2002 Ford Windstar: grinding or squealing brakes

Filed Jan 30, 2021 · Suspension · 200,000 miles · MI

Rear axle cracked through on the driver's side, even after a recall patch/repair was made. No collisions, no hard driving. Not a corrosion issue. Metal is cracked perpendicular to the axle..across the grain. Axle was heard to make noise while backing out of driveway, then vehicle felt fish-tailing while drive down paved neighborhood street. Turning to the right made noticeable grinding noises from the rear driver's side wheel well. On closer inspection, the rear wheels were severely tilted in at the top, and the axle was clearly, obviously very cracked open on the driver's side, and appears ready to break into 2 halves. The vehicle was recalled in 2010 for axle defects, but the repairs made seem inadequate. The vehicle was dealership maintained.

Filed Jun 7, 2018 · Suspension, Wheels · 189,000 miles · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford windstar. While driving at an unknown speed, the rear driver's side wheel turned inward and the contact heard a loud grinding sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated during the failure. Ford & lincoln of smithtown (440 jericho turnpike, smithtown, ny 11787) was contacted and informed the contact to tow the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 189,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Jul 2, 2017 · Suspension · 215,000 miles · NJ

Ford windstar rear axle recall was completed prior to purchasing and a second rear axle recall "inspection" was recently completed in may 2017 and was told the previous recall was completed correctly, that the reinforcemenr brackets were correctly installed. My wife was driving and noticed when turning right into a business driveway that a squeal noise was heard from the left rear wheel area. I inspected the undercarriage and noticed the wheel was tited in at the top and the tire was rubbing the inner wheel well. Well now less than 2 months later the rear axle is broken and my van is no longer safe to drive because the left rear wheel is tilted in at the top and the tire rubs the inner wheel well which will result in a rapid loss of air pressure and loss of vehicle control and possibly a serious accident. Now it appears that I will have to pay to replace this broken axle since ford seems to have washed their hands of the problem due to the required recalls having been completed.

Filed Jul 14, 2014 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 82,179 miles · NY

My ABS and brakes lights have been coming on at different times for my 2002 ford windstar for a long while, and stay on now that it is summer. I have tried to fix this problem on two occasions and changed the bad ECM with a new one and the problem has returned both times only after a few months. I made a left turn at about 5 MPH with the two lights on and when I applied the brakes at the completion of the turn to stop at a red light the brakes seized and the car continued moving slowly into on coming traffic while making a metal grinding noise. I was able to quickly put the car in park to stop it right under the light. I then turned the car off and back on and the lights went off and the brakes worked normally again. A few blocks later the ABS and brake lights came back on but the brakes didn't seize this time. This issue is dangerous and I had both my wife and children in the vehicle with me. Ford needs to recall these cars and build a ECM that will not expand during warm months causing the ABS system to fail. Mechanics have told me that this is a major issue with the windstar.

Filed Jul 8, 2014 · Suspension · 118,000 miles · IL

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford windstar. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH, a loud squeaking noise was emitted outside the vehicle and immediately after there was a strong smell of burning rubber released. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who stated that the rear axle fractured. The manufacturer was notified of this defect. The approximate failure mileage was 118,000.

Filed Jul 1, 2014 · Brakes · 155,000 miles · IL

We continue to have issue with ABS and brake light kicking on randomly. When this happens brakes become tight, squeal. Brakes and system appears fine. Others have the same issue. They need to recall.

Filed Apr 10, 2014 · Brakes · 155,000 miles · MO

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford windstar. The contact stated that the vehicle was leaking brake fluid. The brakes were applied and they abnormally traveled to the floorboard. Additionally, the brakes would grind when applied. The brake and ABS warning lights were also illuminated when vehicle was being driven. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic for inspection or repairs. The manufacturer was notified of issue. The failure mileage was 155,000 and the current mileage was 175,000.

Filed Jun 14, 2013 · Suspension · 167,000 miles · KS

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford windstar. The contact stated that while driving 10 MPH, the vehicle squeaked while completing a turn. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 167,000.

Filed Apr 28, 2012 · Brakes · 145,000 miles · SC

The ABS/brake/traction control lights began to come on every time car was driven and stay on the entire time. Brakes began to squeal and then they failed completely. Brakes locked when applied - had to release and apply again to get the vehicle to stop. When brakes were applied the car would keep moving. We took the car to a mechanic and was told it was the ABS system. He replaced the ABS module - - within one week the brakes failed again. We took the car to the ford dealership this time and was told the ABS module needed to be replaced again. We told them this had just been done and we thought it could be the master cylinder but they said no it was the ABS module. Paid again to replace this and within one day of getting the car back the brakes failed again. We took it back and were told it was the master cylinder. We paid again to have this fixed and just got the car back yesterday - - the brakes failed again today. From research online it appears that this is a huge problem and ford should know this and be doing something about it. We have almost wrecked several times but the dealership keeps telling us that they cannot find anything else wrong even though the brakes continue to fail.

Filed Dec 7, 2011 · Transmission · 88,000 miles · NJ

The incident occurred just after 9:00 pm on sunday evening (12/4/11) when I was backing this car to a road in the parking lot of princeton alliance church, plainsboro, new jersey. I turned on the engineer and put the shift gear on reverse and immediately heard big noises of grinding/snapping sounds. I could not control the car and felt that I hit a car behind me. I turned off the engine and realized that I did not hit the car behind me. A gentlemen in the same parking lot came to me and said from his experience this was a transmission failure. He and our family members pushed the car back to the parking position and relieved the traffic after a holiday concert. I am scared to think if this incident happened on a highway. I also felt lucky that this happened in a parking lot.

Filed Aug 10, 2010 · Body · 123,500 miles · OH

While driving my 2002 ford windstar I started to hear a grinding sound and could tell something was wrong and had to pull over. I was driving at a low speed at the time fortunately. It ended up being that the rear axel broke. The mechanic indicated it appeared to have rusted from the inside out. Thankfully this happened 2 days after a return from vacation at which time we were traveling 70+ MPH on the west virginia turnpike.

Filed Aug 8, 2010 · Suspension · 65,000 miles · NJ

I have a 2002 ford windstar van, with 65,000 miles. A squeak started in the back underside of the van. Looked underneath and saw a large crack in rear axle. There was no rust at all on the axle it just cracked about 18 inches form the left rear tire.