29th May 2003, 05:32
Has anyone resolved the clunking in the front suspension? I have 138,000 miles on my 97 Windstar and have had this problem for the last 4 years! I have had the van looked at by two different Ford Dealers and two other independent repair shops and no one can find the problem. I my case, the noise is worse when the humidity is low. When it is wet outside there is no noise at all. Any ideas? sdcotten@charter.net.
9th Jul 2003, 00:13
I just purchased a 96 windstar and have the same problems with the speedometer bouncing around and the door chiming and lights coming on. Ill try WD-40!
27th Jul 2003, 12:56
I can't believe Ford will not do a recall this is crazy!! We just purchased a used 1995 Ford Win-star, I really liked it, until my "door ajar light" started staying on along with my dome lights. Now it appears that the transmission is acting up!! I feel so bad, I really like my van, but can this "electrical problem" be fixed?? If anyone knows please respond.
Thanks,
James.
28th Jul 2003, 12:58
I am a second owner of 98 Ford Wind-star, which I purchased in 99 and since then I also have had problems with the sliding door ajar light being constantly on, the interior lights take forever to actually go off when you exit the vehicle.
Also the interior lights stay on when I get in the vehicle and don't usually go off until I am on the road a 1/2 mile into my drive, which makes it very hard to see at night and especially back up.
Now in 2003 I am having constant "electrical" problems with my passenger side window, which I thought I got fixed at Don Chalmers Ford dealership and paid 400.00, well guess what its out again and it not a fuse... I am a single parent and paid about 15,000 initially for my vehicle I wish it was more reliable, other than that I really like my van.
Bonnie Alb. NM.
14th Aug 2003, 10:01
I own a 1997 Windstar with just over 80,000 miles on it. In the last 6 months, the engine light has been coming on and off. I have spent more than $1000.00 trying to fix this problem, and each time they reset the computer and fiddle around with this or that, but to no avail. The problem is only fixed temporarily. I have been told that it is coming on for various reasons, including a loose gas cap, but with fixing all of these, the light still comes on every 6 weeks or so.
Dealership can't figure out what's wrong. Any suggestions?
This is the LAST time I ever buy a Ford.
3rd Feb 2004, 18:03
I have 95 Windstar. I also have the problem with the door ajar sensor on the back hatch. I'm trying the WD-40 thing now. We did fix the grinding, knocking noise in the front by drilling into one of the joints and shooting grease into it. This joint did not have a grease fitting (VERY POOR DESIGN FLAW) and got dried out and made horrible noises. We did this a year ago and so far the noise has been gone.
I also have another problem that we've yet to diagnose. The van acts weird when you are driving in mountains or in many ups and downs. It's like some sort of back pressure and the gas pedal stops responding. You can have it floored and nothing when all of a sudden "WHAM" it decides to GO. It will do this until you've been on flat land for a good period of time. Gets very aggravating on vacation.
I also have the jerky transmission, but I have electronic dash so I don't suffer the crazy speedometer.
I also used to be a big Ford fan, but not any more.
17th Apr 2004, 18:33
I also have a 1996 Winstar that is possessed. It just turned 100,000 miles. The lights stay on and the dings ding. The speedometer starts jumping at 30 mph and goes completely out of control at 70 mph. We also had to have the transmission overhauled at 90,000 ($1500).
My prayer is that Ford will find this website and help the people that have trusted in them for a dependable vehicle.
18th Jun 2004, 10:50
I think we made a mistake buying our Ford Windstar too. All the same problems. We may just junk it. Life is too short. At least there are plenty of used parts available. It appears as though lots of others have had the same (junk it) idea. Check www.car-part.com and enter your year, make model, which part you need, all states, etc. There are whopping 82 pages of used (right front) doors, for example...
23rd Jun 2004, 09:54
Hi there!
I have a 96 Windstar also, and have all the same problems. The WD-40 fixed the door ajar and dome light problem. I have the jumpy speedometer, finally had it diagnosed yesterday at a local dealership, it is a bad VSS (variable speed sensor) That along with other minor work will run $332.84. I have also experienced the strange possessed like happenings. Yesterday I was driving along and the doors locked, then they would not unlock for awhile, then just a bit later they seemed to work fine. However, later that day while shopping, I came out to find that my doors had unlocked while I was in the store, keys out to boot. I know I had locked it as I made sure because I had already done some shopping. Therefore, off to the dealership garage, all the strange happenings seem to be due to a bad GEM (generic electric module. The serviceman said it can cause LOTS of weird things, horns honking, lights flashing, window failure...etc..etc.. Cost for the Module change $311.72. Overall it has been a good van for me, I bought it 2 years ago for $3000 it now has 157,500 miles on it. I am just waiting for the bottom to fall out. No doubt, it will when I take it from OK to FL next week. Good luck to all of us!
28th May 2003, 18:13
When my 1998 Wind star door ajar light started acting up, I decided to do some troubleshooting rather than randomly spraying WD40 all over everything. Here is the way I solved my problem. There are 5 door sensors, any one of which can cause the problem. All of the sensors report to the GEM (Generic Electronic Module) The GEM is located under the dash just above the gas pedal. I removed connector C234 and checked continuity using an ohm meter. The Black/ violet wire (pin 4) Goes to the left door ajar sensor. Should get continuity to ground with the door open and open circuit with the door closed. The Black Pink wire, (pin 16) goes to the right door. Should check the same as the left. The Black/ Lt Blue wire, (pin 5) goes to the left and right lift gate sensors. Should get continuity with the lift gate open, and open circuit with the lift gate closed. The black and white wire was where my problem was. (pin 17), Should have continuity with the door closed and open circuit with the door open. Mine was open all the time. I replaced the sensor on the rear latch of the sliding door and the problem was solved. Because these sensors are such a high fail item, I took the sensor apart and discovered the plunger has 2 o rings on it which were loaded with dirt. I cleaned the dirt out and put the sensor back together and the old sensor now works good. I will keep this one as a spare. Good Luck!! Dennis.