9th Mar 2006, 12:05

I have a 1999 Ford Taurus. I have own the car approximately one year. I realized that a used car requires some maintenance (trans. service, tires, batteries, etc.) But other than regular maintenance, so far I have replaced the storage device for the water/coolant. The head gasket and one of the heads of the car. Finally, the car runs with relatively few problems, and the heat works. I definitely do not recommend that anyone buy a used Taurus.

17th Mar 2006, 21:00

If you insist on buying a Taurus, get the 3.0 litre engine, not the 3.8 litre engine. The 3.8 litre engine is the one with head gasket problems. Trust me, I'm a used car dealer. But I should say don't buy any Taurus because of the terrible transmissions that they have. They all go bad before the car reaches about 130,000 miles. The 3.0 litre and the 3.8 litre come with basically the same transmission, with the same problem. Walk away, buy a GM, or buy a foreign car, but for god's sake don't buy a Ford unless it's an Explorer!

15th Oct 2006, 10:19

This is why Ford is losing market share.

I had a Ford Contour that was a complete piece of junk which was one thing, however the FORD and 6 dealerships I went to were completely clueless about the problems with the car and that is unacceptable. I will never buy from Ford again because of this. Ford needs to stand behind their products if they expect to get out of their current situation.

24th Oct 2006, 22:55

We have a 99 Taurus that we bought used just a few days ago. The previous owner told us about the heater not working, but mentioned getting some sort of motor for it. We bought the part for $67 from the Ford dealership, but was told there was a no refund no return policy... the motor part we bought didn't fix the problem and we lost a bit of money. Being that it's a used car, I expect problems because sh*t happens.I'm clueless to what could be the problem.I've read so much that I'm sick of reading. There's been a list of things that could be the cause... heater core, water pump, no coolant, thermostat and so on. If I had the money to pay a mechanic or if my guy had the time to check everything that could or couldn't be a problem plus the money to repair, we could've bought a different make/model.Everything else on the car seems okay, had to get an alignment yesterday, we hate the basic radio Ford so proudly installed so we have to buy the converter kit for $80-cheapest we have found, rotors* are going bad, just minor things. The heater is the biggest problem of all right now, well that and my frosty toes. Any suggestions for a fix feel free to email me... charmin_26@yahoo.com.

25th Oct 2006, 10:00

I also have a 99 Taurus, and was experiencing the same problem: no heat, and the car was not overheating. I tried everything I could think of (flush heater core and whole system, check blend door, etc.) and no help. I saw similar problems on other forums, and most pointed to the water pump. I finally gave in and replaced the water pump, and sure enough the impeller blades were completely corroded away. The water pump was just a spinning disk, apparently allowing enough flow to keep the engine cool, but not enough to force coolant through the heater core. Now we have heat, although it's not as hot as it should be. I previously replaced the heater/bypass hose with a home-made hose (heater hoses and tees), and I think maybe that is restricting the flow. The cooling system on these cars is a real adventure.

27th Oct 2006, 16:46

Hi, I also have a 1999 Ford Taurus I've owned from new and the last 3 years the heat is no longer there, and the heater fan now comes on when it wants to, so look forward to that.

I also took the bypass holes around the heater core and put a valve in to shut it off, so the water had to go through the core. This did not work, it was still cold. I've flushed the system, but still no heat.

If anybody asks me about the Ford Taurus, I tell them if you enjoy cold feet in the winter and don't mind wearing a heavy coat while driving, and foggy windows, this is the car for them.

That's not all. It goes through rotors and pads every 8 months. You should check the air filter, by the passenger windshield under the hood by the wipers.

7th Nov 2006, 14:49

While I am not completely sure of the range, but from what I can tell, something like 1997 through 2000 Taurus's had coolant issues. They were using the newer coolant in them, and it was corrosive. That was what was killing the water pumps, the fins on the impeller were apparently being corroded off. Ford's "fix" for that was apparently to add a by-pass hose to later models so that when the heater core clogged up, which usually preceded the water pump's complete demise, you would still have water flow to the engine. That kept them from having to replace as many blown motors apparently, but it did nothing to address the core issue which is that their cooling system was corrosive! I have replaced the water pump, and I have cleaned out the heater core, and even cleaned out the radiator, but now my water boils out of the reservoir! I have NO idea what that is about, but I have to keep adding coolant all the time to address it. I use the coolant which can replace both types now so that hopefully it will not eat off my water pump's impeller now!

I noted someone's comments about the Taurus transmissions above too. As far as I know, EARLY, pre 1993's if memory serves had very bad transmissions. Someone at Ford finally found a fix, and if a good transmission shop has rebuilt the transmission, it becomes pretty reliable, though I do think later transmissions were not as good as the competitions, I do not think they are as bad as has been represented. The 3.8's may well have head gasket issues, but the 3.0's with the red antifreeze do eat their water pump impellers, and clog the heater cores to the best of my knowledge and based upon the experiences of myself and many others on the net.