1999 Ford Windstar: grinding or squealing brakes

Filed Apr 2, 2025 · Suspension, Transmission · 103,000 miles · IN

The contact owns a 1999 Ford Windstar. The contact stated while driving 5 MPH out of the driveway, the vehicle made an abnormal grinding and popping sound. The contact shifted to park(P). The contact stated that upon inspecting the vehicle, the contact noticed that the rear passenger's side tire was pushed inward, and the axle was fractured. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that an unknown recall was closed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.

Filed Apr 12, 2018 · Body, Suspension · 160,000 miles · MI

I was driving and heard a thud. When I hit the brakes there was a grinding noise. The tire than becamed slant and the steering wheel is cocked to one side.

Filed Mar 17, 2011 · Body · IN

My son-in-law and daughter we driving on hwy 421 at 50 MPH. The van started shaking and they smelled rubber and heard grinding. He pulled over and the back tires were pushed in and the right back tire lost its lug nuts and tire was falling off. They removed the children from the car. It scared them to death! My son-in-law started walking to a gas station. My daughter looked under the van and saw the axle was snapped in half. A nice tow truck man stopped to help. He said, this van is on recall do you know what an axel is..she said yes....he looked under there and told her it was for sure snapped in half! I can't believe the ford windstar is doing this! It is very upsetting. It was towed to hersh ford in michigan city, indiana and were given a rental and told it could take over 4 months. How am I going to fit a family of 6 into a ford focus??

Filed Dec 14, 2010 · Body · 108,000 miles · NY

While driving my 1999 ford windstar I started to hear a grinding scrapping noise when making right turns the noise progressively started to get even worse I started to hear a loud clunking noise brought car to mechanic inspected and found that the sub frame was completed rusted out and the engine could drop at any time was advised not to drive vehicle ,luckily nothing happened when I was on the highway with my daughter driving at highway speeds. I contacted ford and they have told me there are no recalls on this particular situation, after checking online I have seen so many complaints I am now out a car and no money to buy new one, thank god my daughter was not hurt or anyone else I wish ford would realize this very dangerous situation and not wait for someone to get killed!!!

Filed Nov 4, 2010 · Body · 140,000 miles · IL

Sub frame on my 1999 ford windstar is rotted, the engine is rocking, the steering is loose, when making right hand turns there is grinding from the frame rubbing, when driving there is a very loud banging from the engine rocking back and forth on the rotted frame. It has not been fixed, and the car is not drivable as it occurs all the time.

Filed Oct 30, 2010 · Body · 110,000 miles · NY

The subframe on my 1999 ford windstar is severely corroded at most of the connection points. Whenever we make a turn we could hear the rattling/grinding sound coming from beneath the vehicle. This problem has not been corrected at this point, but I am considering doing some reinforcements and hoping there will a recall very soon.

Filed Oct 30, 2010 · Body · 150,000 miles · 00

Nothing appeared wrong with my vehicle and then I heard a loud clunk and grinding in the middle of driving through rush hour traffic in the city, I felt very unsafe driving the vehicle as I could tell something was seriously wrong but slowly drove it home. I found out that the subframe is broken due to rusting.

Filed Oct 22, 2010 · Body · 77,874 miles · IL

The subframe on my 1999 ford windstar rusted out and had to be replaced in 20 09. Whenever we made lefthand turns we would hear a grinding noise. I first brought the car in to be serviced in 2004. The service tech couldn't find anything wrong. I brought the car in to the dealer 3 more times between 2004 and 2009, each time a different diagnosis was made with resulting expense. The subframe was finally determined to be the problem. As I indicated it was replaced on1/2/2009 at a cost of $1014.75.

Filed Jul 29, 2009 · Suspension · 138,000 miles · NJ

1. Rear of van swaying and a squeaking noise..............2. Investigation revealed the rear axle cracked at the mid point 3/4 the way through..............3. Plan to replace the axle, have not done so as yet. I will keep the old axle or make it available if needed.............."the whole story"..............over the last couple of weeks I've noticed when hitting a bump the rear of the van would sway a little, and occasionally I?d hear a squeak/screech that sounded like it was coming from under the van. I decided to investigate the under carriage of my vehicle, I was shocked, dismayed, dumbfounded, and disbelieved what my eyes where showing me. The rear axle, a rather beefy looking piece of steel and engineering, was cracked of the way through. After doing a little research to my surprise I found this to be a common problem with windstar vans. Apparently dozens of windstar owners have had this problem and apparently ford like the valve cover snafu has decided to ignore it. Please, before someone tragically pays the ultimate price make them stand by their product and fix this problem.

Filed Jun 12, 2009 · Body · 98,000 miles · NJ

1999 ford windstar- was hearing a lot of deep sounding squeaking from the passenger front side. Also some cracking sounds when accelerating from a stop. Had a mechanic look and found the subframe was very badly rusted. We replaced the subframe. The repair shop took pictures for us and we were horrified to see how severe the situation actually was. It was very close to rusting completely through. 1999 windstar with 98,000 miles. Cost to repair was aprox. $1500. The car rides very smooth now that it has been repaired. Big difference in the feel. Was not aware how bouncy the car was riding. Now it feels almost like a new suspension.

Filed May 26, 2009 · Body, Suspension · 99,000 miles · WV

On may 22 my 1999 ford windstar van started to make a squealing/whining noise at approximately 10:30 in the morning during what should have been a 40 minute drive to my mothers house. Due to the weird noise I stopped and checked the air pressure in my tire (right rear) where the sound seemed to be originating from. The pressure was a little low so I topped it off and continued on my trip. The sound continued and I decided to stop at a service station about 20 more miles into the trip. The service station was little help, they checked my power steering fluid, drove the van around the parking lot a couple of times and it made no noises. The attendant told me he didn't have any idea as to what the sound might be and asked if I could return in an hour when his superior would be there. I agreed to return after dropping off my kids at my mothers. After going on down the road about another ten miles I felt the steering wheel start to float and drift and my brakes became useless and the van came to an abrupt halt and there was a huge bang as the entire rear end of the vehicle became disabled. As we all piled out to see what was wrong we found the rear wheels pointing inward under the van at a backwards angle. Some men came to help me who were nearby they informed me my axle was snapped. Looking under the vehicle I could clearly see they were right. My van will be repaired this weekend. I called ford they basically told me to eat the repairs myself. In wv a yearly inspection is required, I passed inspection at the beginning of april which tells me there was nothing visually wrong with my axle less than two months ago. I find it hard to believe that without any outside damage or force (accidents, force ect) an axle can just snap in two. If I had been traveling any faster my 4 children and myself would have been killed or harmed as at the moment it broke I had little control over the vehicle and the brakes were failing. Only people with children buy mini-vans, this is scary.

Filed Jun 6, 2008 · Body · 100,900 miles · DE

Started hearing a funny noise (rubbing or squeaking) on the passenger side of vehicle (1999 ford windstar). Mechanic showed me where the sub-frame has rusted and spit apart. The front end of the car is literally separating from the back end. He said he has never seen this happen and recommended that I call ford. Ford was no help at all. Said "sorry", but there was nothing they could do. Made no effort whatsoever to fix this safety issue. There was no accident with this, but there definitely would have been if I continued driving this.