At highway speed the speedometer suddenly began to make a loud, grinding noise. The needle shot up to a speed far higher than the speed of the car. The needled vibrated, then broke off. We were particularly concerned because this speedometer failure was almost an exact duplicate of the speedometer failure on our other ford aspire (see claim # 10018380). We now have two aspires with no speedometers.
The worst 1994 Ford Aspire problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Airbags15
- Visibility7
- Lights6
- Engine5
- Steering5
- Transmission5
- Electrical4
- Brakes2
- Fuel system2
- Seat belts2
- Suspension2
- Acceleration1
- Body1
- Seats1
- Tires1
Specific symptoms reported on the 1994 Ford Aspire
Recalls 2
Fuel system, gasoline: delivery
- What is wrong
- The fuel supply, return and vapor hoses or lines can contact or have inadequate clearance with the surrounding components due to improper positioning during assembly.
- Risk
- Wear of the hose or line can occur, resulting in fuel leakage within the engine compartment which can result in fire when exposed to a source of ignition.
- Remedy
- The fuel lines will be repositioned. Any damaged rubber hoses will be replaced. Steel fuel lines will have the corrosion protection repaired if needed.
Recall number 94V186000 · Recall details
Equipment: other: labels
- What is wrong
- The dates of manufacture were omitted on the certification label. This does not comply with part 567, "certification."
- Risk
- Consequence of non-compliance: incomplete certification label does not properly identify the vehicle.
- Remedy
- A complete certification label will be provided to the owner or will be installed for the owner by the dealer, if necessary.
Recall number 94V141000 · Recall details
See all 2 recalls for the 1994 Ford Aspire
Defect investigations
Steering wheel/column lockup
There is no summary currently available
PE97037
Technical service bulletins for the 1994 Ford Aspire 47
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- New transmission cooler flusher - service tips
- Lamp-brake-invadvertent disabling of brake shift interlock
- Brake shift interlock
- Some vehicles may exhibit heater core leaks
- Information regarding transmission fluid usage charts
- Information regarding the new transmission cooler flusher- service tip
- Subject on a wire harness terminal repair kit available for repairing electrical wiring harnesses
- Information for servicing and diagnosing brake vibration, brake inspection, and brake friction material...
- Information on identifying non-approved / alternate refrigerants which could cause safety, and performance...
- Information on the new flush and fill tool available through rotunda
1994 Ford Aspire fuel economy
Official EPA estimates in miles per gallon (MPGe for electric). Ranges cover trims that share the same engine.
| Engine | Drive | City | Highway | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.3L 4‑cyl | FWD | 25-31 | 31-39 | 27-34 |
What 1994 Ford Aspire owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Aspire is running very bad like missing, seems like its not getting gas. New thing is now it will not start unless you basically flood the car by pumping the gas pedal and that includes while its running. I took it to ford and they don't know what is wrong with the car according to frederick motor company.
My name is [xxx], the mother of [xxx]. I bought this car new. The fan failed within the first year I owned it and the dealership fixed it. [xxx] has owned the car for a few months now, and the fan went out again, but this time the relay to the fan melted. In checking with the haynes book on this car, it states to watch for burn holes in the carpet and smoking wiring under the dash because of this. Our fear is after getting it fixed it will do it again and possibly cause a fire. Ford is not willing to help us in any way, as the warranty is up and they stated they couldn't fix it permanently anyway. It would be a lost cause. We can fix it through ford and if it ever is recalled we could be reimbursed, but our fear is that it could cause a potential fire hazard in the future, just as it did now and most probably when it was fixed the first time. My husband is checking with ford to see if they have a record of the first time the fan was replaced and what was wrong with it then, although the symptoms were the same then as now. It seems the older the car is the better chance there is of this thing catching fire. Please look into it for us and thank you for your time. [xxx]. *ak information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
While driving, smoke entered the passenger compartment, vehicle eventually caught on fire, consumer stated transmission started giving out in 4th and 5th gears, possibly engine failure ohio traffic crash report.#10-91-204
Front-end collision at 30mph. Wearing safety belt, air-bag deployed. Face still hit steering wheel breaking front of jaw and knocking out teeth. Car was declared totalled.
The dealer put cooper cobra tires (no specific tire information mentioned) on the vehicle, which were defective and caused the front end of vehicle to shake, the dealer put defective tires on the rear axle, but the condition still existed, finally, the consumer had another dealer replace the cooper cobra tires with another brand and the condition was resolved. *tt also the thermostat was installed, because the dealer stated there was no thermostat. *jb the dealer told the consumer there were no recalls on the vehicle. Refer to recall #'s 9v141000 and 9v186000. *scc jb
Threads on the jack screw bolts are stripped. Jack won't go up or down. Please provide any further information.
The above described glass is not safety, but is only tempered glass. In an accident, the large volume of slivers of glass could have disastrous results. This was a staionary event and, fortunately did not.
I was entering the outerbelt at cleveland avenue & I-270w, and as I started to accelerate the car got up to about 45 miles per hour on the entrance ramp and the speedometer started to slow. I had my two children, whitney age 8 and brittany age 15 in the car with me. This could have been a terrible accident, but I realized that something was wrong. I spent about $1,600.00 on a used transmission and the owner explained to me that dealers make the transmission to only last about 3 years, so they can either charge you to replace it or take your car from you if it is financed, because for the most part it is difficult to come up with that kind of money on short notice. Fortunately, I was able to pay for the repairs and the car was paid off the next month. I do believe that the ford dealership needs to do something about those transmissions. I also believe that the windstar is not the only transmission problem. Someone needs to look at all the transmissions on the ford cars.
This is the second time I have had a transmission fail on this car- the third in a ford vehicle I've owned. I also have a friend who drives a new aspire and hers failed too. I took it to garages who refused to work on it because the transmissions in aspires are apparently notoriously bad. My car stopped dead- once on a highway, once on a busy metropolitan street, but clearly it could have stopped anywhere. I contacted ford and they were very rude and made no attempt to help. And at this stage in the goodyear litigation! Please contact me as I feel my car is dangerously defective!
Compare the 1994 Ford Aspire
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Questions about the 1994 Ford Aspire
Is the 1994 Ford Aspire reliable?
Owners have filed 54 complaints about the 1994 Ford Aspire, close to a typical Aspire model year.
What is the most common problem with the 1994 Ford Aspire?
Airbags, with 15 complaints. Next is visibility (7).
How many recalls does the 1994 Ford Aspire have?
2 recalls, covering fuel system, gasoline and equipment.
What year does the Ford Aspire have bad airbags?
The Ford Aspire model years with the most airbags complaints are 1995 (17 complaints), 1994 (15 complaints) and 1997 (14 complaints).
What gas mileage does the 1994 Ford Aspire get?
Official estimates for the 1994 Ford Aspire range from 27 to 34 mpg combined. The most efficient version (1.3L 4-cyl, FWD) gets 25-31 city and 31-39 highway.
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