2000 Ford Taurus - Shutoff while driving, won't re-start

JOSEPHNSON

MEMBER
2000 FORD TAURUS

My Mom was driving and had just left our neighbourhood and then the car just shut off - the console lights (all of them) lit up and she just coasted to a stop out of traffic. She tried to re-start the car, but there was nothing but a humming (I presume this is the fuel pump)

My dad changed the fuel filter first, but still just that humming, I checked every fuse (in the power distrubution box and passenger compartment) and the relays (power distribution box), I found one blown fuse (20A for cigerette lighter). We changed the crank sensor. We checked for a spark (off one of the plugs). We checked the starter. We checked the auto shutoff reset in the trunk. We even attempted to jump start the car. Today we are going to tow it to a mechanic and have a diagnoses done.

Any ideas?

2000 Ford Taurus SE
V6 Vulcan 3.0L
73,000 KM (approx.)

2 Replies

BLACKOP555

MECHANIC
10,371 POSTS

When you took the filter off did you check adn see if the pump was pumping? If its not pumping or pumping very little there is the problem. Also the humming is usually a pump showin us its age

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 AT 2:05 PM

JOSEPHNSON

MEMBER
2 POSTS

The Car spend a day and a half at a trusted mechanic - where he attempted to clear fault codes off the computer, but then came to "Car Attempted Thief" and at that point he could not clear the code. We then had the car towed to nearest Ford dealership, where they too attempted to clear all of the fault codes.

Note to anyone that has a Ford or any car with that security chip that is in the keys, what is known as the coded key. That code is read by the car's internal computer and will make starting the car impossible without the correct coded key. But whenever the dealership does any work on this cars and the computer is involved, they will need all keys for that vehicle.

So we got both keys to the dealership technicians, and low and behold it's the computer that was causing the problem. That last error code could not be clear (thief or something along those lines) so the dealership is replacing that unit. I believe the proper name is the "Engine Control Unit".

Logically (this is a question I would like answered) if the unit is readable (codes can be read off the system through diagnosis) - how come the unit has to be replaced and cannot simply be reset?

KJ