2000 Ford Taurus Headlight Problems

Which parts fail

• Brake lights › Switch
  24
• Brake lights
  18
• Tail lights › Switch
  12
• Headlights › Switch
  12
• Headlights
  9
• Turn signal
  5

Components named in complaints (headlights, tail lights, turn signals, interior lights).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  38%
• 25k–50k
  1232%
• 50k–75k
  822%
• 75k–100k
  822%
• 100k–150k
  514%
• 150k+
  13%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2000 Ford Taurus owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

Started to smell burned wires in car. Look under dash and smoke and wires where burned. Brake lights dont work. Reading online and other issue with this car and people where having same issue. When I called dealer they said theres nothing they can do because they are no more recalls on that. But I think this is a safety issue and can cause great danger.

The brake system in our car has not performed properly on wet roads many times. On jan 21st, 2002 and mar 13th, 2002, we asked muzi Ford to fix this problem. They could not find the problem. They reported, it is common to confuse ABS activation with difficulty stopping". In fact, our car is not equipped with ABS. On the morning of jan 17th, 2003, my husband was driving in the slow lane of I-95; the car in front of our car came to a sudden stop. He immediately braked. He was still far away, and the speed was only 45-50 MPH, the road was wet and our cars brake system did not work properly and it hit the front car. There are many problems with our car. …

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the headlights failed to shut off, which required the battery cable to be disconnected. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact felt that the vehicle was unsafe to drive in the event that the day time running lamps, high beams, and fog lights short out. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

I am having issues exactly as described in NHTSA campaign id number: 04V106000. I have a 2000 Ford Taurus where the the stomp lamp malfunctions when using the brakes. When I called future Ford of roseville, ca in the automall they looked up my VIN # and informed me that this recall is not in their list for my vehicle. But that the owner of the vehicle had the stop lamp replaced already in year 2000 for the same symptoms. I told them that this is a safety recall of the same year, make and model as my car with the same exact symptoms as found in the NHTSA recall article. There was not much interest in my problem and was told there is no recall for my vehicle. To me this appears that this should apply to my car also. …

Brake light switch assembly has failed three times in 53,000 miles on my 2000 Ford Taurus. It was replaced under recall in 2001, I paid to replace it in 2002 and 2003 as the dealership says the reapair can only be covered under the recall one time. When it fails, the lights either stay on and drain the battery or they won't come on at all making it impossible to shift out of park. Either way, it creates an extreme hazard as traffic behind you does not know if you are stopping or not. Ford's recall was estimated to affect about 179,000 vehicles. If each needs a $17.47 switch each years as mine has and those vehicles stay in service for ten years, that is a tidy 30 million dollar profit for Ford. Let's just hope no one dies as a result. Ford's consumer phone line and dealership were of no help. I have sent a formal letter to Ford's customer relationship center, but hold out little hope.

I have a 2000 Ford Taurus with adjustable pedals. The car was serviced per the instructions associated with recall campaign 01V078000. Shortly after this repair, the brake switch was contaminated with grease causing the brake lamp switch to be stuck in the closed position disabling the cruise control and causing the stop lamps to stay on. The car was repaired under warranty. A little over one year later, the same problem occurred and was again fixed under the extended warranty. In essence, the problem which was supposed to be addressed in recall campaign 01V078000 apparently was not adequately addressed as the problem as reoccurred not once but twice since the repairs associated with the original recall.

Dt: 2000 Ford Taurus station wagon. The headlight assembly was cloudy and got moisture on the inside of the plastic itself. It sweats from the inside. Called manufacturer, and asked for any recalls or problems on the headlights. They said no. The only solution for this was to replace the headlights for a cost of $155.00 and with only a year warranty or 12,000 mile. Consumer spoke to a junk yard, and they said that this had been a problem since 1985. Consumer owned this car since it was new, I, and just noticed this last week. Consumer inspected vehicle and could not find any I seal fractures or broken lenses on the light or assembly.

Poor design on brake light switch on brake pedal. The wires that connect to the brake indicator switch are mounted on the front end of the brake pedal. They are positioned 3-4 inches above foot level, a location where the wires are vulnerable to being sheared off with an errant foot. Additionally, the wire coming from the wire loom is too short, leading to strain on the wire. The result is the wire disconnects and you lose the brake lights. In our case, the wire held on only by the insulation and would connect when the brake was lightly applied (allowing you to shift out of park), but would fail when the brake was fully depressed

The cruise control failed to disengage when the brake pedal was applied. The consumer had to turn the cruise control lever to disengage the system. This occurred two days after the brake light switch recall 04V106000 repairs were performed. This was the first time that vehicle was driven since recall repairs were done. This caused the consumer to become very close to slower moving traffic before the consumer realized what occurred. The consumer stated that the recall was originally done carelessly.

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 Ford Taurus. The vehicle was included in the recall under NHTSA campaign id number: 04V106000 (exterior lighting:brake lights:switch) and was repaired. Approximately two years after the repair, the brake lights would not illuminate and the gear shifter could not be released from park. The contact was able to move the gear shifter to neutral and took the vehicle to the dealer for diagnostic testing but the vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.

Related recalls

NHTSA investigations

Headlight complaints in other Taurus years