03 Taurus, speedometer probs and stalling
 

OK as said it's an 03, the speedometer will sometimes freakout and while in park it will start jumping around between 20 and 30 mph. While in my driveway I was shifting if from drive to reverse to see if the speedo jumping around would stop, when I put in park the car shut off ??? I started it again and the speedo was fine, no more jumping. It happenes every so often but not all the time.

It has also started dying when I come to a stop after normal driving. Kind of just stumbles then cuts off. It starts right up and drives fine after that. Hmm, here is some specs:

3.0L
94,000 miles
Auto

Any possibility it might be a bad ECM, our sensor for the Speedo? The tach does not jump around. I'm also thinking it may need a fuel injector and top end cleaning with the miles on it. I bought this at 91000 for my daughter, any expert suggestions will be lvery helpful. Thanks gang...

RE: 03 Taurus, speedometer probs and stalling
 

Anybody?

Is there a know problems with the speedometer cluster having electrical problems

Is there a speed sensor know problem?

RE: 03 Taurus, speedometer probs and stalling
 

The stalling may not be related. Check your IAC for carbon and make sure it moves free.The speedo could be the speed sensor in/on the trans, I had a Mercury Sable do the same thing and the qualifing test was does your cruise control still work while the speedo goes crazy?

Dudes I feel your pain with the mysterious stalling and crazy dash light problem. My wife refused to drive the 2003 Ford Taurus SES car that I bought for her she threatened to BURN it LOL. Anyway I fixed it. The reason that I joined today is to let you guys know how to fix this very frustrating vehicle computer reset problem. I fought the random crazy dash lights and stalling issue for over a year on a 2003 Taurus SES. IT IS A BAD DIODE IN YOUR ALTERNATOR Trust me on this. Replace the alternator. I did not want to post until I knew 100% this was it and after 12 months with no problems I can safely say that it is 100% fixed. I hope this helps I know that some people will still be skeptical as they have fought the problem for so long but if you replace the alternator and the problem continues then you have replaced with a alternator that also has a bad diode. The Guy at the local Autozone store found it with the store tester. I had been having it tested at Advance Auto parts and their machine did not show the bad diode. I wish I had written down the tester model for you sorry. I would go to several different stores and have them test for a bad diode in your alternator!! I searched for many hours on sites like this and NEVER found the definitive answer so here you go REPLACE THE ALTERNATOR and then have it tested to make darn sure you got a good alternator. Good Luck

There's a reallly easy way to diag the alternator on these cars. Disconnect the alt. battery cable and the 2 or 3 wire plug and drive it with the battery (of course, make sure it's fully charged), and see if it gets better. If it goes away, there you go.
Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) is the other thing that really screws with these; make sure the plug wires aren't arcing (spray them with water, wait a minuet, and see if it misses). There are other ways of detemining this, but if the radio sounds good on AM at idle, but gets super noisey at speed, that's a good indication of RFI.
Also, the VSS (on the top of the trans, under the exh. manifold, on the right bank on the firewall side) is the next major thing to check. The older tourtises used to have a lot of problems with the gear apple-coring on these, but anything is possible on this car with this milage. There is no really good way to check the VSS other than to replace it; it would be really helpful to have a scanner and look at the VSS pid while driving to make a determination as to what (and what kind) of signal the PCM is seeing while driving it; this will help you decide what direction to go in.