Rear axle broke in 2 pcs.
2000 Ford Windstar suspension complaints
Page 11 of 13: complaints 281 to 310 of 356, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl*the contact owns a 2000 ford windstar. While entering the driveway from a six hour trip, the rear side of the vehicle malfunctioned. A local mechanic advised her that the rear axle fractured in half. The vehicle was being repaired. . The current and failure mileages were 112,000. Updated 11/12/09 *cn updated 11/16/09
Purchased a vehicle off of the white allen lot with additional coverage with wynn's plus extended warranty on may 31, 2009. In august 2009, the van is very loose and unsteady while driving. Took to grismer on september 5, 2009 to find that the front tie rods needed to be replaced. Still unsteady especially in the rear. On september 10, 2009 the rear axle beam broke in two! The warranty company will not cover, and I come to find out through researching that across the u.s. Thousands of persons have had this axle break on them nearly missing death on highways and byways. Ford is aware of the defective axle beam yet has made no attempt to my knowledge to recall. Lives are hanging in the balance and it seems they are more concerned about losing money. I can understand the concern especially with the economy the way it is. However, the consumer should not have to pay with their lives and the lives of their children because ford decided that money was more important than human life. Not to mention had they been more concerned about quality vs. Quantity, perhaps this would not be a complaint that thousands of people have to make. The money spent repairing the defect that is not covered ($1,000) still doesn't give you peace of mind that you and your family are safe because they have made no effort to replace the part with one that is not defective. You just replace it with another defective part! When did human life become so insignificant that a car company who knows that there is a safety issue, can ignore it putting lives at risk and make money off of the rolling dead! If you are like me, you need to get to work, pick up, drop off kids, go out of town. As long as there is no recall effort for this part, americans take the risk of never coming home to their families or their families not making it home from a little league football games, soccer, ballet etc. It is tragic and someone needs to do something before lives are lost. No action has been take.
2000 ford windstar engine cradle rusted, came loose of frame, caused steering issue. This could cause serious injury accident or death if happened at high rate of speed.
2000 ford windstar, driving at 20 MPH rear axle snapped in half while my 3 children were in the car!
We own a 2000 ford windstar and when it began clunking on my wife and 4 children I got under it to check the tires and discovered my axel was snapped in half for no reason at all this vehicle has done nothing but ride family around when I typed it in I found many other complaints about this issue on their windstars as well ford should have a recall on this issue.
Tl- the contact owns a 2000 ford windstar. He states that while backing out he noticed that the the rear axle snapped. A week before the vehicle deveolped a under steer . The dealer was contacted and they did not want to help the consumer with this problem. He states that this is a very big safety issue. He noticed that there many other vehicle with this problem online. The vehicle is at the residence and is not drivable.the has not decided yet ti repair the vehicle. The failure and current mileage was 146000.
Ford windstar rear axle cracked through 9/10ths of the axle. Issues with drivable but did not realize cause. Pulled into parking lot due to loud noise in rear wheel well. Both tires were pitched inward due to the axle having moved out of position due to the crack. Only about 1 inch of metal remained intact on the axle. Auto was towed to the dealer who advised replacement is necessary at an approximate cost of $1100. Having just driven for 4 hours on the highway through a downpore, I am certainly glad the breakage did not fully materialize until I was running at a slower speed. If the failure occurred at highway speeds my family and I may not be here today. At a minimum, a bulletin should be issued to all consumers to check for potential cracks and failures of the rear axle as a preventative measure. There was no prior indication and I had the vehicle into a shop 1 day before the occurrence for replacing a rear tire. The repair shop did not advise of any potential issues.
Two days prior to rear axle snapping in two noise when turning right. Upon inspection stress crack was unobservable. While in reverse rear axle snapped in two. Can't find towing company that will tow van in such an unsafe state since rear spring could fly out and kill someone.
I had been concerned about a bad shimmy at 50 MPH on my 2000 ford windstar, and I had spoken to my dealer about it when I had the oil changed. Less than a week later, as I pulled from my driveway, the rear axle broke completely in two. We have tried to get ford to address this problem, as there must be millions of these vans still on the road, and most of them carry children. We have not had any response so we are filing this complaint. We have heard of other failures and as you know they could be deadly. We paid to have the axle replaced.
Mileage 65,000 my wife and 3 toddlers drove to a tire store monday morning (march 5, 2009) to purchased two new tires for the back. The mechanics drove the car onto the hydraulic jacks and as soon as the car was being lifted up, they noticed right away that the rear axle of the car was splitting in half... So they tell my wife what happened and she calls me up. Well I'm roughly 30 miles away, so I had to take some time off and drove my little car to the place and couldn't believe it. The rear axle was broken with inch remaining on the top portion before it completely broke in half. Unbelievable! The break was about 2 feet from the driver's side rear tire. Had no choice but to get it fixed since it was already broken and up in the air. The next day I called ford motor company up and will do nothing about it. The mechanic even told me and my wife that he went through 4 rear axles roughly the same as my van! After hearing others with the same problems, ford motor company should tell the public and have there vans checked before someone or family gets killed or seriously injured!! The lord was with us on that day. What can be done about this?
My 2000 ford windstar was sitting in my driveway when the front driver side coil spring broke. I found part of the spring on the ground covered in bright orange rust. The spring completely sheared off. I noticed that the 1995-1998 windstar had a recall for this exact same problem (the federal safety agency campaign id number: 01i007000 ) I am certainly glad I wasn't driving with my 3 children!
Rear axle on 2000 ford windstar van cracked on drivers side of van. I am not sure when the crack started, but it was found during an inspection of the van. A quick internet search shows that this problem ha caused safety issues on other vans. I will need to find a way to repair the axle, it appears the replacement parts may be an issue as well.
Rear axle beam cracked in half about 1.5 ft from driver side wheel . Heard clunking sound mechanic found crack.
2000 ford windstar lx van with approx 97,000 miles. My wife was driving at a slow speed in a parking lot and all of a sudden there was a loud bang and she could not steer the vehicle. Fortunately, she was able to stop the van. One wheel in the front was straight and the other front wheel was turned at a 45 degree angle. We had the car towed to the ford dealer. The problem was the sub frame rusted out, causing the transaxle to pull away from the transmission and dropping the engine. The repairs included replacing the sub frame assembly,transaxle, seals etc. The dealer told me that this was highly unusual for this to happen.... I contacted ford and they told me they would do nothing to cover any portion of the cost. I believe this is a safety related issue because if my wife was driving on the open road and this happened, she would not be able to steer the vehicle and the end result would be a collision. I have saved all the parts for future investigation.
Driving my 2000 ford windstar (85,000 miles on it) on the freeway at 65 miles per hour on sunday 3/15/09. The back end of the car gave way and started fish tailing. Turns out the rear axle broke in half on its own. I have the car at bill brown auto clinic in canton, michigan. They have ordered a new axle. They originally were going to get a used one from a salvage yard but indicated this is a recurring problem with ford windstars and so they ordered a new axle. Everyone I talk to says rear axles should not give way the way this windstar did. The indication is it had a long term crack and rusted through until it gave way. The car did fish tail wildly but did not flip over before I was able to stop it.
I was under the rear of my 2000 ford windstar checking the condition of my spare tire when I looked at the axle and noticed a crack forming on the axle closes to the left rear wheel. Now after doing some research I found that this is a command failure but nothing has been done to correct this hazardous and deadly defect which could end up into a crash.
Took car for routine oil/grease...car was on lift and being inspected...I was told the rear axle was cracked and needed to be replaced...repair (replacement) was made today ("replaced rear shock absorber and axle asy")...old part may be yet with tom's ford, hazlet, nj.
Rear axle nearly severed at two location both ~ 17 inches in from the driver and passenger side rear tires on september 14, 2007. ~75 -80 % of circumference of axle was cracked through wall and axle material was beginning to yield. Very similar to a the federal safety agency complaint # 10190132. Had 74, 440 miles at time of discovery of this significant safety issue. Car was never used for trailing or carries any heavy loads just our young family. Car has been well cared for and garaged kept. Had been hearing a faint metal grinding sound that I heard and kept inspecting under carriage. Also, had notice several months before that rear end felt spongy. Had replace rear shocks and was surprised that this still did not correct sponginess feel. Metal grinding sound was noticeable when backing out driveway with slight driveway incline. When I would apply brakes at end of driveway would hear a metal click sound. Finally with high power light inspection cracks were discovered. I have full powerpoint presentation on this issue with digital pictures if the federal safety agency would like this detailed information. Had brought documentation to my ford dealer and spent two week going through their ford rep. Before they agreed to cover the $1700 replacement of rear axle. Once again they have a know quality defect and they try not to deal with this even thou this could be a significant safety issue causing potential death. Had I not discover this and axle fracture at highways speeds I hate to think what would have happened. This needs serious attention and action to save lives ...
Driving to church this morning and noticed the back end of the car swaying. I inspected the tires and all appeared to be in order. I drove home and noticed the same thing. At home inspected the vehicle to find the rear axle completely severed (except about 1 inch of metal) about 1.5 feet from the left wheel. Nothing done about this yet as we just discovered this tonight. I searched on autobeef.com and found 8-9 other complaints of the very same failure.
I took vehicle in for checkup before going for dmv inspection and was told by my auto repair shop that the rare axel was broken, my first response are you joking!? I told him not to do any thing until I arrived because I could not believe what I was hearing. When I arrived I could not believe my eyes since I never did anything to cause this type of failure, it was only a matter of time before everything came apart. I was told by my repair shop that this was the 5th time they saw this in the past 2 months. This car is used on the parkway on a daily basis, this could have broken while traveling over 60mph, god only knows what serious accident was waiting to happen if this was not discovered. Ford company should take full responsibility for the replacement part and labor cost. This is a very serious failure on a very important part of this car.
Failure of 2000 model year ford windstar rear axle. Component is cracked along it's circumference at a place not near any weld or attachment. Vehicle has never been involved in an accident, and currently is at 98k miles. There is no obvious cause of the failure, which was noticed during normal operation, vehicle was parked and towed to a garage for diagnosis and repair. Owing to the age and mileage, vehicle was not taken to a ford dealership. Vin is not close at hand, but available.
Mileage ~122,000. After shocks and struts were replaced 2 months ago, a grinding and popping was heard from the front end when turning and driving over 20 MPH. Car was brought in to local repair shop and technician stated that the driver's side shock plate was going bad. You could place your hand on top of the shock plate while the wheel was turning and feel it grinding. Replaced shock plate on 11/5/08; noises got worse. Vehicle was brought in on 11/11/08 and at first the repair shop said the new plate was bad and the other plate was going out. You put your hand on both plates and felt the grinding as the steering wheel was turned. Repairman decided to see if a service bulletin was issued by ford on the problem; it was. Ford stated that a spacer needed to be placed between the shocks and the shock plate if this noise begins to happen. I am now waiting for the dealership to get the parts in and anticipating paying at least $400.00 for this repair. If ford knows about their design flaw, they should at least pay for the replacement part. This is not the first time I have had to pay for parts and replacement on some ford design flaw; a flaw in which ford had described in a service bulletin but took no responsibility for when it came to having to fix it.
Rear end shaking due to rear axle beam crack. Rear axle beam has no rust .the crack was all the way through almost split in half.
Tl*the contact owns a 2000 ford windstar. While backing out of the driveway at 5 MPH, the bracket that supports the lower passenger side control arm failed. A mechanic stated that the engine cradle needed to be replaced. The manufacturer and dealer were not notified. The vehicle has not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were 81,000.
2000 ford windstar van broken rear axle, had to completely install new rear axle dealer part only ale broke completely in half! Van creaked like it was broken for a little while then had rear shocks replaced and axle broke. I have pictures and the original part.
I was driving my 2000 ford windstar on a major highway and went over a minor dip when I heard a thump in the front end. I thought I might have hit something and pulled over. There was nothing around and I looked under the van to find nothing obvious. Since then we occasionally hear a grinding noise when we hit a bump. I finally noticed that the left front coil spring snapped.
Tl*the contact owns a 2000 ford windstar. While driving at an unknown speed, the contact noticed a clunking noise especially when driving over a bump in the road. Her sister had the same vehicle with the identical failure several months prior. The contact described the issue to her and was advised to visit her mechanic. The mechanic stated that he had never seen a crack in the rear axle beam, which should never occur. He further stated that it was due to either a defect in the design of the vehicle or the steel. The manufacturer stated that the vehicle was out of warranty and would not be covered. The current and failure mileages were approximately 79,000.
Windstar broken rear axle strikes again. We were on our way to dinner with retired ford employee and his lovely wife. We were in dearborn on michigan avenue when bad noises, and smells came from the rear of the van. We pulled over and discovered a totally broken axle cover. My husband works in steel. If we had been on the southfield as we had planned and this happened there would have been disastrous results not only for us but we could have placed other families in danger as well. Both men. The police who stopped to help and the tow truck driver agreed that axles don't just break.
The car seemed at first to be hydroplaning due to the rain, but then it got much worse. When I removed the rear passenger wheel, I saw the rear axle beam had snapped at the weld point. The car was very difficult to drive and the repair shop indicated that we should have had it towed in because sometimes the wheels will shear away from the suspension when the beam is broken. This car has only been in one minor accident, with minimal body damage and no damage at all to the body structure, so this was without question a manufacture defect in the part.
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