Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford windstar. While driving 5 MPH, the contact heard a noise from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that there was a rack in the right and left side of the rear axle. The contact called the manufacturer who stated that the vehicle was not included in recall 10v385000 (suspension: rear: axle: non-powered axle assembly) and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 75,537.
2003 Ford Windstar suspension complaints
Page 9 of 10: complaints 221 to 250 of 254, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford windstar. The contact stated that he noticed that the rear axle was cracking. The vehicle had not been inspected or repaired at the time of the complaint. The contact stated that the vehicle was inoperative and unable to be used because the crack was five inches around the axle. The contact called the manufacturer who stated that the vehicle was not included in recall 10v385000 (suspension: rear:axle: nonpowered axle assembly). The current mileage was approximately 91,000. The failure mileage was approximately 27,000.
I have a cracked rear axle on my 2003 ford windstar. It falls just outside the dates for the current recall on windstars with cracked/broken axles, and ford refuses to help me.
2003 ford windstar the side doors have not worked right from the time we bought this van. Took it back to dealer, said it's contacts are dirty. Still didn't fix doors they don't work right to this day now the ABS brake light keeps coming on! The rear axel are cracking and recalled. The windstar should be recalled complete!
My daughter owns a 2003 ford windstar minivan. After hearing about the recall of these vehicle, we looked at her rear axle and noticed a large crack. When we brought it to a local ford dealer in hanover massachusetts we were told the VIN # for her van was not on the recall list. When we told them there was indeed a crack in the axle they said we would have to pay for it to be repaired. We contacted ford motor company who said my daughter's vehicle was manufactured in may 2003 and the recall only covered minivans made up through february of 2003. We are not convinced that the axle in her van is not the same ones used in the cars made up through february. Ford said they will not fix it. My daughter has a 2year old and a 4 year old and we lent her one of our cars to use because we are so worried about the safety of our grandchildren. I cannot believe that ford will not own up to this faulty axle and repair it. Please help if you can and let me know if you agree with us that ford should be held responsible. My daughter works so hard and does not have the means for an expensive repair. She had to fix the transmission not long ago to the tune of $2000.00. This car has been nothing but a problem and the problems continue. We are filing this complaint, not because of an incident, but to prevent one. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Updated ivoq 09/27/10
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford windstar. The contact stated that the struts on the front right end of the vehicle were covered with rust and caused the right front end of the vehicle to collapse. The contact lost control of the steering wheel while driving on the highway; the front passenger side tire turned to the right when the contact made a left turn. The cv joint and strut were damaged by rust, they fell off of the frame and detached from the axle. The contact is a service mechanic and observed layers of rust underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage and current mileages were 156000.
The right front sub frame on my 2003 windstar corroded causing the lower control arm to separate and wheel to pull out. Lost steering. Also axles shaft pulled from transmission and fluid ran out. Fortunately at slow speed so no accident, but what if I were on a freeway running fast?
I have a 2003 ford windstar. In april 2010 my rear axle suddenly broke. I paid a small fortune to tow and fix the problem. In july my front axle suddenly broke leaving me with another large towing and repair charge. And now the car just doesn't drive nice and my traction and brake warnings have been lighting up on my dashboard.
2003 ford windstar xl was taken into a ford dealership , the rear axel was cracked in four places and concerned unsafe to drive. It has 57,000 miles on it. I am 79 years old . The van is garaged kept . The van was bought for my husband to get around as he was in wheelchair. Now deceased 5 years.
2003 ford windstar - rear axle beam broke in half.
2003 ford windstar rear axle has a large crack about a foot from the drivers side.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford windstar. While driving at 30 MPH, the rear tires began abnormally tilting inward. The contact moved off the roadway and found that the rear axle was fractured. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The failure and the current mileage was 110,306. Updated 10/13/10*bf the consumer stated he heard unusual noises coming from the vehicle and soon discovered the rear tires were tilted in at the top. He discovered the axle was 3/4 cracked through. The vehicle was towed to a repair shop. Updated 10/14/10
Driving out of parking lot onto the road, my rear axle broke in two. Had just had it at ford for front tire rods, rotation of tires and alignment. I asked them to look it over because I was going on vacation. Updated ivoq 11/03/10 *tr the consumer was informed her vehicle was not included in the recall, because her vehicle was manufactured after the recall cut-off date. Updated ivoq 02/01/11.
I own a 2003 ford windstar & the rear axle broke in two while driving. I have taken it to a ford dealership to have it repaired. Just 3 weeks before I had it at that same dealership for service & they charged me to "shim" the rear wheels as they said it wouldn't align properly.
2003 ford windstar lx sport with approx 102000 miles - rear axle snapped while on I-95. Pulled over to side of road because I noticed an issue with the vehicle. Noticed cracked rear axle while on flatbed of tow truck. It appeared to have been rusted through from the inside, as there was no evidence of rusting on the exterior of the rear axle.
2003 ford windstar sel just noticed I have a near complete cracked rear axle, on the drivers side, and the rear driver side wheel is angled in.
Discovered 20" crack in rear axle assembly of my 2003 ford windstar.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford windstar. The contact was driving approximately between 5-10 MPH making a left turn and heard a loud noise outside of the vehicle. Immediately, the contact pulled over to the side of the road to inspect the vehicle. The rear tires were positioned outwardly with a detachment of the rear axle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnosis. The contact was waiting on a repair estimate from the authorized dealer at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
I have a ford 2003 windstar, 83,000 miles , my car's rear axel beam broke in the middle of the road, it cost me to repair it $497 for the part and $275 for labor.
Rear axle snapped and broke apart.
Driving on smooth road when rear axel snapped and broke in 2 on 2003 ford windstar. Had car towed and is in to replace axel. Checked on carcomplaints.com and there were 44 instances of the rear axel on ford windstars breaking in the same place.
Abs brakes light problem ford windstar 20003 air brakes problem ,cruise control problem suspension problem.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford windstar. The vehicle accelerated without warning immediately after he approached a traffic light. The front coil springs on the drivers side also broke which caused the coil springs to pierce the tire and the front end of the vehicle fell on the ground. The vehicle was towed to a local repair facility and the mechanic replaced the tires and the coil springs for over $800. The contact suspects that the failure was caused by the cruise control. The dealer didn't agree that the cruise control caused the failure. The manufacturer was notified; however, they have not responded. The failure mileage was 74,000.
2003 ford windstar se brake and ABS lights on intermittently. The following codes are present: c1226;c1235;c1185;c1198;c1194;c1254;c1246;c1250; and c1242. The mechanic said it appears the ABS control module is going bad or is bad at a cost of $700. I replaced both rotors, drums , right wheel bearing, left inner tie rod and my brakes work just fine. The lights coming on are an annoyance and could possibly cause a fire??
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford windstar. While driving 30mph the front driver side of the vehicle dropped on the ground due which caused the front coil spring to puncture the driver side tire. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The current and failure mileage was 76000.
My wife was driving in a parking lot with the kids and the front right strut spring on our 2003 windstar cracked in two. It broke the stabilizer end link and the strut bearing plate. The broken spring rubbed the tire, but didn't puncture it. The recall for this problem doesn't apply to this model year and it states the cause is corrosion. I am a licensed autobody technician and upon removal of the wheel and inspection of the spring I would say the alloy used in the spring is too brittle because it sheared clean at an angle. There isn't any signs of corrosion on the spring because it is coated. We live in southern ontario, canada where we see a lot of salt in winter and I've worked on a lot of rusty cars and I would say this definitely not climate related, but rather a manufacturing defect that if it occurred at highway speeds could lead to loss of life. It will cost me approximately $300-350 to fix this myself because you have to replace the springs in pairs.
I am entering this info on behalf of my brother, daniel cullen of meadville pennsylvania. Dan does not regularly use the internet. His 2003 model year ford windstar has the right front wheel assembly fall off due to rust. The car only had 95,802 miles and was less than 6 years old. The rusted part is called an engine cradle. Other instances can be found on the web going back several years. A ford dealer fixed the car at owner expense. The dealer reported that an air conditioning hose dripped on the rusted part contributing to the failure. I reported the problem to ford corporate hotline and they said they would not help my brother financially or take immediate action to correct this obvious safety defect. My brother was scheduled to drive the car next day 400 miles. If this failure had occurred at highway speed death and injury could easily have resulted. Please see to it that these vehicles are recalled asap. A recall can be achieved at reasonable cost: first inspect cars and if no rust is present at least reroute the A/C drip line. If rust is present, change the engine cradle for a few hundred dollars. Note that the web shows incidents going back several years, yet still these cars are out there turning into ticking time bombs in only 5 years of use!
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford windstar. After shifting from park into reverse, the front passenger side tire blew out. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and they stated that the front passenger side coil spring failed and punctured the tire. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer stated that they were not liable for the repairs and there were no recalls. The current mileage was 59,700 and failure mileage was 59,396. Updated 02/24/09. *lj updated 02/24/09.
2003 ford windstar, 59396 mi. Driving down lockport rd on 6/20/08, heard loud snap, clunk, then tire blow out. Called for aaa assistance, tow truck operator told me it was broken right spring, saying it was a common problem and had towed several minivans of this model, what could have happened if I made it 2 miles to interstate 190 where the speed limit is 65 MPH? This happened at approx. 20 MPH. Is this a common thing like the tow operator says? In all, resulted in 555.25 in damage because of the spring failure.
With no warning, the front left coil spring on my 2003 ford windstar snapped as we were driving. The broken spring shot into my tire causing a blowout and loss of control of the vehicle almost hitting a guard rail and then oncoming traffic. We were able to get the vehicle under control and stop it but were lucky that we were only going 35 MPH at the time. If this would have happened on a highway, there would have been injuries and possibly fatalities. This caused a very dangerous situation with myself, my wife, and my four children in the vehicle at the time. This has been a recurring issue with windstars since 1996. I had the vehicle repaired at a local repair shop. It was memorial day weekend and we needed our vehicle and, in addition, did not know what the problem was when I took it to be repaired. I phoned ford and they told me that this was not covered and would not reimburse me for the repair. With only 66,000 miles on my vehicle, this should not have happened and caused a very dangerous situation. Now I am wondering when the other coil spring will snap. I believe that ford should be responsible for the repair of this vehicle since this is a recurring issue and could have caused a major accident. I have retained the broken coil spring.
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