Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford windstar. The contact stated that the under carriage was covered with rust from front to back. The spare tire under the vehicle was barely being held in place. The front passenger side wheel was no longer supported by the frame and the front driver side wheel was almost covered with rust and failing. The vehicle had not been inspected at the time of the complaint. The failure and current mileages were 50000. Updated 12/02/10 *bf updated 12/07/10
1999 Ford Windstar body complaints
Page 6 of 10: complaints 131 to 160 of 275, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The front frame near the right wheel of my 1999 ford windstar has rusted to the point where I have been advised by the ford dealership repair department not to safely drive the vehicle. I have read where there have been 900,000 complaints about this which may result in an recall. The vehicle has only 77000 mile on it and is otherwise in good condition and now is useless unless repaired. I am adding to the complaint list!
1999 ford windstar subframe cracked less than a 100,000.00 miles mechanic confused and surprised says should not have happened on such a young car.
After a couple of inspections and lots of clunking noises and alignment issues, my mechanic (and a mechanic from another shop) suggested strongly that I replace the vehicle's subframe/engine cradle. The frame was rusting/rotting from the inside out at both front ends near and around the motor mounts and the subframe bolts (attaching to the unibody frame). There was also some rot occurring below the area that A/C water condensation drips. The frame was replaced soon after ... Avoiding driving the vehicle until repair was made. Unfortunately, the old part was tossed before I could ask the mechanic to save it for me.
Our 99 ford windstar that we purchased, broke its rear bar yesterday. However, we purchased it used from luther family ford in north dakota, they told us that our windstar had spent most of its life up north in ohio, minnesota etc. I looked at the ford windstars under body yesterday and you can easily tell that it has been corroded all along the underbody from the salt. Where the rear bar broke you can see rust and salt corrosion very easily, not to mention that the spare tire is completely rusted over from the salt. My wife and I have taken very good care of our vehicle, and have never driven anywhere it is not supposed to and yesterday she pulled out a parking spot and she heard a thud, and then a scraping sound. She called me and I came out and looked at it. I noticed that all across the rear bar area there is a large quantity of rust and where it broke you can see a build up of rust from salt. Mainly due to it spending most of its life up north. We did speak to ford, and they mentioned that our rear bar snapped in two, and it was from rust and salt that weakened it to the point of breaking. They however state its not on the list so they will not do anything. We even double checked with luther family ford, and they told us ours was manufactured in one of the plants that did have problems. So even though ford states that it is not one of the vehicles with the problem, I believe there may be a larger underlying amount that they would rather not have to deal with. We had our vehicle towed to our house where are waiting to hear more about this recall to see if any other ones are among them.
Front frame (shop called it a k-member or engine cradle) was rusted thru & broke off where it attached to the body of the vehicle. This happened while my daughter was driving locally, luckily not on the freeway. Steering wheel went out of alignment a full 90 to 120 degrees while she was driving. Most shops would not fix it, but found a shop who put in a salvage yard part. Ford dealer was ludicrously high dollar & very unsympathetic.
Front sub-frame corrosion has caused frame to break on passenger side. Break likely occurred while making a hard right turn to join traffic on a 40mph road as a noise was heard at that time. Not realizing that some structural failure had occurred the car was driven on two more occasions on the following day and at highway speed. One day later strange noise occurred again when turning, so car was brought in for service. Repair shop has indicated sub-frame is severed in area noted above and car is unsafe to drive.
The rear axle cracked on my 1999 ford windstar while driving 20 MPH on a city street. The axle had to be replaced. The car is being picked up tomorrow (thursday august 19, 2010) and I will see if the broken axle is available.
Was driving my 99 windstar south bound at about 70 MPH on the garden state parkway and had thought that a tire went flat almost lost control tried to pull left but the van was still going right and almost spun me around and almost collided with three other cars,upon pulling over heard noises coming from rear. Looked underneath and the axle was broken in half. Had to wait over an hour for a tow just to get off the road and then wait for another tow from there. I drive 200 hundred miles daily 5 days a week. It was many only vehicle too.
Noise heard in front end. Suspected problem possibly with joints....turns out to be a rusted and cracked frame. *tr this is the second time within the last two weeks the salvage co who took our car witnessed this same problem. Dangerous!
1999 windstar,front subframe broke off due to excessive corrosion.
Rusted out sub frame. It cost me $1,150.00 dollars to repair with a used one. Not happy. Tranny slams from 1st to 2nd gear; it started about 6 months after I bought it in 2001, they fixed it. Then it started again in 2006 when it hit about 80,000 miles. I stopped driving it for awhile after fighting over it with the miller ford dealer then finally got the money to repair the sub frame. Now I just drive it and use 2nd and 3rd gear. The od light keeps coming on.
I would like to formally submit a complaint along with the other ford windstar owners for rear axle breaking. My 1999 windstar broke last night while traveling on i90 in boston. The car began to wander excessively, then noises, tire smoke, and dangerous controllability. My daughter was in the car, and it was a dangerous situation for me, my daughter and the other motorists.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford windstar. The contact stated while driving at 65 MPH, the front wheel began to wobble abnormally. The dealer discovered that the frame was rusted and partially separated on the front passenger side where the wheel was mounted to the frame. The vehicle was repaired by the dealer. The failure mileage was 105,000 and the current mileage was 106,000. Updated 11/17/10
I was servicing the brakes and notice the right side of the sub-frame (engine cradle) was rusting away. I was telling my father about the frame rusting and he had thought there was a recall on that. I started searching the internet and found alot of people with the same problem. But no recall info. I am not sure if the van is safe to drive. I also own a 2000 windstar and it showing the same signs of heavy rust in the same area.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford windstar. While traveling at 10 MPH, the contact heard an unusual clunking from the rear of the vehicle. The contact discovered that the rear frame was cracked. The vehicle was not diagnosed for the failure and there were no prior warnings of the failure. The current and failure mileages were 130,000.
Rear axle beam has crack and some rot. I now have van parked for fear for safety for my family. We do not have a second vehicle to use .so it will be a burden until a recall is in order. I am a ford guy and always bought a ford vehicle and now im having doubt about their lacking for this recall. Shame on them. Having to now start borrowing a car until something is done.
The rear axel or rear casing on my 1999 ford windstar broke in half. I did some research on the internet and see there are many other people that this has happened to. It is just a matter of time before someone gets killed because of this. Thank god my kids were not in the car when this happened. Ford needs to look into this and do a recall as this is not a one off thing.
Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford windstar. While driving approximately 5 MPH a loud noise was heard and the vehicle would no longer move. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop where she was informed that the frame in front of the vehicle snapped. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 91,000.
My 1999 ford windstar le seemed to be swaying on turns. I looked under and the rear axle was snapped in two about 12" off of center on the drivers side. I was only on local roads, going no more than 35 or 40 at most. It is now parked in a public lot. I took pictures. I researched to find out how much the repair might be and found a bunch of other people in the same boat I am in. I hope ford will recall this problem. I noticed my ABS light issue is not mine alone either!
My 99 windstar with 144,000 r/f sub frame snapped due to rust from the A/C drain tube located above the sub frame. Poor design on the part of ford. This van is in very good running condition, but now it will cost more than it's blue book worth to repair it. Please find below a link to a forum where many people have had the same problem. This should be a recall !! There is no excuse for the frame to rust out before the body or 20 years of driving. Http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/ford/windstar/r114296/comments/ someone could get killed .
1999 ford windstar w/ 103,500 mi. Traveling 57mph on highway. While traveling over a rough section the van started to shimmy, then the rear started swaying side to side rapidly then the rearend of the van dropped. The fact that the rearend dropped, w/ the tops of both tires riding against the inner wheel wells ( / \ = rear view of van), is what stabilized the van till I was able to stop safely on the side of the highway. The rear axle beam was fractured, surface rust is noticeable but there is no rot in this area, I have a photo. The fracture occurred on the driver side of the van about 6" to the right of the welds, (the axle beam is torn in half). This is a stress fracture! I've seen things like this over the years on some of our equipment at work. I first noticed some sway in the rearend the day before while going around sharp curves in the rain, I assumed it was due to traction. A week prior to the sway I started having a shimmy which emanated from the front, or so I assumed. The van has been taken by flat bed to a local ford dealer. I am waiting to hear from them concerning costs on repair work. The van is not drivable in any way!
My 1999 ford windstar rear axle broke in half good thing nobody hurt. I called ford they are doing nothing about this 900.00 to fix problem this happened 7/8/2010 73,000, miles.
I have a 1999 ford windstar that I purchased used approximately 9 years ago. On friday, july 9th, I was on my way to the beach with two of my sons and had just crossed the delaware memorial bridge and had turned onto route 40 when I heard a loud noise. At first I thought I had a flat tire but then saw smoke coming from the back of the car and immediately pulled over. I was very alarmed to see that the rear axle of my car had completely broken in half and my tires were turned inward. Had this happened while crossing the bridge this could have resulted in a serious accident. I was very lucky that this happened where it did, even though I had to be towed from new jersey to pa. This is not an isolated incident with these vans as I have found out since friday. Something has to be done about this before a life is lost due to this defect.
Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford windstar. While driving 35 MPH there was a loud noise in the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who stated that the rear end was covered with rust and replaced it for $700. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure and current mileages were 187,000.
I was driving about 25 miles per hour and my real axel broke in half.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford windstar. The contact stated that the rear, driver side sliding door would not close. The dealer replaced the alternator but to no avail. In addition, the ABS warning light remained illuminated and the front driver's seat belt was covered in an unknown oil each time it was retracted. The dealer was unable to repair any of the failures. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was approximately 95,000.
I was backing my 1999 ford windstar van out of the driveway at 3:45 p.m. On a clear day, sunday june 20, 2010, when, without warning, the rear "axle" broke in half and collapsed. The wheels tilted in. Results on a highway would have been disastrous or deadly. Ford shows no recall for this issue, but numerous reports are online of the same problem for the same vehicle models of several model years. No repair report yet, as this just happened a day before this report. I haven't
1999 ford windstar rear axle snapped in half while operating at 35 MPH.
Increased vibration in rear end. Felt like wheel balance was way off. Days leading up to axle break. Lots of rear-end shimmy when going over any bumps especially if in turns. Clicking noises when backing up. Sliding rear end with wet road.. Erratic steering. Felt wobbly like very strong gusts of wind buffeting sides of vehicle. When axle split, rear end totally unstable. Fortunately was on city street (and not on highway) and was able to maintain some control. Was at night. Deserted street and city speed of 40mph. Swerved over double yellow lines. If had been earlier in day, would have probably collided with oncoming traffic. Was able to overcome loss of control and steer back into lane and then over to side of road. No curb stones or I would have definitely blown a tire or two and damaged undercarriage. Very scary. Thankfully no family onboard. Have ordered replacement axle. May need to replace coil springs and shocks if they have been bent/distorted/damaged. Mechanic says will know when replacing with new axle. I have asked to retain old parts for future inspection and proof of defect. Cannot believe ford has allowed this known problem to go on without recall! Hundreds have reported same problems online. How many thousands have not reported it?! This is going to cost me over a thousand dollars to repair. Also, had a major issue with totally rotted sub-frame last year --- also a major issue with other owners! Another safety issue!! That cost me nearly $1500! Ford should be embarrassed and sorry and help their loyal customers -- not just ignore it and them! Please do something to help us and other owners before someone gets killed!
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