9th Aug 2009, 01:43
I have 1998 Windstar GL 3.0 liter 4 speed automatic.
The van has had a few problems:
Tranny rebuilt at 160k.
The rear coils are weak.
It has been regularly serviced as I owned it for 4 or 5 years.
Not too many complaints till I sold it to my daughter in law. She drove it for 3 weeks and it died on her. We towed it to my son's house. That was months ago.
My son replaced the camshaft sensor and it ran for a few days. Then it died again. This time it was getting spark, but no pulse to the injectors. It has power to the main injector side, but it doesn't seem to be getting the ground command from the PCM module to the injectors. Also the fuel pump relay will not run unless I pull the relay and use a jumper; then the pump will run as long as it is bypassed. Yet it will still not fire.
I have traced grounds and power to modules and relays, the PCM, fuel pump, camshaft sensor, crankshaft sensor, the inertia shutoff switch, and also the idle air control. I ended up replacing all of these, and every PCM relay, fuel pump relay, EEC diode, clutch control diode and ignition switch. It has been ten long months of wire tracing hell.
If I put gas in air intake, it tries to start. Also if I run ground to the surge side of an injector and crank, it tries to fire on that one cylinder.
THIS is really getting to the point I could use so me brain out there to help point me in some direction. Oh, and by the way, I have an OBD meter and it is new and works on every other car or truck I have tried it on, yet no matter how many times I try, I cannot get my OBD to establish a link. I have even downloaded lots of wiring diagrams and have checked the data link control connections.
If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears.
THANK YOU, JERRY AT conforming@hotmail.com
12th Sep 2009, 02:16
I've Ford Windstar 98 GL. I bought it 4 month ago with a yelling in Power-Steering-Pump.
Can anyone help with this?
Do I have to buy new one? How much?
Please contact if you have same problem or can help alihamid20@gmail.com
13th Feb 2010, 15:58
My Windstar has 120,500 miles as of today. I don't have the interior light problem too often, but I did have to replace all my door lock actuators, one each year, as the power lock was burning them out.
I did the tranny at about 90k, and up until now the van has been great. Now my coolant is leaking into my intake valve? And I have a leak in the manifold and the head gasket. At least I think that is what my mechanic told me last night. Bummer.
I am burning up coolant every 3-5 days, and I need to refill my reserve tank. My teen boys are praying the van dies, so we get something with more cool factor, and I am praying to get a few more years without a car payment. I hear this repair is about $1500.
4th Mar 2010, 08:32
Also had a coolant issue. Was leaking for weeks, then mysteriously fixed itself. Don't know what happened in there, but the leaks have subsided. 1998 Ford Windstar still going strong!
6th Jun 2010, 21:53
I have a 1998 Ford Windstar. It runs great for a few miles, then it starts slowing down. If I push for passing gear or try to go faster, it gets slower. Pushing on the pedal doesn't help. If I push down slowly, it goes a little better. When I first start it, when it's cooled off, it runs fine again??? Until it warms up again, then it does the same thing.
7th Jun 2010, 10:15
And you have not check engine light on? If you do, get it scanned for the trouble codes.
Without codes I could see one reason for this behavior: ECT circuit. ECT stands for Engine Cooling Temperature. The ECT sensor tells the computer how cold or warm the engine is. If it's cold, it injects a little extra fuel because the fuel condensates to the cylinder walls and can't ignite. When the temperature goes up, the computer dials back on the fuel volume. If the computer doesn't know the temp is up, then it injects too much fuel and it doesn't burn properly.
There could be some other issues. Get it fixed or you will damage the catalytic converter.
22nd Aug 2010, 22:50
I have a 1998 Ford Windstar 3.0. It has lots of compression, but when you have your foot on the gas, it sounds like an exhaust leak, but isn't. Does anyone have any ideas?
12th Sep 2010, 20:49
Bought my '98 Windstar GL 3.8L used in '06 with 104K miles, cost $2.8K. Transmission needed to be rebuilt at 112K miles, cost $2.5K, and was recommended to have the transmission serviced every 10K miles, which I do.
I have regular oil changes every 3k miles, only problem is passenger power window motor is not working.
On the highway it gets 22-24mpg, in town, 17-19mpg, fortunately I have not experienced any of the problems mentioned in the previous comments, as of September '10 it now has 151K miles.
I live in a very hot climate near Palm Springs, Ca. and tow a trailer occasionally, with normal tire and brake wear.
This has been an exceptional vehicle, considering the amount of money I have into it.
5th Jun 2011, 09:05
Dealership repair shops are there for one reason only. To support the show room. The show room makes no money until a car is sold. So the service dept. must bring in revenue to pay the bills for the show room. That why they try to tell you you should bring the vehicle back to them for service during the warranty period. Labor charges are 80 - 90 dollars an hour, and many times they will miss trouble shoot as in your case to get you to spend the big bucks. In your case, all you need is a new belt as proved by using WD-40 on it. It is hard to find a dealership service dept that will not try to steal your money.
24th Jul 2009, 18:23
Just want to let people know that most of the door ding problems and lights staying on are from the sliding door contact switch in door post, and on the driver's door. I used megapower 120 penetrant with lube on the driver's door, and disconnected the sliding door switch, then used a jumper wire in connector, works great. Also shuts off the door ajar light in the dash.
The misfire problem with the 3.8L is carbon buildup in the intake; remove upper plenum and there are discs that look like nickels in the lower intake, use a coat hanger or welding rod or pick tool, and clean the little holes in them, then remove the EGR valve and blow out dislodged carbon with compressed air thru the removed EGR port, then put it all back together with NEW gaskets, make sure you change the seals in the upper plenum bolts also, they can cause a vacuum leak. If you still have the problem, you likely have a bad injector, or have the EGR DPFE sensor vacuum tested at a shop, it could be bad, this is the square aluminum sensor in front of the EGR valve with two vacuum hoses going to it and an electrical connector.
I have a 1998 Windstar 3.8L and have to work on the junk all the time, consider myself an expert at this time on Windstars, P.S. I am also a technician, Mike.