NHTSA Complaint #10137175 — 2003 FORD TAURUS

DT: ABOUT FOUR MONTHS AGO THE ENGINE WOULD COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN WHILE DRIVING WITH A LOSS OF POWER. THIS HAPPENED WITHOUT WARNING, NO PREVIOUS STALLING. ONCE THE ENGINE DIED, A PERIOD OF ABOUT TEN MINUTES WOULD PASS, AND THEN A RESTART WOULD BE POSSIBLE. SOMETIMES IT WOULD TAKE NUMEROUS TIMES TO RESTART. AFTER THE FIRST OCCURRENCE, THE CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A FORD DEALER, WHERE IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY, AND THEY REPLACED THE FUEL PUMP. THE FUEL PUMP DID NOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM BECAUSE THE ENGINE WOULD STILL DIE. THE CONSUMER DID RETURN TO THE DEALER, AND THEY PERFORMED A DIAGNOSTIC TEST WHICH SHOWED A VALVE ASSEMBLY CONTROL FAILURE AND IT WAS REPLACED. ALSO, THEY PERFORMED FUEL PUMP PRESSURE TEST, RECORDER MONITOR ROAD TEST, CHECK OF BATTERY CONDITION, AND A REPLACEMENT OF THE ELECTRICAL FUEL PUMP ASSEMBLY. AFTER ALL OF THESE TESTS AND CORRECTIONS, THIS WAS STILL A PROBLEM. THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO HAVE A PROBLEM THAT HAS NOT BEEN CORRECTED. THE CONSUMER WENT TO THE DEALER SIX TIMES, AND HAS NOT CONTACTED FORD MANUFACTURER. AFTER ALL OF THESE ATTEMPTS THE DEALER SUGGESTED TO THE CONSUMER TO CALL NHTSA AND CHECK THE LEMON LAW. *AK UPDATED 12/27/05. *JB