2008 Ford Taurus X
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
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Vehicles › Ford › Taurus X › 2008
These records cover every 2008 Ford Taurus X. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
Recalls
1 recall names the 2008 Ford Taurus X. Newest first.
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2009-2012 Ford Flex, 2008 and 2010-2012 Ford Taurus, 2008-2009 Ford Taurus X, 2008 Mercury Sable, 2009 and 2011 Lincoln MKS vehicles. The driver frontal air bag may improperly inflate during second-stage deployment in the event of a high speed crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the…
Risk and remedy
Risk
An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.
Remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the driver's frontal air bag module, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on June 13, 2016. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16C06.
Owner complaints
153 complaints4 involved a crash4 involved a fire2 injuries
What owners report most
Latest complaints
- Seat belts
All 5 rear seatbelts have cracked plastic around the metal piece that buckles in.
- Unknown or other
This has happened since we purchased the car. when driving down the road out of the blue the wrench light on the dash turns on and the car loses all power!! Dangerous! So dangerous. i have spoken with other foes tauras x owners and they too have the same issue. When it happens i pull over and shut…
This has happened since we purchased the car. when driving down the road out of the blue the wrench light on the dash turns on and the car loses all power!! Dangerous! So dangerous. i have spoken with other foes tauras x owners and they too have the same issue. When it happens i pull over and shut the car off and wait a bit.. I turn it back on and the wrench light is off BUT CAR WONT SHIFT INTO GEAR!! it's very hard to get the shifter to move. when it does move it's a loud CLUNK CLUNk sound like u just dropped the transmission on the ground!! This is happening more often then not now. Hundreds of thousands of people who own this vehicle have complaints about the same issue. NO one can figure out the issue! Some say a sensor, yet a sensor would not make my transmission clunk like that! A lot say it's the control arm and ford has had the wrong control arm installed in all there does tauras x"s 2007 and 2009. My car has 77,609 miles on it. it's been doing this for the past 40,000 miles! I'm truely scared to drive this car aspecially in the winter!! FORD YOU already have been told and are well aware of this issue ! Fix it or get sued by tens of thousands of us all petitioning to do so and all together as a group. so buckle up Ford!
- Electrical system
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus X. While the contact’s daughter was driving approximately 40 MPH, several unknown warning lights illuminated, the steering wheel became difficult to turn, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact's daughter was able unable to pull over but was able to…
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Taurus X. While the contact’s daughter was driving approximately 40 MPH, several unknown warning lights illuminated, the steering wheel became difficult to turn, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact's daughter was able unable to pull over but was able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle returned to normal functionality. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing spark plugs, coolant, and radiator replaced. The failure persisted. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 109,000.
- Electrical system · Power train · Vehicle speed control
I bought this vehicle used from a lot. It had 2 previous owners and came with all the service history. I first noticed the vehicle seemed like it didn’t want to go into overdrive . It would get to about 70 mph which would have the rpm’s at 3k! The 2nd time or so that we got it to these speeds (on…
I bought this vehicle used from a lot. It had 2 previous owners and came with all the service history. I first noticed the vehicle seemed like it didn’t want to go into overdrive . It would get to about 70 mph which would have the rpm’s at 3k! The 2nd time or so that we got it to these speeds (on interstate) the vehicle suddenly clunked , steering wheel jerked , vehicle lost power - I had my 2 children in the vehicle and I was pregnant. We had to pull over immediately . After sitting side the road for a few , it crunk up and we rode out . Only for it to happen 2 more times. And this is not the only thing effected by this . Not long after I got it , I started noticing a hard shift / clunk / slam when going into gear and especially when the vehicle has just tried to downshift and I pressed the gas again . Due to this , I’m unable to tell when and if we can pull out into traffic and such. I must time it good in order to not risk getting T boned etc. Also, with 3 kids in tow , a vehicle slamming their necks and heads is dangerous and scary. So , I’ve had some work done on . Trying to help my issue. Apparently my issue is the same as a lot of others . Which is an intermittent issue . And apparently no matter if all the passed recalls were addressed. Or if the owners of the vehicle serviced it often and currant . Or if the pcm was reflashed , replaced etc - the Ford Taurus X will continue to have these issues . And these issues seem to be the same issues that were addressed in the ford recall in 2020 ( which didn’t include the Taurus X) and previous recalls . This drivertrain transmission has been an issue for the Taurus X since forever . Please check into this. Last thing we need is whiplash or life flights from this .
- Unknown or other
The dash warning lights all come on and the speedometer and gas gauge go to zero. I have had the car since september 2017 and it only had one previous owner! This IS a scary problem because the car will not accelerate when this occurs. Has anyone had this problem and figured out how to fix? Also…
The dash warning lights all come on and the speedometer and gas gauge go to zero. I have had the car since september 2017 and it only had one previous owner! This IS a scary problem because the car will not accelerate when this occurs. Has anyone had this problem and figured out how to fix? Also there's a loud knocking noise sometimes that sounds like IS coming from under the dashboard. This IS not the first or even tenth time this has happened. To many to remember all the dates!
- Steering · Suspension
Driving down the road straight, our car made a pop sound and suddenly lurched and steering was impaired. car was taken to the nearest dealership where they found the engine cradle/front sub frame had rusted through internally causing the sway bar to break away and it had perforated around the…
Driving down the road straight, our car made a pop sound and suddenly lurched and steering was impaired. car was taken to the nearest dealership where they found the engine cradle/front sub frame had rusted through internally causing the sway bar to break away and it had perforated around the mount for the control arm. We were extremely fortunate the control arm didn't completely drop out causing an accident. Failure IS almost identical to the ford escape subframe recall. Dealer technician said he has replaced a lot of these engine cradles in the taurus x's for the same failure (some worse than ours, completely rusted in half etc.). lack of sufficient paint inside of the cradles causing premature failure IS a major safety concern. I would not be surprised if there are accidents reported for this concern. I have requested the engine cradle from the dealership after it IS removed for photographic evidence.
- Power train · Vehicle speed control
Transmission stuck in high gear while in motion. can't accelerate from stop to maintain speed. power cycle fixed. intermittent issue.
- Electronic stability control (esc) · Power train
Had to shell out $528.06 to replace both the 'input & output shift senors' in the vehicle. Repair involved removing the valve body on the transmission for access. Majority of the cost involve the labor to reach this area on trans. A month earlier trans locked up in low gear, dash lights were flashing? Shut off engine & restarted. Ran ok then. Safety issue! Recall IS in order!
- Fuel/propulsion system
Within 24 hours, twice the car suddenly displayed "empy" fuel guage and having zero miles on the range estimator despite having roughly half a tank of gas. one time, shortly after displaying "empty" despite having half a tank, the car cut off at highway speeds.
- Power train
Transmission IS slipping and wont change gears
- Electronic stability control (esc) · Engine · Unknown or other
Car shut off 3 minutes after starting it. I restart it then it shut off again after 5 minutes. Drove the about hour and half no problem. 2 hours later drove car a few blocks shut off again luckily I was pulling back up to my house. now I'm scared to drive the vehicle. Please help.
- Fuel/propulsion system
A fuel sensor failed recently for the third time in 3 years. Each time there was more than half a tank of gasoline onboard. The most recent occurrence caused the engine to stop completely while on a freeway traveling at 55 mph.
- Service brakes
TL* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. While driving approximately 65 mph in traffic, the contact attempted to slow the vehicle down, but the brake pedal traveled to the floorboard when it was depressed. The vehicle was finally able to stop. The failure began on approximately july 3, 2019 and…
TL* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. While driving approximately 65 mph in traffic, the contact attempted to slow the vehicle down, but the brake pedal traveled to the floorboard when it was depressed. The vehicle was finally able to stop. The failure began on approximately july 3, 2019 and was occurring daily. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or a dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 202,000.
- Air bags · Service brakes · Structure › Body
When driving my car I have been involved in 2 wrecks because of this problem when trying to stop quickly the car does not stop the traction light comes on and the car continues to roll. I had a front end collision and my air bags never deployed I was traveling about 35-40 mph. I bought the car from…
When driving my car I have been involved in 2 wrecks because of this problem when trying to stop quickly the car does not stop the traction light comes on and the car continues to roll. I had a front end collision and my air bags never deployed I was traveling about 35-40 mph. I bought the car from jd byrider.this IS not the first time this car has done this meaning stopping but the air bag deployment this IS the first time. I had my kids and grandkids in the car on each time this happened and I fill if I continue driving this car with these problems something serious IS going to happpen next time.
- Visibility › Defroster/defogger/hvac system
TL* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. The contact stated that the defroster for the windows malfunctioned, which impaired his visibility while driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The failure mileage was 64,000.
- Power train · Vehicle speed control
When vehicle gets between 40-45 mph, will not gear up properly and will not run correctly. Only does this intermittently, and you have to stop the car, unhook battery cable, give it a minute, hook it back up and it will run fine until the next time it does it- which could be days, weeks, even months.
- Vehicle speed control
When pulling up to a stop sign and applying the brake, the car unexpectedly accelerated instead of stopping. This has happened 2 times in the last 2 months. the car was in straight forward motion on a street pulling up to a stop sign, the brake applied, and instead of stopping the vehicle suddenly accelerated. We were able to go through the stop sign and immediately turn to the right and avoided any accident.
- Seats
TL* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. The contact stated that the middle row seats could not be folded down in order to let the third row occupants out of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to hines ford (12610 ford dr, fishers, in) to be diagnosed, but the cause of the failure was not…
TL* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. The contact stated that the middle row seats could not be folded down in order to let the third row occupants out of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to hines ford (12610 ford dr, fishers, in) to be diagnosed, but the cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 80,000. *Tt consumer stated similar incident reported on the internet.*jb
- Steering
I was driving home on city streets when the power steering went out. car became almost impossible to turn, even using all my strength. I could not have reacted to any obstacle that suddenly presented itself, and I could hardly make turns, even at very low speeds. it was a dangerous situation.
- Steering
Steer hard right and left at slow speed in city driving. At first it steers hard then smooth and you can over steer . The steering rack has been replaced & steering pump has been replaced as well. Have not fixed the problem.getting worse
- Service brakes · Vehicle speed control
TL* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. While the vehicle was idling at a red light, it independently accelerated without warning. The contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to stop. The contact placed the gear shifter in neutral to stop the vehicle. There were…
TL* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. While the vehicle was idling at a red light, it independently accelerated without warning. The contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to stop. The contact placed the gear shifter in neutral to stop the vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but no diagnostic failure codes were found and the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and advised the contact to take the vehicle to a ford dealer. The vehicle was taken to ford lincoln of cookeville (1600 interstate dr., cookeville, tn 38501, (931) 284-4509), but no diagnostic failure codes were found. The failure could not be duplicated, but the battery was replaced. The approximate failure mileage was 94,000.
- Power train · Unknown or other
While stopped at a traffic light the vehicle just took off and I couldn't get car to stop until I put it in neutral while applying the break. mechanic could not find a reason for this and it doesn't happen all the time .since other people have had the same or similar problem seems like a recall problem to me. Car tries to drive itself!!!
- Engine · Power train
We have been complaining since 2016 to ted britt ford and to ford about the transmission and the jerking, popping, slipping, especially while turning, and they told us that they could not duplicate the problem. This IS not the first time we complained. At one point the service tech told us that…
We have been complaining since 2016 to ted britt ford and to ford about the transmission and the jerking, popping, slipping, especially while turning, and they told us that they could not duplicate the problem. This IS not the first time we complained. At one point the service tech told us that slipping, jerking, and popping from the transmission was normal for the taurus x. On 10/20/2017, we broke down on a very busy road. We were driving the car when all of a sudden the car started to buckle and choke. Then we had smoke billowing from the rear of the vehicle. We turned off the engine and turned on the flashers. We found out that the antifreeze reservoir was empty. Something IS clearly wrong with this vehicle and ford does not want to correct it. We were forced to buy this car because we believe that ted britt sabotaged our 2003 ford windstar LX. Ted britt sabotaged our windstar through disconnecting the vacuum line that fed the heating and ac. We went for three years freezing in the winter and boiling hot in the summer. They did not want to reconnect that line for our heat and ac. They disassembled a lot of our windstar and threw everything in the back of our van onto the cloth seats. Dashboard, cowl, grill, hood was off the van, tires, brake lines, engine parts, and other parts were thrown onto our cloth back seats. They made our tan seats black with the road grime and grease. Then they decided to ask us if we wanted our van back. That was very rude. We had just cleaned those seats. Now we are having problems with the 2008 ford taurus x. We had to call the police and our auto insurance to help us out. We filed an insurance claim to get the vehicle towed and we had to take a taxi to work.
- Electrical system · Fuel/propulsion system · Power train
The acceleration speeds up on its on. The electric components mis charge.
- Engine · Power train · Vehicle speed control
The ford taurus x has 57,945 miles on it. two times while driving the vehicle on the interstate highway the dash showed all zeros and the car lost power. the check engine light came on. the car exhibited slow acceleration and unusual shifting. I took it and had the obd code read. the code…
The ford taurus x has 57,945 miles on it. two times while driving the vehicle on the interstate highway the dash showed all zeros and the car lost power. the check engine light came on. the car exhibited slow acceleration and unusual shifting. I took it and had the obd code read. the code indicated that it was a speed sensor in the transmission (P720). the code was reset and the car IS currently being driven. it happened twice within a two-week period. I own two 2008 ford taurus and it happened on the same day to both of them. I will be filing incident information on the other vehicle too.
Defect investigations
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened these reviews into vehicles including this one.
- Tire valve cracking
On october 14, 2008, odi opened pe08-060 to investigate allegations of cracked and leaking snap-in tire valves in model year (my) 2007 vehicles manufactured by ford motor company.the valves were supplied to ford by topseal auto-parts, a subsidiary of the shanghai baolong automotive corporation in china.valves made by…
On october 14, 2008, odi opened pe08-060 to investigate allegations of cracked and leaking snap-in tire valves in model year (my) 2007 vehicles manufactured by ford motor company.the valves were supplied to ford by topseal auto-parts, a subsidiary of the shanghai baolong automotive corporation in china.valves made by topseal for aftermarket sale were the subject of two recent safety recalls by tech international (08t-018) and dill air controls (08t-028), the latter of which was investigated by odi in pe08-036 and ea08-022.the defect conditions addressed by the aftermarket tire valve recalls both involved inadequate resistance to ozone cracking due to issues with the supply of anti-ozonant chemicals to topseal for a period from july to mid-november 2006.the aftermarket valves were compounded with a blend of epdm and natural rubber, using a relatively low percentage of epdm (epdm provides inherent resistance to ozone cracking).hence, the need for anti-ozonant chemicals and the problems with cracking when those chemicals were missing or out of specification in some lots of valves.both recall campaigns involved inspection programs to identify and replace valves with visible surface cracking.although the topseal valves supplied to ford also appear to have been affected by the anti-ozonant supply issues in mid to late-2006, ford indicated that its valves were made at a different topseal production line and were compounded with a higher percentage of epdm rubber to meet more stringent specifications from ford.odi's analysis of complaint and warranty data provided by ford showed that problems with cracked tire valves were significantly higher for my 2007 vehicles produced from december 2006 through march 2007.ford responded by implementing changes in its material specifications for snap-in rubber tire valves and also increasing the quality and acceptance standards for valves imported for use in its vehicles.while the complaint and warranty claim rates are elevated for subject vehicles produced from december 2006 through march 2007, the rates of leaking valves are well below one percent of production for each of the peak months for all of the affected models.a substantial majority of the subject vehicles are equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) which warn the driver when any tire pressures drops below 25 percent of recommended inflation pressure. As outlined in a letter to odi dated april 6, 2009, ford has agreed to send letters to owners of certain my 2007 and 2008 ford, lincoln and mercury vehicles to provide information about the cracking concern. Letters will be sent to owners of vehicles built from november 2006 through may 2007.owners can opt for a free dealer inspection.valves exhibiting surface cracks or air leakage related to ozone attack will be replaced by ford under its normal warranty terms.ford expects to send the letter by approximately mid-may 2009. Based on the use of TPMS in the majority of subject vehicles and the relatively low rates of repairs associated with leaking valves and resultant tire damage, odi believes that the actions ford has agreed to take will provide effective and expeditious resolution for vehicles that were built during the period when valves with inadequate resistance to ozone cracking were most likely to have been used in vehicle production.further investigation of this matter would not be an efficient allocation of agency resources.accordingly, this investigation IS closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency will continue to
Service bulletins
Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.
- 10254138All accessory stick-on keyless entry keypads come with a wallet card containing the master code. If the accessory keypad was factory installed, this card will be placed in the glove box and should be handed to the vehicles owner during initial delivery. Unlike the integrated (wired) factory keypad, the accessory keypad master code cannot be retrieved from the vehicle using a diagnostic scan tool. If the wallet card for an accessory keypad is lost, follow these steps to recover the code. Dealer Key Code access is granted through the Dealer Program Enrollment System (DPES); dealership management can authorize users. The authorized user must go to FMCDealer.com > Parts and Service > Parts Product Line Information > Keys/Entry Devices > Aftermarket Keyless Entry Keypad Code Access. Follow the instructions on the screen to obtain the master code for the accessory keypad.
- 10190489This SKU is a Control Arm. The customer communication requested return of unsold inventory to inspect the bushing orientation. If the bushing orientation is incorrect, it will prevent installation of the product. If the problem is not corrected, the product will be unusable.
- 10039155Ford: there may be a rough idle or misses while the malfunction light IS on. There are mutliple possible trouble codes stored.
- 10039053Ford: if there IS an intermittent lack of power, surge, or hesitation while driving the brakes will override acceleration.
- 10032244Ford/mercury/lincoln: some vehicles equipped with a 6F50 transaxle , with any output shaft speed (oss) sensor or turbine shaft speed (tss) sensor diagnostic trouble code(s) (dtcs) p0715, p0717, p0720, p0721, p0722 and/or harsh engagements, no upshift, fifth gear only, could have an intermitten short in the oss or tss sensor.
- 10032237Ford/mercury: vehicles may exhibit a non-metallic rubbery grunt from the front end at low speeds, most noticeably while turning into/out of a driveway. Engineering IS aware of this concern and IS investigating.
- 10032234Ford: some multiples vehicles replacements may require revised as built data. The new level sjb service part introduced between 10/07 and 02/08 will require entry of as built data.
- 100234366F50 transaxle equipped vehicles when stopped on a hill in drive or reverse without service brake applied may roll (won't hold).
- 100212806F50 transaxles built prior to 1/1/07 - dtc p0715, p0717, p0718, p0720, and/or harsh engagement, no upshift, fifth gear only. Updated 2/6/08.
Every Ford Taurus X model year
Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.