2002 Ford Windstar: engine failure

Filed Sep 21, 2020 · Suspension · 161,000 miles · MO

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford windstar. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH, the rear axle seized without warning, causing the contact to almost lose control of the steering wheel. The contact managed to regain control of the steering veering the vehicle to the shoulder of the roadway. The contact placed the vehicle in park got out and looked under the vehicle and noticed the vehicle rear axle was fractured. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer for a diagnostic test. The vehicle was towed to thoroughbred ford of platte city (1901 e. Prairie view rd, platte city, mo 64079) where the technician inspected the vehicle and noticed the rear axle was fractured. The rear axle was temporarily fixed. The contact attempted to drive the vehicle home however, the rear axle fractured completely while leaving the dealer. No further assistance was provided. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign number: 10v385000 (suspension), 12v195000 (suspension) and 12v194000 (suspension) as possible solutions to the failure however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 161,000.

Filed Dec 23, 2015 · Airbags, Steering · 50,000 miles · NY · crash · 2 injuries

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford windstar. The contact stated that while driving at 30 MPH, the steering wheel seized causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle. As a result, the contact crashed into a fire hydrant and the air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained neck and shoulder injuries but did not require medical attention. The passenger sustained wrist injuries that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,000. Updated 02/12/16*lj updated 05/14/18*jb

Filed Nov 10, 2014 · Steering · 150,074 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford windstar. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 MPH making a turn, the steering wheel seized without warning. The failure recurred multiple times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis. The mechanic was unable to locate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,074.

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 Mar 17, 2014 · Suspension · 178,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford windstar. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, the steering seized. The failure was recurring. The vehicle also shook violently and became unstable. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the rear axle needed to be replaced however, the part was not available to make the repairs. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised that the vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign id number: 12v195000 (suspension). The approximate failure mileage was 178,000.

Filed Aug 6, 2010 · Transmission · 70,882 miles · KS

I was traveling the kansas turnpike with my sister in my ford windstar van at night. The van then started to be shimmying and vibrating some, like when the road is rough. We were traveling through some construction so thought it might have been attributed to the road conditions. But the vibrating continued. We pulled off the highway and looked at the tires, but they all looked good. We continued driving, trying to figure out what was causing the roughness. I continued driving at different speeds to see if that made a difference. It did not. The vibrating was not totally continuous, every few seconds or so it disappeared, then would restart. I kept driving, with hazard lights, at about 45 MPH, because it was nighttime, and on the highway. I pulled off at the next service/rest stop and got out and looked at my tires. One hubcap was askew, which I put back on. To see if that had anything to do with the van's ride, I decided to drive a bit in the parking lot. I put the van into reverse and just as I started to move, there was a loud clank and thud. There was something seriously wrong. I saw that the rear tires both were crooked, the van, lower, and that the rear axle was broken into 2 parts. A policeman verified that the car was broken so it could stay there until towed. It was flatbed towed to a ford service center, where they had to replace the rear axle assembly, shock absorber assemblies, rear stabilizer bar, spindles, rear parking brake cable (which had rusted and seized up) assemblies and inner and outer tie rods and nuts and bolts.. At the time the van had less than 71,000 miles on it. We were very lucky that we weren't still traveling down the highway when the axle went kerplunk!

Filed Apr 4, 2003 · 812 miles · NY

When the air conditioner and windshield defroster were turned on the engine seized, which caused the vehicle to lose power steering and brakes. The dealer replaced the air condition compressor twice. Ph