There are 14 stored owner reports matching the powertrain & transmission leading-label group for the 1986 Ford Taurus in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 14 of 14 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)PROBLEMS WITH TRANSMISSION. NAR 07/02/2003. *MR THE CONSUMER FOUND THAT FORD MOTOR COMPANY INTENTIONALLY SOLD DEFECTIVE VEHICLES TO CUSTOMERS. THE DEFECT IS THE TRANSMISSION, ACCORDING TO THE BULLETIN #94-24-7 THEY KNEW THAT DEFECTS EXISTED IN THE FOLLOWING VEHICLES 1986-95 FORD TAURUS, 1993-95 TAURUS SHO, 1986-95 MERCURY SABLE, 1988-94 CONTINENTAL AND 1995 WINDSTAR LIGHT TRUCK. THE CONSUMER HAS WRITTEN TO FORD EXPLAINING WHAT WAS FOUND AND TO DATE NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE. PLEASE INVESTIGATE STATEMENTS CONTAINED. *CB *JB
TRANSMISSION HAS BEEN REBUILT, AND WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING VEHICLE IS CUTTING OFF/STALLING AND VIBRATING. VEHICLE WON'T GO OVER 20 MPH AND THERE IS A KICKING SOUND COMING FROM THE VEHICLE. *AK
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FAILURE. *AK
TRANSMISSION FAILURE. WOULD LIKE INFORMATION ON ANY EXISTING BULLETIN REGARDING FORD TRANSMISSION.
ODOMETER FRAUD.
NO SUMMARY
TRANSMISSION FAILED.
STEERING AXLE CRACKED.
VEHICLE JUMPS OUT OF GEAR AND SOMETIMES GEARS MAKE A THUMPING SOUND CHANGING. TT
KEYS WILL COME OUT OF IGNITION WHILE VEHICLE IS RUNNING. TT
AUTO TRAN: WHILE DRIVING TRANSMISSION JUMPS FROM DRIVE TO 1ST OR 2ND, OR DIE COMPLETELY; NO WARNING; NEARLY CAUSED REAREND ACCIDENT. TT
COMPLETE TRANSMISSION FAILURES. IN BOTH CASES, A REBUILT TRANSMISSION WAS USED AS A REPLACEMENT.
TRANSMISSION FAILURE.
VEHICLE HAS NO SECOND GEAR, AND SLIPS AND JERKS INTO FIRST GEAR ALOT. DEALER HAS BEEN CONTACTED. *AK
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: May 4, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.