NHTSA Complaint #731873 — 1994 FORD TAURUS

ORIGINAL SPEEDOMETER BEGAN ERRATIC OPERATION; REPLACED AT 43, 916 MILES ON 02/01/1997. REPLACEMENT SPEEDOMETER DEVELOPED SAME ERRATIC OPERATION AND WAS REPLACED AT 85,421 MILES ON 08/10/98. THE THIRD SPEEDOMETER DEVELOPED THE SAME SYMPTOMS AT 127,250 MILES IN EARLY NOV OF 1999. WITH ALL THE SPEEDOMETERS, THE PROBLEM ALWAYS IS THAT THE NEEDLE BOUNCES WILDLY BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN 50 MPH AND THE UPPER LIMIT OF THE SPEEDOMETER RANGE AND MAKES A WHIRRING NOISE. THE LOCAL FORD DEALER HAS INFORMED ME THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH ALL PRE-1996 TAURUS. REPLACING THEM OBVIOUSLY DOES NO GOOD; FROM MY EXPERIENCE THEY DON'T SEEM TO FUNCTION PROPERLY AFTER 40,000 MILES. I CONTACTED FORD MOTORS AT THEIR 800 CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE NUMBER ON 11/22/1999 AND WAS TOLD BY "RAJ" THAT THEY WERE SORRY I WAS HAVING PROBLEMS, BUT THEY COULD DO NOTHING TO ASSIST ME. HOWEVER, IF ENOUGH PEOPLE COMPLAINED, THEY WOULD CONSIDER A RECALL. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TRAVEL UNDER OR AT THE POSTED SPEED LIMIT WITH ANY CERTAINTY WHEN THE MANUFACTURER DOES NOT PROVIDE YOU WITH RELIABLE EQUIPMENT TO DETERMINE WHAT YOUR RATE OF SPEED IS. THIS IS NOT A OWNER MAINTENANCE RELATED PROBLEM. REPLACING THE UNITS WITH A SIMILARLY FAILURE PRONE SPEEDOMETER FROM THE FORD PARTS BIN DOES NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM.