Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| TIRES | |||
| 08/15/2008 | 70000 | 1 | |
| My 2002 ford windstar started riding really rough. the tires were checked and seemed to be fine. the back end of the van seemed to be riding very rough and my mechanic though it might be a strut issue. as it turns out, the rear axle broke completely in half while my father in law drove my two young children on the highway. what a scary experience. i've checked on the internet for similar experiences. others have had this happen to them as well. this issue needs to be addressed by ford and should be a recall issued. *tr | |||
| 06/29/2008 | 1 | ||
| My wife has a minivan that i had the tires replaced on within the past two years. i purchased a set of 4 high quality michelin tires with 75k warranty from sears at fair oaks mall in fairfax, va. earlier this year my wife had a blow out and i took the vehicle back to sears for them to inspect the tire. once they removed the tire there was no indication of a puncture anywhere on the tread or sidewall - i was a tire repair technician back when i was in college. i asked the technician why the tire would have blown if there was not a puncture, he didn't have an explanation. i asked if that should be covered under the manufacturer warrant and they seemed unwilling to help. i ended up buying another tire for $150.00. then just this weekend as i was driving i heard a hissing sound coming from the left front tire. when i got out of the vehicle i noticed the tire was leaking air from the valve stem. i took the tire in to have the valve stem replaced and they mentioned to us there has been a recall on valve stems. i believe the previous incident was also caused by a valve stem issue since there was no other indication of a puncture. i'm planning to have all of the valve stems replaced on the remaining tires so that my wife will not suffer a blow out with our 3 children in the van. i think there needs to be a greater campaign on this issue to increase awareness as it could potentially impact all 4 tires on a vehicle. *tr | |||
| 06/03/2008 | 180000 | 1 | |
| Abs light and tire pressure light are constantly coming on. this has all been checked and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with either. cruise stopped working while driving with it on. i have now read many reports from consumers with the same ford winstar with the same problems. the cruise control concerns me because of the recall of the cruise control switch on one of their trucks and the incidence of fires started because of the cruise control switch in the ford winstar vans. *tr | |||
| 03/31/2007 | 100000 | 1 | 02/02/2005 |
| 1. driving in good conditions, on highway 25 going north, 2 miles north of highway 5. saturday the march 31, 2007 at 2:00 pm. 2. suspension spring failure, front driver's side with busted tire. 3. parts replaced and repairs made at my cost.*ak | |||
| 11/20/2006 | 1 | ||
| Blowout on highway on (goodyear viva touring )purchased at walmart washington missouri. incurred $377.00 bill, new tire and towing bill. neither goodyear or wal mart will take responsibility. wife and daughter in vehicle thank god nobody was hurt. blowout in 2002 ford windstar, less than 15,000 on tire. thank you *jb | |||
| 02/10/2005 | 72000 | 1 | 07/15/2002 |
| Transmission in our 2002 ford windstar mini van made abnormal noises for about 2 months. vehicle was taken to dealership of purchase for inspection, and they attributed the problem to tire and wheel alignment. all four tires were replaced with alignment. also, transmission noise persisted,and vehicle was returned to dealership. again nothing wa s found wrong on inspection with instructions to return later for more complete examination. on february 10, 2005 transmission malfunctioned accelerating the engine to 3200 rpms with a speed of 70 mph. vehicle suddenly lost control and veered to the left into a left turn lane, resulting in a collision with an illegally parked truck and trailer. subsequent investigations revealed the driver was unable to stop the vehicle by braking. the driver, my son , was trapped in the windstar mini van due to a complete collapse of the front frame. after a difficult extraction by the city fire department my son was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.*ak | |||
| 06/20/2003 | 6300 | 1 | |
| While driving my 2002 ford windstar i noticed that there was some vibration coming from the front of the car. once i pulled into our hotel i notice a rattling coming from the left front hub cap. when i pulled the hubcap off three of the lug nut suds were sheared off. ford fixed the problem but could not tell me why this happened. thier theory is that the tire was not properly put back on. the only time the tire was off was in july of 2002. my feeling is that if the wheel was not put on properly it would not take a year to notice. i may be wrong but i want to bring this to your attention in case there any other instances of this happening. thank you. *ak | |||
| TIRES - PRESSURE MONITORING AND REGULATING SYSTEMS | |||
| 08/23/2007 | 1 | ||
| While driving my 2002 ford windstar se van, the abs, brake, trac control light comes on. i have had the unit checked and there are no codes in the computer and all seems fine. i have read about faulty parts and leaks resulting in fires. also, my cruise control light does not light up any more. sometimes it's working and i don't even know. the low tire pressure stays on. i had mechanic check it out and reset the sensor but it comes back on in a few days. *tr | |||
| 10/01/2006 | 80000 | 1 | |
| I have a 2002 ford windstar that we purchased 2 yrs ago, ...morning after delivery battery was dead, took back to dealer and they checked it out and said should be fine. occasionally still dies and has to be charged, alternator & battery check out fine. the most dangerous problem is that the abs light is on and abs doesn't work properly. we continuously have to add brake fluid (at least once a month) and can not find any leaks on the ground. had the vehicle in for service on several occasions can not diagnose. the dealership hooked vehicle up to machine to read code and can not get any readings from system. dealership seemed to think that it could be a wiring problem or abs module. abs will occasionally go out/work but not properly, abs will kick in on dry roads not wet/snow covered. tire pressure light is illuminated and tire pressures are all correct. has been reset but comes back on after driving a few miles. occasionally it will go out on its own but then the speedometer will bounce around (if going 55 will jump to 70,80). when opening the rear tailgate hatch and closing,the dash light stays on like it is still open and dome lights will not work properly. when driving the door chime will sound and the door ajar light will go out and works properly until gate is opened again. when driving the door light and chime will come on lights stay on. the door ajar light also comes on and off intermittently when using the driver side door controls to put windows up/down you hear louder then normal clicking. also dims the lights when putting windows up/down. we can also smell what seems to be wires burning at times but can not find anything. we are at a loss of where to begin. we will not drive this vehicle any further then 50 mile radius from our home for fear of what will happen if we do. if we go further we rent a vehicle. now to the point of purchasing a cheap, reliable vehicle (not ford) and parking this one until we can pay down enough to trade in. *tr | |||
| TIRES - VALVE | |||
| 04/24/2008 | 1 | ||
| I purchased new 4 tires from sears auto center in dulles, va on 1/46/07 which they installed on our 2002 ford windstar. my wife, 3 year daughter and myself were traveling on interstate i81on 4/24/08 with this ford windstar experienced a front passenger side tire blow out. it was a good thing i was the driver and not my wife as this could of been tragic!! i quickly pulled it on the highways shoulder after traveling at 70 mph. i replaced the blown tire with the temporary spare. we then proceeded to have it replaced. the sears auto center in winchester, va told us they did not carry that exact tire and did not have one with the same speed rating and can not legally install one the doesn't match the rest. we needed to get home to our two children who were coming home from school, therefore, we were forced to purchase two new tires along with fees associated with doing so. we didn't know what caused this tire blow out and the sears technician was baffled as he said he found no holes or puncture in the blown tire. the two front tires are now new and the two rear tires were still in place from the original 4 tire purchase on 1/6/07. on 6/12/2008 we experienced a sudden loss of tire pressure on the passenger side rear tire and the tires valve stem was hissing from a sudden crack that had formed. i had the stem replaced at walmart in front royal, va. on 6/27/08 i had the last of the original tires have a sudden valve stem failure causing instant pressure loss. i was now suspecting the valve stems must have a major flaw and requested that the walmart technician give me the failed valve stem after he replaced it. after i returned home from getting this repaired, i researched on the internet for any tire valve stem recalls and i discovered the tech international recall under your investigation campaign id 08t018000. i have saved this remaining stem with the part number dill-acp tr413 on the base. *tr | |||