1997 Ford Taurus Electrical system Problems

“Every time I put it in reverse, my radio goes out, my pl, ps, and pw stop working. If I drive longer than 5 - 10 miles, the lights and all electrical start blinking and the ps goes on and off. I almost hit a car along side of me the 1st time it happened, I only drove it out of town one time after that, now I don't drive it out of town at all. Even in town if I'm driving all over, it does it. I tried talking to Ford corp. And they blew me off, even though I told them nobody knows what it is. Help!!”

“The instrument panel will display the door ajar warning icon and the dome light will remain on while operating the vehicle. After exiting and securing the vehicle, the dome light will remain on for an indefinate amount of time. The problem is intermittent but can continue to malfunction for a week-at-a-time and not have a recurrence for up to a month. Dealer told me that unless I could localize the source of the failure, they could not begin to solve the problem.”

“This incident has happened before the date below but this time I decided to make a complaint after it happened again. When there is a lot of water and you turn right, my car turns off, the battery light comes on and then it makes this squealing noise. And then it starts right back up. I had this checked out but nothing was found wrong with my Ford 97 Taurus. I've driven through a lot of water going forward in the car and it doesn't turn off or make any noise, just when turning right. I never noticed it when turning left.”

“Power steering intermittent failure; first began when placing shift lever into reverse gear, then later occurred also in forward drive gears. Suspect electrical/electronic problem since radio speakers also go silent and power windows do not operate when this occurs. All other fuses working properly. Dealer is not yet contacted.”

“On 4/3/2015 my mother in law pulled into the driveway after a 10 mile trip to town. Upon pulling in the driveway the car started on fire immediately, at first she thought the car was overheating (white smoke) then realized the car was actually on fire (black smoke). She had to be helped by an idaho power employee who was driving by. A total of two 15lb fire extinguishers and garden hose were used to keep the fire at bay until the fire department arrived. The car was destroyed from the dash panel forward. …”