1997 Ford Taurus Recalls, Complaints & Specs

3 safety recalls list the 1997 Ford Taurus, and owners have filed 770 complaints with NHTSA. Check your own VIN below.

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3 safety recalls for the 1997 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. Headlights (exterior lighting)

   NHTSA 98V028000 Reported February 10, 1998 571,800 vehicles potentially affected FORD MOTOR COMPANY

   Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. The text and/or graphics for the vehicle headlamp aiming instructions provided in the owner guides are not sufficiently clear. This does not meet the requirements of FMVSS no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment."

   Remedy: Owner guides containing revised aiming instructions will be mailed to owners of these vehicles.

2. Automatic transmission (power train)

   NHTSA 97V097000 Reported June 9, 1997 100,000 vehicles potentially affected FORD MOTOR COMPANY

   Vehicle description: passenger vehicles equipped with ax4s automatic transaxles. The low/intermediate servo cover can separate from the transaxle while the vehicle is being driven. If this occurs, transmission fluid will leak contacting the catalytic converter.

   Remedy: Dealers will inspect the transmission and replace these servo covers.

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.

770 owner complaints filed with NHTSA

Owners of the 1997 Ford Taurus have filed 770 complaints with NHTSA; 64 describe a crash and 12 describe a fire. Reports cite 50 injuries and 4 deaths. The average mileage at failure in those reports is 86,536 miles. Complaints peaked in 2000 with 141 filed that year.

Most-reported components

• Power train: automatic transmission171
• Engine and engine cooling: engine46
• Engine and engine cooling: gasoline44
• Vehicle speed control43
• Engine and engine cooling: cooling system39
• Steering: hydraulic power assist system28
• Air bags: frontal26
• Interior lighting23

What owners are reporting

“Oil light does not come on when low. 2. Engine light always on. 3 when i was driving this winter, the brakes, they locked up on me and i almost had a collision with two other cars but i hit a curb and”

Owner complaint to NHTSA, March 15, 2021 · Engine

“Auto trans. Shift quad quickly became sloppy and in fact sometimes would not start in park pos. And you had to hunt for neutral where it would always start. Then on the third day, while parked overnig”

Owner complaint to NHTSA, April 11, 2018 · Unknown or other

Fuel economy and specs

EPA ratings for the 1997 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 1997 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.