The transmission does not properly shift between third gear and overdrive. It feels like it is slipping at times. On our way home from florida the engine check light came on. The service technician said that he had another windstar 95 a month ago with transmission problems. Is this to be expected with a vehiche which has only 50,000 miles?
1995 Ford Windstar transmission complaints
Page 21 of 30: complaints 581 to 610 of 875, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Upon coming to a stop transmission does not downshift into 1st gear. Then, upon acceleration transmission slips and vehicle does not move. When transmission does grab vehicle jerks due to increased engine rpms. Problem is encountered by many windstar owners but ford fails to acknnowledge problems are wide spread. Mechanics seem to know the problem is a cracked forward clutch piston. This is a very scary position to be in when making a left hand turn thru traffic or when having traffic approaching from the rear. Ford has and is willing to replace many transmissions due to this problem but does not feel it is a saftey issue requiring a recall. Thanks and I hope you can help.
There are hundreds of entries to these problems on the internet. I have tried ford motor co. And lamarque ford with poor to no results in reguard to solving my problems at no cost. This is not a consumer generated problem. It is a ford problem. Your assistance is appreciated.
Whenever driving the vehicle at 65mph & above, the speedometer would jump around. Would not give correct speed. It can happen when weather is cold, outside & inside. Has not taken vehicle to dealer.
When I am driving the van, it will down shift into 2nd gear and I will not be able to take it out of this gear. The car will need to sit for approx. 2 hours before I can drive it again. This happened to me and my family on a highway going approx. 40mph on a lightly snowed mass turnpike which almost caused me to lose control secondary to the sudden decrease in wheel speed. This is when I became affraid of this problem. The transmission also neutralizes during acceleration which has almost caused a rear end collision into me. The dealer said they do not know what the problem is so I am left with this potential hazard to my family and others. I know others with the exact same problem although they where dissabled on the road and the transmission was replaced. All of these examples happened with miles under 50,000. Some days I can drive the van on 100 mile trips and others I will be driving for about 10 minutes and the gear will get stuck in 2nd. I take good care of this van and have non aggressive driving habits with this car. Please help. This transmission is defective on my 95 windstar.
Trying to accelerate from a stoplight, transmission failed catastrophically with no prior warning. Transmission slipped then jerked very hard. I was nearly rear-ended twice trying to drive the car off the highway. It was not safe to drive, so I had the car towed to a ford dealer.
Just 7000 miles out of warranty.
Brakes vibrate vehicle when braking hard.
Transmission failure between 1st and 2nd gear. Lurching at traffic lights and stop signs. Transmission slips out of gear when slowing to go around a corner. This problem has potential for unpreventable accidents due to the slipping and lurching of the car.
The timing chamber gasket has failed causing coolant to leak into engine. Replacement requires 9-10 hours of labor since engine needs to be lifted. As for the transmission, after car warms up, from standstill, engine revs then kicks into gear.
Ford had initiated an "owners notification program" because of faulty head gaskets in the 1995 windstar. Basically, if your head gasket blew prior to december 31, 1998, ford would cover the cost. This was not a recall, therefore, they were able to place a "deadline" date on it. Unfortunately, the head gasket blew in my van on january 7, 1999 - seven days after the deadline. At the time of failure, I was on my way to work with my two little daughters in the car (one and three years old). My commute is 40 minutes in primarily farm country. I was halfway into my commute when the heater no longer blew hot air (the outside wind chill was about minus 20), and I noticed the heat gauge at the h. Thank goodness for cellular phones. I got on the phone immediately with the dealer and he knew over the phone it was the head gasket. I was able to make it to a small town just when the "check engine" light went on and it died on me. My service person at the dealership told me later that my engine was at 225 degrees when the check engine light went on. The dealer and I have tried to get ford to cover the $900 repair, however, ford will not move on its deadline date. They know there is a problem, yet will not issue the recall. They basically got around it with this owner notification program. I can only be thankful that I made it with my two girls to a small town in that subzero weather, and that my engine didn't blow up. The 1995 windstars also have major transmission problems. Mine had to be replaced at about 50,000 miles. Ford did cover some of the cost. Please look on the internet regarding the 1995 windstar. There are many, many more stories like mine (a good website is www.fordwindstar.com). There are defects with this vehicle and ford needs to step up to the plate and deal with them appropriately. Thank you.
While driving at 30 MPH ring and pinion gear broke, causing the transmission to fail without prior warning.
Transmission will not engage into gear.
Every gasket on this vehicle is leaking, including engine head gasket/transmission gasket/the intake manifold gasket, and the value cover gasket. Dealer has been contacted.
Transmission failed 2nd time jan 6,1999
Transmission downshifts without warning and upshifts erratically. Has done this over since van had 40,000 miles and continues til now at 72,000 miles.
Transmission would shift by itself from drive to neutral while driving. When at a full stop having the vehicle in drive, I would step on the gas and it would go into reverse. . After 2 repairs, it was determined the forward clutch piston had cracked, requiring a new transmission.
Transmission has been rebuilt twice and head gasket replaced twice. When transmission goes bad slips stalling time to pull out. This is dangerous as delay could cause axident
Transmission slips out of gear.
In addition to the transmission failure, there have been numerous electrical problems with the heating/ AC, door locks, wipers and door sensors. My windstar also had the defective head gasket which was part of a voluntary recall by ford. The transmission failure of this model is well known. Additional anecdotal info can be obtained through the car trackers website on internet. The transmission failure on the 95 windstar is a known problem at ford, however no recall has ever been issued.
Transmission failure at such low milage is due to a factory defect in the aluminum clutch piston.
There are many other problems with these vans in addition to this!
Transmission failure.
The transmission slipes out of gear while driving and will not shift into reverse after the engine gets warmed up.
Ford paid a portion of the head gasket replacement prior to the recall. Dealership claimed there was no problem with transmission when I initially detected it at 32k miles. In late november the vehicle was shifting from first gear into neutral on city streets, making the vehicle very unsafe to drive. Ford will not accept responsibility although they have paid the majority of the bill, leaving me with a balance of $500.00. Four days after the transmission replacement the "check engine" light came on again. This vehicle was not safe for me or my children.
While driving at 30 MPH lost power and the gear won't move from out of second gear. Consumer did'nt have any prior warning and the vehicle died out.
I was stopped at a traffic light. The light changed for me to go and I pressed on the gas. The rmp's on my dial went to 2000 but my car did not move. While this was going on I almost got rear ended by the guy behind me. He thought I was moving since the break lights had gone out when I hit the gas. I also noticed that same day the the car would not go into reverse right away. It would take about 10 seconds before engaging. I took the car to john lance ford dealer ship located at 23775 center ridge road, westlake, oh 44145, 1‑800‑642‑6463. I found out it was the forward clutch piston that had broke. I had the mechanic give me the part, there is a crack that runs around 45% of the part. The mechanic also informed me that he has seen this problem happen on quit a few 95 windstars. I asked his what type of part he replaced it with. He told me that the old part was made out of aluminum and the new part he replaced it with was made of steel. He told me that ford was changing the part because the steel part was stronger. From looking at the repair bill it appears the new part number of the replaced broken item is f4dz*7a262*a (piston-tran forward clutch).
No summary provided by consumer
Dp 98004 automatic transmission failure: the automatic transmission failed without warning. The transmission locked up in second gear without warning. Driver was able to get off the road safely. The dealer is aware of the problem. The transmission has not been replaced.
The forward clutch piston is failing due to a manufacturing defect. The transmission will engage and disengage while driving at slow or high speed making this a very dangerous situation in which to operate this vehicle. If this transmission contiues to operate in this manner on poor road conditions, loss of control can and will result because of the defective clutch piston. A recall should be issued by the ford motor co. And the defective piston should be replaced with a steel rather then the original light weight aluminum component.
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