2005 Ford Freestar: hesitation when accelerating

Filed Aug 12, 2022 · Transmission · 200,000 miles · IL

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestar. The contact stated while driving at 40 MPH, the vehicle hesitated upon depression of the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. Despite multiple attempts to accelerate the vehicle, the vehicle failed to operate as intended. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic but was not diagnosed or repaired. The local dealer was not notified of the failure. Upon investigation, the contact discovered the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 12V006000 (Power Train) that she associated with the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency for assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.

Filed Jul 9, 2018 · Transmission · 167,879 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford freestar. While driving 30 MPH, the vehicle hesitated. A week later, the vehicle slipped out of gear while reversing. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and it was suggested that the torque converter was the cause of the failure. The dealer (autonation ford south fort worth, 5300 campus dr., fort worth, tx 76119, (817) 522-3225) stated that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not assist because there were no open recalls. The failure mileage was 167,879.

Filed Oct 9, 2016 · Transmission · NC

Backed out of driveway and noticed that the transmission seemed to hesitate or shudder. Pulled onto interstate and transmission shifted very sluggishly and started slipping. Pulled off the road and vehicle would not move. With transmission in gear, engineering just reved. Had to have vehicle towed home. The next morning the vehicle would move but continues to shudder/slip. Went online and discovered recall. Had received no notice from ford.

Filed Mar 8, 2016 · Transmission · 151,206 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford freestar. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a loss of power. Prior to the failure, the vehicle hesitated. The failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign number: 12v006000 (power train); however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 151,206. Updated 04/07/16*lj updated 04/26/16*lj

Filed Feb 5, 2016 · Acceleration, Engine · 78,000 miles · PR

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford freestar. While driving at different speeds, the vehicle would idle high and also hesitate as if it would stall. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where it was diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 78,000.

Filed Jan 2, 2015 · Electrical, Fuel system · 16,953 miles · PA

On christmas eve 2014 I got into my recently purchased 2005 ford freestar minivan to run a short errand. After starting my freestar I put it in reverse but the vehicle would not move. I tried all the forward gears with the same result, the vehicle would not move. The engine RPM's would go up but no movement. I turned the vehicle engine off and on several time with the same results each time. I had to wait till the day after christmas to contact my local ford dealership service department and describe my problem. They looked up my VIN number and said that all recalls on my vehicle had been done including the torque converter recall. I then had my freestar towed to the dealership to investigate the problem. Upon investigation it was determined that water had gotten into my powertrain control module, and that is what was causing the problem. They removed the module and dried it and the connector out then reinstalled it and sealed it. After reinstalling the module they then started the vehicle and were able to shift the vehicle into all the gears and get the transmission to fully function, but now there was a service engine light on. The vehicle now would not idle properly and had a hesitation when trying to accelerate. It was determined after further checks that there were fuel codes coming up and that they were related to the PCM getting wet. It was determined that the powertrain control module (which ford no longer manufactures) would need to be replaced. To fix the problem it would be a cost of $1000.00 for a re-manufactured module and reprogramming in addition to the $650.00 that had already been incurred for the work that had been done so far. Note there had been no problems or issues or engine codes on this vehicle till this problem occurred other than a problem one night with the power door locks not working, which corrected itself after restarting the vehicle.

Filed Jun 4, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 103,800 miles · MI

After wet weather the night before, vehicle running rough (to the point of near stall), hesitating to burn fuel properly to get up to speed and not shifting properly. Vehicle was then parked, re-started and acted normally. Within the past week, each day after rain the car reproduces this issue and only after exposure to rain. Yesterday I noted gap in cowl to sheet metal above PCM as well and also noted that a body seal next to the PCM was soaked. It is consistent with the internet complaints about PCM being exposed/flooded with water. This is a serious concern as to the damage it can do to the vehicle's most expensive components (engine, transmission, etc) as well as potentially produce an accident on the road should other anomalous behavior surface. It is also important to note that as this vehicle ages, more of the population of produced vehicles would be exposed to this concern as gaskets lose effectiveness due to compression set, deterioration of seal, the plastic the seal is attached to warps, etc.

Filed Jun 6, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 113,000 miles · OH

After rain all night on wed.6/4/2013 went to take van to pittsburgh started hesitating and vibrating while on highway could not speed up and tried to get in slow lane lot of traffic almost collision . Tried to go up small hill no power vibrating trying to stall, turned off wouldn't startfor 15 minutes very scary. Looked online bulletin for PCM gets wet and causes this,someone could have been killed.

Filed Feb 23, 2013 · Transmission · 112,782 miles · MI

My vehicle was in the park position and when I proceeded to drive it started hesitating and would not pick up speed.

Filed Jul 11, 2012 · Transmission · 59,000 miles · MD

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford freestar. While driving approximately 65 MPH, the transmission began to hesitate in a jerking motion. The failure occurred whenever the vehicle was in operation. The failure had not been diagnosed. There was recall related to the defect under the federal safety agency campaign id number 12v006000 (power train:automatic transmission:torque converter). The part was currently unavailable and has been for three months. The technician was unable to provide a date when the part would become available. An authorized dealer was unable to provide a date when the part would become available. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 59,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Filed Jul 7, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 113,000 miles · NC

I was driving 45 MPH in a heavy rain when my vehicle began to sputter and check engine light began flashing. I started to pull over, but light went off and engine ran fine. After several days of rain engine would hesitate in acceleration and would feel like it was missing. It began only occasionally and usually when traveling up hill. It progressively got worse, especially after rain or being washed. Investigated and found this to be a common problem with this model with the power control module getting wet. Today while driving on the interstate check engine light began flashing and engine hesitated, then check engine light stayed on. Very dangerous situation to feel like my van was going to stall at 70 MPH with my family in the car.

Filed Apr 24, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 102,340 miles · VA

When driving down the road the van will suddenly lose all forward momentum and drift momentarily until it will just as suddenly resume forward momentum and continue like normal. When this happens, the rpms drop off like the vehicle is stalling or fuel starved (however it has no hesitation like its running out of gas) no warning lights come on and there is no pattern to when or how it happens. However, the problem has been getting progressively worse and now it is noticed that it has a higher tendency to do it when it is raining or there is high humidity. It does it at all speeds from 25mph to 70mph. Ford dealership has looked at the van and could not get it to reproduce the problem when they had it. However, they stated this does not sound like a torque converter problem addressed under safety recall notice 11s25/ the federal safety agency recall 12v‑006. This is a very dangerous problem and has almost caused several accidents as I have no warning the problem is getting ready to happen and have no way to notify other motorist of my sudden and quick deceleration.