1996 Ford Taurus Sho Recalls

No recalls on record Updated July 2026

No NHTSA recalls on record for the 1996 Ford Taurus Sho. That means NHTSA has no open safety campaign for this vehicle — it does not guarantee the absence of problems. Owners have filed 31 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the engine and engine cooling. Last updated July 5, 2026.

Complaints by component

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
8
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
6
1crashes1injuries
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
5
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
3
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
1
1injuries
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
1
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM
1
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CRANKCASE (PCV)
1
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH
1
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
1
Total complaints31

What owners report

Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.

“96 taurus sho v8 3.4l camshaft failure. I have kept my car in perfect shape with tune up and all. It is in mint condition and has no rust. I have nice exhaust system put on by a mechanic and also a cold air intake put on and a new trans in july now with only 3000 miles on it.. I heard ticking from…”

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING · reported 2010-10-24

“96 taurus sho v8 3.4l camshaft failure. I have kept my car in perfect shape with tune up and all. It is in mint condition and has no rust. I have nice exhaust system put on by a mechanic and also a cold air intake put on and a new trans in july now with only 3000 miles on it.. I heard ticking from…”

TIRES · reported 2010-10-24

“Engine failure as a result of camshaft gear spinning on cam. During normal driving engine stopped in roadway,requiring tow off roadway to repair shop for diagnosis. The auto is a 1996 ford taurus sho 3.4 v8 .after studying this problem I find this cam failure is a known problem to many and could…”

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING · reported 2008-08-18

“I have a1996 ford taurus sho v-8,it just turned 80,000 miles and has had all regular service and now the camshaft gear has failed on the camshaft and damaged the engine!I work at a ford dealer and see this engine failure often. It seems that this is common on the v-8 sho engine around…”

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING · reported 2008-02-19

“I have a1996 ford taurus sho v-8,it just turned 80,000 miles and has had all regular service and now the camshaft gear has failed on the camshaft and damaged the engine!I work at a ford dealer and see this engine failure often. It seems that this is common on the v-8 sho engine around…”

UNKNOWN OR OTHER · reported 2008-02-19

“Tl*- the contact stated that on 12/19//06 while driving on highway 309, at about 5o mph on a clear night with good road condition. The air bag on passenger side deployed. The contact stated that there was no one on the passenger side when the air bag deployed. There was no apparent cause for this…”

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL · reported 2006-12-19

“I had to drive to chicago and spend over $500 to have my cams welded to prevent the common engine failure that is documented here and other sources.*ak”

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING · reported 2004-09-25

“Tranmission does not work good it has ahard bump when takeing off had it redone but had the sme problem and put two speed senors in it same thing italked to some morepeople they had the same problem”

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:TORQUE CONVERTER · reported 2004-01-15
Sources & methodology

Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1996 Ford Taurus Sho as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.