Problems with 2000 Ford Windstar ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

The instrument panel goes crazy, doesn't work or works just fine. this happens weather i'm driving on the highway or in the city..

On friday, june 23rd, the 2000 ford windstar was parked in the lot of meijers at 8650 west grand river ave, brighton, mi 48116 for approximately a duration of 40 minutes. upon returning to the vehicle, it was discovered that there was fire from inside my van that appeared. by standards contacted 911 and fire dept and police had responded. the fire was distinguished and reports were made out. the fire inspector indicated that it was an electrical short that was the accelerate ignition point. this is a very serious matter that presented a safety issue for my 9-year-old daughter and me. ford motor company needs to take full responsibility for this incident. please advise. sincerely, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

The radiator and water pump went bad and the transmission went out as i was driving. the electrical locks on the doors locks us in regularly, while driving it often slides on it's own. there's a good bit of things going on with my car that i don't know about to tell you about.

Van stalled while driving, had to be towed. mechanic could not communicate with computer. van is having an electrical short which keeps blowing fuse #22 in which van can not be started or driven. safety hazard, ford must recall van

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 ford windstar. the contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for nhtsa campaign number: 15v608000 (suspension) and the remedy for the repair did not work. the contact stated that the dealer also inspected and serviced the transmission, but a failure occurred after the dealer's repair. upon leaving the dealer, the suspension was unstable and the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was unable to be restarted. the vehicle was towed back to the dealer for further inspection and diagnostic testing. the contact was still waiting on the dealer to provide a permanent remedy for the condition of the vehicle. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 129,405.

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 ford windstar. the contact stated that all the gauges on the instrument panel failed to function properly. the contact mentioned that the fuel gauge would display full when the fuel was low. in addition, the vehicle would be in drive and the instrument panel would display that the vehicle was in reverse. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 157,007. the vin was not available. ma 10/15/2015 *cn

Having abs and electrical problems. over drive lights was blinking so i had a full scan done. abs system shows about 12 error codes and the abs light wasn't on. check the light and the light works. the mechanic seems to not to understand the problem. this problem is very alarming to me because this can be really bad for my family safety. also another code pulled for the alternator overcharging the battery which never turned the check engine on. check engine was proven to work and that was repaired and work to fix it. *tr

The abs warning light came on. when driving car over 45mph, the speedometer starts jumping all over the meter and the odometer is no longer reading miles. this is the same exact issue as nhtsa campaign number 09v399000. apparently, even though ford recalled windstars, our windstar was somehow not qualified even though we're not experiencing the same exact issue. *tr

Anti-theft system failed while in motion. several failures over the last few months. dealer failed to diagnose problem properly the first time i brought the car to him. finally obvious failure. limped carefully to the dealer. safety hazard of course. *tr

My ford windstar has had problems with the abs for a couple of years. it turns on and off on the dashboard randomly. when the abs light is on, the abs is not working. when the abs light is off, the abs is working. i had my mechanic fix this for $850. three weeks later, the new part started doing the same thing. i never know how to brake in an emergency situation because the abs is on some of the time and off some of the time.

After a little research, i found that this is a very common problem with windstars. there is a switch (called the brake pressure deactivation switch) hooked to the braking system that detects when the brake has been pushed and stops the cruise control accordingly. well? this switch is known to develop leaks, which allows brake fluid to run down into the wiring and cause a short. this blows the fuse which controls the speedometer, a/c, odometer, etc. *tr

For some reason my instrument panel custard needles started,to bounce up and down for no reason and sometimes its ok.than you be driving and everything its ok, but than there goes the needles bouncing up and down again and than it stops or if i stop at store or gas station and start the ignition again it does it again.problem 2, before the fires on the ford vehicles on the cruise control switch mine had already burned out as i was at the store parking lot i picked up my hood and there was the smoke and short wires below the brake fluid holder i fixed it,on my own than see all the problems on the daily news. this happen when i only hadabout 85000 miles.problem 3, for some reason i'm having with my abs,the light keeps coming on and my brakes don't work right,but when the abs light is off my brakes work fine, i tell you ford can really make sorry vans like the windstar lx model. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 ford windstar. the contact stated the gauges fluctuate and the abs light continuously illuminated. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 134,000.

Abs light come on without any specific reason - ecu master relay has a bad soldier joint which fails prematurely and causes the abs light and dtc c1185. it also causes the enhanced abs braking system to become inoperable. *tr

Abs lights came on and abs stopped working and speedometer rpm stopped working. *tr

The instrument cluster gauges start dancing back and forth, then the tack gauge maxed out and stuck under the shift indicator. i went to a ford dealer in fort wayne in. and they removed the cluster and broke off part of the tack needle so it can't become stuck again. still to this day (a year later) the gauges start dancing and sometimes freeze in a position. once it showed i was doing 80 mph while stopped at a stop light. some days they work then other times they dont. i recently found out this is a common problem with ford windstars. look up dancing gauges windstar on you-tube and see all the issues people show. if this is such a big issue why isnt something being done about it? respectfully, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).? *jb

The brake pressure differential deactivation switch (scds) (2b264) located under the master cylinder (behind the air filter) over time develops a leak. this causes a short and a fuse trip, fuse #10 if the engine is on. this leak also causes brake fluid to wick down two wires to the abs brake module (2c219). the fluid accumulates on the (always on) power connectors for the abs brake system which are powered by fuses 101 and 102 and are both 40 amp. the fluid attracts moisture, road salt and leads to a fire when the fluid and moisture act as conductor between the hot leads and ground. this switch has been the subject of other ford recalls, just not my windstar van yet. my wiring harness when inspected was wet with brake fluid, including the connections and the inline fuses, which basically permits electricity to jump past the inline fuses and continue to heat up the wiring harness. the fuses bodies crumbled when inspected. since most double side door vans are predominantly driven by large families, the possibility of multiple fatalities per vehicle due to a horrific death from being burnt alive is a valid point to consider. most vehicle fires spread so fast that unstrapping multiple small children from restraint seats would take an inordinate amount of time, especially with smoke inhalation and the heat of flames to prohibit rescue. thank you for investigating this. *tr

The brake light comes on. the brake fluid is low. filled the fluid up. a week later same thing happens. i could not find a leak. finding a puddle of brake fluid under the van i had to make a better effort to find the leak. the leak is coming from the brake pressure differential deactivation switch. i went to this site to find out more information about this problem. http://www.fordwindstarrecall.info/ *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 ford windstar. the contact stated that the abs warning indicator illuminated and the rpm gauge displayed inaccurate readings. the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic and the instrument cluster was replaced; however, the failure was not remedied. the manufacturer stated that the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 09v399000 (vehicle speed control). the failure mileage was 150,000.

Abs light stays on making them inoperable. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 ford windstar. the contact stated that the instrument panel failed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was found that the instrument panel needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number 00v351000 (electrical system). the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was not available.

Abs light on dash and other warning lights malfunction at different times along with displays that have characters in dash that are un-familiar. beeps occur that i find no explanation in manual. have had 2 malfunction in electric door locks and it is impossible to manually unlock passenger side doors from outside doors. rear door latch cannot be opened except with key in event of certain types of crashes especially if occupants are not conscious. *tr

Abs light on speedometer odometer don't work. *tr

Abs brake, cruise control, and speedometer/odometer electrical problems. *tr

Abs light and traction control lights coming on. sliding doors not fully locking coming open while driving. *tr

I was driving on the highway and all my instrument panel needles (speedometer,gas, rpm, mileage, temperature) were all jumping around. this went on all the way home. i parked the car but the rpm needle was stuck i was able to move the rpm needle but now its broke .the instrument panel continues to sporadically go from working, to not working at all, to all the needles jumping around. *tr

Rear windshield wiper is not working. mechanic states the rear wiper motor has water damage and must be replaced. *tr

All of the dashboard needles began flipping back and forth sporadically. they would bottom out below the 0 mark for a while registering no speed or gas tank amount and then start jumping around again. when i attempted to park the vehicle, the speedometer needle was lying across the bottom and kept the car from being able to go into park. at this point, the car was unable to be turned off completely, unable to be re-started, unable to steer and i had to hold my foot on the break in order to keep it from rolling. we were eventually able to start and then drive the vehicle home once the needle jumped back up. once again in the driveway, it did the same thing and we had to drill a hole in the dash in order to manually move the needle out of the way so the van could be placed in park. we will be having it towed to a repair shop. *tr

Abs light is intermittently on. mechanic reads the code c1185. he suggested that the abs module be replaced and cost $976. *tr

Abs lights showed up on display cluster. 10 amp fuse on 2nd row #2 keeps blowing. ac stopped working, odometer went to all dashes, speedometer stopped working, electronic fuel display went to "fuel error". after unplugging abs to keep 10 amp fuse from blowing and to get the ac to work, braking system is leaking. *tr

My speedometer is erractic, my abs light stays on. *tr

Abs light comes on and off while driving, cruise control does not work, speedometer and rmp guage goes crazy and stops working, leaking break fliud but can't seem to locate problem, interior lights flicker on and off, door locks will start going up and down while driving, rear passenger door does not close all the way and will sometime pop out but not completely open while driving, makes noise when turing left i had the rack and pinion changed but that did not solve the problem the noise just got worse. *tr

Abs light continues to come on intermittently. no immediate affect on braking until used hard. then rear brakes lock-up immediately. sliding doors will not open using overhead control. locks do not 'un-lock' when unlock is depressed. child protective door locks are off, and still the sliding doors will not operate from inside handle. the only automatic function that operate on the sliding doors is the 'close door' button on both sides. exterior handles do not open the door until the locks are manually/physically forced into the unlock position. dashboard lights and gauges go out-of-control randomly. ie: speedometer goes from 0 - overspeed, tachometer does the same as well as fuel and temp. *tr

I was driving my vehicle and the gauges in my instrument panel cluster started to go all over the place. the rpm indicator broke off against my gear selector indicator. replaced instrument panel cluster and had to buy a new key(only had once key from previous owner) and reprogram both keys to new anti-theft device built into said instrument panel cluster. there was no problems with any of the wiring coming to the instrument panel cluster either. when i asked my mechanic what had happened he said it was a common problem with this year, make and model and happened a lot. also when i replaced the part another error came up that i was unaware of because of the defective instrument panel cluster. so this whole time i was driving the vehicle i had no real idea of the state of my vehicle because of this common defect. very scary!!!! come to find out that it is another recalled part (abs relay) that i'm going to have to fill out another complaint form for. its nice to know that my entire vehicle has a build-in defect that allows for complete negligence of the state my vehicle is in. *tr

So i fixed my defective instrument panel cluster and got a abs error code c1185 which is a bad abs relay. this relay is defective by being on the back side of a heat-sink plate that makes the board expand and contract allowing for some, if not all, of the solder joints break. as it stands now i have no idea if my van is safe to drive in its current state with the failure of that relay nor would i like to risk it. so my van sits drivable however, not used because of ford's lackluster performance on recalls. i will not pay for their mistakes anymore!!! it"s criminal!!!!! *tr

Instrument panel stopped working. unable to determine speed, gas level temp, etc accurately. other people on the web have been complaining about this for years. the problem appears to be cracked solder on the instrument panel circuit board. this should not happen and should be recalled and corrected. *tr

Tl-the contact owns a 2002 ford windstar. the contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was able to restart. the failure occurred on numerous occasions. the dealer or independent mechanic was unable to diagnose the failure. the manufacturer was not aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 88,262. ne

My instrument cluster has gone crazy... i looked to see if anyone else has had the problem and there are tons of people with the same problem... also my abs light comes on and off all the time... *tr and my right sliding door rattles...

Instrument panel/speedometer fails va inspection. ford won't fix it. parts hard to find as anyone with this model vehicle has the same problem. *tr

The speedometer and other dashboard gauges start jumping around from zero to wide open, very erratic and then will settle down normal, then start the process all over again. unable to tell how fast i am going or how much gas is in the tank. tachometer is also involved and other gauges. *tr

Every light on the dashboard is lit up, including the abs, brake, check engine, etc. the speedometer doesn't work. the air conditioner doesn't work. the rear axle broke, thankfully i was in the driveway. also, i had to pay for the rear axle because it was not part of the recall. all this started happening before the vehicle had 100,000 miles on it. the dealer i took it to for the last recall said that ford should buy all the vans back. *tr

I was just told that the electrical cluster for the speedometer/rpm/gas gauges on my 2000 ford windstar van is faulty. i have been experiencing periods of time when the gauges work just fine, won't work at all, or go completely beserk. they act out at various times; ie: just yesterday, i had been driving the van for about 15 min, gauges working fine, when i put it into park all the gauges went crazy, with the rpm needle ending up buried past the highest it could go. there have been times where it hasn't worked/gone beserk upon start up. there have also been times where it is working just fine on start up and within a couple of minutes/miles they all go beserk or stop working completely, and at that point, sometimes it goes back to working fine, and other times it doesn't. my dad just got this van for my kids and i less than a month ago, thinking it would be a safe vehicle for us. it's sad to think that my dad threw money away on a vehicle that his regular mechanic now says to just sell/junk it and get a different vehicle because of the gauge cluster being faulty, the recalls on the van and the mount for the exhaust system being busted. *tr

Vehicle abs light came on, ac stopped blowing cold air & speedometer stopped all at same time. fuse 10 amp was blown and when replaced continued to blow out

Gauges go crazy and don't work half the time. abs light is always on. steering creeks. there is a recall for my make, model, and year but ford somehow says it is not part of the recall but may become a recall in the future. this is not acceptable. does someone have to die before they will listen and act? *tr

All the gauges started jumping back and forth with the speedometer sticking past 120. it stayed there for several days, went back to normal and then has repeated the problem several times. when the tac gauge acts up it wedges the shift indicator making it stick in park position. this is a safety issue to have a speedometer not work and not knowing the trans gear you are in because the indicator position only stays in park. ford should make good on this safety issue. replacing the gauge assembly is costly. *tr

The entire dash board goes "crazy" while driving; the speedometer, tachometer, temperature gauge and gas gauge fluxuate, even at idle. *tr

While traveling at 55mph noticed that the speedometer was reading 26mph. speedometer continues to read below actual speed. *js

We came from eating breakfast to a dead battery, then we had someone help us to jump it; however, my husband noticed the electrical was not working, and it was still running, but very slow. it finally gave up and we had to tow it, and have someone look at it. we are in the middle of the problem, so hopefully ford will have a notice or something in the mail soon. we have had problems before with the battery, and thinking maybe that is the problem, but we are hearing stories from online of other issues that could of caused this. *js

On sunday 5/20/12, upon starting our 2000 ford windstar van, i noticed that the speedometer was not working and the abs (yellow) light was persistently on. (however the red brake light that had been shining on the dashboard persistently for many, many months, even after recall servicing, was now off.) driving for a few minutes, we realized that the air conditioning was not putting out cool air, only warm, and that the odometer was displaying only dashes. i should also mention, now that i have read up on these problems, which had seemed unrelated, but are apparently all traceable to a defective/leaking sdcd, that the cruise control on this vehicle has not worked for many months. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 ford windstar. the contact stated that while driving 60 mph, he noticed that the instrument panel was not reading the correct readings. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was not contacted. the failure mileage was 170,000 and the current mileage was 180,000. updated 08/07/12*lj the consumer stated the needle would jump from left to right. updated 08/15/12