We drove my 96 Ford Taurus to a track meet about an hour away and it drove fine. Stayed at track meet for about 2 hours and went to get back in car to leave and it wouldn't start. Lights come on in dash and locks switch on and then switch off. My husband is thinking it might be the microchip in the key? My casing around the key is broken and it has been working fine. This has happened before and the theft light came on. We tried removing the casing on the key and the theft light did come on then but with the broken casing back on the key the theft light didn't come on and it still would not start. Any suggestions?

 

You should have a second coded key. Try it !

 

if the key situation is not the cause, it's possible that someone may have backed into the car hard enough that it triped the fuel shutoff safety sensor, thus cutting off electrical current to the fuel pump. pull back the felt lining in the trunk on the right hand side it may be located up on the sidewall behind the felt lining. that's were they are on the '99 models

 

Good point !

 

If the engine is cranking it is not the micro chip. My understanding is that it just won't turn over in those situations.

If the inertia switch is tripped it will crank. It is just not getting any fuel.