At 90,000 miles while driving I came to a stop on a hill. When I removed my foot from the brake to give the van gas it began to roll backwards!! Almost hit the car behind me. I revved the engine with my foot on the brake and eventually the transmission engaged with a thud. It was if the engine had gone into neutral. Went to aamco to have the transmission check and was informed that it was the aluminum forward clutch piston that was cracked and that ford was replacing them with new steel forward clutch piston. Apparently this a common problem with ford windstar minivans. I asked ford if this was a recall issue and they told me that it was only a service bulletin. I would consider this a safety problem if you are on a hill with other vehicle behind you.
1995 Ford Windstar acceleration complaints
Page 3 of 5: complaints 41 to 70 of 116, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Transmission: vehicle hesitates and has difficulty shifting up; engine revs up while attemting to upshift; must back off on accelerator pressure to "baby" it into shifting up; when slowing vehicle down, it downshifts with a "clunk;" sometimes gets stuck in park position; overdrive light blinks on and off for long periods of time. Engine cooling system: overheating; interior heating system inoperable; pipe of thin metal continually ruptures causing coolant and water to spew out. Engine: vehicle sometimes stalls when slowed down to turn a corner or to stop; vehicle sometimes won't start for five minutes or more after it has been started, run for two or three minutes and turned off.
Involved in accident on 8/8/2000, several problems after vehicle was returned on 10/10/2000, problems still not fixed! Need help asap. Thank you .
Vehicle experienced inabilty to accelerate.
Transmission shifts into neutral at stop then lurches forward or rolls backward.
Cruise control failed for no apparent reason.
Vehicle hesitated and then experienced sudden acceleration.
When driving on a two lane highway at 50 MPH and upon depressing the brake pedal to come to a gradual stop, accelerator pedal was sticking, causing the vehicle to continue to accelerate. Consumer has contacted the manufacturer. Manufacturer refused to provide any assistance. *ak throttle return spring came off post on the throttle linkage.
Electrical brake light problem required dealer to pull out dash to repair 8/19/96. Letter from ford says out of warranty. Failure of auto trans at 59,428 in 11/4/97. There is a service bulletin issued by ford for forward clutch pistons. Ford refuses again to cover.-- manufacturing defect. In oct 24, 99 head gasket failure--replaced engine at 87,376 miles. Ford issues recall letter and we receive $3200 from ford june 16, 2000. Second transmission replacement at 89,021. Mechanic states overheating of engine affected the second transmission. During test drive of third transmission, the speedometer malfunctions. The ford dealer repairs problem. The total of these repairs alone total approximately $9500.00!
A design flaw causes rocks, when kicked up off the tires to become lodged in the strut resulting in front end noise. Nkm
The transmission is slipping and the car won't go, then all of a sudden, it jumps and could jump in front of another car; the overdrive light is blinking and won't go off. You can't get it to switch on; the switch won't turn and it goes ding, ding, ding when you take the key out
When driving at any speed and at any time vehicle will accelerate without operator depressing the accelerator pedal, causing unwanted and unexpected acceleration. Consumer has contacted the dealer. Please provide any further details.
Head gaskets blew, leaking timing belt gasket, blown speed sensor, transmission problems
The air mass flow sensor line was not connected correctly causing the vehicle to miss and not accelerate properly. Nlm
Automatic transmission malfunctions. Yh
While driving down a road all of sudden vehicle kept accelerating. Contacted dealer, and they replaced the trottle body top. It happened again.
The entire engine damaged by a spun bearing. Yh
After stopping and upon depressing the gas pedal vehicle would not travel. Consumer would have to shift to low gear to continue.dealer has been notified. Please provide further information.
Cruise control stopped working and car accelerated out of control. The system could not be shut off either by using the brake, or off switch. The only way to turn it off is to brake to a stop (against the engine) and turn off the car. After waiting about 5 minutes the cruise control will shut off. The problem was reported to the dealer, but they could not find a problem. Problem still exists.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
While stopping at a stop light and when depressing the gas pedal vehicle would not travel and was making noise. Dealer replaced transmission. Please provide further information.
Vehicle lurches forward at 25mph. Dealer service dept identified the problem on the first upshift the transmission. He informed me that the two transmission specialists at the dealership have probably seen this problem 50 times. I was informed that an aluminum forward piston needed to be replaced at an estimed cost of $1200-2300. I further learned that ford knew of this defective forward piston as early as 1993, but continued to use them on new assemblies. Where is the justice? Is there a class action suit pending?
When putting foot on the brake pedal, the van would speed up. Also, when accelerating the van would go faster than it was supposed to. Van was brought to the dealership for testing of engine and transmission. The testing did not show any problems. New engine is needed and will only be replaced at owner's cost. *ak
Started vehicle; felt like it was accelerating. Noticed rpms were revving. Applied brakes hard to stop. Fuel throttle was open. Accelerator pedal stuck.
This vehicle has had problem from the day we purchased. Most recently, it is currently at dlrship for service due to engine overheating, just short of van catching fire. Prior to this, we had to replace the transmission (approx. 1 1/2- 2yrs. Ago). At this point, we are truly concerned about the safety of this vehicle even after repair.
While driving around town. Heard a funny sound, restarted vehicle and the temperature gauge went high. Towed to dealer, and dealer determined that head gasket blew out and needed to have the engine flushed. Contacted dealer, and replaced head gasket. Oil light was coming on. Dealer said that vehicle will continue to have problems. Stepped on gas pedal and vehicle would hesitate when stopping, then shut off.
Oxygen sensor failed. Mjs
Forward clutch piston cracked ,causing vehicle to behave like it was in neutral. Also, when transmission would finally kick in, vehicle would serge forward. Clutch piston was replaced by a private mechanic. The manuafcturer has been notified.
Fuel indicator quit working - rear door does not register as being shut unless slammed-power window in passenger door is dead-speedometer is inaccurate over 70 MPH, flucuates
This van has cost alot of money to keep up and I was told these things where problems they had by a mechanic.
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