Driving down the street when without any warning the car just slowed down and stopped in the middle of the street. The engine started reving up but the car would not go forward. I was blue in the face because this had been the second time this had occurred in 2 years on this car and I had just made my final car payment a few months before. I noticed the problem as one that had occurred before when the entire transmission had to be replaced, and took it back to the transmission repair shop. They replaced the torque and I was out of 1800.00 just like that once again!!!

On Saturday, June 11th, 2011 I was at a red light at the intersection of the expressway exit and the entrance to the Buffalo / Niagara Airport in the Town of Cheektowaga,Ny I pressed the accelerator to proceed past the red light and to continue on my way through the intersection, but the engine only revved and the red tachometer meter needle swung up into the 3000 RPM range before it settled back down to about 750 RPM - yes, I've cut and pasted the similar facets of this problem from my other report ! The problem wasn't a blown transmission. The Torque Converter drive splines had stripped out - literally eliminating the actual connection between the torque converter and the transmission input shaft. The problem is that the O.E.M. [ Original Equipment from the Manufacturer ] torque converter drive splines are only .160 [ one hundred and sixty thousandths of an inch ] thick, and they wipe out after about 30 to 40 thousand miles of recorded odometer travel. The repair at the Ford Dealership cost about $1,600.00 I found several complaint sites specifically for the 2003 Ford Taurus torque converter problem. I mentioned this to the Service manager and of course he... "never heard of such a chronic problem" [ Bullshit ]. After I had the repair done and was doing further reading I found an after market Taurus replacement torque converter that has been manufactured with drive splines that are .260 [ two hundred and thirty thousandths of an inch thick ] I was pissed off that I didn't find it before they put another Ford O.E.M. torque converter in my car. This problem happened to me at about 134,000 miles [ on the odometer ] and AGAIN about 34,000 miles of travel 20 months later at 162,382. I made sure to tell the Ford dealership to use the thicker after market torque converter the second time it happened in Feb of 2013. I am not an advertiser or salesman of any sort. I have not been paid or compensated in any fashion for my endorsement of the torque converter with the thicker drive splines. In fact, only time will tell just how good it really works or how long [ in terms of actual odometer recorded miles driven ] it will last. It is made by a company called DAACO. Look them up on GOOGLE and good luck to ALL of us that are cursed with these Damnable F68-E2 Torque Converters that are in the Ford Taurus AXOD type transmissions.

Accelerating up Freeway On-Ramp lost forward motion ... pulled as far left as possible which blocked the passenger door from opening. Engine running fine but no movement in all gears (Auto Trans).

Called Auto Club .... they called the Highway Patrol because I was partly blocking the High Speed On-Ramp and in harms way, and called a Tow Truck.

Was eventually towed to a nearby Mechanic who agreed there was a Transmission Problem.

Found a Transmission Shop open on a Sinday. They informed me that it was COMMON for Taurus Torque Converters to strip out before 100,000 miles, and this turned out to be the problem ($1400.00).

Driving 70/75 down 4 lanes of I-96 in Detroit when suddenly I start loosing speed. I touch the gas pedal enough to watch the RPMs rise and no acceleration. The engine is still running and sounds fine so at this point I'm 97% sure it's the trans. Was able to exit the freeway without too many evasive maneuvers and actually made it down a side road. Haven't even taken it to the shop yet, it's been towed to my home. After reading all the complaints on here and elsewhere I'm now 99% sure it's the torque converter and hopefully the tranny doesn't need a rebuild. Last Ford I ever drive for sure.

On the coldest morning of the year, in the 20's, around 6:35 a.m., I turned onto a curvy road. Without warning, my car engine was still running but my car was not moving. It felt as if I were in one of those Final Destiny movies. My instinct was to continuously pump my breaks because I was afraid someone would run into my black car barely visible in the early morning. In a skirt and heels, I pushed the car into a dirt driveway between two ditches as far as I could. A deep mud puddle prevented me from going into the driveway any farther. A few minutes after, I sat in my cold car and watched as cars began to zoom by. It was at that point, I realized how dangerous this problem actually is. My husband was on his way out of town and felt compelled to turn around to make sure I was all right. I had wrapped myself in an extra blanket until AAA, my husband, and my father-in-law arrived. It costs around $1400 to get it repaired and that is with a customer discount. Now, I still have extra thoughts about crossing busy lanes and traveling curvy roads due to my experience. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE!

Same symptoms as all the others. Driving down road, went to accelerate, car would not pick up speed. Coasted to side of road. Would not go into any gear, drive, overdrive, first or reverse. Shifter moved, but transmission would not engage. No warning light and no check engine light, therefore code was not set for diagnosis. No problem with transmission prior to this, no slipping, no hesitation, nothing! Just sudden malfunction. Waiting to hear how much this will cost. This car has been well maintained. It is our leisure vehicle, only driven on weekends/trips, son is an ASE certified mechanic and all fluids have been changed and checked regularly. Had to resort to my daily drive-to-work vehicle, a 2001 Toyota Corolla with 145,000 miles and no problems whatsoever!

I have been a Ford Car driver for over 20 years now. First car was a 72 Mustang. Father retired from Ford with 35 years on the job. Fords are the ONLY cars I have ever driven. On January 12,2012, I was driving to work at 5:30a.m. As I was pulling into the driveway of my job my car just STOPPED. Engine was running well, but the car would not go in drive, reverse, NOTHING. If I was on the highway I would have been in a serious accident. All I could do was sit in my car and thank God I was not seriously hurt. All I could do was think how many people has this happened to!!!! OMG what if I had my children in the car. This is a very serious issue and Ford needs to do Recall ASAP on the 2003 Ford Taurus, WAGONS and CARS. When I got my car to a shop I was informed that it was not my Transmission but my Torque Converter. This could have killed me!!!!!!!!!!!!! It cost me $1330.00 to get this fixed and I want to be reimbursed by FORD ASAP!!!!!!!and I am going to no stops to make it happen. Not only am I fighting for my $$$$ im fighting for all the people that own this car, and their loved ones!!!!!!!!!!. Just one day prior to this happening to me I found out that Ford did a recall on 2004 and 2005 models of two other cars but not the Taurus Wagon. The recall was for the EXACT same issue that I had. I will fight with all that I have to get a recall on this car. I pray that a recall goes in affect and that no lives are lost due to this serious, and deadly defect. I have had no other major issues with my Wagon since I drove it off the lot in 2002, other that the basic things that will go wrong with a car that is 9 years of age, with over 160,000 miles on it. I love my car and its been good to me but this is just to serious of an issue to not say anything about. i dont want to look up and see and accident on World News that states a family has been hurt in a Taurus due to this issue. If there are others that have had this issue please help me in getting this car recalled.Its a matter of life or death!!!!!!!!!!!

My Father in-law turned 85 in June and his driving skills/reflexes have diminished... with that he finally decided it was time to let his '03 Taurus go... He wanted me to have it but with three cars already I really didn't see the need. My wife said we can't hurt his feelings so we gave him a grand and drove it away.... I was shocked to see that the car had 10,000 miles on it... I knew it had to be low but I was thinking 40-50K... So I thought maybe I'll keep it and sell something else..... On the way home I noticed there was a weird sound coming from the engine compartment, it almost sounded like an engine knock or ping, I thought since the car was sitting for a long time it may have had some water in the tank or that the gas was just old... so I put in some gas dryer, some octane boost and a bottle of injection cleaner.... after the tank went down to 1/4 I filled up with high test.... still the same noise. I took it to my mechanic and he said it wasn't anything with the engine, he went to the transmission shop next door and they both went for a ride.... They both felt (but were not positive) it was the beginning of the torque convertor going bad..... the car shifts fine and when at highway speeds you can't tell anything is wrong...until you hit the accelerator...then you get that low pitch almost ”diesel” like sound.... The sound goes away after it shifts into the next gear but then starts again after it hits a certain rpm….

Any thoughts?... Do you think because of the extremely low mileage Ford would repair this under warranty?