Vehicle recall 96V176000 · September 18, 1996
Lincoln Continental, Mercury Sable and 1 more model
The automatic transmission park pawl shaft may not be free to rotate as intended.
Source: NHTSA data as of September 22, 2026. Last refreshed Sep 23, 2026, 2:43 AM UTC.
- Summary
- The automatic transmission park pawl shaft may not be free to rotate as intended. If the park pawl shaft does not rotate, it would prevent the park pawl from engaging the park gear when the shift lever is in the park position.
- Consequence
- This condition could result in the vehicle rolling as if in neutral with the shift lever in the park position.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the park pawl shaft rotation and those shafts with restricted rotation will be replaced with a shorter shaft that will not restrict rotation.
- Notes
- Owner notification:owner notification is expected to being September 30, 1996. Note:owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact Ford at 1-800-392-3673.ALSO contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-800-424-9393.
Recall details
- NHTSA campaign
- 96V176000
- Reported to NHTSA
- September 18, 1996
- Filed by
- FORD MOTOR COMPANY
- Owner notification
- October 9, 1996
- Vehicles potentially affected
- 340,000
- Initiated by
- the manufacturer
- Components
- Power train › Automatic transmission
Vehicles covered
As listed by NHTSA. A recall usually covers only some vehicles of each model and year, often a production date range.
- Ford Taurus (1996): 1996
- Lincoln Continental (1996): 1996
- Mercury Sable (1996): 1996
Has your Ford been repaired?
Recalls here come from NHTSA’s records for the model and year. Not every vehicle of a model is included in every recall, and this site can’t see whether a repair has been done. Only a VIN lookup can tell you that.
NHTSA’s VIN search doesn’t show recalls that were already repaired, recalls more than 15 years old, or some small manufacturers’ recalls. Recall repairs are free.