2005 Ford Freestar: water leaks into the cabin

Filed Mar 10, 2023 · Body, Electrical · KS

The rear wheel well has rusted on both sides and completely rusted out a large hole (approx. 1 ft diameter area visibly effected) in the the body of the van. The rusted out section is where the back seat is anchored to the frame, so the rust has cause the seat to no longer be securely anchored to the car. The hole has also caused electrical wires to get wet when water gets into the van and intermittently and unpredictably causing failure of electrical features, including headlights and blinkers, while driving.

Filed Jan 17, 2015 · Transmission · 64,288 miles · WI

Water gets into the transmission fluid and the transmission went out - had to be rebuilt for $2656.76. My mechanic and his tranny repairman found the cause of the water entering the fluid and has now fixed the problem. Ford needs to recall these vehicles and have this issue fixed. I was lucky not to have been in an accident when the transmission failed. This is a definite safety issue and ford needs to stand behind of their product and the safety of all occupants in the 2005 ford freestar sel.

Filed Dec 26, 2014 · Engine · 95,000 miles · MI

Drove through a puddle and the engine quit. Apparently, the water splashed the on board computer (PCM). I towed vehicle to the dealer and they implemented the ford technical service bulletin (tsb) reference number(s): 06-14-10, vehicle worked fine until the fall of 2014. Now the vehicle won't start at all if it sits out in the rain. If it does the water gets into the PCM and prevents it from starting. Now it appears as though water is intruding somewhere else and it is confounding the PCM (engine computer) with more water / moisture. The car is now worthless to me and I will have to scrap it since it cannot operate in a normal midwestern climate. I surely do not want to spend another $1500 to $2500 to fix the problem only to find out it is temporary. This is simply a design flaw. Ford should recall these vehicles and pay off the owners to have them destroyed since the wet PCM can cause the car to stall when accelerating or simply driving down a rainy road.

Filed Jul 17, 2014 · Engine · 102,000 miles · MA

Driving at approximately 35mph the vehicle stalled out and lost all power (engine running smooth before this). Fortunately was able to safely coast to side of road. After short while able to restart van and drive short distance. Stall repeated and had to coast to side of road again. Again able to restart and get home (less than a mile). Had heavy rain day before, research has revealed this to be a very common problem with this vehicle and is most likely water leak onto pmc. This is a safety hazard that needs to be addressed, this could have happened while towing camper in two weeks with family on highway.

Filed Apr 6, 2014 · Body, Electrical · 55,439 miles · ME

Driving at approximately 35mph the vehicle started stalling out and would not shift properly. Fortunately was able to safely coast to side of road. Had vehicle towed to conway ford in conway, sc. Needed new power control modular (PCM) due to water leaking through windshield cowling and shorting out connections to PCM. Created a potentially dangerous situation with vehicle stalling out while in motion. Research has revealed this to be a very common problem with this vehicle that is a safety hazard that needs to be addressed by ford motor company with a recall.

Filed Jun 23, 2013 · Transmission · 70,000 miles · OH

I am having transmission issues with high revving, soft shifting and what feels like slipping. And then today when I drove the van there was smoke coming out from under the dash board along with the other issues. After doing some research on line it seems as though it is the control module and as it gets wet things start to go wrong with the van. The design is faulty and needs to be fixed as water gets into the module and the connector. I have included a video link from youtube for you to look over regarding this problem and how bad design is leading to all these small complaints and problems. I am taking the van to my local dealer or shop to see if this could be the cause of my problems. This is the youtube video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhjevbmuxjw

Filed Jan 2, 2013 · Body, Electrical · 68,000 miles · VA

This information is a collection of incidents that ultimately fit together. I have notice that the floor board of my van was wet. Since I have 3 kids I just shrugged it off. This past week I notice the floor mats weren't wet only the carpet beneath it was soaked. My kids don't spill just under the mats. The water must be entering from the outside in. The van was acting weird on and off -no check engine light until it started happen more frequently. June 2012, I got the p1340 code that the camshaft position sensor had gone bad, I replaced it, went out again, I was told it could have been a faulty part, changed it again, went out again, decided this is beyond me. I took it to the dealership and they "fixed" the camshaft position sensor and another part that was causing the camshaft position sensor not to work. ($900) it broke again because the part they put in was defective. They replaced the defective part and the check engine light came back on again. After they had the car for 2 weeks they found another small problem. ($130) I insisted at the time that they didn't make the proper repairs. They assured me that it all still needed to be done. (caught some double talk) I experienced a few more issues with the van losing power. (july,september, october -check engine light did not turn on.) I:n december the car turned off and I was only able to get about 25ft per restart and the light came on. I've noticed other features not working properly or working intermittently. (power locks, power windows, radio, power doors, key remote ...) I have learned that other 2005 freestar owners have experienced similar incidents caused by water leaking into the car through the windshield wiper blades and running down the wire harness causing multiple parts to short out from time to time. Please look into this. I have 3 children and no more money for "let's try this repairs".

Filed Dec 26, 2012 · Electrical, Transmission · 87,000 miles · NY

This vehicle has a continuing problem with the PCM shorting out due to water entering the wiring harness through the windshield wipers. Once the PCM short circuits the transmission does not function causing the car to loose its' motion. This occurs without warning and places the occupants of the vehicle at greater risk of being involved in an accident as the car simple ceases to work. The company has currently recalled this make and model to replace a defective torque converter. Although this seems to solve the problem initially, the long term problem of water seeping into the PCM will cause the transmission to fail time and time again.

Filed Oct 15, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 56,000 miles · MI

I have had the car stop after and during rainy days. Most recently the car would not start or move during a heavy rain. I have had to wait days until the car dries out for the car to move. Have taken it to the shop after several instances of this same occurrence. They can not find out what is wrong as the car runs ok? After researching on the internet I have come to the conclusion that it is water leaking on and into the PCM causing the car to not start or move. Ford dealership has not been able to solve the problem or have a solution?

Filed Oct 1, 2012 · Transmission · 106,000 miles · FL

The PCM went bad on our van. When replaced by ford water was reported inside the PCM noting a water leak somewhere that finds its way to the computer (PCM). We were told to get a new windshield. We did at our expense. About a month later same issues with car. Again PCM was bad. Water leaked inside it again. Ford told me that could cost up to $900.00 to find leak and repair. Through my own investigation online I found service bulletin tsb 06-14-10 stating that during repair procedures of a PCM inspect for water damage and if present perform the following service procedure. The bulletin goes on to describe in detail how to fix water leak. This was not done on my vehicle resulting in a brand new but now useless PCM. I went all the way to the top at this local ford dealership and was treated poorly, condescendingly, and was told that the service bulletin did not mean anything. I have a useless van in my driveway.

Filed Dec 12, 2011 · Engine · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford freestar. The contact stated that the vehicle would not accelerate forward or in reverse. The vehicle could only be driven in drive one or drive two. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic where the crankshaft and speed sensors were replaced. After the repair, the contact stated that there was an abnormal noise coming from the engine as if water was splashing around. The mechanic advised that somehow, water was getting getting on the sensor, but the mechanic could not find where the water leak originated. In addition, the check engine warning light was illuminated and the vehicle would sporadically stall. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 80,000.

Filed Nov 13, 2011 · Transmission · 83,000 miles · IN

My wife and I own a 2005 ford windstar. On oct. 21 2011 my wife arrived home from work and I took the van to pick up my son from his school. Without warning the vans rpms went up and then the van stalled. I restarted the van but the van acted like it did not want to shift gears and the van stalled again. I was only 1block from home and was lucky to make it home while having to restart the van several times. I called the local ford service center and they said to tow it there and it would cost $100 to hook it up to their computer. I love how it cost me $100 to have ford tell me whats wrong then wants me to pay them to fix it. It only takes 5 minutes to hook up the computer with all the complaints I have seen you would think they should know. I was lucky to have a friend who works at ford and he had to replace the PCM due to water coming into contact with the PCM. We got our van back on thursday nov. 3rd 2011. Then on nov. 7th 2011(4 days later) my wife was on a busy interstate ramp getting ready to merge on the highway at about 45mph when the RPM's shot up the van hesitated and lost power she started coasting to the shoulder while traffic was speeding around her. It was also on a curve so traffic could not see her until they were right on top of her. Even on the shoulder when she called me she was terrified that someone was going to hit her because the shoulder was very narrow and traffic was within inches of the van. We had the van towed to ford and they are going to take a look at it this monday (nov. 14, 2011) we are due to go out of town friday nov. 18th and we do not know if we will have a van to go on a vacation that has been planned for a year. My wife and I do not even know if we can trust our ford freestar to make the trip so we our going to have the extra expense of renting a car. We are out $750 so far and another $400 to rent a car. We have 83,000 mi.