Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (power steering, steering column, rack and pinion).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 1996 Ford Taurus owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The transmission range selector (also called park/neutral start switch) shorts internally and causes the variably assisted steering to malfunction (stop assisting entirely). Date of incident May not be exact. While turning right at low speed into an alley power steering failed momentarily causing front wheel to jump the opposite curb onto the sidewalk and damage wheel cover. TSB # 96255 May describe problem, but I'm not sure. Ford dealership pulled up a report on this for me. Report states that the transmission range selector May short internally and cause the power steering assist to be reduced (eliminated), power windows to fail, and stereo to temporarily fail. This problem is intermittent and sporadic, but since the steering is adversely affected this problem constitutes a clear safety hazard. …
I had an accident due to my car cutting off. I was turning when there was water on the street. I made a right hand turn and the right side went through the water. My car made some high pitch noise and the lights on the dashboard all lit up and the car shut off. I had no control over my car and ran off the road in a ditch. I didn't get hurt. My front bumper was damaged. I am very scared driving this car when it rains or water is on the street. This is clearly a safety hazzard. I told jerry's Ford about the problem a few months ago. Jerry's Ford said they couldn't duplicate the problem. I even contacted the Ford dispute board and told them about the numerous times the car had cut off, they told me that when it happens again, take it directly to the dealership. Please look into this safety hazzard before someone else has an accident or dies.
I had an accident on 01/14/00 due to my car cutting off. I was turning when there was water on the street. I made a right hand turn and the right side went through water. My car made some high pitch noise and the lights on the dashboard all lit up and the car shut off. I had no control over my car and ran off of the road in a ditch. I didn't get hurt. My front bumper was damaged. I am very scared driving this car when it rains or when there's water on the street. This is clearly a safety hazzard. I told jerry's Ford about the problem. I even contacted the Ford dispute board and told them about the numerous times the car had cut off, they told me that when it happens again, take it directly to the dealership. Please look into this safety hazzard before someone else has an accident or dies.
Anytime I even go through a puddle I loose power steering and battery light goes out. The car has not stalled yet but the date I put on this report the power steering went as I was turning into an entrance to walmart and I couldnt catch it in time to stop it from hitting the curb. I did significant damage to the ty rod and driver wheel well. Ford said that was normal. I was not warned of this when I bought the vehicle and cant find a report about that anywhere. It is definitly life threatenig living in buffalo in the winter what will happen? I am scared to drive my vehicle and I just bought it.
My 96 Ford Taurus gl has the following electrical problems, radio goes out, seat belt light flashes and clicks, intermittent wipers fail, power windows fail, finally power steering locks up,and when running for a while transmission would slip, causing safety concerns. If put in park everything goes back working as normal. Took to shop and they say it's the transmission range sensor and that several 96 Taurus' they have worked on have had the same problem....I am wondering why this has not been a recall part if that is the case...something is definitely wrong!
While driving out of the neighborhood to a service road, made a left hand turn and tire rod broke, vehicle veered off to the right and hit a concrete power line. Upon impact, airbags didn't deploy on either side. Contacted the local mechanic, and was told that the vehicle had been in an accident before. Contacted the dealer.
The consumer stated the vehicle vibrated when driving and when the brakes were applied. The dealer replaced the front rotors, pads and the problem still continued. It was later determined that the aluminum spindle at the ball joint broke and caused the axle to come off.
The major problem was engine overheating, brown coolant,loss of heater. Ford repeated flushed out the heater core,replaced the coollant, flushed out engine, radiator. After about a year of this they finally had to replace the engine with another engine, a rebuilt one of course. They continued to have to flush out the brown coolant. Now the heater does not work again. They say that since my warranty is up I must pay for the heater core even though they knew it was going bad and that they had two recalls on brown coolant problems. They say they have not had any problems with engines if they performed the recall. They should have replaced the heater core according to the recall notice 98-b23 and 98b23-s1 but did not. They replaced the steering rack three times to get rid of the noise when turning. …
This failure is a safety hazard. While driving the power steering stops working at random, the electric windows quit working, and the seat belt light comes on! They all appear to be related to this mlp/tr switch. I searched the internet and found 4 other occurrences that were reported. When I call the local Ford service garage, the service manager knew exactly what my problem was and sold me the sensor switch. He was aware that the power steering stops working when these symptoms occur. I experienced the power steering failing on a turn and had much trouble controlling the car. I'm worried that my daughter would not have been able to control the car.
There is a terrible squeaking noise when turning right. The Ford mechanic said there is a big problem with Taurus's. He said Ford changed the design in the model. Our three year-warranty expired in November. There was a small problem before but now it is quite noticeable. The mechanic said the repair cost would be $700. Why should the consumer pay if there is a design problem made by Ford? Our car has very low mileage and has been well maintained-- always a 3,000 mile oil change. I have checked on internet under Ford Taurus complaints and there are many dissatisfied Taurus customers because of the faulty rack and pinion.
Steering complaints in other Taurus years
Frequently asked questions
How common are steering problems on the 1996 Ford Taurus?
NHTSA has 101 complaints about the steering of the 1996 Ford Taurus, 12% of the model year's 825 complaints. The component named most often is hydraulic power assist system (35 mentions).
Is there a recall for 1996 Ford Taurus steering problems?
No. NHTSA lists no steering recall for the 1996 Ford Taurus, though it has 6 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 1996 Ford Taurus steering problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 114,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 6 crashes, 0 fires and 0 injuries to steering problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.