2003 Ford Windstar: clunking or noise when steering

Filed Jul 6, 2015 · Electrical · 163,200 miles · NJ

The gauges in the vehicle keeps going nuts. Moving from one side to the other,tachometer, speedometer, gas, temperature, battery. The tachometer gauge hit the transmission selector and now that is pushed over to 1. It appears there a many fords that have this problem but ford refuses to fix the problem. The fix is well over $400 just for the instrument cluster. Also they refuse to fix the power steering whining noise that all fords have. If this is a well known problem then how come the ntsa don't make them fix the problems.

Filed Nov 24, 2013 · Body, Steering · 97,332 miles · NJ

Mini van steering started making clunking noise while turning. Then I notice steering wheel is not straight when car is driving straight and something was wrong with alignment. Automechanic told me passenger side sub-frame rotted out and minivan is unsafe to drive. I investigated potential recall of windstar minivans - I am very upset that this could have caused me to crash on the highway. Only a very thin piece of metal remains holding the frame in place. Minivan is undrivable and need to replace subframe.

Filed Nov 14, 2010 · Locks · MI

We bought our 2003 windstar in august of 2006 used from a car lot. In the spring of 2008 the locks on the driver side rear door will lock and unlock on their own. It doesn't matter if we are parked or driving down the road and all of a sudden you hear this awful sound. Shortly after that I noticed leaking from the driver side in the front behind the tire and then the steering was making a noise and beginning to turn hard. We ended up replacing the rack and pinion and the power steering pump. Then in october 2009 we ended up replacing the wheel bearing on the front driver side. We were told that the transmission was going out. We had a mechanic friend of ours come and take a look to have it done cheaper. We then found out that the radiator was also going out. So we had it parked and replaced the radiator in january of 2010 and left it parked because we couldn't afford to pay for the new transmission at the time. It had roughly 13x,xxx miles on it when it failed. We finally bought another one and replaced this in february of 2010. We have just replaced the wheel bearing on the right side in the beginning of november of 2010. We have now taken it in for the recall and found out that it has 3 cracks in it. The dealership wants extra money to check the subframe so I am waiting for our mechanic friend to take a look and see what other surprise we may have. Once we find out I will be reporting back about the subframe if it also has an issue. We are very frustrated because we still owe $5600 on this and have already paid so much for this overpriced van on top of all the money we put in to it. We are beginning to be scared to drive this with our children in it when it eventually gets fixed. Please help, what else is gonna go wrong!!! The date is not exact but approximate.

Filed Apr 7, 2008 · Steering · 50,000 miles · NJ

Power steering pump makes loud noises that can be heard over a block away. Had pump replaced twice still makes the noise. Replacement pumps were rebuilt. Also when pump makes noise the interior lights flicker but not all of the time.

Filed Aug 3, 2007 · Steering · 60,000 miles · NJ

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford windstar. The contact stated that the power steering malfunctioned and a noise was heard coming from the engine compartment while driving approximately 65 MPH. All of a sudden, the power steering completely failed. He took the vehicle to the shop and they repaired the power steering. The current mileage was 63,780 and failure mileage was approximately 60,000. The consumer stated wanted to be reimbursed for repairs, however ford stated will not reimburse the consumer due to the fact the repairs were not made by a local ford dealership. Updated 09/18/07