1996 Ford Taurus Recalls, Complaints & Specs

6 safety recalls list the 1996 Ford Taurus, and owners have filed 825 complaints with NHTSA. Check your own VIN below.

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6 safety recalls for the 1996 Ford Taurus

Most recent first. Recall repairs are free at any authorised dealer. Click a recall for the full defect, consequence and remedy text.

1. Tank assembly (fuel system)

   NHTSA 98V067000 Reported March 25, 1998 400 vehicles potentially affected FORD MOTOR COMPANY

   Vehicle description: passenger vehicles previously serviced under ford service bulletin 97-17-9 from august 1997 through december 1997. These vehicles were inadvertenly equipped with an 18-gallon fuel tank rather than the 16-gallon as specified. The 18-gallon tank has a second valve location where a shipping plug should be installed.

   Remedy: Dealers will install the correct fuel tank.

2. Automatic transmission (power train)

   NHTSA 96V176000 Reported September 18, 1996 340,000 vehicles potentially affected FORD MOTOR COMPANY

   The automatic transmission park pawl shaft may not be free to rotate as intended. If the park pawl shaft does not rotate, it would prevent the park pawl from engaging the park gear when the shift lever is in the park position.

   Remedy: Dealers will inspect the park pawl shaft rotation and those shafts with restricted rotation will be replaced with a shorter shaft that will not restrict rotation.

3. Gear position indication (prndl) (power train)

   NHTSA 96V166000 Reported September 5, 1996 40,000 vehicles potentially affected FORD MOTOR COMPANY

   The park pawl abutment bracket has a sharp edge which can cause the parking pawl to hang up and not engage the park gear. This would allow the vehicle to move even though the gear shift indicator shows that the vehicle is in park.

   Remedy: Dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the park pawl abutment bracket.

4. Fuel injection system (fuel system)

   NHTSA 96V151000 Reported August 12, 1996 4,700 vehicles potentially affected FORD MOTOR COMPANY

   The fuel pressure regulator located on the fuel rail in the engine compartment has a vacuum diaphragm that was damaged during manufacture of the regulator.

   Remedy: Dealers will inspect the fuel pressure regulator. Those regulators produced during the suspect time period will be replaced.

5. Automatic transmission (power train)

   NHTSA 96V086000 Reported May 14, 1996 100,000 vehicles potentially affected FORD MOTOR COMPANY

   The park pawl shaft was improperly positioned when the roll pin that retains it was installed during transmission assembly. If the shaft was not properly positioned, the roll pin may not have lined up with the groove in the shaft and have been crushed at assembly. Also, a burr could have been raised on the shaft.

   Remedy: Dealers will inspect the park pawl shaft roll pin. If the roll pin is damaged, both the roll pin and the park pawl shaft will be replaced. In addition, owners will be reminded to fully apply the parking brake, in…

6. Lamp (service brakes)

   NHTSA 96V016000 Reported January 25, 1996 76,500 vehicles potentially affected FORD MOTOR COMPANY

   The brake system fluid level indicator lamp switch can malfunction. This does not comply with FMVSS no. 105, "hydraulic brake systems."

   Remedy: Dealers will replace the brake system fluid level indicator lamp switches.

825 owner complaints filed with NHTSA

Owners of the 1996 Ford Taurus have filed 825 complaints with NHTSA; 69 describe a crash and 12 describe a fire. Reports cite 69 injuries and 1 death. The average mileage at failure in those reports is 101,949 miles. Complaints peaked in 2000 with 129 filed that year.

Most-reported components

• Power train: automatic transmission135
• Engine and engine cooling: gasoline70
• Engine and engine cooling: engine62
• Engine and engine cooling: cooling system61
• Steering: hydraulic power assist system35
• Vehicle speed control31
• Air bags: frontal29
• Service brakes, hydraulic: antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip28

What owners are reporting

“I recently brought the car for 4,00 and some change a bout a year ago two days after i brought it the check engine light came on and every now and then while driving it would cut off i took the car ba”

Owner complaint to NHTSA, January 30, 2016 · Engine

“Tl*the contact owns a 1996 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving at 15 MPH, there was a loud noise coming from the front passenger side of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an indepen”

Owner complaint to NHTSA, February 24, 2015 · Structure

Fuel economy and specs

EPA ratings for the 1996 Ford Taurus (Taurus SHO, Taurus Wagon). Ranges cover every tested configuration.

Compare Ford Taurus model years

Recall and complaint counts for every Ford Taurus model year in NHTSA's database.

Checking a specific 1996 Ford Taurus

Other Ford models

• F-15037,961 complaints
• Explorer34,566 complaints
• Escape27,430 complaints
• Fusion22,405 complaints
• Focus22,096 complaints
• Windstar14,158 complaints
• Edge14,065 complaints
• Expedition9,359 complaints

Source: NHTSA recall and complaint databases and EPA fuel economy data, October 2026. Complaint counts are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. Recall counts are safety campaigns that list this model year; whether a particular car was already repaired depends on its VIN. How this data is compiled.