2004 Ford Freestar: shudder or vibration when accelerating

Filed Nov 18, 2017 · Transmission · 113,000 miles · OH

While driving my 2004 ford freestar minivan, at approximately 45mph (miles per hour), the vehicle begins to shudder as if I am driving over rumble strips and when climbing slight or steap inclined hills the shidder worsens. I purchased the vehicle ised from a car lot. I have moticed that all of the ford freestar roums state that there is a recall on the torque converter. I looked up my vinfor recalls and it states that there are no recalls fornmy vehicle. I wonder if the original recall has already been taken care of by the previous owner and the replacement part is faulty as the ms.azose v. Ford motor company class action lawsuit states it is. Any insight on this matter would be extremely helpful. Thanks

Filed Aug 9, 2016 · Transmission · 150,000 miles · IN

When we bought this vehicle we loved it but it steadily went down hill. We got notification of recall about 6 months after purchase and tried several times to get into the dealer. Finally got it in march 2016 and now here I am paying on a vehicle that the torque converter went out on. Prior to repair the transmission would roughly shift and jerk/lurch into selected gear and at higher rates of speeds would shutter and trans light would come on. Now it doesn't respond to the gas pedal right away and then the engine shakes/shudders and the dipstick has a substance on it and when driving today it just coasted like in neutral! I have 4 children and this does not give me faith in ford and it is my 3rd generation star van and my 6th ford vehicle in general.

Filed May 12, 2015 · Transmission · 141,723 miles · OH

When driving down the road as vehicle appears to shift from drive to over drive there is a shudder in the transmission. I have had vehicle check by a professional repair facility and been advised that the torque converter is bad. This vehicle does not fall under the recall, although I am having the same problem of the vehicles that were recalled. I am hoping that a revision can be done on this vehicle and all others like can be included in the recall.

Filed Jan 31, 2011 · Transmission · 65,000 miles · FL · crash · 2 injuries

I have a 04 ford freestar that continues to have transmission problems. It started early around 40k. Fmc service stated 'just a leak'. Repeat complaints equaled 'nothing found, etc, etc'. Beginning last year it would lose power and backfire while the transmission would not engage and almost caused my wife and daughter to be broadsided when she tried to pull out in traffic and the van did not go forward. The transmission would slip and not engage to second gear. I took it to aamco and paid $1800 to have it fixed. They said they had to basically replace everything. Now, a year later and it is doing it again, but this time by not engaging into second gear, it caused a person behind me to get hit in the rear because he thought I would turn as a normal car would, but I couldn't accelerate due to the trans. Additionally now it will shudder, shake and lose power at 40 to 50 MPH. It is not even drivable as I tried to go out to the store today and it made terrible noises and shook like crazy when put into reverse. Tried to go up my driveway and it shook even harder and made terrible grinding noises in drive, 3rd and 1st gear. Does not matter what position the shifter is in, it has problems. Looked at the dip stick for the trans and it is rusted showing that obviously now some type of water is in the system too. I am disabled and on a disability income and do not have the funds to have this repaired again. Ford will do nothing for it unless of course I want to pay to have it rebuilt at $4000. This van is a danger to all on the road and luckily no one has been killed as a result of it not pulling out into traffic as it should. Please force ford to buy back these vans and refund the expenses of people who had to pay to have it fixed. For me, it looks like it is going to be a double trouble problem. I do not know what to do, I know it will just break down again if I do have it fixed. The van needs to be taken to a junk yard and crushed to save lives.

Filed Dec 11, 2010 · Transmission · 56,517 miles · PA

My wife was driving our 2004 ford freestar yesterday with our 10 year old son in the car. At speeds around 35-45 MPH, she felt some shuddering as if the transmission was "shifting in and out of gears". She was able to maintain control while driving and drove the car home and parked it fearing that driving it further would result in losing control and ending up in a potentially fatal motor vehicle crash. At this point and time, the vehicle will not shift into any gear which again, thankfully ended up parked at home as opposed to what could have occurred. With research, I discovered that this likely is a manufacturer defect that results in failed transmissions that ford is aware of but has not addressed. Must somebody die before the issue is addressed?

Filed Mar 3, 2010 · Transmission · 77,000 miles · NY

Vehicle driving normally, speeds up to 60mph. Stopped at traffic signal. At green, began to accelerate -- vehicle reaches almost 30mph when the engine revs and the vehicle ceases to engage in a forward motion. The vehicle was able to coast onto the shoulder and barely into a parking lot. No sign of problem, nothing to indicate the vehicle would cease moving. Towed to ford repair. Result was a complete rebuild of the transmission. Though no one was hurt (amazing for end-of-day rush traffic) it might have been quite the opposite as the next day I was to travel on major highways. I am still shuddering at the idea this could happen at anytime without any warning - perhaps with my 4 children in the car while passing a semi-truck on the highway. As it is, we are without our family vehicle. At this time it appears we will be without the vehicle for perhaps 2 - 3 weeks.

Filed Jul 25, 2008 · Transmission · 108,000 miles · NY

After replacing all brakes and hardware my freestar developed tranny shudder. Upon investigating on the internet,I found it is a persistent problem with freestars. It is expensive to fix. Without looking my local ford dealer said it was the tranny or torque convertor. This shows that ford is aware of the problem and should help consumers cover the cost. They wouldn't even take it as a trade-in. I still owe $5800 on it and it's almost worthless.