Ford has advised us that the transmission is not covered by any recall or rebate. Why??? We have had 4 transmissions put in over the past 2 & 1/2 yrs. Fortunately, 2 of them were covered under warranty.
1995 Ford Windstar transmission complaints
Page 10 of 30: complaints 251 to 280 of 875, newest first, as owners wrote them.
After operating the vehicle for a while, transmission will not engage into drive and sometimes will not engage into reverse. Overdrive light then started to flash. When the transmission does engage, the vehicle tends to lurch forward in an unsafe manner. Brought the vehicle to an independent garage. They changed the ECM (electronic control module) at a cost of $650.00 parts and labor. We left for a week vacation the next day only to have the same problem occur. Garage insisted that the ECM was defective and that the transmission problem is a separate issue. Brought the vehicle to dealer (shamrock ford). Within a couple of hours, we recieved a call that the transmission has to be replaced. Cost: $2600.00. Upon searching the internet, we found that a lot of 1995 windstar experienced the same problem. We believe that this is not only an issue of manufacturer defect but also a safety issue, something the federal safety agency should be involved in. Ford motor company has not been receptive to our complains and requests for financial assistance in the repair although, we believe, that they are fully aware of the defect in the transmission as evidenced by their prompt diagnosis of the problem . We own a 1995 toyota celica with 245,000 miles and a 1988 toyota camry with 264,000 miles. We feel that we are responsible car owners and that our vehicles are not subjected to abuse and misuse. We bought the ford windstar with the belief that finally, american car manufacturers has achieved a level of reliability equivalent to their foreign car competitors. It now appears that at least one company, ford motors, has not.
The transmission failed prematurely due to aluminium component which was used in place of cast iron. Yh
I'm on my 3rd transmission and it is going out! Dangerous, because vehicle slips at crucial moments needed for acceleration. Please issue a recall for this product! It will cause lives (if it hasn't already). Wife won't drive because she's too frightened by it's inconsistent acceleration. What if it slipped while near railroad tracks? What if it slipped/disengaged while entering freeway? Very dangerous.
Vehicle overheated, and smoke was coming from pipe. Then. Consumer took vehicle to dealer, where technician saw that problem was a blown engine head gasket.*ak transmission failed three times. Gas tank failed. Windshield is defective. And side door clamps failed.
We are currently fighting a failed transmission. When we took the vehicle to the ford dealership last week, we were told that it needed to be repaired or replaced. The dealer advised us that both scenarios were covered by a 12 month/12000 mile warranty, but if we elected the overhaul option, if a part failed that wasn't fixed, the warranty would not cover it. We elected the higher priced replacement. We were advised to come back the following week and the dealer would order a new transmission. My wife took off work and drove an hour to the dealership to leave off the car. When she got there, the dealer told her that ford has stopped all shipments of this transmission and that he would be unable to order our replacement. Ford would give him no firm date on when we might be able to get a new transmission. Since ford had decided that customer support was a matter of minor importance, we had no option but to repair the existing transmission and run the risk that the warranty would cover anything that happened. We have also had to replace the head gaskets on this vehicle and the oxygen sensors. I will tell you that immediately upon getting this vehicle back after the transmission is repaired, it is being traded in on anything else and I will never own another ford. When it comes to customer support from ford, we have had zero.
The transmission failed at the same time that the engine overheated due to faulty head gasket . I took the van into koons for "check engine light" and they found nothing, but charged me $500, later, the engine seized and had to be replaced; upon getting my van back with a rebuilt engine, the transmission was not working properly and failed within the week. The aamco dealership told me that a forward clutch thing was not working, but worse yet: the transmission completely failed because it had become extremely hot; in fact, so hot that any internal components that were rubber or plastic actually melted, and the gear teeth became so hot that they changed color to purple-ish and cracked in places. Yet ford refuses to associate the damage to the transmission with their faulty head gasket. Incidently, I have been fully reimbursed for the rebuilt engine, but not the $500 ford 'service' response to the 'check engine' light, or the $2,500 transmission.
Transmission system malfunctioned, and had to be replaced at every 25,000 miles. Vehicle may stall unexpectedly while driving. Vehicle had replaced transmission 3 times. Please provide further information.
Transmission failed 3 times, the original transmission was replaced at 13,000 miles, the second at 42,000 and the third at 45,500.
The brakes failed on two occasions, dealer could not find the problem.
Aluminum clutch piston in transmission has cracked making car hesitate to go into gear (forward or reverse)also transmission jumps out of drive into neutral whithout warning making vehicle dangerous.this is a frequent problem happining to a lot of these transmissions. Contacted ford (dealer and directly) and both refuse to be of any assistance.dealer wants $2990 for new transmission installed.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
Have had to replace speedometer twice and starter twice within first 58000 miles.
Engine seized after head gasket failure in dec 1998. Stengers ford (now out of business) took in excess of one month to repair. They admitted this was their first attempt to replace windstar engine. Within a few weeks of receiving windstar back. Also, transmission failed.
Transmission began shifting funny shortly after purchase;slight slipping on shift,esp. At hiway speeds.took to hampton ford dealer in hampton,nh.they said that the computer showed no signs of slippage,and charged us $75.00 for diagnosis,not mentioned to us that that was not covered in the extended warrenty we had purchased with the van.now,the problem has become far worse;in order to accelerate at hiway speeds or from stand-still after vehicle is warmed,I have to floor the accelerator to get a proper downshift/acceleration.my pregnant wife and three children,ages 1 year to 13 years are often with her in the van(reason we bought a mini-van)...we have gotten a recall on particular engine conditions;why not for the transaxle?I cannot afford to have it replaced,and although an experienced auto mechanic,and certificated aircraft mechanic,have no means of equipment to do the job myself.I will never buy another ford product,as they have apparently not learned anything from the pinto,escort nor any other of the mechanical junk they continue to produce.I do not trust this vehicle to transport my family,and feel that someone should have picked up on this with my first visit...now ford vehicles are in need of replacement at under 70,000 miles???
When vehicle is at operating temperature, automatic transmission fails to engage properly from a standing start. Several second delay when trying to accelerate from a standing start. Transmission is slipping. Upon investigating in various web-sites appears to be a widespread problem. Hope others are complaining too. Transmission fluid is at proper level. Suffered the head gasket failure. Engine was replaced in december 1999.
Head gasket failed. Nlm
Vehicle has been well maintained and routinely serviced per manufacturers recommenations and does not have towing capability. Transmission would occasionly behave as if it were in neutral when trying to accelerate from a complete stop. It finally lost all drive in first and reverse gears, resulting in a $ 2000 transmission repair at the dealer. The faulty part was a cracked aluminium forward clutch piston, which is now replaced by a steel part .(I have the damaged part.) the transmission troubles started after the main head gaskets blew and overheated the engine. I had to repair the head gaskets myself because my vehicle was 4 months beyond the original recall notice limitations. After I repaired the head gaskets with the new ford parts, I just recently received the recall extension notice in the mail approx 2 months ago. What lousey timing.
This is actulay the second problem the first was head gaskets in nov of 99 that was resolved with ford after fighting with them a month now its the transmission thats going out I have done some reserch on the internet and have found this to be a serious problem with this car and fill it schould be a recall . I had the transmission slip at a stop light and was almost rearended by a semi and trailer.this problem is very comon on the windstar and taurse and I fill ford that this will not be handled by ford on there own. This is not only puting people in financal strain but also persnal danger. The worst part about this it that ford is aware of this but does not care about their costumers in any way . I would like to see leagle action against them .
We have replaced engine twice and transmission x 3 now needs another engine and we've spent over $10,000.00
Electrical problem in dash caused a brake light problem. Ford dealer had to pull out dash to correct problem. Car had a previous recall in which the dash had to be pulled out also. We believe the wire repair in the dash was a result of the previous dash electrical recall. Ford says no. At only 59,400 miles the trans needs replacing. Ford has a dealer service bulletin that states failure of transmissions can be due to a cracked or broken forward clutch pision. Ford says no. Blown head gasket at 87, 300 miles causes engine to have to be replaced. We received a recall letter in march and received $3200 for reimbursement. At 89,000 miles during february of 2000, the second transmission goes out and the mechanic states that the overheating of the engine head gasket problem can affect the transmission. During a test drive of the third transmission, the speedometer goes bad. A recall letter from ford in may of 1994 states that some speedometers can have "incorrect gear" and may cause a loss of function". A letter has been written to ford motor company explaining the excessive costs to maintain a vehicle.
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!
I have repeatedly tried to get my vechicle repaired but the dealer insists that he will not give me service.the service mngr. Has refused to even look at the vechicle to determine if loaner is necessary. No safety defect listed in summary.
Speedometer would be the third one to be replaced, can't tell how fast you are going
A design flaw causes rocks, when kicked up off the tires to become lodged in the strut resulting in front end noise. Nkm
Due to a design flaw that allows rocks to kick up off the tires into the struts the front end makes a loud popping sound. Nlm
Non stop failure from purchase date.
Overdrive light blinking, we brought vehicle to ford dealership. The transmission needs to be replaced at a cost of $1500-$2100 (2 quotes from 2 different ford dealerships). Told us that the transmission was only covered up to 75k under special warranty, we had 80k. We choose to let the vehicle sit in the driveway. A week later check engine light came on. Took it to another ford dealer, told us the head gasket needs to be repaired again (we repaired it last year). Ford won't let us use the buy-back option as stated in the march 2000 letter to windstar owners who have head gasket failure. The dealership and a ford motor corp customer service rep said that once we accepted the reimbursement for the first head gasket repair, subsequent head gasket failures could only be repaired, the buy-back option was no longer available. The letter from ford does not state this and we were not informed at the time of the first repair that this could be a reoccurring problem and that we wont have that option later to use the buy-back program instead of repairing the vehicle. Car is now sitting in driveway until we figure out what our rights are. We would like ford to buy back our windstar for what we owe*ak.
While driving on highway at the normal speed limit left rear dropped like in a blowout. Vehicle started to fishtail. Pulled over, and noticed that left rear was down, and the shocks were blownout. Had vehicle towed to dealer. Consumer was told that left rear control arm snapped, causing it to disconnect the rear axle from frame.
Defective rear axle sheared off, causing rear to drop which may have caused loss of vehicle control and a crash. Please provide further information.
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