Tl*the contact owns a 1998 ford windstar. While driving 55 MPH, the contact applied the brakes but the vehicle surged forward and crashed. The vehicle was destroyed. The police and ambulance arrived at the scene and one person was injured. The contact stated that the night before the crash, the cruise control activated on its own. The vehicle was towed to a local repair shop for inspection. The VIN was not available. The current and failure mileages were approximately 96,000.
1998 Ford Windstar: sudden unintended acceleration
17 of the 1,424 complaints about the 1998 Ford Windstar describe sudden unintended acceleration.
- owner complaints
- 17
- of this car's complaints
- 1%
- recalls
- 1
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall and 5 service bulletins for this area of the car. See below
Sudden unintended acceleration by model year
What owners say
As I was driving home, my car accelerated without my stepping on the gas. When I stepped on the brake, it continued to accelerate. I managed to get off the very busy road I was on and since I could not stop the car, I decided to hit a tree, hoping the car would stop. It did not. It went over a cliff, after knocking the tree down. I was very badly injured and remain disabled. The car was a ford windstar 1998. I was told that there has been many accidents like this with the ford windstar but ford never did a recall. I have since been told that ford and toyota use the same manufacturer for some of their parts. My car still exists if it needs to be examined.
Transmission stalls during down shifting at low speeds. Shifts hard into gear, causing the vehicle to lunge forward,three times has been repaired,first time @ 32000,3600,65,000. Dealer said that it's a known problem,but there is no fix.
Vehicle surged forward while driving. Consumer has checked to see if the cruise control was engaged. Malfunction caused vehicle to speed up and miss judge turning which interfered with driving ability. Dealer was contacted. Please provide more information.
While driving at any speed and when attempting to stop vehicle by applying force to brake pedal, brakes did not repsond vehicle suddenly accelerated without prior warning causing unwanted acceleration, consumer contacted dealer and problem has been corrected, cruise control ceased operation but has now been repaired, consumer was advised by technician the vehicle was sold with wrong part.
While driving at any speed and when attempting to stop vehicle by applying force to brake pedal, brakes did not respond. Vehicle suddenly accelerated without prior warning, causing unwanted and unexpected acceleration. Consumer has contacted dealer, dealer corrected problem. Consumer currently noticed that curise control was inoperable. *ak
While warming vehicle up, it surged forward and then backward, it ran over conumer's toes and the door hit consumer in face, vehicle dragged consumer for about 6 feet before it stopped, it also took out 2 posts of the deck, consumer states a recall regarding the powertrain control module was received and feels this might be the cause of the accident, however vehicle is still at dealer awaiting repairs.
Sudden acceleration while backing out of a parking space. Dealer notified, and unable to locate cause. Please feel free to provide any further details on this matter.
Upon slowing down in traffic and appyling brakes vehicle suddenly accelerated, causing a collision. Please give any further details.
Sudden acceleration while braking into a curved parking space, causing vehicle to rearend another vehicle in front. Dealer notified. Provide further details.
Two incidents of sudden acceleration, one causing damage to our vehicle and the one ahead as I was parking next to a curb. Second time was in driveway when entering garage; slammed on brakes to not hit house. Numerous incidents of hard 1st to 2nd gear shift at 15 MPH; sounds like a hard thud. Ford overfilled trans. Fluid 1/2 quart as a fix in november; replacing valve pump now in january.
I bought this van in feb of 1998 and in a few weeks I noticed that the van would lunge forward at low speeds of about 5 to 10 miles per hour. I went to the dealer and was told there was no problem . I went to another dealer same thing. I returned to the original dealer and this time drove the van with a mechanic and showed him the problem. They ordered a new transmission but the problem has never gone. I wrote ford but no help. Then I moved to south jersey an dshowed it to the dealer a few times and this past jan I was told that the problem will stay and nothing more can be done. So at present every time I star the van and accelerate and then leave the peddle the car lunges. In slow traffic this a real anger because it seems as though the car is not in my control. The change in gear is very rough.
Service bulletins that may apply
- Some vehicles may exhibit a hard start / long crank, cold start stall, cold rough idle concern
- Subject regarding harsh light throttle 1-2 upshift condition
- Brief information on vehicles exhibiting harsh light throttle 1-2 shift
- Experiencing harsh light throttle 1-2 shift
- Experiencing accelerator pedal "buzzing" noise and / or exhaust "droning" noise at approximately 1700 RPM...
Related recalls
Vehicle speed control
- What is wrong
- Ford is recalling model years 1995-2003 windstar, 2000-2003 excursion diesel, 1993-1997 and 1999-2003 f-250 sd through f-550 sd diesel, 1992-2003 e-150 through e-550, 1995-2002 explorer, 1997 and 2002 mercury mountaineer, 1995-1997 and 2001-2003 ranger, and 1994 f53 vehicles equipped with the texas instruments speed control deactivation switch (scds). The scds may leak internally and then overheat, smoke, or burn.
- Risk
- A vehicle fire could occur with or without the engine running.
- Remedy
- Ford will notify owners that dealers will install a fused wiring harness in line with the scds. On 1999-2003 windstar vehicles with a leaking scds, dealers will also inspect the ABS control module connector and repair as necessary. Repairs will be completed free of charge. The safety recall began on october 27, 2009. Owners may contact ford at 1‑888‑222‑2751.
Recall number 09V399000 · Recall details
Questions about the 1998 Ford Windstar sudden acceleration
Is sudden unintended acceleration a common problem on the 1998 Ford Windstar?
17 of 1,424 owner complaints about the 1998 Ford Windstar (1%) mention sudden unintended acceleration. The model year with the most reports is 1998.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 1998 Ford Windstar?
There is 1 recall and 5 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 1998 Ford Windstar
Stalling 98Coil spring 85Transmission failure 81ABS 75Ball joint 56Grinding brakes 51Fire or smoke 40Tire blowout 32Adaptive cruise 31Brake failure 28Jerking 27Fuel pump 22Harsh shifting 22Check engine light 20Won't shift 20Slipping 19Door locks 18Wipers 17Pulling 15Fuel gauge 14Power steering loss 13Engine failure 12Overheating 10Headlights 9Hesitation 8Loss of power 8Power windows 8Seat belt 8Fuel leak 7Fuel smell 6Steering lock-up 6Steering noise 6Knocking 5Won't start 5
VIN decoder
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