Problems with 2003 Ford Windstar POWER TRAIN

Tl*-the contact owns a 2003 ford winstar. the contact's family member and passenger were in tehe vehicle while driving through a traffic light when the vehicle stopped moving forward, but the engine continued to operate. the vehicle was towed. the mechanic replaced the torque converter. there were no previous failures or warning light indicators. the current mileage was 44,000, and the failure mileage was 44,087. *ak

I own 2003 ford windstar, serviced by the ford dealership. at 70,000 miles while driving on the freeway, the overdrive indicator light started flashing. within an hour the transmission failed altogether, no forward or reverse gears. the teardown revealed a failed torque converter, input shaft support bearings, and burnt out intermediate clutch pack. the vehicle is at the ford dealership having its transaxles replaced completely as it is beyond repair. the industry standard for transaxles is a minimum of 120,000 miles between rebuilds. my research indicates this transaxles model, the ford axod and its variants, has been the subject of a huge number of failures, which are reported to occur at approximately 70,000 miles. the failures are alternately attributed to various components, which lead me to believe that internal components which are unreliable have been used in its manufacturing. *nm

2003 ford windstar transaxle jerks vehicle from 1st to 2nd gear shift under light or moderate throttle. was serviced 4 times in 2006 by dealer. dealer rebuilt transaxle yet problem still existed. dealer replaced throttle position sensor 2nd time and problem was even more pronounced. now vehicle would pop out of 2nd gear with engine race immediately after 1st to 2nd gear shift because it hammered the shift so bad. dealer replaced stator support on 3rd time in yet still pops during shift from 1st to 2nd. called ford consumer line immediately afterward to complain. vehicle was coming out of warranty in 8k miles and i wanted to voice my concerns that the transmission was not working properly after being service 3 times. ford called dealer. dealer called me to explain that the ford service rep told them that the windstars will shift like that and that is the way it is. 14 months later transmission is failing when under any stress (hills, moderate acceleration, etc..) with a ratcheting or grinding noise. have to disengage od on highway hills to maintain speed with heavy traffic. have called ford again. they want to have dealer perform a diagnostic test which i will have to pay for. it is out of warranty now even though i complained to ford a year ago when it was in. *tr

While making a right hand turn, the van made a noise like it was shifting out of gear, then the car stopped. i had no problems getting the gears to shift before or after. after the van stopped, would not move into any gear. i tried reverse, neutral, drive, d2 and d1 and the car would not move at all. *jb

We own a 2003 windstar and the transmission and power steering is going out of it. to me they should last longer than 60,000 miles. *nm

03 windstar was parked on a slight incline with the engine running, a/c was on. my wife and i unloaded the children from both sides of the van (manual sliding doors) and i unloaded a stroller from the back of the van closing the tailgate. we placed items in our garage and i moved the kids toys out of the way so i could pull the van in the garage. my wife needed help taking items in the house and i followed the children into the house. we heard a loud crash. i opened up the door to our garage to find our windstar had engaged and drove up the drive, through the garage and into a deep freezer and refrigerator, pushing them both through the back wall of our home. the back wall of our house was moved 8 inches off the foundation and the appliances were crushed. the bumper and hood of the van was damaged. the van was idle and still running as it pushed against the appliances. i opened the driver door, took the van out of park and backed it out into the driveway and turned off the van. we are thankful that there were no injuries or deaths. the van was taken to a ford dealer immediately. the ford dealer was concerned and had three techs look for issues. the tech reps could not find any issues with the van and stated that it would be impossible for the vehicle to move forward while in park. in a professional manor they advised me to always turn a vehicle off and remove the key as well as set the parking brake prior to exiting the vehicle. i have a hard time understanding how the van was able to accelerate while in park but was witness to the results. the mechanics stated that strange failures can occur in any machine and confirmed that the van was safe to drive.

We have had many different problems with our '03 ford windstar. we have had the powersteering pump replaced 3 times. we have had the transmission rebuilt because is quit working. the abs and brake light on the dash are always on. we can not adjust the temperature of the a/c or heater. it is always cold. the rear air selector switch does not work. the dome lights flicker from time-to-time. the rear speakers work about 1/2 the time. the brakes sometimes make a growling sound when applied. the mechanics can not find the reason for the noise. the rear door indicator switch needs to be replace. when we shut the rear hatch (door) the doors will not lock because it seems that a door is still ajar.*tr

The transmission failed after 43,00 miles and had to be replaced. i spoke to a local aamco transmission store and they told me this was the fourth such problem with 2003 windstar's they had seen in a month. *jb

Simply driving on the highway, and attempted to set the cruise control. the engine began to race, and the transmission disengaged. required new transmission to repair. this after only 49,000 miles. transmission filter and fluid changed at 37,000 miles was not the problem. this vehicle also had the front wheel bearings replaced at 17,000 miles. this vehicle was not used for towing, primarily highway miles.*ak

The consumer stated the vehicle was able to come out park without applying the brake. provide additional information. *jb

I thought the van was in park and got out of the vehicle. it popped out of gear and started to roll back. i tried to get back into the vehicle but it rolled to fast and crushed my leg between the vehicle and a pole. after i was thrown from the vehicle it then started to go forward on an incline. the accident caused me to have surgery to repair a broken left leg. the vehicle was taken to freeway ford where the found that the parking linking was out of adjustment causing it to pop out of gear. parking linkage was adjusted.*ak

My wife was driving the windstar on the highway when all of a sudden the car accelerated up to 80 mph by itself. by applying the brakes, she got it to a low enough speed to slam the transmission into park.*ak the dealership said that the problem was fixed, but about 3 or 4 months later, it happened again. the dealership says that they fixed it again. but we refuse to ride in this death trap, and demand that they give us a new car among other things.

Transmission slow to engage after sitting. this is not only a repeat problem after being repaired, but also after being totally replaced by ford dealer. abs never recalled for scds 09s09. constantly resetting and disengaging. after 15 years of ownership, i have yet to be notified of or had anything repaired under warranty. when the transmission quit working, my wife was driving ( when the rpm's went up and the transmission quit pulling) on a busy highway, in heavy traffic, no place to go. nearly causing a horrific accident. with the abs problem, anything indicating a brake failure, possible onboard fire, or loss of control, leaves you with a huge lack of confidence in the vehicle.

Consumer complained about two. first, the transmission will not shift properly when changing gears. this condition almost caused a rear end collision. secondly, driver's side seat belt will not latch if any type of debris got inside of the buckle opening, leaving the driver without any restraint if the vehicle got involved in an accident. *ak

Since purchase i have had to replace transmission, airconditioner, and the alternator--this has been replaced 4 times. there is still an issue with the interior lights coming on. this has been reported to ford and they state there is no issue on their part. *tr

Purchased vehicle 10/17pm with 50 miles registered on odometer. driving the car home from king's ford, the engine light came on and the shifting was rough upon starting and stopping the car. the overdrive light was also flashing on and off. 10/18 am, the windstar was taken back to king's ford service where 2 diagnostic checks showed transmission trouble.

We own a 2003 ford windstar van. ever since we have had the van after running at cruising speed the engine will not idle down. we have taken it to the dealer several times but they could not fix it. being a former ford tech. i tried to fix it my self and replaced the tps sensor with no luck. no matter where you set the idle speed the problem will come back. we have been dealing with problem for three years now and are growing very tired. not only is this dangerous it is wearing out brakes faster. it seems to be an electronic problem where the computer will not lower the idle. i have checked the throttle cable and throttle valve and nothing is binding. i can't blame the mechanic at the dealership, i blame ford. i hope this can be corrected before someone gets hurt. i bought this van so i would not have to worry about my wife and kids. *jb

There is a noise in the rear break drums caused by moisture. *mr there was a noise in the rear brake. the dealer stated that the problem was due to moisture and not to worry. the transmission was problematic, and the rear brakes had started to not stop properly. the rear brakes were readjusted, and a new transmission was added. the noise in the brakes had returned. *scc *jb

The hard shifting started about a year ago. now with 160,000km the transmission now shudders and shifts erratic. i was told by the transmission shop it's the torque converter not working right which is caused by the a defect in the valve body. a complete remanufacture making it better than ford can will run $2500. $1800 if i remove and install it myself. *tr

Nar 05/21/2003 *mr the consumer has made two major safety related repairs (transmission, and steering pull) made to the vehicle over an 11 month period. please review for further investigations. *cb