I was driving home from work, traveling uphill when my 2011 Taurus sho sputtered and quickly lost power for more than 5 sec. While I was accelerating. This is not the first time something like this has happened to me. I am glad there wasn't anyone driving behind me because I'm sure they would have rear-ended me. Once I regained control of my vehicle, I noticed my check engine light came on. The car was shaking and sputtering as it was trying to make it up the rest of the hill. The check engine light started to blink. By the time I made it to the top of the hill the vehicle seemed better but I knew from experience it was in limp mode. I made it home safely driving as carefully as I could. I did notice the car shook much more when I slowed down to stop for stop-signs, almost like it was going to stall. I even ran a couple signs because I wanted to make it home, safely. I called the dealership gus johnson Ford immediately to schedule an appointment. I took it in, my service advisor called me days later and said he advised I put a whole new engine in my car. Cylinder #4 misfiring, found leak that is causing low compression. He said they could tear apart the motor and inspect further but doing a complete engine assembly could cost upwards around $10,000. I was paralyzed! I found other stories and complaints just like mine when I came here to NHTSA. If Ford was, or still is aware of any defects to the engine through manufacturing or bad design that may cause loss of power, shaking, shuddering, sputtering, stalling, loss-of-power during acceleration, they should be held responsible before someone is seriously injured.

- Nine Mile Falls, WA, USA

I had a internal water pump failure filling the engine with coolant. This resulted in a engine hydro lock condition (luckily I was able limp a very rough running car in the emergency lane at 15mph to a nearby exit). Happened Friday evening Feb 3rd 2017 on a cold 27 degree evening. I was stranded North of nashville, tn on I65. This is a very very bad design flaw. I am mechanically inclined and most cars have external water pumps -- except this one. Not just the Taurus, but all 3.5 (and 3.7) motors have a internal water pump design; driven off the overhead cam chain. When it fails, it fails big, dumping all coolant (several gallons) into the crankcase. End result: Is a high potential for engine failure as all components including in my case the eco boost turbos submerged in coolant / antifreeze. Learning now it may be $8-9K for a new motor. Besides this expense is to know this engine will hydro lock with all the coolant in it and cannot be easily driven to a safe location seems very very dangerous to me. If the exit were not less than a 1/2 mile away I would have been stuck. No one wants to be on a dark freeway for 1-2 hours waiting for a tow truck on a cold Friday night. All is takes is one person from behind to slip off into the emergency lane and then it's all over.

- Brentwood, TN, USA

Car running very rough.took it to dealer.they say # 4 cylinder dead, we need new motor.81,000 miles.1 month out of warranty.dealer says 2 months or more for replacement motor.Ford will not stand behind their defective product.

- Mt.Airy, MD, USA

Catastrophic water pump failure leaked a lot of coolant in oil - driver was driving the car on highway when all of sudden the motor just died (stalled), forcing the driver to hard steer to the side of highway. The gauge at the time just suddenly jumped to H - in a span of few seconds and all dash lights illuminated. Very little steam was coming out - very little fluid was leaking. Noticed smell of coolant right away. Looked/double checked under the car - little leak again. Immediately thought maybe water pump or at least radiator hose leak, checked the coolant - it was empty. Had it towed to paul miller Ford in lexington. Very unfriendly customer service. They mentioned that it was a "catastrophic engine failure" - coolant had mixed in with the oil and was pretty much sitting there. I was very fortunate that this has not caused a major accident as I explained it was real difficult to drive the car after it stalled. We followed maintenance schedule - we are very anal about that. My husband has a Ford Explorer himself. I am just at disbelief that we had a engine failure at 108,000 miles. I am not sure if this is common among the 3.5L V6 DOHC 24V engine. It was my understanding that Ford had designed the water pump to be intergral part of the engine (pretty much inside the engine now behind the timing chain cover, where you have to remove several parts to get to it. Most people know water pump failed but to be a part of internal engine and to have it pour coolant into engine, mixing up with oil and sit in the oil pan"??? huh" costed us several grand to get the engine replaced.

- Bellevue, KY, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Taurus. While driving 35 mph, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine consumed the water from the radiator, which caused the engine rods to snap. The engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 87,000. Updated 11/01/16

- Simpson, NC, USA

Had throttle related issues that were supposedly "repaired" at the dealer which are still present. The vehicle accelerates by itself and shows a wrench icon on the dashboard with a check engine light on. If the vehicle is put on drive it moves by itself as if one were pressing on the gas pedal. This is a possible safety issue that could possible kill someone or even get me killed while driving the vehicle (which I don't). Right now it's at the dealer and had to be towed away since the vehicle couldn't be moved.

- Calexico, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Taurus. While driving 65 mph, the vehicle vibrated, stalled, and the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the throttle body failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 70,467.

- Calexico, CA, USA

I purchased the car used with 28,000 mile and I have't had a single issue with it until today current mileage 52,300 the car for no reason just cut off and the oil light was on, I was able to pull over and restart the car. The scary part is there is no type of warning just goes dead.

- Plainfield, NJ, USA

First incident: Pulled up to a stop sign and the car shut down. Second incident: Driving on the highway and the car shut down. Third incident: Pulled up to a stop light and the car shut down.

- Henderson, NV, USA

Hello good morning I have a 2011 Ford Taurus sel and while going up a hill my car shut off while my keys were still in the ignition. My steering locked, check engine and low oil lights went on. The only thing I could do was apply brakes to the car and place it in park. I shut off the car and opened the hood to see if anything looked out of place. I checked my engine oil levels and that seemed fine. I closed the hood and turned the car back on. No check engine light or low oil? I haven't had a problem since but it seemed like an extremely dangerous situation. I see there are several complaints about the same issue.

- Allentown , PA, USA

The car shuts off while I am driving. There is no power steering and no nothing. Each time I have been able to get off the road and each time the car starts right back up no problems but I am afraid of what may happen the next time. This has happened at different speeds and different times of the year.the first few times I took it to the dealership they said they could not find a problem. This last time they gave me a loaner car to drive while they take a deeper look into the problem.

- Alpena, MI, USA

When driving the car it will suddenly not respond to the gas peddle.

- Bloomingdale, MI, USA

Was driving at 65 mph on highway when I tried to accelerate nothing happened and I noticed all dash lights were on. I coasted to shoulder, shifted to park and pushed ignition button and it restarted. This has happened 5 other times and luckily there was a shoulder available, but the holman Ford dealership, (who is the only one who has ever serviced the car), says they have no idea what the problem is. It was a very dangerous situation and I noticed GM had similar problem and recalled autos due to death!! I have been lucky but now fear this car, after 5 times. It is not a stall. It just shuts off.

- Williamstown, NJ, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Taurus. While driving 65 mph, the air conditioner became inoperable and the antifreeze leaked without warning. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 95,000.

- Macon, GA, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated. The failure occurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 2,000.

- Aventura, FL, USA

I purchased a new 2011 Taurus sel a couple of years ago. One day while driving into a parking lot, the car accelerated full speed on its own head on into a wall and was severely damaged ($11,000+ in damages - the driver airbag deployed but I was not injured). The insurance company did not total the car and it was repaired. The cause for the unintended acceleration was never determined. This past weekend my brother was driving the car and almost got involved in a similar incident. He was stopped at a red light in the Taurus. He felt a strange rumbling that felt like it was coming from underneath him. He wasn't even sure it was the car so he took his foot off the brake slightly to see if the rumbling would stop. As soon as he took his foot off the brake, the RPM gauge shot up to 7,000 and the car took off. He slammed his foot back down on the brake and the car stopped but the RPM gauge was still at 7,000 and the engine was racing. While the engine was racing (with normal pressure applied to the brake the car did not move even though the engine was racing) he took a glance down at the gas pedal and nothing was pressing down on the gas pedal...no feet, no trapped floor mats. He shifted to park, the engine calmed down and it was like nothing ever happened. It drove normally again. The car is going back to a Ford dealer for inspection but there is clearly a potentially fatal manufacturer defect in this vehicle.

- Howard Beach, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph, a complete loss of engine power occurred for a few seconds. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer, who was unable to duplicate the problem. The manufacturer was not notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000.

- Laredo, TX, USA

I have the Taurus sho with the ecoboost engine. The vehicle occasionally shutters when accelerating from a stop or low speeds. It will "miss" and then "catch" and accelerate when pressing the gas pedal. This occurs randomly and in no pattern at all. I took the vehicle to the dealer in December 2012 and they claimed they could not replicate the issue. They indicated no awareness that this was a "known issue" with the car (I have the service receipt if needed). This has occurred since purchasing the car with ~9,000 miles on it in March of 2012. This also occurs rarely at higher speeds. Occasionally the cruise control will cancel and the car will shutter at highway speeds. This happens much less frequently than when the car is at low speeds or a stop. I read a usa today article today that other owners of the ecoboost 3.5L V6 are complaining about this. It is definitely a problem with my car, and the description provided in the article describes my problem exactly.

- Avondale, PA, USA

There was an oil leak to the turbo charger while driving car. Car burned to the ground.

- West Chester, PA, USA