2003 FORD TAURUS — Complaint #509187
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:STARTER ASSEMBLY:SOLENOID filed December 1, 2004
NHTSA complaint #509187 (ODI reference 10100861) concerns a 2003 FORD TAURUS and was filed on December 1, 2004. The owner reports the failure occurred on November 21, 2004. The vehicle had 23,400 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to North Dakota based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as electrical system:starter assembly:solenoid, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: yes, injuries: 1, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD TAURUS cohort independently describe similar electrical system:starter assembly:solenoid failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2003 FORD TAURUS shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
I HAVE A CONCERN OF REGARDING A SAFETY ISSUE ON MY 2003 FORD TAURUS. I AM NOT SURE IF THIS IS THE RIGHT PLACE TO LODGE A COMPLAINT, BUT WOULD DIRECT ME TO THE RIGHT SOURCE IF NOT.*AK SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2004, I CHANGED OIL ON MY 2003 FORD TAURUS. LIKE MANY VEHICLES I HAVE CHANGED OIL ON, I WAS NOT VERY PLEASED WITH THE LOCATION OF THE OIL FILTER. IT IS LOCATED BENEATH THE MANIFOLD (EXTREME HEAT) AND ABOVE THE SOLENOID FOR THE STARTER. IT WAS THE SOLENOID THAT I WAS SUSPICIOUS ABOUT AND THAT SUSPICION CAME TRUE SUNDAY EVENING. WHEN YOU TAKE OFF THE OIL FILTER, OIL DRIPS ONTO THE SOLENOID. I CANNOT IMAGINE WHY AN ENGINEER WOULD ALLOW A LOCATION FOR A FLAMMABLE LIQUID TO DRIP ONTO A POWER SOURCE. WHEN I USED A FILTER WRENCH TO GET THE OIL FILTER OFF, THE WRENCH KNOCKED OFF THE PROTECTIVE CAP THAT COVERS THE POWER LEADS AND GROUND TO THE SOLENOID. WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT WAS NOT A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE. THE OIL WRENCH AND THE POWER LEADS MADE CONTACT AND IMMEDIATELY STARTED
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 509187 |
| ODI Number | 10100861 |
| Date Filed | December 1, 2004 |
| Failure Date | November 21, 2004 |
| VIN | 1FAFP55U53G |
Similar ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:STARTER ASSEMBLY:SOLENOID Complaints for 2003 FORD TAURUS
I PURCHASED THE CAR ON 2/11/08 AND THEN TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER THE NEXT DAY BECAUSE THE DOOR PANEL BROKE OFF AND THE CAR WAS IDLING HIGH WHEN I DRIVE IT. THEY KNOCKED $1,000 OFF OF THE SALES PRI
AT ABOUT 8000 MILES I WAS DRIVING MY 2003 TAURUS WHEN I NOTICED AN ELECTRICAL SMELL. I PULLED OVER AND SHUT THE AIR CONDITIONING OFF TO LISTEN TO MY VEHICLE. THE CAR SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS CONTINUALLY
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.