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Ford Windstar Transmission
aparkhillp
Member Posts: 1
in Ford
I need a little guidance. I own a 1999 Ford Windstar Lx 3.8l V-6 with just over 98,000 miles. The transmission has not given me any problems what so ever, then all the sudden driving home the other night it just lost power to the wheels. The RPM's went up and the speedo went down. The shift linkage is just fine. Anyone with any ideas please let me know.
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The transmission fluid level is fine, and the transmission fluid is not burnt. We've had the transmission fluid changed every 30,000 miles. The van has 145,000 miles on it now.
Two mechanics diagnosed the problem as slipping clutches in the transmission. They both wanted $1650 to rebuild the transmission.
I quick electrical diagnosis found the faulty relay but there were no spare parts for a couple of days and left my car at the garage (it was a friday).
On monday the garage was suppose to have the new part and car ready to go; instead I was informed that my transmission was out. I went to the garage and saw my car backed outside with some lighting switches removes. I had a spare key, started the car and indeed the car wouldn't move. I thought maybe that because they had removed some parts, maybe some transmission sensors were not getting power thus not working. It ended up that the car had to be towed to a transmission specialist where he confirmed that the transmission was gone and needed to be replaces: cost $3500.
Now; how come I never had any transmission problem before bringing it to the garage and now it is burnt. Could it be that when they removed a component that the transmission defaulted out but by moving the car outside they broke something?
I always serviced my car as per schedule; can a transmission let go without showing any prior signs or warning lights.
I"d like to know if others had similar problems.
Thanks
Frank N. Stein
today in the morning, I stopped at red light. when the light turned to green, I tried to gas it up and then I heard a click sound from the bottom. The van couldn't move. I tried different gears. all the forward gears are lost. The backward gear functions as normal.
had to have it towed. called the ford dealer and the new part cause $3000 plus 8.5 hours labor. the junk yard wants $1200 for a used one with 120K miles.
the van is in pretty good shape, never had an accident.
bad luck day ...
My Ford Windstar (3.0L) has approximately 110,000 miles on it and has recently developed a serious transmission problem. The van will not start when Drive "D", or the first gear "1", or reverse gear "R" is selected. The only way it starts is to select the second gear "2" and move to "D" when it picks up speed. It then drives well and can even do reverse parking.
This causes probles at traffic lights, stop signs and other stoppages. I have to manually move the gear selector to "2" and then move it back to "D" when the van is moving.
It appears that my transmission is on its last legs. Any ideas/sugegstions for fixing this problem will be gratefully appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Sri.
Van begin to smoke like running hot. Pulled over and turned off van and tranny fluid went everywhere underneath. Had it towed to dealer. They just said it ran hot and "pewked" they sealed all the leaks and said the tranny wasn't going out. Everyone I talk to says that when that happens damage is done. I only have 3000 miles left on extended warranty. Need to know your opinion before warranty goes out too!!
I had to wait 2 hours in the hot sun for a tow truck. While I was waiting, a sound like a bomb went off. That was the transmission exploding.
At the repair shop, they said it had gotten so hot the transmission parts had melted. A new one cost me $2200 and they told me the transmission had been replaced before. I bought the van used and it has 92000 miles on it. We don't drive it much and in the past 2 months it has left me stranded twice. The repairs since January were almost $5000 for a cracked water pump, transmission and brakes.
We are going to sell it before something else goes wrong. This is the worst vehicle I have ever owned. It will cause us to go broke if we keep it any longer. It cannot be trusted.
I have read that Ford put Taurus transmissions in the Windstar. That transmission was meant for a car, not a van. There are so many horror stories about Windstar transmissions that Ford should be ashamed of itself.
For those of you who bought a used Windstar, I would check to see if the transmission was replaced even before you bought it. Some people have had 3 transmissions put in with less then 100,000 on the van.
FORD - FOUND ON ROAD DEAD
FIX OR REPAIR DAILY
And reverse: DRIVER RETURNED ON FOOT
I was told that it could be something cracked, I'd love to hear what the problem was with the other van's out there, and some fix's. Thanks
Be sure to have the car in neutral when changing it per instructions.
PDF by Ford discussing the TR / MLP sensors: http://atsg.biz/articles/pdf/Ford%20TRS%20Checks%20Supplement%20Part%201.pdf. Seems as if MLPS were used on vehicles at or before 1997, and TR sensors used after 1997.
Also see this link...
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_replace_a_modulator_valve_in_a_1998_ford_wi- - ndstar
Cheers!
Chaz
the trans went out a year ago.
basically everything was either slipping or burnt or whatever, so i had a total rebuild including upgrade package to make it ready for towing, HD parts and tranny cooler. including new CV joints it came to just under $2300 American.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but after having almost 200k miles on it and being paid for i figured it was a bargain compared to buying a new van. I use mine for work since it has the complete Adrian Steel service van package in it so for me it was a no brainer.
My taillights have also stuck on in the past and actually drained my battery once, I'll try the lube idea offered in the previous post.'
Good luck.
They had to replace the 'neutral safety switch' and it solved the problem. Apparently this switch tells the tranny which gear it is in.
Hope this helps.
I finally took my 2003 Ford Windstar into have it looked at this past Thursday. Sadly I was told that there was a crack in the torque convertor (basically it blew apart) and caused all kinds of damage. Both my husband and I find this odd because when it stopped engaging (at 110 km) there was no sound whatsoever, it just stopped moving forward. There was no clunking sounds when shifting into any gear and no previous slipping or problems with the tranny. I've had many people reply and my feeling is that the Windstar model has tranny issues. To make a long story short, I pick it up today and the bill is $3,259 plus tax. Roughly $3,700.00. I would like to think they are only repairing what needs to be. Good luck.....
Last May, out of the blue, it would not start. My battery was cracked. We replaced the battery. I drove it and a few days later the OD light came on temporarily. The manual said when you replace the battery, the OD has to replace itself as the battery stores the OD settings. Since it never came back on, I assumed it was something to do with that process.
What I DID have a lot of problems with, was my brake light and ABS light coming on randomly. Then I began running low on brake fluid while the brakes looked good. We replaced a lot of good brake pads and kept adding brake fluid.
Then it began to sometimes have an issue where I felt more pull than I should going up certain hills.....but that seemed to go away and only happen occassionally and to a lesser degree.....and I couldn't get my husband to listen to me about this issue and it never seemed to happen when he was driving. I couldn't get him to take me seriously, it never happened to him, so I was a crazy woman of course!
Okay.....so I drive with the kids without the husband to IL for my sister's wedding 5 hours away. There is hilly terrain on 24E north of Nashville........and my van didn't feel right. At one point it seemed the transmissions was doing something it should not and for about 3 minutes I thought I would turn around and go back home and call my sister and say "SORRY!" But it passed and I drove the 5 hours there, drove the entire weekend back home, and drove back to Nashville with no furhter incidents. I get off the interstate on the home stretch (yes, I know I am lucky) and the OD light begins flashing and stays flashing all the way home, maybe 2 miles from the interstate? It doesn't come back on after I shut the van off and tell my husband what happened for him to go check it. Again, I'm a crazy woman who doesn't know anything.
Next morning, I have to drive the kids downtown to school.....I'm fine until I take off from a red light and I feel a horrible clunk when it should have shifted from first to second and the OD light comes on at that very instant. I continue on cautiously to school and it shifted really rough between 1st and 2nd the rest of the way, but not as hard. My husband tells me to try to get back home. I stop to get coffee in case I break down along the way back because it's a chilly wet morning. When I get back in and restart the light is off. It isn't clunking between first and second anymore. I drive very cautiously on side roads towards home. The OD light came on one time I got over 45 or 50. I stopped and shut it off and it was off. My husband calls me back and tells me to meet him at the garage. I make it to the garage.
The diagnosis (which made me nervous because they had not even LOOKED under the hood) was we needed a new transmission. The van is long paid for, the $1800 transmission repair, we were assured, would leave us with a very good, dependable van if we kept up the maintenance and we would have a 12 months warranty on that transmission.
They had the van over a week. I get it, the brake lights start coming on again, but that's not new. Everything seems fine until one after noon on a cold start from my house, it seems to go into neutral rather than second. I pull over, let off the gas and reapply a few times and it goes. I don't have any other issues the rest of that day. The next morning, however, again another cold start leaving my house, it does it again. It drives fine the rest of the way to take the kids downtown to school. I take it straight back to the garage and ask why my brand new transmission would be doing this.
They tell me it's the shifter switch (new with the new transmission but they're fickle and often break going on), they'll have to order the part, but they'll replace it for free. I go back the next day (trip #3 to the garage) and they put on shifter switch (#2 brand new one now, right?) but call me back and point out that cruise control switch is bad and causing brake fluid to drip all over the shifter switch and transmission. THAT is what caused the new shifter to go bad they say. Point out that it's already eating on the finish of my new transmission. Also note that it's the reason Ford has this big recall going on, though MY Ford is not included in that recall. They have to order the part, so I need to come back Monday because it's Friday today and they won't get it in. I ask if they should wait to put the new shifter switch in until they do that so this new one won't get ruined as well.....to which the man replies, no you might ruin the transmission if we don't replace it today.
You remember I mentioned I lost my cruise control? The cruise control issue AND my brake light/brake fluid issue were because of this cruise control switch.
I do some research on this recall, even call a Ford dealership. They want to charge me $160 to fix the cruise control switch, but tell me that my van will probably be recalled and I'll be reimbursed for the repair. I ask how much for the part alone and they say $90. I tell them my garage is charging me $40 for the part and fixing it for free so I think I'll go that route.
PLEASE NOTE: Even if you are NOT having cruise control switch issues - you should have the switch disabled or replaced with the new part that came available in October! You can catch fire!!!
So I go back Monday (trip #4 to the garage) and the new cruise control switch is put in. Again, I'm pronounced cured.
Two days later, in the evening, the van had been on the road twice that day, but had set a few hours so I guess that would also be a cold start.....it did it again, in the exact same spot. Except this time it kept doing it repeatedly and the OD light came on - this is the first time the OD light had come on since the new transmissions was installed.
Let me just say that I drug my husband to the garage this time and that I was was not sweet and polite and I guess the men thought I was REALLY a crazy woman this time, but I was a crazy woman with a point! Their story: the cruise control switch had rained brake fluid on the shifter switch #2 and shorted it. They kept my van, got my new shifter and put it on and had it ready by 1pm that day. Seems the heat made them work a little faster. They even checked my tire pressure and added air to my tires to try to appease the goddess. My husband thinks we're cured - I'm skeptcal.
I refused to be asured all was well, I've been told that before. And sure enough, this morning (next morning, less than 24 hours later, THE $%^&^# VAN DOES IT AGAIN!!!!
I stayed calmer this time. I drove the kids on to school, then I drove to my husband's place of employment. I demanded for him to open up that hood and move the part out of my way they have to take off so I can see the new cruise control switch, shifter switch #3 and new transmission. I want to see it before I take it back to the garage to see if there is any brake fluid dripping anywhere to possibly short out that shifter switch again. I also have learned that if I take my van to my husband's work where I have witnesses, I do not get so quickly dismissed. I'm sorry if this seems mean to the men reading...I don't do this unless I'm desperate, but it works! (Like six years ago when the old jalopy before the Windstar had a radiator issue he would do nothing about until I pull into his jobsite with steam rolling out from under my hood for the whole world to see. I wouldn't do this kind of thing if I didn't have to.)
Anyway, hoods up and while he's trying to figure out how get out of moving any parts so I can see, I review the facts and why this is not acceptable JUST loud enough the other guys can hear the facts and realize I'm a ticked off woman with a VALID POINT. One of them finally gets brave and comes over. He confirms the parts are clean but also confirms MY POINT that what I'm describing should not be happening and if he had just spent that much money, he'd be raising he## with whoever fixed it.
My husband's reply to me? Drive it home, let it cool off and we'll see if it does it again. It has done it enough times for me....but he's just not convinced yet.
He tries to give me some kind of bullcrap explanation that maybe it's not in just the right position and it only works after it warms up and snuggles into place.....blah blah blah. My reply was that logic tells me that it's HIGHLY unlikely that out of 3 brand spanking new shifter switches they managed to not get any one of the three on their just right for it to cause this exact same problem. I pointed out that what my van is now doing, it was NOT doing EVER before they put that new transmission in. I don't give a flying flip what the computer diagnostic says, LOGIC says that it's not likely to be the shifter switch unless they are a REALLY REALLY INCOMPETENT BUNCH OF IDIOTS who should not be working in a garage putting them in. It HAS to be something else and its has to be something that was a result of them changing the transmission.
After reading this, I see that perhaps the torque converter could be a possible issue, although it's odd that it's doing something completely different than before now.
My main goal of posting, besides a good vent, is give a heads up to those with the brake light issues, but really to let everyone know who is driving a Ford Windstar, that the cruise control switch is a extremely critical situation. Even if you are not having issues, it's a very dangerous fire hazard. Get it disabled or repaired ASAP. And please keep in mind that it is sitting right over your transmission and shifter switch. I can short out your shifter switch and have issues. If you are having problems, look into this before you replace your transmission. The shifter switch is a $120 part, I was told. WAY better than a completely new transmission. Make sure they take care of that cruise control switch at the same time!!!!
I'll post back when and if I can find an answer to my transmission/shifting issue. I want to say thank you to everyone who has posted because in letting me know that this is happening to so many other people (men and women) that even though my husband and the mechanics do not seem to take me seriously, it is a real Ford Windstar issue. Thanks for letting me no I'm not totally crazy and that my frustration with the situation is warranted!
BTW, what's your husband driving while you have this high mileage minivan...maybe you should trade vehicles if his is better/newer
Since what he showed me matches what the recall information gave me, I do feel I was given correct information about the switch. I did ask them if they were putting on another one of the "old" faulty switches, disabling it or putting on the new part that Ford is using to repair this. He showed me the still sealed part to look at it and read what it said. I'm unhappy with my transmission situation, but I DO know my brake lights have not come back one once and my cruise control now works.
That part of the repair, I feel like they did accomplish.
Newer/Better??? My husband, BTW, is driving a 03 Ford Pick Up that's full of work tooks and his junk.....I don't think I can drive a carpool full of kids in his pickup into downtown Nashville during morning rush hour and not run into legal issues! LOL It might be newer, but after being forced to drive it to the store while my van was in the shop, I still think my Windstar is BETTER! I've driven pickups a lot in my days, but I don't like how this one he has now handles.
He IS threatening to just go get a different van for me, but he's still paying on his van. My van is paid off, and outside of him paying for his truck, I'm debt free besides a little medical bill I'm paying on. I really, really prefer to stay that way. We debated whether to repair or replace. That's the only reason I put money into repairing a transmission on this van with 174,000 miles. They assured us that with a new transmission I'd have a very good, dependable van that only required regular maintenance for quite awhile longer. I DID ask what was likely to go wrong down the road. And I DID ask if there was possibly some kind of sensor or something that could be the culprit that should be checked out before replacing the transmission only to find out later it was a sensor.
Despite how negative my original post sounded with mechanical issues, I had absolutely NO issues with it until this past year. It has been a really good van. Even with the high mileage and money we have in it at this point, it was a good deal for us if I walk away from it tomorrow. If I could get someone to take care of what is wrong with it currently without it costing me significantly more money, I will keep it and it will continue to be a good deal. But if I'm going to have to pull over and wait until it decides to switch gears every day or so.....I WILL be looking for another van.
I guess I can be really evil here and note that at least whoever takes it off my hands will see no warning lights and as long as I don't let them test drive it cold.....
and maybe I can at least get the money I've just paid in repairs back on it??? Man, that was a very evil, dirty car salesman type thought I just had, wasn't it???
Hmmmm.......okay, so maybe my husband does have some grounds to think I'm a woman who's just a WEE bit crazy. But NOT so crazy as to not know when something is WRONG with the van I drive all over town every day of my life!
The brake sensor is right below the reservoir, over time the slow leak damages the wires, sensor and switches, then other related systems are impacted.
Once they fix the leak, and replace and damaged wires, sensors, or switches the problem goes away.
My 2000 Windstar had this problem, but it was fixed under Fords ESP.
I hope this helps.
BTW......I let my van set from 9 til 12:30pm or so, trying to see if it would do the same "cold start" shifting error that it does per hubby's opinion, It's quite chilly here today. Colder than the first afternoon it did it, I'm pretty sure. Of course, since he wanted it to do it again.......it did not.
Has he called the mechanic to let him know his brake fluid raining on the shifter switch theory is evidently wrong? No.
He still thinks it's just positioned wrongly and may need "adjusted." He thought he MIGHT call and tell him he was going to go have someone else look at it. I expressed a fear that if another mechanic touched the shifter switch #3, that they would no longer cover it under warranty because they would blame a cracked shifter switch or something on someone else messing with it.
While I'm not real confident the guy knows what the problem is, I would PREFER to keep bugging him to death to make it right with as much of it at his expense as we can muster since he was SO SURE this was all the it could be, and this would fix the van and make it a good, dependable car for many more miles. 12 Month transmission warranty to boot. Seems to me I need to squeeze that lemon until all hope of getting it fixed without coughing up a lot more money would be the best bet.
My husband thinks we should sell it and get a different van. I do see that point, but now that I've put the money into it I'd like to drive it and get that money out of it if at all possible. BUT....if there's any chance it's another $1800 bill for something else like a torque converter or something, then I'm ready to part ways with it while it has no warning lights and runs quite well 99% of the time now......just that cold start thing you may or may not experience. My fear is I'll end up with a different used van that will have it's own set of problems to be dealt with. The plus in that picture is it would hopefully have a lot less than 175,000 miles on it and not be such a gamble to repair, perhaps.
If I pull in that garage raising heck every morning it does this, and my husband would back me up, they will eventually do something to make me go away and shut up. I'm sitting on a 12 month warranty and my transmission decides it won't shift from first to second on a regular basis . . . I've got just cause to make that my daily morning stop if it happens that regularly. It would be a lot cheaper to fix it than pay somebody by the hour to deal with me every morning of every week for one year.
Do they think that every time I have to make three or four other families rearrange their lives to cover my driving responsibilities.......or tell all my customers I can't deliver their orders until my van gets repaired yet again........that people don't ask what shop is working on it? The longer this goes on and people find out that after going through all of that and spending that much I still have to call them up and rearrange lives it still isn't fixed that people want to know just where I took it so they can make sure to NEVER go there? Not good advertising guys. When I pull into a residential construction site and start sqawking, or my husband has to stop and meet me at the garage, do they realize how many contractors are affected by that disruption? They eventually hear why he wasn't in the subdivision. Even if I don't squawk and raise a fuss, a lot of people are getting a negative image of their business by the people impacted through me, my husband and my kids. It could be good advertising if they would take care of it. We know a LOT of families driving mini vans all getting to about this same age.....those are potential customers! These mechanics should think about that....
Thank You, Pat
Sadly we had to have the tranny rebuilt at an alarming cost. The torque convertor blew apart and forced all kinds of nasty little metal shards to run through the system therefore causing a great deal of damage. It cost us $3,745.00 Canadian to have it fixed. Runs great today.... but could have lived without the massive cost. Good luck with yours.
Pat
Good luck and thanks for all the input.
Pat
Do I understand correctly that the neutral switch essentially fixed itself?
roger