Vehicle was parked in the driveway and without warning vehicle popped out of park into reverse. No one was hurt, dealer had been notified.
1999 Ford Windstar transmission complaints
Page 7 of 10: complaints 161 to 190 of 276, newest first, as owners wrote them.
There is a "skip" in the transmission that is a hard thud when it happens. I took it to the dealer, after several days and over 100 miles they "found" the problem and fixed it. It started to do it again about 6 months later. I just recently took it in for the console lights flickering when accelerating and told them again about the "thumping". They charged me for the diagnoses of there's nothing wrong, it's the A/C compressor that runs all the time. Also the brakes squeak horribly when you first start out with it for the day. They said the brakes rust and there wasn't anything they could do about it, that's just the way it goes. The date I'm using is an estimated date of when things first occurred.
1999 fordwindstar steering rack replaced at 62000 miles, transmission replaced at 75000 miles and intake gasket rplaced at 75000 miles.
Transaxles failed only 2 miles after being serviced by dealer, phil long ford invoice #focs570297. Service concluded "power-flush", item h. Parts invoice lists 14 "units of trans fluid @ $3.28 per unit. The manufacturer's owner manual lists maximum dry capacity as 12.25 quarts. The owner's manual also says "...while overfilling can cause foaming and loss of fluid. Either condition will cause transaxle damage."
Upon starting driver shifted the gear on the steering column but no movement of the van occurred. Also, transmission will make a clunking noise associated with the problem.
While driving a fire was observed by third party motorist. The fire emitted from under the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to world ford in pembroke pines, florida, for an initial assessment. According to world ford, the vehicle showed heavy transmission fluid leakage, but no obvious sign of fire or fire damage. The manufacturer declined to permit ford to work on the vehicle pending evaluation/inspection by the federal safety agency investigators to determine cause of fire, which may or may not be related to obvious transmission issues. *nlm *cb
My wife was proceeding from a stop,pressed gas and heard a pop or banging sound.car would not move in forward gears,only in reverse.towed to dealer.haven't heard from them yet.but by my reserch into this it appears to be a common problem.vehicle has 39,000 miles,never abused.ford should do something about this before someone is seriously hurt.
While traveling at 30 MPH consumer heard a loud bump noise. Felt like the vehicle wanted to stop. Dealer stated transmission needed replacement.
Sudden transmission failure on a 1999 ford windstar. The transmission suddenly failed while being driven by a ford dealership technician while test driving the vehicle after replacing a defective air intake manifold. Vehicle mileage was 32621 miles. While there was no accident envolved, the suddeness of the failure of a major drive component presents the hazard potential that needs to be investigated. An internet search has revealed significant numbers of complaints of similar premature and sudden failures on this vehicle and other model vehicles that use the transmission found in this vehicle. This complaint is being filed in order to bring it into the federal data base in order to determine if a recall of this transmission is warranted. I have the replaced components and would like to submit them for test and analysis if this agency is interested.
Transmission, sliding door, driver door, rack and pinion, steering pump, intake manifold, front suspension upper link, world's fastest declining vehicle value, world's worst customer service and satisfaction representatives.
Constant transmission shudder during upshift. Unlike the tsb dealing with shudder while cornering, this problem occurs all the time. Mechanic indicates that likely cause is failure of the piston in the foward clutch. A very common problem in windstars. Consequently, it causes insufficient acceleration form a stop making crossing intersections unsafe.
We have owned our 99' windstar since the day it was new, and at first loved it. But there seems to be a major problem with the transmission and as I have found out with ford employed investigators the 99' was a bad year for many areas to include the transmission. Our transmission goes into default limp-home mode(overdrive flashes on and off continuously RPM's increase and shifts hard). At 5 miles after starting up and getting under way. The dealer told me the best repair to the problem was to "drive the van till the trans dies" as this was an easier fix than the bad computer module. Supposedly cheaper as well. I strongly urge everyone in the windstar transmission predickament to spread the news as ford should correct this known problem befor it kills someone.
While driving, the transmission failed which caused the vehicle to only move in reverse.
Transmission failure.
Vehicle transmission went bad at 42,000 miles, ford windstar- manufacture would not assist in repairs, caused family to be stranded in remote area. Had to have a new transmission installed. Have had numerous other problems with the windstar.
While driving the transmission failed while the consumer attempted to down shift.
I have mechanical experience and maintain my vehicles religiously as I like to keep them as long as possible. We have a '99 ford windstar and at 30,800 miles the transmission gave out as my wife was driving through a busy intersection. She described it as a loud "bang" and then it would not go any further. After having it towed to the dealership they advised we had worn out the "clutches" and the transmision needed to be replaced. I had just driven the vehicle on a ski trip vacation the week before and the transmission did not slip or have any problems, something inside the transmission broke without any prior warning and left my wife and kids stranded in the middle of a busy intersection. After researching on the web and verifying through some connections I found that this is a consistent problem with these transmissions and it usually occurs between 30k to 50k miles. The dealership tried to make us pay since it was 800 miles over the warranty but after much deliberation they agreed to "let" us purchase an extended warranty and gave us a rebuilt transmision. We had the vehicle in several times previously for transmission recalls and performance issues. We never tow anything with our van and my wife mainly drives around the area to work and transporting our children. Where my wife was stranded was on top of a hill in the middle of a 6 lane highway intersection and not only do I feel this is a quality issue perpetuated on ford customers but a safety issue also as was demonstrated at this time.
Sudden transmission failure.
1999 ford windstar with approximately 59,000 miles had unexpected transmission failure while driving at low speed. Vehicle lurched "like it had hit a box" while accelerating from a stop sign. Vehicle was immediately stopped to check for any debris; none found. Upon re-entering vehicle, it could not be driven forward in "drive." vehicle could only be driven in "reverse" gear. Vehicle towed to ford dealership and it was determined that entire transmission needed to be replaced. Preventive maintenance was performed on the transmission by same ford dealership in november 2002. Two of our in-laws also own 1999 ford windstars, one of whom is now on it's third transmission, and the other is currently experiencing occasional "slipping" of the transmission during acceleration.
Transmission fail-forward clutch piston. Stopped at stop sign and when I put foot on gas to go it just raced the engine. Gears would not engage. No forewarning and only 33,000 miles on a lightly driven car! Called ford dealer and corp. And they won't do anything. From what I read this is a very common occurrence and had I pulled into traffic this morning and lost it I would be writing this from a hospital!!! I think this needs to be brought to fords attention! I will be out of almost 2500 when this is over....money in these times that I cannot afford!
1999 ford windstar, transmission experienced a complete failure. 78,000 miles, no warning given. Dealer quoted $2500.00 for rebuilt tranny. As I understand, this vehicle has been plaqued with drivetrain problems. I would like to see ford be forced to repair/replace/reimburse owners for repairs that should have never been necessary.
The transmission failed.
We just had to replace the transmission in our 1999 ford windstar. It has 107,000 miles on the odometer. When we had 63,000 miles, we had to replace the power steering rack. This is a very expensive vehicle to own - especially with the expensive repairs that it requires.
1999 ford windstar with 63,000 miles transmission failure
Automatic transmission failed @ 71,000 miles, 3 1/2 yr old vehicle. Reverse still worked, forward gears acted as though in neutral.
I pulled out of a restaurant parking lot into a roadway median so I could merge into traffic. We felt a jolt and heard a loud "thunk" sort of sound. The engine revved up high suddenly, but we weren't moving much. I let off the gas. The van rolled for a bit, but once we stopped it wouldn't go any more. No gears at all. Dealer advised we need a new transmission. Warrenty just expired. Only 43,000 miles. I called ford and their response was along the lines of "yeah, that's a real shame."
My van was barely out of warranty when the o/d off light began flashing and the check engine light came on. The ford dealer told me that the check engine light was a result of a broken sensor weld on my intake manifold to the tune of approx. $900. They also stated that the o/d off light meant that the entire transmission needed replaced to the tune of $2,700. All this for being 1 month and 500 miles out of warranty. Plus, I see that many people with ford windstars are experiencing the same thing at 35,000 miles and 70,000 (twice) so I see that I will undoubtedly have something to look forward to when the warranty runs out on the transmission... Almost like the darned thing is deliberately designed to create a huge repair bill the moment it is out of warranty.
The transmission failed on our 1999 ford windstar while my wife was driving down the road causing her to have to unexpectedly pull over. The van only has 35k miles on it. We have to replace the transmission after so few miles. After perusing the internet, I discovered that this is a common problem on this vehicle.
Consumer stated that while vehicle was in park the vehicle will jump out of gear into reverse causing an accident and damage to the vehicle. Dealer notified. Ts
Automatic tranmission failure at 29,131 miles.
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