Flat towing 2014 Ford Taurus

[AL28]

I recently purchased a 2014 Ford Taurus SEL with the 3.5L engine. The manual indicates it can be flat towed. I do not have the 7" display or the keyless ignition options.

However, the manual is incomplete as to the instructions and I have not received anything from Ford on the full procedure.

So if anyone is towing this car, if you have any additional info, I would appreciate it.

Basically the manual states to start the car, put it in D, then R, and finally in N before towing. It also states to start the engine every 6 hours.

While the manual does not state it, the inference for starting the engine would seem to indicate to shut the engine off while towing.

However, do you leave the ignition in ACC or OFF? I would assume ACC as I am also assuming the the steering wheel should not be locked I don't think.

And are their any fuses that need to be pulled to prevent the battery from dying?

Any other tips or information would also be appreciated.

[Silverton37]

Where did you find info on installing the charge line?

[1rickw]

Towing the FIT is the same. Turn engine off but leave steering wheel unlocked. That means you have to leave the key in the car. Don't forget to release the parking brake. The first time I towed the FIT, I drove 6 miles with the parking brake partially engaged. Asked wife if she released it as we were going down the freeway. She said "Didn't You?" Really hot brakes but no damage luckily. Be sure to turn radio off and the air conditioner or you will have a dead battery by the time you arrive at your destination.

[AL28]

Update on my towing situation. After buying my Taurus, my mom rode in it and apparently forgot what a new car felt like, so she ended up buying a new Ford Focus. So I ended up buying her 2002 Pontiac Grand Am, which although is 12yr old, only had 38K miles on it.

The Grand Am (with automatic transmission) is also towable as it uses the same transmission that many Saturn sedans use. And it is 1,000lbs lighter than the Taurus, which is also a good thing. Since the 12yr old car was "fully depreciated" I didn't have as much reluctance to rip off the front fascia and install a baseplate, as well as drilling the various holes requred for lights, etc.

All in all, the baseplate was a somewhat difficult install and took almost 3 days. The baseplate is a generic GM plate that fits about 4 different cars, and the disassembly instructions from Blue Ox was for a Malibu, not the Grand Am; so after step 1 of the disassembly instructions, nothing was correct.

Since I had figure out by trial and error what had to be removed to get the fascia and all of the components out of the way, that in itself took a day. As well, I ended up doing a bit of corrosion control (i.e. painting of the frame) to the car as I worked on it.

And with a 12yr old car, I ended up busting a few rusted bolts, as well as needing a few extra tools, which required about 5 trips to the store over the 3 day period.

And I also was pretty meticulous about how I re-installed everything, not just wanting to slap things together. For example, the horn assembly normally bolts to the side of the frame, but the hole was covered up by the baseplate... so I drilled and tapped a new hole in the baseplate for the mounting. I am sure with the 3 hour estimate the RV shop gave me would have meant they probably would have just cable tied the horn in place.

Also, I did not like the fit of the baseplate in that it was too close to a cooling line for my comfort, so I had to remove it and cut out a slot to give the line additional clearance. Again, I am not sure a RV shop would have done that in their 3 hour allotment of time.

I also had to modify the baseplate tubes the electrical trailer connector attached to, as they would not fit quite right through the grill opening. I attribute all of these things to the "generic" nature of the baseplate fitting multiple GM cars.

That is why it took 3 days to install the baseplate.

The Grand Am requires removal of three fuses, so I plan on installing a fuse switch soon. Also, I bought a "toad charger" that I have to complete the wiring on next spring (I have to swap out the 4 pole trailer tail-light connector on the RV for a 6 pole one to get 12V to the charger).

The baseplate I installed was from Blue Ox; with a Blue Ox tail-light kit, RViBrake2 braking system, and RViBrake Toad Charger. With the Blue Ox Alpha tow bar and accessories (wiring harness, tow bar cover, drop receiver, etc), I have under $3,000 in it as I did everything myself.

I have not towed it more than about 50 miles so far at one time, so I am not sure if I will have any issues with a dead battery. But with the toad charger, hopefully it won't present any problems.

So thanks all for your advice on the Taurus, even though I ended up going another route.

[algolfer]

Silverton - I tow a 2013 Taurus Limited and find that there is no way I can go 6 hours without a dead battery. Thought about putting a battery cut off switch but did not want to have to continuously reset the radio stations, seats, steering wheel, and have the computer relearn engine parameters. Instead went with a charge line. No problem now.

[Silverton37]

I have a 2012 Taurus with push button start that I tow behind a 2014 Tiffin Phaeton 40. So no Key involved. First 6 hour trip resulted in a dead battery. Putting the car in park to try to start resulted in the car being unmovable at the fuel pumps. A long walk to buy a battery charger. Anyone have any luck pulling a fuse to prevent battery drain. I have a Blue OX braking system that is supposed to have an internal battery that does not use the car battery, so the cause must be the instrument cluster being lit up.

[Bass_Man]

I just completed installing a RoadMaster baseplate on my 2014 Ford Taurus SEL. I purchased the baseplate and Universal Diode Wiring kit from eTrailer.com ($437 total, with free shipping).

It took me about 5 hours to install the baseplate. I had some trouble getting the cowling back on (due to some interference caused by the cut-outs not being large enough), but once I enlarged them a little more, it went right back on properly.

The electrical kit took about another hour or so to install.

Local Campers World quoted $1127 and a local RV dealer quoted $750 plus 6-8 hours of labor at $100 per hour.

The instructions that came with the baseplate and wiring kit were very clear and walked me thru every step of the installation.

Hope this helps?

[AL28]

Wrong Lane; thanks for your help. It is always valuable to learn from those that have experience in doing the same thing.

[Wrong_Lane]

The speedo area always stays back lighted along with a little message board that displays "Shift into Park" or words to that effect. I like the fact it stays lighted as I can look in during my final walk around and clearly see the gear indicator in "N"

I have towed for 6 hours non-stop and the car started like the battery was new.

I found the backlighting staying on a little unnerving at first and started carrying booster cables but never needed them.

I am in Canada so I ordered the wireless lights online from Princessauto.com. Do a google search for Blazer wireless tow lights and you will get lots of hits for places in the US that sell them. There is a YouTube video from Blazer that shows how they work.

Oh yeah, get used to the key in ignition alarm beeping in your ear while putting your supplemental brake in the car. It stops dinging when you close the door. It drove me nuts at first but now, not so much!

[AL28]

Thanks for your reply. If I understand it correctly, you are placing the key between detents (positions)?

On my ignition, there is no labeling of the positions on the ignition switch, but it seems to go from clockwise; REMOVE KEY, ACC, RUN, and START. So you put the key in between RUN and ACC, or between ACC and REMOVE KEY?

I tried putting the switch between RUN and ACC, and sure enough, the radio display goes out, but the dash info display (where the speedometer is) stays on. Does it go out by itself after a few minutes?

I also like the idea of wireless tail lights. Do you have a source for those?

I plan on using a Blue Ox base plate as the Roadmaster plate is wider which both requires cutting into the sides of the lower air grille.

The Blue Ox looks to fit in the center section of the lower grille. I might even remove the air grille completely as I am not sure it will look too bad. I also found a guy on eBay selling tubular lower grilles for 2013~2014 and I might use one of those as I could easily cut out the spots for the towbar.

I am also thinking of using the Blue Ox Patriot brake as it has it's own battery so one less thing to drain the vehicle's battery.

I am also planning on installing the baseplate myself. My wife thinks I am crazy to go about dismantling a new car, but I figure I have a torque wrench, so that is the only complex thing about it.

For mounting the tail-lights, I like the idea of keeping them separate. I am considering getting a trailer hitch installed for mounting a bike rack. I could easily make a bracket to install on the trailer hitch to mount a set of tail lights onto.

[Wrong_Lane]

Hello fellow Taurus owner!!

I flat tow the car in my signature, 2013 SEL AWD so can offer some experience.

Your steering wheel does not lock, anti theft security is built into your key fob.

You tow with the engine off and there are no fuses to pull or changes required.

You do however need to leave your key in the ignition in order to leave the car in neutral. There is a key position one notch or click between run and the key removal position. When you turn the key to kill the engine just turn the key enough to kill the engine but not all the way to the key removal position. In that spot all your ACC functions are dead and no battery drain.

The reason you start and run the car for five minutes before towing is to lube the transmission. Rather than sit in one place and idle I use this time and the car to run the garbage to the dumpster, return empties to the recycle bin etc. This warms things up properly. I make sure the trip includes some backing up.

You should check on wireless tow lights. The rear LED lights are a complicated system and best not modified. My dealer advised against a diode system and pointed out that the tail lights run about $800.00 each and if damaged due to a modification warrantee coverage would be a problem.

I use wireless magnetic lights. I have put Velcro on the bottom of the lights and stand them up on the shelf inside of the rear window. This way they are inside, can't fall off or be stolen and are out of the weather. I did have some issues with the drivers side wireless light falling over as there is a child seat tether in the way so I put a pillow between it and the head rest, problem solved. No electrical connection required between the rig and the toad.

The Taurus is a great toad and I have many hours and miles on it behind my rig with no issues at all.

[AL28]

I was able to get some additional info from Ford Customer Service that the key should be in the ACC position.

I was sort of able to confirm this by looking up other Ford models with the same engine/transmission combo (which I would think might have use the same procedure), and one of the other models indicated to put the vehicle into ACC position - but no mention about fuses.

They also said that there are no issues with a dead battery if you start the car as prescribed (every 6 hours), but I am a bit skeptical about that.

I would like to know if there are any other Taurus towers (probably only one or two people) that pull fuses.

[lanerd]

Yes, the engine should be off.....and if the steering wheel is unlocked when you turn the key to off, then it doesn't need to be in ACC. I would definitely check this before actual towing. The steering wheel needs to be UNLOCKED during towing or you'll destroy your front tires.

Some vehicles you can turn the engine off and leave the key in "off", but NOT pull the key out and the steering wheel will stay unlocked. Once you pull the key out, the wheel will lock. However, when the key is in the "off" position, it is then released and can actually fall out of the ignition due to vibration when towing. Best to leave in ACC. Unfortunately, leaving the key in ACC can actually leave power on to some accessories...radio, nav, etc and can/will drain your battery. That's why on some vehicles you have to pull a certain fuse that will turn off the power to these accessory items.....some you have to pull the neg cable off the battery itself.

I have no experience with a Taurus, so hopefully someone who has will add more to your post.

Ron