2002 Ford Taurus SE from North America - Comments

Just picked up my 2002 Ford Taurus (61,583-M) from the dealer.

I had thought that the idler pulley on the serpentine belt was going for sometime because of the increasing chirping sounds. When I opened the hood the other day to listen, I was surprised to hear this chirping sound coming more from the opposite side of the engine from where the belts are. $327.62 later, I now have a '02 Taurus with a new cam synchronizer and sychronizer sensor assembly. It just may be my imagination, but it has pick-up and a smoothness that it hasn't had for awhile.

My passenger side front foot well developed a lake during a very heavy rain storm. Brought it back to the dealer who fixed it w/o delay. I was lucky that it happened while the car only had a few thousand miles on it and before the leaking could do any further damage, like ruining the blower motor, etc.. Basically happy with the car.

I have a 2002 taurus and its the biggest piece of junk I've ever owned. I have had to replace the front coil springs 3 times in the past 3 years. Also the cable that goes from the gear shifter by the steering wheel down underneath the car broke leaving me stranded in reverse. Besides that my car has a shimmy in the front. Worst car ever owned.

I too have a 2002 Taurus, and all I can saw is I have all the above problems!. The car has 80,000 miles, it has had all it's routine maintenance, and is a one person, gently used vehicle. This problem with the floor flooding, and blower motor problem is ridiculous. I have replaced the fan twice, the a/c compressor and dryer, serpentine belt (because the compressor froze). It is quickly becoming ridiculous. I have written to Ford Consumer Relations, and received no response yet. It would seem if this many people have these same problems there should be some agency or legal recourse we can follow. Any ideas?

I have an '01 Taurus, bought it in '03 with 60K.

Transmission quit at 200K, rebuilt it and all is OK.

This week the cam shaft syncro started chirping - which is why I'm reading all this.

This car has 254,000 miles, in town and road. I get nearly 29 MPG and improving, uses no oil, and this is the 220 HP automatic. Really scoots when needed.

Had a '91 SHO, which scooted, too.

Camry?? Wife and son have them.

Nissan? Lady pulled out in front of me in a Nissan Maxima (I was in a company Taurus), impacted right front both cars, I drove the Taurus around until it was fixed, they winched hers onto a tilt back and piled the pieces around it. My airbag didn't pop, her car is scrap.

254,000 miles, good mileage, low maintenance, paid for, very sturdy, looks nice, runs like a turpentine cat, and no one wants to steal it. I like it.

2001 ford Taurus.

Bought in late 04 with 19000 miles. since we have had this car we had to replace the oil pan gaskets TWICE because of leaking. idler pulley, cam sync riser, front springs, door switch,power steering pump, and repairs to transmission (still messed up) now the steering rack is going, and yesterday the blower quit working. the car only has 59000 miles on it!

I also have a 2002 Ford Taurus and it's been a good car but with some of the problems mentioned above. I now know how I can fix the leak in my passenger floorboard. I did have to replace the blower motor myself for a reasonable 50.00 which I changed myself and it only took about 15 minutes.

It has 115,000 miles and I haven't had any major problems, other than your typical replacement of a battery, tires, oil, and brakes. I'm also leery of the fact that I don't see this car lasting to 200,000, not a typical Taurus will, but who knows, maybe I got a lucky one.

We have a 2002 ford Taurus. Until now the only repair we've had on it has been the chirping sound for the sensor that you guys already mentioned. However, we now have a problem where the car will not start at times. It's usually after my wife has driven it for several minutes, stops for a couple of minutes at a store, then comes back and it won't restart. If you let it sit for about 20 minutes it starts up like nothing is wrong. It sounds just like a dead battery. I replaced the battery but we still have the problem. The ford dealer says they can't find any issues with it. It's got 85,000 miles on it and we are the only owners. I think I know what to do with it, send it away! Anyone else have this problem?

To the above comment... I had the same problem with my Taurus, then one day it just wouldn't start, I just replaced the starter and I haven't had any problems since then...

Just a little heads up for all of those having transmission shudder issues, most of the time it is a direct result of dirty or spent transmission oil and/or a plugged tranny filter. Unfortunately these little transaxles (transmission and differential together in one unit) are under a lot of load pulling these heavy cars, and they are not built very tough. Their design is not as refined as the import vehicles of the same weight and class; as a matter of fact there are 4 types that all have basically the same design that improved with certain changes as years went by.

It does not make any sense going into finite details about any weaknesses of the Taurus trannys, however I strongly recommend very frequent tranny oil changes (every 40,000km or less if you drive hard); let a professional with proper equipment do a flush first if the oil was not changed for a long time, and don't forget the tranny filter. Especially the older cars 80s & early 90s.

Try to keep your rpm's below 2500 rpms between first and second gear (automatic shifts). If possible try to avoid driving hard if it is hot out or climbing hills, these tranny overheat easily. Use a quality tranny oil also.

Only use OD when on the highway or uninterrupted long stretches of road. Around town the tranny shifts from final drive to ovedrive and back again constantly, and wears out and heats up the tranny unnecessarily.

Take this advice and add many more miles to your tranny.

Brent.

I have an 02 taurus, bought it with 20k miles on and and it is now at about 85k. Right now I have a dead blower motor, and am waiting on a replacement. I have replaced front and rear brakes, and the battery but besides regular maintenance I have had no problems until now. My car rides great and I get 32 MPG on the highway. I am thinking about switching from drum brakes to discs on the rear. Has anyone done this themselves?

Adding the disc brakes to the rear shouldn't be too hard. If you are going with Ford units rather than more pricey aftermarket units, you can pick up the stuff you need from a salvage yard. I'd recommend new rotors and caliper units, as well as replacing all the related hoses just as a matter of safety. Keep us posted on how this goes if you proceed with it.I honestly don't think I'd go to the trouble unless you are really into high performance driving.

One of my cars has disc front/drum rear and 2 have all wheel disc. The one with the rear drums stops almost as well, and you really can't tell the difference in normal driving. Tires actually make more of a difference. Good AA traction rated tires will dramatically increase your stopping ability, regardless of your type of brakes.