1995 Ford Windstar GL from North America - Comments

Brakes, transmission, engine, defroster, molding on the frames of the doors, radio cuts out, short in the wiring system under the hood.

More to come I'm sure...

Hello

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

I want to bring to your attention of another cover up in the Ford Corporation.

This problem dates back to the 1995 and younger Ford Windstar minivans.

Ford has recently recalled the issue with the faulty head gasket and has put attention towards this issue.

However they have not put forth attention to the growing problem of the transmissions.

This as well as the head gasket problems that seem to be happening to an overwhelming population of 1995 and 96 Windstar owners.

I have read and talked to countless people with a problem of their transmission slipping and failing.

This could become a fatal hazard if not addressed.

Not to mention that people are paying upwards of 1800 to 2000 and more dollars to have their transmissions in these vehicles repaired or replaced.

And it has happened more than once and under 100,000 miles... some as soon as 30,000 miles.

This is a cost the consumers are paying for another one of Ford's mistakes.

Please lets not let people have to pay with their lives.

Again thank you for taking the time to read this and if you need additional information please do not hesitate to contact me

Sincerely, Carlene Blair (1995 Ford Windstar owner)

Phone number 760-757-9655

Below are links to sources of people with the same problem as mine.

Problems with 95 and 96 Ford vans and cars.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/ford_windstar.htm

Scroll to bottom and there are more stories of problems.

http://www.bergen.net/perl/mwf/board_show.pl?id=4

http://www.carlounge.com/

http://carreview.com/reviews/vans_minivans/product_214.shtml

Whaddya know! they posted mine too! LOL

This I wasnt aware of! Would have much rather had this!

http://www.auto.com/industry/ford7_20000307.htm

http://www.cartrackers.com/Forums/live/YourLemon/page5.html

http://www.cartrackers.com/Forums/live/fordwindstar/

My brakes are also squishy... coincidence??? Possibly :-(

Theres a place at the bottom of the page... you can jump to different forums... it's sad... there's a lot of Windstar and other Fords in there with similar problems.

http://cartalk.cars.com/Survey/Results/Demographics/Comments/Ford/Windstar-1995.html

Some good... some bad... some more bad...

http://x62.deja.com/=mssb/getdoc.xp?AN=713396609&CONTEXT=979603935.1806041202&hitnum=12

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Flats/1273/

I think this guys a little peeved!

http://www.thecomplaintstation.com/f/ford_toc.htm

More similarities here

http://www.carvoice.com/cvsurveystwo/fordwindstar.html

http://cg1.superpages.com/cgi-bin/php/used/reports/full/maint?CarRef=U194

http://www.channel4000.com/partners/tv/consumer/partners-tv-consumer-20000329-190356.html

http://www.webbbox.com/business/f/ford.htm

http://www.abqjournal.com/wheels/1cc11-06-99.htm

http://www.lemonaidcars.com/home.htm

http://members.nbci.com/fordsuckz/

I too have a '95 Windstar. While my experiences haven't been nearly as bad as yours, I agree about the head gasket thing. Getting any sort of acknowledgment that this was a known problem was impossible until mid-last year. Very, very annoying.

It's been OK for us, but I'll say this after its gone: That 3.8 V6 never really "ran right"; just OK. No matter how many times we had it in, it never ran as smoothly as you'd expect.

I too own a '95 Windstar van! Not surprised about hearing about all of these problems... I have to admit, I will never buy another FORD product.

We bought our van with only 38,000 miles, had only really drove it in the town that we live in, usually no further than about 80 miles round trip... Have always kept the maintenance up and felt secure on taking our van on a family vacation... Well, now we can call it a Ford Vacation, they really won, they took our money for the "new engine". On top of that we are from WA. state, making our way back to Iowa state, but ended up only in Montana, took a rental back here, because we were told that it would take 6 months for a engine, because of so many engines in demand! Go figure!

6 weeks later, we needed another vehicle, so we go and buy a Chevy on a Friday, Monday they call and tell me my van is ready! Knowing that the engine had been with them since Thursday and they do not bother to call! I was very annoyed! We were fortunate to have the "new manager" of the garage be from Washington, because he drove it back to Washington, because he needed to finish moving his wife and children to Montana, so we didn't have to pay for us to go back and get it. This was almost a year ago...

Last month we lost Drive, than we lost Reverse, at stop lights and signs, sometimes our van would go, other times we would push on the accelerator and just hear the engine rev, and than without notice it would jump and go! Took it to Aamco and boy, he wasn't surprised at all! He has fixed many of the 95 Windstar transmissions!

I'm so angry at Ford, they are this big company taking a huge bite out of us consumers!

How can we who make only $75,000 a year win??? Please someone somewhere must help all of us! This isn't just a money issue, it is also a danger issue!!! $2,900 later for the transmission! I still owe a ton on this piece of.... you all know what I'm talking about

I also have 1995 windstar that have head gasket leaking that cause the engine to blow ford will not fix the proble I am stuck with this van,

1995 Ford Wind Star / 145000 KM.

First head gaskets replaced. Second just two days after this repair was complete, thought I was safe; WRONG!!Would you believe the transmission is now slipping. I wrote Ford

but it seems they don't care. Guess I'm SOL.I'm hoping to get rid of this nightmare, that's if you can find a buyer other than a scrap yard offering you $50-$100 bucks for it. I know I've had my last Ford (F-found O-on R-road D-dead) Guess I'll buy an import; forget about the North American car manufacturers, they need to learn how to build cars first.

I have a 1995 Ford Wind Star and I have had to replace the transmission once and now it has gone out again! I cannot afford to purchase another one and I feel that the Ford Motor Company should reimburse me for the second one. Does anyone know if Ford offers a reimbursement program or where I can go to get some help with this?

I bought a new 95 Ford Windstar in Oct of 1994. The transmission never worked well from day one. It would kick hard when put in reverse and would occasionally slip when rounding corners. If the slipping became more pronounced I would add transmission fluid and this would return the problem to the occasionally annoying condition. In 2000 after racking up about 85,000 mile or so the head gasket blew out. I paid 1200.00 to repair the damage and much to my surprise Ford reimbursed for the whole amount when I complained. The Windstar now has 134,000 miles on it and yesterday the transmission has finally gone off the deep end and has begun to severely slip. The Windstar has some redeeming qualities, but if later models of this vehicle continue to display these type of problems it points to some design, engineering and management deficiencies at Ford. Would I buy another Windstar??? Only if the price were several thousand below a Japanese competitor such as Honda or Toyota, and Ford offered 0% interest, a 5 year 50K mile warranty and gave me 2500.00 for the old Windstar to cover what I'll probably pay to fix the transmission.

Hi. I have a 1996 Ford Windstar. It has 84000 miles on it. Occasionally when I start it up, the van shimmies, and the check engine light starts blinking, then goes solid. The light stays on till I send it to my mechanic where he shuts it off, and again says he has no idea why this is happening. Anyone have the same problem?

We also have a 1995 Ford Windstar. I know we should be having it fixed, but there is no way we can afford it. I was hoping for a cheaper fix. We know the transmission is the problem, but it seems odd though as the reverse works in the morning (so I can back it out of the garage) but once it warms up, reverse doesn't work, though it will later on in the evening. Forward works 98% of the time, but once in awhile at a stop sign, it won't go, so I have to put it into a lower gear to go. Then I just put it back into drive. This has been going on for 8 months now. We did bring it in and the mechanic said he didn't believe the whole transmission needed to be fixed, but then another mechanic at the place said just to replace the whole thing. That which would have been an additional $1500. So far I just try to be careful where I park so that I don't have to push it out (though my daughters and I have more than a few times). Otherwise I just park on a slant so I can roll back. The van now has 120,000 miles on it. I was just wondering is this normal? I always thought when the transmission goes it goes quick, and once reverse goes it just doesn't work at all anymore. I will keep on driving it until it goes completely unless I somehow find the $$$ to fix it before it does. Other than that I try not to go more than 200 miles from home. This is the only problem we have had with the Windstar (besides the engine... but that was not Ford's fault... it was mine... I learned the hard way not to pull a camper with the cruise control on... going up a hill... first time I tried that and last time too!)

Any comments on this would be appreciated. -In Wisconsin-