9th Jul 2002, 11:22
I purchased a two year old 1996 Ford Windstar with 20,000 miles in Nov.1998. In October 2000 we were losing engine coolant at a rate of 1 quart/month. Ford replaced engine because of cracked engine block at 42,000 miles. Due to problems installing engine the following were also replaced. fuel pump ceramic 02 sensor MAP sensor and piston position sensor.
In November 2001 vehicle would only drive in second gear. A transmission sensor was replaced. Two months later complete transmission failure at 54,000 miles. I paid $4000.00 Can. for a rebuilt transmission as there was no warranty available. While transmission was being replaced springs were checked because of safety bulletin from Ford. Four weeks later right front spring broke in driveway damaging tire slicing brake line and damaging strut tower.
Don't worry about seeing another ford in my driveway! Won't happen.
21st Sep 2003, 10:37
I own a 1995 Ford Windstar which remains in my garage where it has sat for nearly 6 months. The front end is on blocks and the engine/trans sub-frame is removed. I'm currently looking for my third engine for this vehicle and am not having much luck. The mechanics and salvage yard guys say finding a working 3.8 liter. is like searching for gold. The trans has been rebuilt @ 80,000 miles and had no problems since. I'm almost considering parting out the car. The trans has got to be near worth its weight in gold.
Bill, Cleveland OH.
17th Oct 2001, 13:47
My family acquired a Ford Windstar 3.0 V-6 1996 model used with 53,000 miles. At 68,000 miles the transmission gave and we had to have a rebuilt one installed at about $2000. It was out of warranty so we paid for it out of our own pocket. At 71,000 miles we had to have the water pump replaced for $275. I'm neutral about the cost of the van and it's repair costs. We paid about$9,000 for it used so we just added the $2000 and the $275 to it. We had looked at one of the Japanese vans (Toyota -- we had a Corolla and it gave us 187,000 miles before the body rusted out on us; we had another Toyota and it gave us about 133,000 miles before we chucked it; neither had any transmission problems) and figured the cost was too high -- about $20,000 new or about $15,000 used. Can't complain too much about the Ford, but sure wish they had less mechanical problems.