bluemountain

Hi. I just registered for this forum. I have owned three Fords so far. I have a 1999 Ford Taurus with 106,000 miles. The car has been running beautifully. The "Service Engine Soon" light has come on and the shop said the Diagnostic was P1744 which is the Torque Converter Clutch Solenoid Circuit performance. The Transmission shop said that the TCC was failing and they needed to do a tear down to see if the TCC had damaged anything else. My undestanding was that Ford would pay half the cost of replacing the transmission on 1998 Tauruses or newer if the transmission had to be replaced. There is also a TSB #03123 "Torque Converter Clutch not engaging when commanded and/ or Diagnostic Trouble Codes P0741 or P1744 stored in memory on Taurus models 1996 to 2003." I called Ford today to find out about Ford paying for half of the transmission cost if the transmission cost. I was greatly surprised to hear that Ford had no such program and that there was no such TSB report. In fact, I was stupified to hear this since I had seen where Ford had paid for one-half of someone's Taurus Transmission rebuild fora car the age of mine. I also had the Transmission rebuilt on my 1993 Sable and in the result of researching the Transmission issue with Sables and Tauruses I saw in the literature that Ford would pay half of the transmission rebuild cost for Tauruses 1998 and later. That is why I felt comfortable about buying the 1999 Taurus as a used car. Does anyone know anything about the transmission problems with the Tauruses and why Ford is denying it has the program to help pay for the cost of replacing the transmission? I love my Taurus, but I feel very uneasy because the transmission is going out. Also, the heater never worked on this car when I bought it. I found in my research with the TSBs that there is a TSB for non-working heaters on these cars. We also rebuilt the head gasket last December. That is a known probelm with these cars, too.

jlwilber

When I read your post I thought I had written it, I too am having problems with my 1999 taurus transmission. I was told by my mechanic that I need to replace my transmission. My problem is the 5th gear will not engage so my RPM stay at about 4 and my gas mileage is aweful. Hard to find a used transmission as EVERYONE else had the same problem so it looks like I may be stuck getting a new or re-bulit. I think Ford needs to do something about this since EVERYONE I have talked to said it is a known problem Let me know what we could do.

bluemountain

Yes, I know. It is amazing how the transmission problems keeps happening over and over. The transmission shop I was out wanted 750 dollars to do a tear down to go in and see what else the TCC had taken down with it. The shop said the rest of the car was doing great--it was most likely the TCC that was failing. Unfortunately, to get at the TCC you have to go into transmission which involves labor costs. The transmission costs with this shop were 3, 000 to completely replace the transmisison. Unfortunately, the bluebook on the car is about 3,000 so why replace the transmission on an "old car" with 106 K miles? The car is running fine otherwise (we had the head-gasket replaced for 1,200 at 98K miles last November. I guess I could find a cheaper shop and spend 1,500 to replace the TCC or transmission, but would I still do that since the bluebook is 3,000? Also, my heater has never work in the 16 months I have owned the car and I understand that this is a know problem with this car.

I saw stuff in the literature when researching Ford transmissions that clearly said that Ford would pay 1/2 the replacement cost on Taurus transmissions that failed for 1998 Tauruses and newer. That is why I bought a 1999 because I knew they did not have this agreement for 1997 cars or older. The transmission on my 1990 Topaz (bought new from Ford) failed at 90K miles in 1999 and I believe that is why I cecame such an expert about knowing about Ford transmissions. I still believe that Ford will pay for 1/2 of the transmisison costs as some agreement for failed transmissions on earlier Tauruses, but they deny that they will. I am going to start researching failed transmissions on 1990 to 1997 Tauruses and see if I can find the information.

I would suggest you call Ford to and complain about the transmisison problems you are having, too. I know Ford had a big fanfare about having the 2008 Tauruses, .etc, and I was excited to before my 99's transmission problems started. I will bet you that the 2008 taurus will have the same head gasket problem (my 1993 Sable's head gasket went out at 91K in 2001) and the same transmission problems. I will also start looking to see if the 2005 and 2006 and 2007 Tauruses are having transmission problems also. I am sure they are. Same old transmission. It looks like it is time for a transmission recall, don't you think? My husband's and my father's Ford Ranger trucks are both under the recent Cruise Control recalls by Ford also.