2005 Ford Freestar: windshield wiper failure

Filed May 17, 2018 · Electrical · 175,000 miles · WY

Water dripped from the wiper blade cowl into the PCM, causing the vehicle to start, drive briefly, and then shut off while moving, causing loss of control of electrical components of the vehicle while driving on the highway. Steering became difficult. If this had happened at high speeds or with a lot of traffic around, it could have been extremely dangerous or deadly. The mechanic says this is a problem he sees with ford windstar vehicles. The mechanic stated the PCM was literally under water when he received the vehicle, despite the cause being a fairly typical rain storm, and drying out the PCM did not help, as the damage had already been done. This is a safety issue that, after searching online and speaking with mechanics, appears to be common. Ford needs to fix this issue before a vehicle loses control at high speeds.

Filed Jan 28, 2013 · Electrical, Transmission · 131,200 miles · UT

Engine stays in third gear on highway ,windshield wiper fluid won't spray and power locks don't work with button on doors or key fob. Getting 11 miles a gallon because won't shift into fourth gear and that's a highway trip!

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 25, 2012 · Electrical · 85,000 miles · UT

I was driving my minivan back to work from lunch. It cut off as I took a turn. I stopped the vehicle and restarted it. As I began to go again, it cut off again. I pulled over and restarted the vehicle. I was right outside my work parking lot so I pulled in and parked. I called egan automotives because they are located right beside my work. During my break I drove it to their place of business. My minivan check engine light was on and it was acting sluggish. I left the vehicle with them overnight. Egan automotive called me and told me that there was moisture getting into the computer box. They said that ford knew about this problem and were selling a kit that will insulate the computer box. I called ford and they won't help even though the placement of the computer box under the wiper blade vents was there brilliant idea. Looking online this seems like a pretty common problem, yet ford won't recognize it and fix it. This is going to cost me $300, which I feel I'm not responsible for. A vehicle cutting out while driving is a safety hazard. Can you help get this resolved?

Filed Jan 11, 2012 · Transmission, Visibility · 74,000 miles · AL

First failure was the torque converter - I was at a stop light and as the light turned green I proceeded into the intersection when the vehicle clunked and responded as if it were in neutral. I had enough momentum to coast to the shoulder. Replacement cost including labor was $600 second failure is the windshield wipers are intermittent. Failure occurs in the rain of course. Wiper will speed up then slow down then not work at all. It just happened today so I have not had it troubleshoot yet. 1/11/12 75,674 miles.

Filed Dec 4, 2011 · Transmission · IN

The vehicle starts fine, but as soon as I get to about 20mph, the vehicle stalls. I have taken the vehicle to the ford dealership atleast four times. At first they said it was something in the transmission, then they said it was the torque converter, finally they decided it was the PCM getting wet. They said they sealed the PCM to keep it from getting wet, but all they did was caulk around the brackets that fastens the wiper cow on. Finally after getting tired of taking the van back to the dealership, I decided to pull everything apart myself. What I discovered was the PCM is located in a place that it shouldn't be. It is located on the passenger side of the firewall under the wiper cow. Water runs behind the wiper cow directly on the PCM. I have contacted the dealership about it, but all they say is, " we cant do anything about it because there is no recall". I looked online to see if other people are having problems, and to no surprise, there are literally hundreds of consumers with the exact same issues. I feel that this could potentially be unsafe to motorists, simply because the entire vehicle shuts down as you are driving. When the vehicle shuts down, there is no longer power steering or power brakes, which makes it difficult to safely control the vehicle. Please do what you can.

Filed Jul 26, 2011 · Transmission · 45,895 miles · CA

I was driving on the freeway at night in heavy traffic when my car suddenly lost power. I was able to coast to the shoulder before it lost power completely. The engine was still running, but when I put it in drive nothing happened. No engine lights came on before this happened. About a week ago, I noticed the windshield wiper fluid wasn't working and refilled it. It worked one time. When I tried to use it yesterday, it only worked in the back and not in the front. I had it towed to a transmission dealer and they are looking at it now.

Filed Feb 15, 2011 · Electrical, Transmission · MI

Water leakage through the left windshield wiper cowling caused our power train control module to go bad. This repair is costing us almost $1,000.00 dollars to fix. Upon researching this issue on the internet we have come to realization that this is a very prolific problem with this make and model of van. Just for them to get the part is going to take a month. That shows you just how prolific it is. Ford is not taking responsibility for this faulty cowling that leaks directly on to the PCM even though tens of thousands or more people are having to have this part replaced multiple times costing them thousands of dollars out of their own pockets. There needs to be a government forced recall on these vehicles cause it's apparent that ford is not going to take responsibility for their faulty equipment design on their own.

Filed Feb 2, 2006 · Suspension, Visibility · 42,000 miles · OR

Dt*: the contact stated while driving in rainy weather conditions at 55 MPH, the windshield wipers malfunctioned. The wipers permanently stopped working. The vehicle was taken to the local dealership for inspection. The dealer determined the windshield wiper motor was defective. Updated 2/24/2006 - the consumer noticed that there was no grease in the bearing fittings.