2000 Taurus springs issue

I was replacing the rotors on my sedan and reached up to check the driver's side spring. Sure enough it was broken at the spring seat and I pulled a coil out of it. Given the time constraints I took the car to a local Sears that employs a pretty sharp guy. Unfortunately he wasn't there when I showed up so I told them to put front springs on the car and new struts. They put Federated springs on it and the car looked like it was sitting pretty high in the front. After the job was done I got in the car and started down the street. I got that sinking feeling (you all know the feeling I'm talking about) that it wasn't driving right. So I took it back and had them review their work. They said they went back over the parts call-ups and the bolts and didn't find a problem. I told them that it drove like the car was on stilts and that going up a hill the whole drivetrain seemed like it was at it's limit of travel and that I could feel the CV joints rotating. I said let's put the Ford factory springs on it but before we do let's measure the distance between the floor and the wheel well opening. A day later they did the replacement and the front end dropped 5/8". I drove the car and it is fine now. Later, I found out that Ford has a recall for broken springs. So, here's some things I learned for anyone who might have the same problem:

Call Ford and tell them your VIN to see if your car is eligible. The local dealer said that Ford will replace springs at no charge for up to

150,000 miles or 10 years from manufacture date.

Taurus's had 4 different springs used in 2000 Taurus's. The VIN code or the tag on the spring will identify which set is needed.
I normally would use aftermarket springs, like NAPA, but in this case I would stick with the factory coils. Dealer list is about to each depending on the set; not a bad price. I noticed the Federated springs had larger OD coils which probably exasperated the problem.

Replace the bearing plates also. The parts guy at Ford told me he does Taurus work on the side and has said that binding bearings in the plates also break the springs. At a side it's a smart fix.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for posting your experience and what you learned in the process. This is a really good example of why one should at least check the dealership for replacement parts. Many times the price is close to aftermarket and variations may be better documented. Aftermarket suppliers try to, and usually do a good job of, consolidating part numbers. Now and then, something gets squirrelly and can bite both the tech. and the customer. If you think about it, the aftermarket suppliers have a monumental job producing all of those parts for all of the different manufacturers. Factor in running changes and variations of the same part such as those Taurus springs and the accuracy with which they usually accomplish this is pretty amazing. You were smart to replace the struts and that's a good suggestion about the bearing plates. It added to the cost of the repair, but you will not likely have to worry about repairs in that area again. You also saved a bunch in labor costs in the long run. Many times customers see these "add ons" as nothing more than a way for the shop to take more of their money. "I took my car in for xxxxx and they tried to sell me all this other stuff........, darn crooks!" Regards, Tom