NHTSA Complaint #734229 — 1988 FORD TAURUS

INTERMITTENT PROBLEM. AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, ENGINE WOULD ACT AS IF RUNNING OUT OF GAS - ENGINE WOULD QUIT, AND THEN COME BACK ON WITHOUT WARNING. ENGINE DID NOT NEED TO BE RESTARTED, BUT WOULD CUT OUT AS DESCRIBED AND THIS CONDITION WOULD CLEAR ON ITS OWN. EVENTUALLY, THE ENGINE WOULD "SKIP" AT ANY SPEED WITHOUT WARNING AND DID STALL. WOULDN'T RESTART RIGHT AWAY, THEN WOULD RESTART AND STALL SEVERAL TIMES, THEN WOULD FINALLY START AND RUN WITHOUT INCEDENT. DEALER DIAGNOSIS WAS TO REPLACE DISTRIBUTOR STATOR AND ELECTRONIC IGNITION MODULE EVEN THOUGH THEY RECOMMENDED NOT REPLACING THESE ITEMS, STATING THAT THEY WERE NOT SURE THAT THIS WAS THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. THE CAR HAS NOT HAD AN INCEDENT SINCE THE DEALER REPAIR.