I have been doing research through the internet as well as consumer reports. Ford has had many problems with their 95 windstars, including the transmissions. My car has been leaking trani fluid for several months and I'm hoping these minivans are recalled before my trani blows. With so many problems, I'm surprised ford hasn't been asked to take the darn thing completely off the road! Thanks for listening!!
1995 Ford Windstar transmission complaints
Page 8 of 30: complaints 191 to 220 of 875, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have several more incidents but these are the major ones. No safety defect mentioned in summary.
When vehicle is put into 2nd gear it stalls. Please provide further details.
Two cracked aluminum pistons in transmission causing the contamination of transmission, which has lead to the rebuilding of the transmission with steel pistons.
Aluminum pistons in transmission cracked and contaminatied the transmission, causing lack of acceleration from a stopped position.
Transmission shifts into neutral while coming to a stop. Complete failure of the transmission. Known problem with many,many, windstars. Time for ford to take responsibility for this problem as they did with the head gaskets.
More that 90% of windstar owners have had same complaint of van problems...seems that the transmission and the head gasket problem happen close together in time. I know that this has been submitted tons of times...dont you think that its time to pull these off the road and fix them once and for all before something serious happens? It was a close call for me and my three kids when the transmission went on the ford that I have.
Consumer was traveling on the highway, and transmission slipped when she put vehicle in gear. Also, when she applied brakes pedals went all the way to floor.
I had to replace the transmission aproximately november 1999 ($2000.00), a couple of months later I thought the thermostat needed replaced in the engine but it turned out to be the head gasket problem ford is having($1200.00), I contacted ford and got refused immediately because my van had over 100,000 miles on it. I believe ford knew of this problem when my van was under the 100,000 mile mark but did not notify the owners of this problem. I have a newspaper clipping stating that ford is having the head gasket problem and I am looking for reimbursement for this.
The transmission fails to shift through the gears when we first start to drive the van. After we go a couple of miles it works ok. The problem has gradually gotten worse and none of the dealers that I have been to have been able to diagnose the problem.
While attempting to move the vehicle from a stop the vehicle would not move, the consumer pushed the gas pedal firmly and it finally caught and jerked forward, due to failure of the forward clutch piston in the transmission. Nlm
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.
On three occasions, after driving for over an hour at interstate highway speeds the van would start to lose speed rolling almost to a stop in the middle of the interstate. Each time with other cars moving to avoid hitting me from the rear I would push the accelerator to the floor and the van would jump into gear for a moment then lose speed again. But I was able to get out of the traffic enough to avoid an accident each time. Each time after the van set for awaile it would go back to normal conditions. This has happend 3 times. I paid for a tranmission service after the first two times. After the third time I took the van back to wade ford and told them what had happened and also told them I had seen reports that this problem had been identified to an aluminum forward clutch piston. They have had the van three days and can find no problem under their test conditions. The ford extended service plan runs out in 4,000 miles and they refuse to "throw parts at the problem" since they can't recreate the problem in the shop. This is a dangerous situation when it happens in the center lane of I-75 or I-95 in heavy traffic.
When I called the transmission shop to make an appointment, he told me what was wrong with my ford windstar before I had a chance to tell him! He said that he had rebuild significantly more windstar transmissions than any other car. He recommended I contact our local ford dealership (matthews ford - heath, ohio) to see about some type of reimbursement. After all, in his opinion, this was a design deficiency! Matthews ford representatives were unaware of significant transmission problems and refused to hear any more. Now that ford is admitting that they were aware of this design flaw early on, I believe that I am owed reimbusement for all repairs, especially in the light of the fact that they are admitting design was bad.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
The transmission problems have existed for a year, consumer has taken the vehicle from the dealer to have a reputable mechanic to replace the faulty transmission.
Tranmission failure at low milage is unacceptable/could be connected to head gasket.
Just before vehicle went out of warranty (approx. 31,000) transaxle went out. Ford replaced the entire transaxle. Last may, at 141,000 mi. The replacement went out. Though the vehicle has high mileage, the miles have been "easy" primarily highway miles. As evidence of this, the vehicle still has the original muffler system, and has only had two sets of brakes in 150,000 plus miles of use. I feel it is unreasonable, in the 1990's-2000's for a transaxle to fail once, but certainly twice is out of line. The rebuild of the "tranny" cost me $2,100 plus.
I am having problems with acceleration (shiftdown) when trying to accelerate for passing. This started being a problem after the transmission fluid was pressure flushed and refilled with new fluid. This was more than just a standard service fluid and filter change. It has become such a problem we are concerned when needing to pass a vehicle as sporadic results are the result. Sometimes we can pass, but many times the transmission will not shift down for fast acceleration. There have been a number of times we have been within seconds of a major accident. I took the van into the shop, telling them to fix whatever is wrong if it was under $200. They test drove it and said they could not identify a problem. When asked if they did anything they said only a test drive, but it did appear to work better for thanksgiving weekend. I am specifically concerned about a news broadcast about an aluminum clutch plate wear and / or crack problem for 1994 and 1995 years of this van.
1999 engine repair was head gasket covered under extended warranty. 2000 engine and transmission failure required replacement with rebuilt transmission and engine.
Water pump and transmission failed due to cracked forward piston which was made out of aluminium, causing vehicle to jerk and slow down speed. Also, engine blewout about 1 week after transmission was replaced due to head gasket.
Transmission failure.
Vehicle suffered a complete transmission failure and the extended warranty provider refused to cover the repairs. Ford is well aware of problems with the 3.8l engine and the axode transmissions. I find it curious that the extended warranty provider is also owned by ford, and the staff at the ewp was aware of a history of problems with this vehicle.
The planetary gears failed resulting in minor other damage. Several of the repair shops I contacted to get a quote stated that the planetary gears would be what failed because that is a problem that plaques this transmission type in windstars and taurus/sables. One repair shop even stated if you had a windstar/taurus/sable and you did not ever have a transmission problem you should consider yourself lucky. My wife and children were fortunate that the transmission failed pulling into the driveway rather than on the busy street that had just exited. I realize that the federal safety agency is more concerned with safety related items, but I hope because of the failure rate of these transmissions and the potential safety hazard present when they do fail that the federal safety agency can persuade ford motor company to do the right thing. However, I not real sure what can be done to these poorly engineered transmissions. I realize most people are probably only concerned with recouping any money they spent on repairs, because yes I would like ford to reinburse me the $1167 repair cost, but more importantly, I feel something has to be done from a design standpoint to help eliminate the potential for the failures. Even after having had my transmission repair I am skeptical about how long the repair will last, not because who/how it was repaired, but because of the poor ford engineering/design. I guess that ford would have to had changed something to improve the later model windstars and I hope that that technology could be applied to the early models having problems. I do not believe that it would be right for the windstar owners to have to pay for this though since ford is responsible for the poor design. I realize that would be asking alot of ford, but I think that fords positive longterm public opinion might be in jeopardy. I have already decided that this will be the first and last ford I ever own. I hate that too, because I try to buy american and that limits my choices somewhat. Thanks for this site
At 75,000 miles transmission had to be rebuild due to transmssion failure. At 123,000 miles transmssion lost reverse, and repairs made at an independent repairs shop. Believed problem was due to a defective transmission; dealer/manufacturer were not notified at this time.
The vehicle experienced several engine related failures, the head gasket failed two times, the dealer would not compensate for the second failure and also did not offer the consumer the $4000.00 certificate towards a new vehicle, after the first head gasket repair, the vehicle continued to lose coolant, the engine cylinders were replaced, the timing cover was cracked, the serpentine belt was replaced, and the blown gasket caused the vehicle to overheat, shake, and smoke.
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 .
Transmission doesn't not engage after you stop and a stop light, when you step on the gas it jurks you forward also doing the same thing in reverse, this seems to be an issue with this modem year and ford has not done anything about it is any body concerned or does a death have to accur before action will be taken against them.
Transmission failure. Part number f4bp-7000-bb.
Our van was in the shop 6 times in 1999. The transmission is not right now and sometimes it will not start at all due to another problem. I hate to put any more money into this van but I will have to I guess. I can't afford to trade it in they don't want to give you anything for it. The transmission is dangerous in that you never know when it won;t go.
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