Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PARKING BRAKE | |||
| 06/04/2010 | |||
| My abs light keeps illuminating. this has been going on for approximately a year. i had the fix for the recall of the speed control that from what i am reading could be causing the issue with the abs lights due to fluid leaking. 2003 ford windstar | |||
| 11/10/2010 | 175000 | ||
| Just another day of driving down the street on the bumpy road. when i finally pass the construction area to the newly paved road to come to a stop at the light, car started to skid lockd up the front wheel. whole van shack. then the abs and brake light came on. it was a life or death experiance for me! now the abs and brake light lid up on the regular bases. help!! | |||
| 10/14/2010 | 125000 | ||
| I have a 2003 ford windstar and the abs and brake light comes on every time im out driving. i feel this is a safety hazard and needs the attention of the government to resolve this matter before we start losing families. | |||
| 07/07/2010 | 180900 | ||
| Owner of 03 ford windstar. problem notice on the 2nd day of owning the car back in july 2010. after parked the car on driveway, noticed the parking brake light on. soon after, the abs light came on. took the car in for a total service of oil, coolant, brake, tranny fulid change. and had the abs light checked up. the technician imformed me about the abs ecm board could be bad. without any other vehicle, i had to drive it to airport right after the auto shop. on the way to airport, the abs and brake light came on again. causeing me taking my eyes off the road, trying to release the hand brake, while driving 65mph on highway swerve from lane to lane. it was very scary! i had to focus on wether the brake light had to do with actual brake, release accel pedal, no noticeable deceleration. checked the 101 and 102 fuse, both good. so i'm pretty sure the abs ecm circuit board had to do with it. today the abs and parking brake continues to come on and stay on. every now and then it doesn't light on. please help me and many others who are facing the same problems!! | |||
| 09/05/2010 | 83000 | ||
| Randomly, but with increasing regularity, the abs and brake lights come on simultaneously and stay lit. only way to correct issue is to turn off vehicle for a period of time(more than 10 minutes) and then start up again. no noticeable effects occur when lights come on, but i haven't had to use the abs system as it is summertime and road conditions are optimal for braking. also, not sure if it's related but, recently used the parking brake and even though it is fully released inside the vehicle.....the rear brakes appear to still be locked due to the fact of visual evidence of smoke and accompanying burning smell after driving for any distance. | |||
| 12/20/2009 | 85000 | 1 | |
| My 2003 ford windstar has been continuously giving my electrical problems. first the rear parking sensors disengage when in reverse. while driving the abs, brake and traction control lights come on the dashboard. i'm not sure what it does, but the vehicle does then not function properly. the traction control and brakes don't seem to be working properly. *tr | |||
| 12/09/2009 | 61286 | 1 | |
| The abs light is on, difficulty getting van out of park. smelled smoke after last use of vehicle. *tr | |||
| 06/10/2009 | 75000 | 1 | |
| My 2003 ford windstar continues to smoke and the abs and brake lights keep coming on. it also has electrical problems because the interior lights continue on flashing and the door locks sometimes do not work properly. the problem seems to be a widely experienced issue because i have found numerous websites describing these issues. *tr | |||
| 03/01/2009 | 1 | ||
| I have a 2003 ford windstar and the abs light (amber color) and brake light (red color) will just illuminate while driving down the road. i have taken it in to be serviced and the ford dealership and another mechanic shop have not been able to find what is causing the lights to come on while i am driving down the road. today, for example, i had been driving for about 15 minutes when it came on. i pulled over and turned the vehicle off and then back on and the lights went off. about 5 miles down the road, they came on again. i once again pulled over and turned the vehicle off and back on two times before the lights went off. it seems to be pretty random as to when the lights will come on, but it freaks me out every time it happens. *tr | |||
| 02/08/2008 | 1 | ||
| Since we got our 2003 ford windstar new in december, 2002, we have always had an issue with constantly needing to fill the brake fluid. the ford dealership said they couldn't find anything wrong. in feb, 2008 our abs and brake light came on. took it to a firestone repair shop, they fixed and akjusted the brakes and they said it was a problem with the brake sensor and that there was nothing wrong with the brakes when they were finished, just the light was on and we needed to replace the sensor. as it was extremely costly and they told us there was nothing further wrong with the brakes, we choose not to replace it. in june 2008 our cruise control stopped working. we again took it in and they could not figure out what was wrong. two weeks ago, august, 2009, we had all new brakes put on. just yesterday, august 21, 2009, our brake fluid was almost empty. we took it back to the place we had the brakes put on, and they just filled the brake fluid and said there was an air bubble. upon driving home from the repair shop, we noticed that our speedometer and odometer had stopped working and the overdrive light was now flashing. so, we have the following warning lights on our control panel: abs, brake, overdrive; and the following items not working: abs, speedometer, odometer, overdrive; and a continually disappearing brake fluid problem. don't actually know if the abs works or not. *tr | |||
| 06/15/2009 | 66000 | 1 | |
| 2003 ford windstar abs and emergency light stay on even with no brake issue. *tr | |||
| 05/10/2009 | 122000 | 1 | |
| Parking brake light and abs light come on after driving a short distance. i've found this to be highly frequent problem on 2001-2003 ford windstars. also read that this could cause fires and even death. we also have internal lights that flash on and off while driving. this is dangerous at night as it could startle the driver. i've read this is also a common problem. please! get the ford motor company to recall these vehicles and correct this problem. a huge percentage of the these vehicles have the problem. *tr | |||
| 05/12/2009 | 122000 | 1 | |
| Brake light and abs light comes on after a few minutes of driving our 2003 ford windstar. started happening intermittently in july 2008 but now just about every day. ford dealer inspected the vehicle on 5/13/09 and found hydraulic control and electronic control units need to be replaced. est cost nearly $1,300. *tr | |||
| 02/12/2009 | 110000 | 1 | |
| Brake light (e-brake) and abs light come on intermittently after about 5-10 minutes of driving. this either cause the abs to disable or not depending on which mechanic i talk to. two mechanics have looked at this, and recently i was denied an emissions test due to this (non-emission related) problem. according to several websites, this is slated as a _very_ common problem with this year of vehicle, and i would like to get it fixed... the dealer wants over $1000 to diagnose and repair this problem that if not resolved, results in intermittent abs, or fire. *tr | |||
| 05/01/2008 | 90000 | 1 | |
| Ford windstar 2003 abs light, trac active light, and brake light intermittently go on and off and stay on for various amounts of time and then just turn off on their own with no apparent reason found. car operates fine when these lights come on. i am worried about a vehicle fire. this is still an ongoing problem in my car. searched the web and many other ford minivans have the same problem. ford ash to do something!! *tr | |||
| 05/21/2008 | 16000 | 1 | |
| Abs and brake light started to go on in the last week. also odometer goes flat brakes squeal every other time i use car. owned 5 years new 16,000 +miles on car single and only owner. i took it to my mechanics and he checked and couldn't find a reason. he suggested i go on line because he had no record of a recall by ford. *tr | |||
| PARKING BRAKE - INDICATOR LIGHT | |||
| 04/10/2008 | 1 | 07/14/2006 | |
| I was driving along and suddenly the emergency brake light, the abs light, the traction light, and check engine light came on. the odometer, and dashboard fuel info system didn't work, the speedometer stopped working. the words check transmission came on the info screen. i took the car to three different mechanics and no one can find anything wrong with my vehicle. i was told that the car is fine and they can't find any reason for these lights to be on or how to get them to go off. *tr | |||
| 04/23/2007 | 45000 | 100 | 10/12/2005 |
| Both the abs light and the emergency brake light come on in my 2003 ford windstar once the vehicle gets warmed up. i have conducted extensive research after having a mechanic give me the code that the van is throwing (c1185) and found the following: the brake pressure differential deactivation switch (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. this leak causes brake fluid to wick down two wires to the abs brake module (2c219). the fluid accumulates on the 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 the windstar van yet. below is a picture of the switch in question. notice the fluid that leaked on the part below it. this switch will cause cruise control problems, speedometer, odometer and abs brake system problems. the issue of the abs brake light is critical in that the abs brake system does not function as designed by ford. the issue is caused by heat in the abs (anti-lock brake system) ecm (electronic control module) (2c219) module causing expansion of a large aluminum plate (heat sink) in the ecm which is attached to the ecm main circuit board at all points. the expansion occurs when the unit gets warm especially in the summer months and causes intermittent electrical connection in the unit because the fragile board is being stretched and malformed. the code most commonly scanned by professional mechanics is code c1185. seen by us owners as a yellow abs brake light. *tr | |||
| 05/01/2007 | 45000 | 200 | 03/31/2006 |
| My automobile keeps getting multiple emergency brake and abs errors. the lights come on and remains on until turned off. upon researching this problem it appears to be a wide spread issue with ford windstars. i've also read that one person had a fire come from this issue. is there any motion for a recall. *tr | |||
| 09/15/2007 | 94000 | 1 | 05/24/2007 |
| I would like to request an investigation on my 2003 ford windstar van. my abs and emergency brake light randomly come on, for no apparent reason. i can sit and let my car idle, and the light will come on. this has happened since i bought it, and since i bought the car used, the dealership (ford dealership) won't repair it for me. can you look into this for me, and see if they will do a recall of the problem. thanks! the dealership told me if the light is on, then i will not have antilock brakes. this was a feature that made me buy the vehicle. please help me. *tr | |||