28th Jan 2009, 20:47
At 145,000 miles on a 10-year-old vehicle, what in the world are you complaining about??? If you'd have taken care of it, changed fluids, lubricated door parts, you could have prevented most of your problems. I think you'd be disappointed with any vehicle.
1st Apr 2009, 21:09
I still drive my 1998 Windstar. It is now 11 years old and is the best investment I ever made. "Remember, take care of your vehicle and it will take care of you" Happy motoring!!
11th Oct 2012, 15:12
The lights staying on and the door ajar warning are the same problem. There is a door jamb switch in all the doors, and one or more is/are your problem. Mine was the front driver's door. You can get one at Autozone for $16. It's a pain to replace, but it fixed my problem. Also, clean the contacts for the sliding door with fine sand paper or steel wool, and make sure things make good contact when it closes. My 98 Windstar is working better now.
Also, if your van won't start for some unknown reason, it could be the neutral safety switch. You should also play with the shifter and see if that is your cause. I'm slowly fixing everything in mine. New front passenger window assembly, new rear window motors, etc... We'll see how she treats me when I'm done.
14th Feb 2015, 03:10
I have a 98 Windstar with 208000 on it and it runs really good. Got it for a great price, just put in a CV axle and lower control arm. The chiming and dome lights everyone keeps complaining about was an issue for a few days, but I got sick of it, opened the rear hatch, pulled the rubber down from the wires on the left, and cut the blue worth white stripe wire. The chiming is gone forever, but the van will never know that door is open.
28th Jan 2009, 15:00
It seems Ford and funky electrics go together. But you can control some of the pain by searching google for these problems.
Also one problem could lead to another. Maybe the light staying on is increasing the draw on your alternators and killing them early. Once you are done spraying WD 40 into the door latches your interior lights might go off together with the door ajar light. You could also just turn the interior light off for good. That switch is to the left of the steering column. That won't help the door ajar light though.
Replacing most of the front suspension may actually reduce the stresses on the drive shafts and allow them to serve as long as they should.
Good luck to you. And once I figure out exactly why my interior lights flicker I will post my solution somewhere.