1988 Ford Taurus Electrical system Problems

“When I try to turn on the vehicle the ignition switch is hard to turn on then when it is turned on the dash doesn't light up, and the whole car is digital. I have to play with the switch and try and turn the key a little backwards to get the dash to light up. This has been going on for almost a year (since I bought the car).”

“Intermittent problem. At highway speeds the engine would act as if it were running out of gas, engine would quit. And then came back without warning. Engine did not need to be restarted right away but would cut out as described and this condition would clear on it's own. Eventually the engine would skip at any speed without warning and did stall. Wouldn't start and run without incident. Dealer diagnosis was to replace the distributor and electronic ignition module even though they recommended not replacing stating that they were not sure that this was the cause of the problem. …”

“I have had 2 ignition module failures during the 10 years that I have owned my 1988 Taurus. The first incident at approximately 80,000 miles and the second at approximately 105,000 miles. While these failures did not result in an accident they did cause a great deal of inconvenience and could have had serious safety consequences. Ford does not seem to think this is a serious problem, yet I have had 3 ignition module failures on Ford vehicles during the past 15 years.”

“The ignition switch did not working properly. It was hard to get the vehicle turned on, and when the consumer was able to get the vehicle started, the dash lights did not come on. The consumer had to play with the keys in the ignition to get the dash lights to come on.”

“While driving about 55 MPH vehicle began to slow down. Driver pushed on accelerator, but automobile continued to shut down. Reaching side of road, and using brakes to stop the car, consumer could restart vehicle by placing it in neutral or park. Consumer has not yet had an accident.”