1998 Ford Taurus from North America - Comments

I have a 98 ford taurus and a while back it began to stall and the car would shake when parked at a light or stop sign. so I was told to change the spark plugs and the fuel filter. I did that, but it didn't fix a thing. now the stalling is so bad that in order to get the car to even go I have to press on the gas and get it to about 4 on the RPM"S and then it will finally go. now also the overdrive light keeps flashing on and the car has trouble making it up a hill. I don't know what to do can you lead me in the right direction or give me an idea of what it would be and costwise to fix it. everyone keeps telling me I need a new transmission. Will you help me please???

I have a 98 ford taurus and a while back it began to stall and the car would shake when parked at a light or stop sign. so I was told to change the spark plugs and the fuel filter. I did that, but it didn't fix a thing. now the stalling is so bad that in order to get the car to even go I have to press on the gas and get it to about 4 on the RPM"S and then it will finally go. now also the overdrive light keeps flashing on and the car has trouble making it up a hill. I don't know what to do can you lead me in the right direction or give me an idea of what it would be and costwise to fix it. everyone keeps telling me I need a new transmission. Will you help me please???

Sounds like the same problem I just experienced. Turns out a plastic part in the throttle body assembly broke. Cost about $175 to fix, most labor for taking the assembly apart and reassembling. Only found out after 12 months of engine light on/off with other fixes.

I have a '98 Taurus that until recently had the same problem, it would rev to around 3000 rpm when I first cranked it, then when I got to a stop light when in DRIVE, the car would shake and my rpms would drop so low that the car would stall out a lot at stoplights.

I went to go get a diagnostic done and the mechanics replaced a vacuum hose that was loose and was sucking in too much air into my engine, and since then it has been running fine. That said, I still don't like the car, it has many problems, but this particular one of yours might be cheap to fix (they included mine with price of diagnostic - about $90)

My mom has a Taurus wagon and it's hunk a junk. The engine light is always on, the locks go up and down like the car is possessed, and we are constantly having to repair or replace something.

We even had the problem you did. It was caused by a vacuum leak from this dumb little rubber elbow that melted. We replaced it a good 3 times before we finally got one that would actually last. That's bad design right there. Why they didn't just make the whole thing out of plastic baffles me.

THEN upon getting our new license plate, I discovered that the screws that hold the plate on screw into cheap plastic rings instead of going straight into metal! 2 of them were so brittle I had to super glue them back in!

This car is junk and no one should buy it. I've lost all respect for Ford because of this car.