The head gasket needs to be repaired and it is a recall.
1995 Ford Windstar engine complaints
Page 12 of 55: complaints 311 to 340 of 1,613, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Head gaskets failed 8-00, 5-01,9-01 (cracked head) 10-01 (cracked head) after only 350 miles. The dealer and ford refuse any help with the repair.
Crunching noise from front brake when braking or pulling out, consumer was informed that the ABS was inoperative, also the front and rear brakes had aftermarket pads, dealer recommended refaced or replaced.
The head gasket failed on my van at 109k miles and I still owed $6,000 on it although the blue book value at the time was $8 - 9,000 depending on condition. I took the van to sharp ford in indianapolis and they told me the repair would be $3800. They gave me $2500 for the van as is. That day I purchased a new 99 windstar and used the $2500 for a down payment. I know alot of people are having problems like this. I talked to ford several times trying to get compensation for the failure and was told different things including that they would have reinbursed me if I had paid for the repairs. Since I bought the van used I suspect this was not the first blown head gasket for this vehicle. I think ford should be held accountable for their defective vehicle. I lost $5,500 on that van because of this defect.
Engine gasket has failed 4 times. Engine misfired during acceleration. Ford customer service representative (michelle) refused to answer my questions and concerns. The failure of the engine on the highway had the potential to cause a serious accident.
The head gasket failed within 2000 miles of the expiration of an extended warranty. Ford refuses to assist in the repair of this vehicle.
Headgasket failure @ 2k miles over extended warranty period. Ford & local dealer refused to offer any assistance.
The head gasket failed at 125,000 destroying the engine and the transmission, consumer states it took six weeks to get a replacement engine rebuilt, consumer is requesting compensation since ford has a known head gasket problem.
While driving could detect burning smell of anti-freeze, and found a leak into engine. Consumer took vehicle to mechanic. Who indicated that consumer had received a recall notice for engine head gasket that had already been repaired.also timing belt was leaking. Please provide more information.
In 1999 I bought a 1995 ford windstar, which I have had problems with ever since. The latest problem is a faulty head gasket. My van currently has 104,000 miles on it, and was taken to a ford dealership for repairs when it had 88,000 miles on it. I questioned if head gasket was bad, which they denied and preformed other repairs. In august 2001 I started losing antifreeze and took the van to a mechanic who said the head gasket was bad. I immediately contacted ford customer service who said the van was out of warranty and would not do anything. I then proceeded to write a letter to jacques nasser the president and copied such to various other executives. Ford has acknowledged that there is a problem with the head gaskets but refuses to do anything. My van should have been fixed when it was still under warranty, but instead ford chose to wait and hope the head gasket would not break until it was out of warranty as it is now. Such is not acceptable. This is ford's problem. I am a single mother trying to support the household but I have no vehicle to get to and from work and after the events of september 11th, I was laid off from my job. Having no vehicle makes it extremely hard to find a new job, and without a new job I can not afford the costs for the repairs, which I should not be responsible for. I appreciate any assistance you can provide in getting ford to fix my van. Ford has already extended the warranty for the head gaskets to 100,000 miles/ 7 years, but such is not enough and needs to be extended.
Vehicle would overheat, and using fluids frequently. Took to dealer, and they replaced head gasket, but problem still exists. Please provide any further information.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
Consumer states brakes were replaced twice as well as machined.
This engine gasket failure occured 10,000 mile after an owner notification warning that this could occur up to 100,000 miles. This vehicle was stopped when the incident happened. The potential for fatal injuries is extremely high if a vehicle was riding on the highway. Ford motor company left us with a $4000.00 repair. It is my hope that the owner notification is changed to a recall which includes fixing this gasket for as long as the vehicle is in operation.
Vehicle has stalled 15-20 times in last 4 months, mostly when increasing speed. Taken to dealer 8 times, cannot remedy problem.
Brakes have vibrated and noisey shortly after purchase. Service centers state nothing is mechanically wrong. 08/22/01, coming back from family trip we experienced a brief roughness of operation and overdrive service light came on. 08/26/01, the vehicle spew white smoke from exhaust, overheated and stalled. Everyone I called and all literature show that to be symtoms of head gasket failure. The oil is like coffee with cream in it, indicating that both gaskets have failed. The dealership service center states the recall extension to be expired. The engine date is 10/25/94 and miles are 94516 within the extension guidelines. One dealership states 3 weeks before they could get to it. I have found many summaries and many other people with this same problem. Please help me to have ford repair their mistakes.
On august 30,2001 while me and my family was travelling back from ga to va our 95 ford windstar gl engine blew. We were driving along i20 when the van started making strange noises and the engine started knocking and white smoke started coming out of the front of the hood. I pulled the van over and a truck driver came along and politely stopped to escort us off the highway to a safe place. Underneath the hood, the enigine was extremely hot.... And oil was all up under the van........he stayed until a highway patrol sheriff came to help.the patrol officer assisted us with finding a ford dealer in columbia sc, where we towed our van to . As I am writing it is stilled there... We had to make emergency travel arrangements which included a hotel, food, rental van to return to van, taxicab cost(before we got the rental van).. Something needs to be done. There are alot of ford windstar owners having the same problemswith the engine, transmission, electrical power door, etc.... Please inform when a recall has been done. I look forward to a prompt reply in this matter. Thank you........ Ford had just changed the transmission and check the engine with a diagnostic test on 03-09-2001 or did they??????? And coastal automotive had just changed our oil on 08/17/2001?????????
Number 6 cylinder rod bearing failed resulting in need to replace the crankshaft rod bearings and number 6 cylinder rod. According to the ford mechanic this was probably due to an anti-freeze leak (most probably from the head gasket). This occurred 17 months after warranty head gasket replacement by ford. Contacted ford and they said the warranty recall no longer applied because of the milage and age of the vehicle. I advised that I already had the head gasket replaced under warranty to avoid this very problem. They contacted orange motors in albany ny who replaced the original head gasket to see if they would warranty their work. They would not. This occurred 1,000 miles away from home in tomah wisconsin at norris-vernier motor sales (a ford dealer). Due to the excessive cost of the repair ($2,500) and the significant time required to repair, we left the vehicle, rented a car and drove home. We have since donated it to the american cancer society. It's my expectation that a vehicle should be able to go more than 89,000 miles and last more than 6 years without this type of major engine failure, especially since I had all recall warranty work performed, had regular oil changes and spent significant amounts of money on non-warranty work to keep it running. I just couldn't see putting another cent into this piece of garbage. I am especially disappointed that ford won't stand behind this obviously defectively designed, ill conceived product.
We were stranded on the road twice in this 1995 windstar and both times the loss of engine power could have caused an accident had we not been traveling at low speeds. This head gasket issue should be investigated and considered for recall since ford is using their secret warranty program to escape responsibility for putting unsafe vehicles on the road. Ford has not been forthcoming to the federal safety agency with the large number of affected vehicles that are still on the road with 3.8 liter timebombs just waiting for the head gasket to fail. In their own intercompany memo regarding head gasket repairs ford admits their manufacturing problems but limits their service departments repairs to just the head gasket. I would like to see the federal safety agency survey owners and former owners of ford vehicles with 3.8 liter engines, particularly the 1995 windstar. I think you will find many people who had related accidents as well as many who had to bear the cost of the engine failure in the repair or tradein of that vehicle.
The car got overheated and started throwing lots of smoke through the exhaust system the smoke was with water and some oil,the engine light was on, and the ABS light also.
Engine head gaskets have blownout. Entire engine needs to be replaced. Dealer has been contacted. Please provide further details.
Subsequent engine failure resulted in major repair/replacement of engine. Total failure could lock up drive train at highway speeds causing crash.
No summary listed for abov evehicle.
Vehicle was going 60mph and engine lost oil pressure and constantly overheated. Engine check light didn't come on as a warning. Problem has been ongoing since 1998. Problem was previously caused by coolant deteriorating the bearings. Engine needed to be replaced, but dealer will not get involved financially. Consumer will be fully responsibile for the repairs. *ak
I have had a continuing stream of endless repairs to this ford windstar. Staring with the water pump one week after purchase; then the left front spring and strut collasped; next the ABS system almost cost me my life by failing on a downgrade into an intersection; a compoent of the fuel injection system in the main computer failed; the rear master cylinder on the brakes was leaking; the transmission has never shifted correctly almost giving passengers whiplash; the rear power door lock on the tailgate has just never worked form day one; I did receive a recall for the hood and that was replaced; now the power windows operate without the key in the ignition, but the door locks do not work and the vehicle is totally diabled, it will not start or even try to turn over. I am just a nurse not a millionaire, I have paid almost $5,000.00 in repairs into this vehicle in the 2 1/2 years I have owned it. And now it is dead, leaving me with no transportation to work, my only source of income. Please help.
My husband and I purchased our 1995 ford windstar used. After 1 week of owning our vehicle it blew a head gasket. We were told that the van was under a recall. This made us relax until we found that ford has done little to fix the problem that they have known about for some time. We are praying that they truely fix the problem instead of just putting a bandaid on it until the recall is over. We have 3 children and cant afford to keep replacing things that ford knowingly, have defects. We owe $10,000 for our van and thought we were getting a good buy as the van looks perfect! Magazines for new mothers endorse the ford windstar as being a great van. I just dont understand how ford could keep making this van without being responsible for the vans that they have already on the market that are lemons. The ford motor company should have to replace all the defects on these vans before making new ones. I hope that someone will work for the little people and make ford stand by their american made product. Thank you ms
The head gasket was replaced under the ford program. I drove the car 2 times, each time approximately 4 miles. The second time I drove it it overheated and had to be towed back to the dealership. They replaced the timing chain cover gasket. I was told by a ford dealer that the timing chain cover gasket was as likely to be bad as the head cover gasket but ford didn't cover that. Both gasket problems allowed coolant to get into the engine oil. I was also told that because the head gasket was fixed it allowed more pressure to build and that is why the other gasket blew so quickly. I believe the gasket problems are related and that both should have been covered under the factory program.
Am I responsible for sharing in the cost w/ford for an engine replacement? I believe that this is due to the blown headgasket that was replaced in 12/98. One dealership said it was covered under warranty and the other said no, I must share in the expense of a new engine. In the meantime, I am still driving it (ford won't pay in full for a rental car) with children and spouse. Please provide any info you can. Thanks.
Ford had extended warranty about head gasket failure engine, but mine is expired. I feel very very very unfair and upset.
Vehice would overheat. Consumer took to dealer and they said dealer needed a new motor.
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