2014 Ford Taurus

Driving down CR 230 in Wyoming, the situation started if I have to estimate, 7 miles west of Woods Landing, I heard a metal on metal grinding noise from the engine bay, and a loss of power on the throttle. I look at my RPM gauge and notice it is a zero. No check engine light, all electronics working as normal along with the brakes, and I slow the vehicle down to 30 MPH. Shortly after noticing, I get a "Check Brake System" flash on my instrument panel cluster, also the light which illuminates for my parking brake turns on, and I lose power brakes, the brake pedal turned extremely stiff. I immediately look for a pull off zone, but because I had lost brakes I did not want to risk keeping the vehicle moving. I get the vehicle stopped on the side of the road, and instantly put it in park along with the parking brake and shut the vehicle off. The vehicle would not start or crank, just a flash across all of the electronics, the lights go dark, then illuminate again as if normal. This is an extremely dangerous situation, the vehicle had not notified me that the motor had stopped turning; not a check engine light or ring at all, and shortly after that the power brakes stop working. This is very dangerous for motorists because of the lack of notification from the vehicle, and the incredibly weak breaking ability. If the vehicle had been moving at highway speeds, any sort of traffic, I could've ended up injured or dead, and even worse, killed another driver. The vehicle was towed to the nearest town where it would be inspected by a dealership; they reported to have found coolant in the oil and that the vehicle needed a new motor. No other details have been confirmed, and the problem has not been reproduced by the dealership. It is unknown if the dealership inspected the braking system.

This vehicle was sold to me with a not for sale in states requiring California emissions, no governor on the vehicle as well faulty lighting mechanisms. The fuel pump is fluctuating and the car is a danger to myself and those around me. I consulted with a independent licensed mechanic who confirmed these defaults. No warning lights no messages and the dealer did not point out these flaws. I discovered this issue after getting some routine maintenance done on the vehicle

Water pump failure causing a major leak. Because the vehicle is designed to have the water pump run on the timing chain and the oil pan right underneath the water pump, the coolant leaks right into the oil pan and coolant enters the engine. I was driving on a back road and had to abruptly pull over on the side of the road because the driver assist screen said “engine coolant overheating.” This was the first and only time this message appeared. There was smoke coming from under the hood. Numerous mechanics that I’ve spoken to said that if I drove it any longer, there’s a good chance the engine could blow. So now I’m looking at a $3,000+ repair for this. Realistically, any other make and model (that was designed with common sense) with a failed water pump should cost $500-1,000. And won’t run the risk of ruining your engine on top of it. I spoke to several Ford dealers and third party mechanics. Every one of them knew exactly what I was talking about like they had seen this many times before. The third party mechanics refused to fix it because it’s an 11+ hour labor None of them said there are any pro’s to having the water pump connected to the timing chain. But there are many con’s to this design. Sounds like negligence on behalf of the engineers who designed all the 3.5L and 3.7L V6’s in the Fords. Luckily, I was going between 20-30 mph on a backroad when this occurred. Otherwise, this could have ended very badly and I’d like to prevent this from happening to anyone else in the future.

NOTICED SMALL AMOUNT OF FLUID UNDER CAR. CHECKED LEVEL IN COOLANT RESEVOIR. FOUND FLUID LEVEL LOW ADDED COOLANT TO PROPER LEVEL. CHECKED LEVEL A FEW DAYS LATER FOUND LOW AGAIN. DROVE TO MECHANIC SHOP TO HAVE CHECKED. WATER PUMP FAILURE. WATER PUMP IS INTERNAL ON 3.6 FORD TAURUS. REPAIRED AND REPLACED AT A COST OF $1835.00. MILEAGE ON VEHICLE AT TIME OF FAILURE WAS 77,000 MILES.

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle overheated, lost motive power and stalled. There were no warning lights illuminated. The driver coasted to the side of the road, inspected the vehicle, and became aware of coolant leaking underneath the vehicle. The driver was able to add coolant to the reservoir, restarted the vehicle, and drove to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed, and it was determined that the water pump and timing chain had failed and needed to be replaced. The contact was advised to take the vehicle to the dealer for assistance. The dealer diagnosed that the water pump and timing chain needed to be replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 163,000.

On the 24th February, 2022, I was driving my 2014 Ford Taurus taxi cab on the highway to go pick up a client. I saw a dash light indicating slippery road and suddenly, I could not control the steering of the car. All attempts to control the steering proved futile, and the car kept swerving on both sides, till it hit the divider between the roads. This is the second time that this incident is happening to me. The first incident resulted to a minor damage, and the car was taken to the shop for fix. With the second incident from last month, this resulted to my car being totaled. I am lucky and grateful to be alive. I spoke to my son and learned that there was a recall on the 2014 Ford Taurus. Below is an excerpt regarding the recall that was responsible for my car being damaged; Summary Feb 10,2020 Manufacturer Recall Number20S04 NHTSA Recall Number20V072 Recall StatusRecall Incomplete VEHICLES THAT ARE EXPOSED TO FREQUENT FULL REAR SUSPENSION ARTICULATION (JOUNCE AND REBOUND) MAY EXPERIENCE A FRACTURED REAR SUSPENSION TOE LINK. Safety Risk A FRACTURE OF A REAR TOE LINK SIGNIFICANTLY DIMINISHES STEERING CONTROL, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH. Link for reference: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls?vin=[XXX]#vin Due to this crash, I have lost my means of livelihood. I've contacted Ford and was sent back to the insurance. I have contacted C INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 FORD TAURUS. THE CONTACT STATED THE VEHICLE FAILED TO START WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT CALLED SHEEHY FORD OF MARLOW HEIGHTS (5000 AUTH RD, MARLOW HEIGHTS, MD 20746, (301) 298-0793) HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. THE CONTACT STATED THE FAILURE WAS LIKE THAT OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V621000 (FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE). THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 61,000.