page 1 of invoice number FOCS102720Information related to 3.8 Liter engine head gasket failure on my 1995 Ford Taurus
On December 13, 1999 at 5:30 AM while driving to work, my 1995 Ford Taurus with a 3.8 liter engine, broke down due to a improperly designed head gasket. The engine failure was sudden and massive. I was forced to abandon my vehicle in an unsafe location and walk a significant distance in freezing conditions to seek assistance. A head gasket failure seemed very premature for a 5-year old car with under 56,000 miles on the odometer. I reported this incident with the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) (ODI number: 716204). When I checked the NHTSA data base for similar problems, I found approximately 500 head gasket failure reports for five Ford vehicle models that utilize the same drivetrain (3.8 liter engine and AXOD automatic transmission). The five vehicle models are 1994 Mercury Sable, 1995 Mercury Sable, 1994 Ford Taurus, 1995 Ford Taurus, and 1995 Ford Windstar. It turns out that premature blown head gasket is a very common problem for Ford 3.8 liter engines (part number F5PZ-6051). Based on NHTSA records, the average Ford 3.8 liter engine head gasket failure occurs at 4 years and 68,000 miles. I also noticed a similar number of transmission problems associated with another design flaw with these same five vehicle models (e.g., cracked clutch pistons, part number F4DZ-7A262). Based on NHTSA records, the average AXOD automatic transmission failure occurs at 3 years and 63,000 miles. One of the symptoms of the transmission problems is a sudden lunging forward of the vehicle. I now have an explanation for the erratic behavior of the transmission in my vehicle, that makes winter driving a bigger challenge. I fail to understand why the NHTSA has not forced Ford Motor Company to recall and fix these five unsafe vehicle models. These five vehicles are family vehicles, not high performance vehicles that get pushed to their limits. One of Ford's advertising claims is for the safety of these vehicles. Ford has known about these problems for a long time and have issued Technical Service Bulletins TSB 94-24-7 (AXOD transmission) and TSB 98-4-9 (3.8 liter head gasket). The NHTSA records show Ford 3.8 liter head gasket failures started being reported in 1987 and there are still hundreds of failures reported in 1999 models. For some reason the NHTSA has ignored the problems.
I decided to download the entire NHTSA complaint database (1.12 Gigabytes) to do some further analysis. The largest number of entries in the database for an automobile make are for Ford (51,645). The largest number of entries are for a truck make are for Ford Trucks (42,715). The largest number of entries for a specific vehicle model are for the Ford Taurus (14,495). The largest number of entries for a specific vehicle year, make, and model are for the 1995 Ford Windstar (2,399). The largest number of entries for head gasket problems are for Ford Motor Company vehicles (2,115). Ford Motor Company has almost as many head gasket entries as General Motors Corporation (1,191) and DaimlerChrysler Corporation (1,117) combined. Sometimes, being number one, is not good! Would this dubious honor be true if Ford would have voluntarily corrected their design mistakes when they first knew about these problems, several years ago? Ford is losing market share faster than any other domestic vehicle manufacture. Has Ford done something that discourages customer loyalty?
I contacted the Ford Motor Company Customer Assistance Center to report the problem and seek assistance. When Ford contacted me, they told me there was nothing they were willing to do to rectify the situation. They want me to pay for their design mistakes and to continue buying Ford products. How's that for Ford Quality Customer Service! It would be nice to have vehicle manufacturer that you could trust! It would be nice to drive vehicles, which do not have major design defects, that you could trust!
Invoice from McKay Lincoln Mercury for head gasket repair (12/17/1999).
page 1 of invoice number FOCS102720
page 2 of invoice number FOCS102720
Invoice from McKay Lincoln Mercury for head gasket check (6/1/1999).
Letter from Ford extending warranty to 5 years and 60,000 miles for head gaskets (6/1998).
NHTSA - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data on Ford 3.8 liter head gasket failures.
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