While driving could see the engine check light had illuminated. Then, took vehicle to dealer, and they found an engine head gasket failure just like indicated in recall for 1995 vehicles. *ak
1996 Ford Windstar engine complaints
Page 10 of 17: complaints 251 to 280 of 472, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Engine stalls unexpectedly on warm to hot days. Causes loss of steering and braking and handling of vehicle. Engine stalls during normal operation, at intersections, needing to steer off the road to avoid collisions. Engine needs to cool down for 20 minutes before it will turn over. Recent newspaper article reported major collisons leading in death or severe injury because of this engine failure. Cases pending in california. Ford needs to be pressured by the federal safety agency to have a recall of this tfi module which is positioned improperly on engine before more incidents occur or the tfi module needs to be redesigned to withstand more heat so that engine does not shut down while driving. We are afraid to drive the vehicle and need to have action taken now before something serious happens.
The speedometer failed.
Consumer was traveling 65mph on highway and noticed that temperature gauge went up and was red. He pulled over to shoulders and lifted hood. Checked coolant, and noticed that there was no coolant inside of vehicle. *ak headgasket leak caused the temprature gauge to go up.
Timing cover seal was leaking, upon having this problem fixed, the engine began making a knocking noise, engine was replaced.
After driving to state of virginia and parking it for 5 days. When consumer attempted to start vehicle head gasket blewout.
The front suspension spring on driver side snapped and went into tire, however the tire was not damaged.
It appears that I have experienced "the problem" with my van. Like everyone else who has lodged complaints the vehicle started smelling like it was overheating. The coolant level was checkd and no problems were found. Then the rough idle started. Then the dealer found out that the head gaskets were bad, and a rod was bent and the motor would have to be replaced. And it all started at 60k miles. The problems are well documented and it will continue to get worse. Most of the vehicles of this year are probably getting close to the right mileage for the gaskets to blow. Ford will have to ramp up production on replacement engines because every vehicle will have to have the engine replaced and it doesn't matter how well it has been maintained. It is unbelievable that a company would knowingly and willingly let this happen. As long as people aren't dying who cares about millions of dollars spent on repairs by consumers. What a joke!
Have fought with ford about losing power and vehicle stalling since owning the car. Also find that many others(on web 'windstar head defect' search) have had the same problem. I have also had two ford mechanics unofficialy admit that there is a design flaw in the 1996 windstars. Ford, after being badgered, said they would cover my engine to 100,000 miles and are reniging now that it has completely blown. I just want a car that is safe for my family. Help me.
Blown head gasket.
Check the engine light came on and the coolant was leaking due to head gasket failure. The consumer noticed that the 1995 windstars had been issued a recall notice but when the consumer contacted the manufacturer but they were unwilling to help with the cost of repair, the consumers technician replaced the defective parts with a newly designed part. Yh
1995 windstar 3.8l engines have gotten extended warranties on blown head gaskets in their engines. It is apparent the 1996 windstar 3.8l engine has the same problem but ford has not extended the warranty for this model year. Request the federal safety agency force ford to back up their products that are known to be defective.
Head gaskets failed mechanic has replaced several ford 3.8l head gaskets, called ford they refused to pay $1256.13 bill.
Premature failure of head gasket causing engine coolant to leak into the #1 cylnder causing a miss fire and the vehicle to run rough. Engine light came on and I brought it to the dealer. The dealer had it for a few days, replced the spark plugs and said it was fine. On the ride back from the dealer the engine light came back on. The dealer then kept it for another two days and found the coolant in the #1 sparkplug well. Brought to an independent repair shop where it was determnined to be a head gasket failure.
Coolant leaked into engine causing complete engine failure blowing the head gaskets and cracking the engine block. When this happened there was a complete power loss in the steering and braking of the vehicle. My wife and two children were in the van at the time of the failure. Fortunatly they were not on the interstate or major highway because theres no telling what the result would have been in this case. I have found out that this is a recalled problem for the 94 and 95 years for the same model that I have but not the 96. This is not just a problem with windstar but has also happened with the mustangs and lincon town cars which leads me to believe that this is a design error with-in those years in question with many ford models. This will cost me nearly $4500 to repair as quoted from a ford dealership and it cost me $80 just to tell me something I already paid for at goodyear, I need a new engine. Seeing that there has been a recall for previous years for this model I would apprieciate it if you could tell ford to consider recalling the other affected models with this same problem that they know about but refuse to admit.
While driving engine check light was illuminating on dashboard. Consumer contacted dealer to have vehicle inspected, and mechanic replaced spark plugs and other parts. Later, mechanic discovered that head gasket malfunctioned, causing the problem. *ak consumer states head gasket was replaced, subsequently since the repair the check engine light has come on twice.
Consumer states new head gaskets were needed and vehicle had relatively low mileage, ford would not provide any financial help, so consumer had no choice but to trade vehicle in.
It was at the beginning of march and I noticed that as I was driving the heater would blow warm air and then for no reason it would blow cold air. I thought that it was probably a bad heater core or thermostat so I took it to our local mechanic. He checked it out and said that it was a blown head gasket. He suggested that we check with our local ford dealer because he had heard there was a recall on the 3.8 liter engine. We checked with them and of course they didn't want to tell us much until after we brought it to them and they ran a diagnostics test which would cost us $125 and if it wasn't under the recall it would be some where between $1800 - $2200 to replace the head gasket. Obviously we chose our local mechanic at $1150.08 and chose to persue customer service. We were told by one of the reps. That they would look into it and get back with us. When they called us back we were informed that our van was not one of the vehicles that were on recall. Of course, I was not happy with this decision and asked to speak to someone higher up. I was given the customer service supervisor and she informed me that they intended to stick by their earlier decision and that she had the final say and that I had to further recourse. I was angry but I felt that I had just been dealt a raw deal by ford and I did not have the time to wait because we have a large family and I could not be without my vehicle any longer.
Original transmission failed at 37900 mi. - detected when trans fluid leaked onto hot engine part and smoked. Original warranty expired at 36,000 mi. Dealer told me that fmc would sell me an "extended powertrain warranty" for $250. The warranty would cover the previously diagnosed transmission failure and would cover any other major trans/engine problems up to 75,000 miles, provided I am still the owner of the vehicle. I purchased the extended warranty and was glad I did when the replaced trans failed ta 42,952 miles. The dealer replaced that trans, I had to pay a $50 deductible. In jan. 2001 (58,100 miles) the warranty had to be used again. This time it was for "upper and lower manifold seals". However, this time it would cost me $213 because they also had to replace the spark plugs, which were not covered by the extended warranty. Just last month, 6/22/2001 the vehicles engine light came on again, just as it had in january 2001. The vehicle was running rough, stalling, engine was 'misfiring". The end result this time was replacement of the spark plug wires, coil assembly, a-s sensor, and a spark plug. This vehicle was sold to me as "not needing a tune-up until 100,000 miles". Sure sounds to me like I've already had that tune-up and I'm only 1t 65,000 miles!! Then theres the A/C problem(s). In june the A/C was only blowing air through my defrost vents on top of the dash. The dealer repaired a "vacuum leak" and now they replaced a high psi switch, cost was $100 each time.
Problem 1- engine blew a head gasket as backing out of our driveway, we have only 72000 miles on it and were told that there is a recall on the 1995 ford engine for the same problem. This repair is going to cost $1,000.00. Ford has given us no options. 2nd-problem- on the same vehicle a month before, again as I was backing out of my drive the front spring broke, punctured my tire and collapsed the shocks, that cost $600.00. Again, when we called ford we were told that there had been a recall on the taurus for the same problem but it wasn't for the windstar. Now ii have a problem believing that thay can recall one product without covering the other when the same exact problem occured with my vehicle. Please advise what further action I can take. Thanks.
No summary listed for abov evehicle.
3.8 liter engine. Premature wear of head gaskets. Head gaskets blewout, causing engine to go. Dealer has the vehicle.
Head gasket is on verge of blowing. Antifreeze has to be added weekly to keep cooled off. Dealer isn't doing anything unless consumer covers cost.
Ford should be forced to recall the '96's as well as the '95's. Same engine same problem. I was told the check engine light was just emissions. Not to worry about it . Head gasket failure is something to worry about. Repairs are $1000.00.
Engine check light came on, took to repair shop they confirmed blown headgasket, I understand this year and model of van and the engine are defective, how do I get ford to pay for repairs?
I am also one that had to spend $1933.07 beause of head gasket problem. I have also replaced my brake pad 5 times. I have also bought new front tires 3 times in 3 years. The tire wear is unreal. I also have the problem of the odometer not working. The problem with the brakes and engine running sluggish have been since I purchased the van. The odd thing is you don't get warning signs. The check engine light would come on - go off. In order for the dealer to know what is wrong the check engine light must be on. Never had any sign of the engine overheating. Great driving van but many, many, many, many, many problems.
Was driving vehicle when head gaskets blewout.started to lose antifreeze; this caused engine to overheat. Took vehicle to independent mechanic, and informed consumer problem of head gaskets can be repaired.*ak consumer also had a check engine problem due to cylinder, ford could not duplicate the problem, so consumer has his personal mechanic to reset the engine when the light comes on.
Engine (3.8l) was leaking coolant onto engine cylinder. Also, oxygen sensor needs to be replaced.
I have a 1996 windstar with just over 40,000 miles - v-8 engine. The engine warning light came on, and I stopped driving and dropped the car off at the dealer. He said it has blown head gaskets and after research online, I find that this is an engine problem that ford has with windstars. I would like to see a recall ordered on all ford 3.8 engines having this problem.
Ford has extended warranty coverage for 1995 windstar head gasket failures, but refuses to do the same for 1996 windstars despite the thousands of 1996 windstar owners experiencing the same head gasket failures with their 3.8 engines. The repair bill is $1300! Ford is trying to cover up its head gasket defect. Please force ford to issue a recall. Thanks.
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