Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford windstar. Occasionally, the contact has to spend time maneuvering the gear shift out of park. The dealer stated that there was a related safety recall; however, it was performed on the vehicle with the first owner. The current mileage was 129,500 and the failure mileage was 124,000. Updated 06/25/08 *cn the consumer requested to withdraw his complaint, since the dealer said the problem was originating from somewhere else and the recall problem was not the issue. Updated 06/25/08
2001 Ford Windstar electrical complaints
Page 8 of 9: complaints 191 to 220 of 223, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My family and I were exiting the new york state thruway at exit 25a on wed 8/8 at approximately 8:30pm. Sparks were noticeable on the passenger side of our 2001 ford windstar. The sparks were coming from under the left side of the hood. As we went through the toll booth and onto the exit ramp to route 7, smoke began coming in the air vents. At that time I pulled to the shoulder of the ramp and looked in the rear of the car for a fire extinguisher. Unfortunately I did not have one in the car. I then went to assist my wife with getting our 5 year old son out of the back seat. At that time I noticed flames coming from under the hood on the left side. We exited the vehicle and another person assisted me with getting various belongings out. We then waited for help to arrive. The car was totally destroyed by the fire. The insurance company took care of what they considered the value (this value was lower than the nada value). I protested this but was told they could not consider nada due to its accessibility online. Their value resulted in my having to pay $1000 to fulfill my loan obligation and release the lien to the insurance company. I then contacted ford and reported the incident to which their reply was the insurance company could pursue restitution but not myself. Why is it that I am the one that suffers this great loss? We have spent $2000 to satisfy this loan and put a down payment on a new car. This clearly is the responsibility of ford. Cars do not just catch on fire for no reason. There are many recalls on ford products. Lawyers have not responded to my messages regarding this matter because no one was injured. I am only seeking for ford to take responsibility for this or the insurance company to pay the proper value of my vehicle.
Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford windstar. While driving between 20 and 70 MPH, the ABS and brake lights illuminated simultaneously on the instrument panel. The failure has been occurring only in warm weather. The indicators remained illuminated until the vehicle was shut off. The contact stated that the brakes were operating normally. On one occasion, the contact smelled an unrecognizable odor. The current mileage was 81,209 and failure mileage was 80,650.
Upon starting the 2001 ford windstar van tuesday morning several of the warning lights stayed on, including the brake and ABS lights. The digital odometer display changed from numbers to dashes and the speedometer remained at "0" when driving. Also, the air conditioning (A/C ) stopped working. I took it to the ford dealership for repair. It took them 2 days to find the problem which turned out to be a defective cruise control deactivation switch. The service dept. Manager said we were fortunate that the van did not catch on fire. He told us that the switch had completely melted and had charred the surrounding wires. This problem is very similar to the problem which caused the massive ford recall in 2005, but ford claims that this has never been a problem in their minivans. The ford dealership did repair the damage at a cost of about $700. I did not think to ask at the time if I could have the burned switch. I would like this to go on record in case there are other vans out there with the same problem. Perhaps the ford recall needs to be extended to include the windstars as well. I contacted ford by email and was told that there were currently no safety recalls involving this van.
On may 2, 2007 we detected an odor of burning plastic in the house. After searching the house I opened the garage and a large amount of smoke filled the house. The occupants left through the front door, and I proceeded to open the garage door and went out with phone in hand. While I was standing outside a friend's son indicated that there were flames under the van. I went back into the house, got the keys and made an attempt of pushing the van out of the garage. As I took the vehicle out or park I noticed flames coming from the engine compartment at the windshield. I decided that I was not going to be a hero, and I got out of the van and garage. We were afraid of an explosion since the gas tank was filled that day. I called the fire department which extinguished the fire before it spread to the house. I attempted to get a water hose to try to contain the fire, but after four steps, my right knee on which I had surgery three weeks before it gave out on me and I ended up having to go to the emergency room. The van was totaled by the insurance company. My daughter and I did extensive research of the ford web site , and in all cases involving fires ford motor company has not even blinked an eye to pay one cent. Why can't the government go after this company that knowingly produced a product that was defective and continued to produce over and over again without taking safety into consideration. We have been fortunate that there were no deaths involved. What is it going to take?
My 2001 windstar has been blowing driver side headlights. Not only does the light blow but the entire glass part of bulb blows completely off. This is the 6th time we have changed bulb. This time I was 60 miles from home on a road full of 18 wheelers. When the head light blows so does my tail lights. So I must drive home with 4 way flashers on. The only reason I have this van is because we have 5 children and have to use a van to go anywhere. Which means my children are always in it when it messes up. This time ,also, when trying to get the van back home, my interior lights kept going on and off by there self. And as always the motor stutters and makes it hard to go up any hill. We live in alabama. Every road I take is nothing but hills.
Tl* - the contact called regarding the 2001 ford windstar. The contact stated when he started the vehicle the contact began to smell wires burning. The contact stated that he saw smoke coming out from under the driver's front seat and exited the vehicle. The engine was located under the driver's front seat. The failure mileage was 138,000. The fire went out by itself. The contact did not take the vehicle to dealer for repairs. The vehicle was drivable. There were no warning indicators. The failure and current mileages were 138000.
1) none. 2) multiple occasions failure of the brakes occurred after the vehical came to a compete stop. Car shutters at 40,50 and 60 MPH. Several mis-accidents occured. These were diverted as our habits were altered to stop a minimum 10 feet from traffic and travel 10-15 MPH less that posted. 3) replacement of the complete break system, pads, cylinders, lines, rotors and all computers to include fuses. All factory parts.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving 35mph on a street in rainy weather, the brake warning light illuminated. A bystander alerted the contact that the rear brake lights were inoperative. Upon initial inspection the contact determined the rear brake wiring harness was wet and corroded from rainwater and it needed to be replaced. The dealer and manufacturer were alerted.
Dt*: the contact stated while the vehicle was parked in an idle position, smoke began coming out from under the hood. There were no warning signals prior to the incident. Upon inspection, the cruise control deactivation switch and the brake master cylinder were observed to be completely burnt. The service dealer was contacted, and determined that the fire began in the deactivation switch. The dealer refused to offer a new cruise control deactivation switch and wiring for the electrical system. The manufacturer alerted the contact that replacement parts that were available were defective.
Foia request any reports, notices complaints/ information, mfg violations, warning/ regulatory ltrs re electrical and/or air bag fires in 2004-2004 ford windstar minivans. *ts the consumers daughter died and the son was injured when their vehicle caught on fire.
While driving down the road, I pressed my brakes to stop and the pedal went to the floor. I had no brakes until I pumped my brakes several times. While doing this my brake light and ABS light came on and stayed on. My o/d light was flashing and my speedometer stopped working along with odometer. And my A/C stopped working. We stopped to work on it and found fuse number 10 was blown. We replaced fuse. When we turned to key to start the motor blue smoke came up from motor area and fuse instantly blew. Upon further inspection found that the sensor under master cylinder was leaking brake fluid into electrical harness. Have not fixed sensor yet.
Dt: caller was concerned about cruise control burning up. He might have had it fixed, but he didn't know for sure. Caller said cruise control would not work, and then the horn would not work. Dealer replaced the steering column. That is all the caller thinks the dealer did.*ak consumer feels vehicle had a defective cruise control and should be included in recall.
While driving my 2001 ford windstar the entire dashboard lit up. Then the ABS, odometer, and engine light remained on. Speedometer stopped working, and the odometer went blank. The van was taken to apple valley ford, where we were told that ABS system had been leaking for sometime with no warning indication , and shorted out the entire electrical system. The repair bill was $4500 as the front electrical module was shot due to the leakage. Dealer and ford corporation could not explain cause of leak, why warning system did not work, why the extreme damage or why the front electrical module was located so close to the ABS system, that allowed this to happen. I questioned if this was a manufacturing or latent defect. Repair was being done at this time.
I have had problems with my 2001 windstar passenger rear automatic door since the day I bought the car brand new. The door would constantly close and reopen. I have had it checked at least 3 times for this problem. Most recently the door would not close all the way and has been rattling. The problem now is the door has closed and locked and will not open. My ford dealer needs to pry it open with some device just to check the problem. Minimum cost for this is $250.00. I cannot drive this vehicle with a jammed door because I have two small children. If I ever needed to get them out in an emergency I would not be able to. I have contacted ford motor company to see if there has been any recalls of this nature. Ford did not acknowledge this problem and dismissed it and me. I think ford should investigate this further and I think they should be responsible to fix the problem for free. An automatic door malfunctioning seems like a recall situation to me even if there is only one person whom its happened to so far there may be others.
Consumer's vehicle was parked with children inside. When one of the children exited the vehicle it was on fire. Consumer removed the second child and noticed that fire spread from the dashboard to the rear of the vehicle.
Questions: my husband and I own a 2001 ford windstar minivan which has been causing us trouble lately. Two months ago, the car engine stopped suddenly in the middle of the street while I was driving. After letting the car sit for half an hour, I was able to restart the car. When I took the car to the local ford muzi dealer, however, they weren't able to find a problem with it, so I called ford corporation concerning the issue of safety, and we agreed that I co-pay $100.00 to replace the cam-sensor, which they said would solve. *jb the problem. Two weeks after replacing the cam-sensor, however, my car stopped again in the middle of the road when I was driving my younger daughter to school. The car was later towed to muzi ford dealer and fixed again. Today, around 5 p.m., the engine stopped abruptly again while my husband was driving. Fortunately, there were no cars behind him, or our car might have been run into and our four-year-old son in the back seat would have been killed. Since the ford dealer could not find a problem with the car, we requested for a partial refund or an exchange. However, ford corporation refused both options and is ignoring our calls. We are very concerned about the safety of our entire family; if the engine stopped in the middle of the highway, we could all be killed.
While driving dashboard lights illuminated intermittently. The odometer went out. Consumer stopped the vehicle to look under the hood. There were little sparks of fire under the hood. The wiring that were connected to the master cylinder melted. There was brake fluid leaking down on the wiring.
Driver side electric window stopped working a couple of weeks ago. At first I was annoyed at having to open the door at toll booths etc, then it occurred to me that its also a big safety problem if I am ever in an accident. I will have it fixed at my next service soon, but if there are similar problems with other owners then perhaps the federal safety agency and ford should put out a recall notice.
When the windshield wipers are engaged they will either work for a few seconds and quit or not work at all. Dealership replaced the wiper motor twice, and the front electronic control module. But problems still exists. Recall 01v261000 was issued, but this vehicle was not covered under the recall due to VIN. *ak also, clunking on the front driver side at low speed or when turning left. Dealership checked the vehicle and later replaced the brake rotor. Starter were also replaced.
Any time that vehicle was on the battery light came on. Vehicle was put on a diagnostic machine, which found three different codes on the vehicle. Mechanic was able to extinguish the battery light, but two weeks later it was back on again.
Driver side window inoperable, engine light stays on, and interior lights flickers on. Motor was replaced in driver's side window, cost: 294.00. Made appt. To have diagnostic check - charging $90.00 to do so.
Vehicle experiencing problems with transmission, brake lights and head light equipment. *mr the light kept blowing out. The driver's side twice, rear driver and passenger brake light once and the rear center brake light twice. *sc the consumer stated the transmission failed.
Over thirty separate warranty repairs over two years. Faulty electrical door locks (kids couldn't exit), transmission leakage, transmission failure, front-end defects with loud thumping noises and several body problems. Most notable body problems are wind noise and water leakage through doors and windows. Most recently, the fuel pump failed (@ 37,000 miles). Ford has all along refused to acknowledge the problems. Now that the vehicle is out of warranty, they have again said they will not doing anything. The vehicle is unreliable and unsafe to operate.
Within five minutes of turning the vehicle off, a fire started under the hood.
Consumer called complaining about having problems with starter. Vehicle was taken into the dealer, and they stated that there was something wrong with the starter, and some interior damage was done. Consuemr was involved in a collision, and she felt that it had something to do with the starter. Manufacturer was contacted, and they were not responsible for anything because there was no recalls.
An electrical connector seal had to be installed, the seat buckles and rear wiper motor cover were replaced, the ABS failed, and right before the engine shut down all the lights on the dash board illuminated, after the vehicle was repaired the intake manifold, speed sensor and brake sensor failed. *ph *jb rq04011.
There was an electrical shortage, which caused the vehicle to have no lights inside the vehicle.
The dash shorted out. Causing the heater, fan, and radio to staop working. I had already taken the van in for the earlier recall and the seal was replaced. Then it shorted again and this time I had to pay for it.
While driving theft light on dash comes on rear wiper comes on by it self and engine turns off leaving vehicle moving with no power, no steering, no brakes. After stopping vehicles ignition is locked out with no power/no crank.
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