Problems with 2004 Ford Freestar POWER TRAIN

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. the contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer to be repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 12v006000 (power train) however, the dealer refused to remedy the vehicle. the contact was then informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. the contact declined. the contact stated that after leaving the dealer, and driving at 25 mph, smoke filled the cabin of the vehicle. the vehicle was taken back to the dealer. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 120,000.

My vehicle has had two automatic transmission rebuilds before 118000 miles. the last time it went completely out and stranded me on the street in the middle of a busy road. i had the vehicle towed and the transmission rebuilt. this transmission is now slipping at 134000 miles and is past the warranty time and needs to be repaired. this is a dangerous hazard as when the car is warm it won't move. this is evidently a common defect with this product and i want to know if i can sue ford for this obvious design defect which has affected many ford freestar owners.

Van just lost all power without any warning while driving down the interstate at 70 mph. after calling ford i was informed that the recall for the torque converter was done in 2011 and now it looks like the same problem again.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. while driving at any speed, the vehicle jerked back and forth without warning. the contacted received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 12v006000 (power train) and the vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who insisted that the recall repair was performed. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the recall repair was performed. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was not provided.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. while driving 55 mph, the vehicle failed to accelerate when the accelerator pedal was depressed. the failure recurred intermittently. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the contact discovered that the vehicle was repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 12v006000 (power train). the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 142,004.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer to have it repaired according to nhtsa campaign number: 13v081000 (seat belts); however, it was repaired according to nhtsa campaign number: 12v006000 (power train). after the recall was performed, the transmission fluid leaked and the gear shift hesitated. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission failed and needed to be repaired. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 219,000.

My van suddenly went out of gear and the van lurched forward, while driving at about 35 mph. thankfully we were in town, and not going a faster speed or on a major hwy! after coasting to a safe place, we finally managed to get it to go back into gear for a short time. after several attempts, we managed to get it home. it refuses to go into gear now and has been parked since then. i know there has been a recall on the torque converter for this make and model, and those customers have experianced the exact same symptoms as my van. this is obviously a problem with a lot more vans than originally thought and the recall needs to be extended to other vin #s, including mine.

My car has spent 10 days at ford to be serviced after having the safety recall service for the torque converter performed. the vehicle was behaving unpredictably, sometimes stalling out while idled, stalling out while in motion, sometimes idling with high or low rpms. the dealership took it back in to check the torque converter, they then said it wasn't the torque converter but the throttle body, they then cleaned that and said it's not the throttle body, it's the pcm. the pcm is taking on water from a flawed design of the above pcm where water is retained and eventually leaks on to the connector. this of course is not covered by ford, and can cost up to $1200 to replace. this issue creates a number of different symptoms making it hard to identify the origin of the problem. causing extended stays for maintenance. this should be rectified by ford and not it's customers as there's no way this flaw can be caused by user error, it's a design flaw that should not exist.

2nd time that this has happened. was driving when the van started bucking/sputtering/surging. it would die and then fire right back up just to do it once again. soaked pcm connector was to blame both times. this is obviously a design flaw by ford and needs to be taken care of. i'm glad i was not on the interstate or in the middle of an intersection.

I was driving the vehicle and it was raining outside and as i was driving all of a sudden my car just died in the middle of the freeway no warning ,no nothing just died i almost was rear ended, i took it to a mechanic who said the pcm is not sealed properly and got wet and fried out this is unbelievable that ford would see tons of these complaints like i have seen online same problems and put people lives and their children's lives in danger with this poor manufacturing. what can i do ??? thank you [xxx] vin unavailable information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr*jb

Following the safety recall replacement of my 2004 ford freestar's torque converter my van lost all power while approaching an intersection going approximately 15mph. the vehicle was in motion and there were no indications of a problem (no lights on the dashboard, no odd noises, nothing). the vehicle just lost all power and came to a stop, luckily i was just shy of the cross-traffic. there are major problems with the transmission of this vehicle if it dies after getting the problem part, the torque converter, replaced as a result of a safety recall. upon bringing it back to a ford dealership to have the replacement part reinspected, i was told there are no codes being throw by the computer and the car is fine. clearly the car is not fine if it's stalling out without warning while in motion. i'm very frustrated.

Torque converter replaced a year ago complete transmission failure almost went into a ditch trying to get it off the road no problem with transmission until i had ford replace torque converter due to recall

Started sputtering, jerking, and stalling pcm was wet causing all kinds of havic lost power going into a turn and almost went into a ditch ford needs to recall this ongoing problem and get it fixed before something major happens alot of people are complaining and ford knows it is there fault and they have a problem but refuses to take care of it.

I had the torque converter recall performed about 8 months ago. while driving today, the torque converter failed. ford dealerships replaced torque converters with faulty torque converters.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the torque converter failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 12v006000 (power train). the failure mileage was 120,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. the contact stated that the vehicle was previously serviced per nhtsa campaign number: 12v006000 (power train). while driving 30 mph, the vehicle lost power to the drive train. the vehicle was taken to eide ford (800 e bismarck expy, bismarck, nd 58504) where it was diagnosed that the torque converter failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and declined to assist. the approximate failure mileage was 130,999.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. while driving approximately 30 mph, the accelerator pedal was applied and there was no engine power. the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. in 2013, the vehicle was repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 12v006000 (power train), but the failure recurred recently because the remedy was insufficient. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 162,801.

When driving down the road as vehicle appears to shift from drive to over drive there is a shudder in the transmission. i have had vehicle check by a professional repair facility and been advised that the torque converter is bad. this vehicle does not fall under the recall, although i am having the same problem of the vehicles that were recalled. i am hoping that a revision can be done on this vehicle and all others like can be included in the recall.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. while shifting from reverse to drive, the vehicle suddenly would not accelerate forward. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who indicated that the torque converter needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the contact indicated that the vehicle was previously repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 12v006000 (power train) in 2012 for the same failure. the failure mileage was 135,928.

Transaxle broke while i was in a fastfood drive thru. complete loss of drivability. *tr

Had the torque recall done last august by a local dealership, and while accelerating yesterday i lost all control of the vehicle and the engine stalled, transmission is now shot and the pcm is damaged from the moisture even though i had completed the tsb the dealership advised me of. several sensors kept failing randomly, and would only last about a month. *tr

While driving on the freeway at 55 mph my vehicle lurched forward drastically and then stalled. i was able to get it to the side of the road coasting as i was in the outside lane. i could restart the car but only go 50-100 feet and it would stall again. i managed to get it off the road into a parking lot and found out the car wouldn't go into reverse. although i could go forward. i am now being told that there was a torque converter recall for this year and make of car but not for my vehicle. i am being told the transmission will need rebuilt and be at a cost of 3000-3900 dollars. the car has approx. 102,000 miles on it. i was told by the transmission shop this is a common problem with this car even if they are repaired they tend to have problems again. it should be noted that it had snowed a large volume that day and there was a lot of water on the roadway. *tr

Stopped at a stop sign and the van would not move. no gears worked. couple days later, it drove fine. couple days later no gears again. (and the torque converter was replaced under recall in 2012) now won't start and dashboard goes crazy after the key is out. with all the transmission problems and the wet pcm problems, i can't believe ford doesn't have to recall these van because of the pcm!! this vehicle is a hazard to drive. *tr

Turns out there was a recall on the 2004 ford freestar in 2012 regarding the torque converter. here it is two years later and it goes out again. this should not happen. there needs to be another recall on the torque converter and it needs to be fixed properly this time before there is a death from the incident. i had two kids under the age of 3 with me at the time and sitting in the pouring rain, in chilly weather, waiting for a ride home was not fun. fix it ford!!! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. while driving approximately 40 mph, the transmission began to hesitate and slip gears without warning. in addition, the transmission failed to function in reverse. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 92,000. the vin was unavailable.

Transmission went out while coming home from christmas with family on rt i70 just before hagerstown md. lost all fluid from transmission causing entire vehicle to fill with smoke. there is a recall for the torque converter i have since been informed that could cause the transmission itself to fail. however the dealer says only the torque converter is under recall and wants $3000 to replace entire transmission! they have not even looked at the transmission to see what is wrong. their reasoning is that since the fluid came out and covered underside of van then it must be a completely bad transmission. *tr

Accelerating at 35-45mph. loss of power as engine starts a grinding noise and wont upshift to next gear. indy mechanic had to replace/rebuild transmission .recall for torque converter was performed by ford dealer prior to problem.

Driving at highway speed to halfway [xxx] for a picnic. all of a sudden the van lost all power. barely had enough speed to coast to a safe spot. even then there wasn't enough room on the shoulder. driver side was hugging the white line...... information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

2004 ford freestar towed to the garage due to a transmission issue. *mw the consumer stated he did not receive a recall letter, until after he had the repairs done on the vehicle. the consumer has full documentation that ford agreed to pay for all expenses directly related to the recall even if the repairs were done by a private business. the vehicle had no forward or reverse movement. the torque converter was replaced. *jb

The transmission went out all of a sudden and we could have had a accident and get hurt..there has been a recall for our 2004 freestar and we never got it because no one sent it out..we need this van fixed as soon as possible..we are retired and live on a fixed income and we have no way to get or meds or food or doctors appt..we need your help asap. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. the contact stated that while attempting to park, the transmission failed without warning. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the torque did not pump the fluid, which caused the transmission to fail. the contact was made aware of a recall notification of nhtsa campaign number: 12v006000 (power train) however, the vehicle was not included. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 140,000. updated 08/28/14*lj the consumer stated he did not receive the recall until after the transmission failed. the dealer replaced the torque but not the damaged transmission. 20 miles after the torque was replaced the transmission failed completely. the consumer stated the bad converter which caused the transmission to fail. updated 09/17/2014 *js

We replaced the torque converter about a year ago, on our own; we were not familiar with the recall on that part. the van started to exhibit same issues a few weeks later. we went to the dealer where we learned of the torque converter recall. dealer stated that this time, it was a bad transmission, he informed us that due to us paying out of our own pocket for the torque converter, he would take that money off of the price of replacement transmission; we had issues with that deal. now, about a year later, the van would not go into gear. we took it to a dealer who gave us a hard time with the three year warranty which came along with the replacement transmission; the van was at the dealer for over two weeks. once we agreed to pay out of our own pocket, we were told that the wiring between computer and transmission was dirty; they stated that it was now fixed. now three weeks later, same issue; we took it to a mechanic who found water in the computer. *tr

Once again, ford refuses to acknowledge their vehicle defects. our third row rear seat will not lock in place. the floor latch is corroded and broken and our children can no longer safely ride in our only vehicle. ford recalled many other freestars for this exact same problem but refuses to include our vehicle despite the similarities. our vehicle has now broken down on us numerous times due to power train issues (later recalled), transmission issues (later recalled), and now this safety issue. i am extremely disappointed that they continue to disregard safety for their customers. *tr

Car history: the transaxle light has gone before when we travel through vt mountains, but turning off the engine and letting it sit, and restarting it, the light would go off. upon getting home safety, our mechanics didn't find anything to repair and so left it be, and would only sometimes see it when we traveled through the vt mountains, a few times a year. all recall repairs were up to date. there were no other symptoms. incident: as we nearing the top of a mountain, the transaxle light came on. unlike the other times, the transmission suddenly failed to be in the correct gear, so unlike the other times, we were very concerned. we pulled over immediately, and as we reached the shoulder smoke began pouring out of the vents. we quickly evacuated our kids, and as we were getting them out we noticed that there was already fire coming from under the hood, near the windshield, on the passenger side. we are so glad our kids were awake, and able to unlatch their own child carseats, and able to get out quickly. the fire spread to the entire van, consuming everything, at a great expense to us. (and others; our accident blocked a significant amount of traffic for about 3 hours.) *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. the contact stated that the vehicle lunged forward violently and stalled. the contact mentioned that the vehicle failed to shift into reverse or drive. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the technician diagnosed that the torque converter needed to be replaced. the contact was not included in nhtsa campaign id number: 12v006000 (power train). the dealer stated that the repair was completed under the recall before the contact owned the vehicle, however the failure recurred. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 172,000.

Hello my wife and i were driving on a highway at 55 mph,and out of nowhere the transmission failed i:e no notice just quit working.wehad to have it towed back to the nearest town and to spend $3900 to have it repaired!!!@ months later it went out again?/ford needs to step up to the plate and repair this transmission at no cost to the owners.i did alot of checking on this problem on the internet and found hundreds of articles about other people having this same problem wit there 2004 and 2005 freestars.do i have any recourse in this matter ? [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

first time;while driving around a curve going approximately 40 miles per hour, the engine shut off, and lost power, and steering. engine light came on 2nd time; engine bucked at about 40 miles to 50 miles per hour, then the engine shut off, and lost power and steering. engine light came on 3rd time; same as the second time, engine light came on. went to a mechanic who stated that ran the engine on computer, and the code:po741 came up, tcc clutch performance. was told to go to ford for this because of current recall. went online to ford, and our vin came up for torque converter replacement. awaiting appointment on tuesday, june 3rd. at ford dealer. *tr

Rpm's surge, loss of power while driving, already had recalls done and still having problems, trans axle light comes on when doing highway speeds., i think the recall needs to be on the electrical system and where the main computer is located. the main computer is right beneath the awning for the wiper assembly...lots of potential water damage and many unhappy customers. this is supposed to be a family vehicle and it is more like driving a ticking time bomb. i would hate to be on the highway and the vehicle just suddenly stop. not good ford!!! not good! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. the contact stated that transmission fluid spewed out of the vehicle and the vehicle failed to accelerate past 45 mph. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the technician diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 87,822. updated 12/09/14*lj the consumer stated the transmission blew out of the dipstick all over the motor. vehicle came to a stop on a busy interstate almost causing an accident. the dealer would not assist under recall. updated 10/5/15 *js

In good weather without warning the engine stalled in traffic. restarted, but the engine ran extremely rough. also the transmission would not go into reverse. managed to get to a independent service shop. there the technician found water in the pcm. dried out pcm and car ran fine. then the transmission light came on. now they found water in the transmission connector. two weeks later the car would often not start, and when it did the transmission would not shift out of first gear. on our third visit they replaced the throttle position sensor (tps). one week later same symptoms, this time tps and mass airflow sensors have failed. the problems are all related to the wet pcm! recall this car, now!!!!! *tr

I was driving on the interstate when suddenly without warning the transmission was no longer engaged and it resulted in complete loss of power and i had to coast to a stop in freeway traffic and try to get to the side of the road in time. semi trucks were whizzing past me at 75 mph. i bought this vehicle from the ford dealership in abilene, tx about one month ago and was not told about any recalls to the torque converter. this could have easily resulted in my death. i am highly pissed. why the hell didn't the dealership replace this before selling me this vehicle for 7k? and what will be done about dealerships letting vehicles drive off the lot like this when they knew about the recall and did nothing and said nothing. *tr

Wife went to make a left turn at 2 state highway intersection. upon accelerating the van failed to move causing her to be stranded in the middle of this busy intersection. several attempts of shifting finally made it into parking lot. towed vehicle to transmission shop to be told it is the torque converter probably a broken spline. of course this vin# is not part of the original recall even though it has the exact same symptoms and result. *tr

Pcm gets wet and causes all kinds of problems! should be a recall! can cause vehicle to just stop while driving, shorts out things. turns lights, radio, etc on even when van not on. problems with starting when it rains. cd player and cruise control no longer work, did the pcm fry them too?? dangerous accidents could happen and i am terrified to drive it but it is only vehicle i have. please help get a recall!! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. the contact stated that the transmission would independently switch gears. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, who stated that the transmission would need to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted. the approximate failure mileage was 126,000. *tr

I received recall on my freestar in 2012, on the torque converter, it was fixed but had started to slip shortly after getting it fixed. 16 months later i found myself without any power. i took it to shop and was told it was on recall but since i had it fixed 16 months prior that it no longer was warranted. if they replaced the torque converter with a "fixed" one then i should not have had trouble so soon. ford is wanting me to pay 1800 to fix their mess up.. i wonder what my rights are? *tr

Vehicle began to lurch, and lose pulling power. engine continued to run, but vehicle had moments of loss of pulling power. rpm continued to remain the same. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. the contact stated that the trans axle warning lamp illuminated. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the torque converter clutch solenoid was defective. as a result, the transmission needed to be rebuilt and the torque converter needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 145,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford freestar. the contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph, the vehicle independently engaged into neutral causing the vehicle to stall without warning. the failure was recurring. the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence and had not been inspected or repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 55,572.

In november of 2013, our 2004 ford freestar quit working. yes, we had the torque converter recalled and put on back when they had that recall. november was the first time we had this happen to our car. it was raining, and our car would not go into gear, it quit working. what made this bad is that it was on the freeway! my husband put it into neutral, but we still did not have steering capabilities and managed to get us over to the shoulder. we had to be towed to a dealership. the dealership then stated that many people were having the same issue with the electronics getting wet, so he dried it, then let it set for a couple days and caulked it. we thought that would end those problems. not. (note: this had cost us 450.00) then less than 2 months, the same exact thing happens, only this time we are stuck in a shopping center and could not get our car into gear again. we took it back to the dealership to which they replied that we needed a new electric module. how much? $1500.00!!! in less than 2 months, we spent almost 2,000.00! this was done in february. here it is now april and guess what? the same exact problem is taking place again!! we are not alone, there are many people facing the same problems we have had, look around at the boards online and you will see that everyone has the same issues!! some investigations need to be opened or reopened as this is not resolved and lawsuits will be filed if someone gets hurt. *js

Took van into dealership per recall for torque converter. received vehicle back 3 weeks later. heard a ticking noise that progressively got worst. made a appointment to return vehicle to dealer and the transmission completely went out as described in recall. no gear engagement in any gear forward or reverse. of course the dealer said there was no relation to the recall and the recall was performed. even the symptoms were exactly as described in the recall description of what would occur if the recall was not performed. ford denied any assistance. the dealership offered us a labor discount if we purchased a transmission yet no warranty for the work unless it was a ford remanufactured transmission at 1800.00. *tr