NHTSA Complaint #10021062 — 1997 FORD TAURUS

1997 FORD TAURUS WAGON. OVER THE PAST TWO MONTHS, THE VEHICLE STOPPED DEAD IN TRAFFIC 5 TIMES AT VARIOUS SPEEDS WITH NO ADVANCE WARNING. IT WOULD NOT RESTART. THE FUSE TO THE FUEL PUMP REPEATEDLY BLEW, BUT NO OTHER PROBLEMS WERE EVIDENT EACH TIME THE CAR WAS TOWED TO THE GARAGE. THE ENGINE WOULD RUN ROUGHLY, STALL, AND SURGE, BUT THE PROBLEM WAS INTERMITTENT, AND GRADUALLY BECAME WORSE. THE MECHANIC SUSPECTED A PROBLEM WITH THE FUEL SYSTEM. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT A WIRE TO THE FUEL PUMP INSIDE THE FUEL TANK HAD ITS INSULATION WORN OFF DOWN TO THE BARE WIRE, AND HAD SHORTED OUT. OTHER WIRES ALSO SHOW SIGNS OF WEAR, BUT ARE NOT YET WORN THROUGH. I HAVE DIGITAL PICTURES OF THE WIRES. THE WIRES WERE DAMAGED DUE TO THE WAY THE FUEL PUMP WAS ASSEMBLED WITHIN THE GAS TANK. THIS IS AN OBVIOUS MANUFACTURING DEFECT AND IS NOT LIMITED TO ONLY OUR CAR. FORD HAS ISSUED 3 TSB'S RELATING TO THIS PROBLEM (98251, 5226, AND 12189) AND I HAVE ALSO FOUND SEVERAL RELATED COMPLAINTS IN THE NHTSA DATABASE (ODI ID 549996, 707889, 713208, 807546, 838030, 853283, 879245, 10018293, AND 8012733). I AM CONCERNED THAT THIS PROBLEM COULD NOT ONLY CAUSE COMPLETE VEHICLE FAILURE (LOSS OF POWER STEERING AND BRAKES) AT ANY SPEED, BUT ALSO THAT THE POSSIBILITY OF A SPARK INSIDE THE GAS TANK IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. THIS WIRING PROBLEM SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED AS A POSSIBLE CAUSE FOR ANY FORD TAURUS FIRES, OR ACCIDENTS INVOLVING LOSS OF POWER. WE ARE CONVINCED THAT THIS IS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT AND THAT THE POSSIBILITY OF MORE RELATED ACCIDENTS INCREASES AS CURRENT VEHICLES AGE. FORD EVIDENTLY IS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM, OR THEY WOULD NOT HAVE REVISED THE WIRING HARNESS AND GIVEN SPECIAL INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS TO THEIR TECHNICIANS. *NLM