1999 Ford Windstar from North America - Comments

Hey my brothers and sisters I am very sorry to hear all about the problem you guys have. if you guys combine al the problems on this page I have in my van car. Now I am scared of this to go on the road. I am a big fan of american cars, but I am still, but I have to change my views. you know the intersting thind one for dealer told me the meaning of the ford is (found on road dead) and now I believe it.

Shame on ford motor co. for building such a bad 99 wingstar van it is great if you only want to drive in reverse..2nd trans... everyone knows the problems with ford mini van transmissions.. no wonder they are loosing money... i used to be proud to work at ford..

Thanks; fred rice.

Last year febuary 2006 is when I picked up my 1999 ford windstar. when I bought it they put a new rack and pinion in it a few months later the had to put another one in. my check engine light goes off and on my air bag light is on the horn doesn't work my door light is on. the best thing yet is driving home from my doctors my transmission went I had to walk one and a half miles to the closet house which was my daughters day care thank goodness. I still own on my loan for two more years and all that's going wrong with it I don't have that kind of money. ford should have recalled the 1999 ford windstars since it seems like everyone is having really bad troubles with them. never again will I buy a ford.

Rose, ny.

I just purchased a 99 ford windstar in dec 2006. the check engine light is on with ABS that comes off and on and now we have a power steering problem. what next? I definetly feel what every person here is feeling although my problems are just beginning. I thank everyone for sharing their stories. ford windstars are just worthless.

I too have a 99 Windstar SE. Right now it has 148,000 miles. Before I start the ticker-tape of repairs, let me tell you that I took delivery of this one AFTER I beat the crap out of Ford on a Michigan Lemon Law suit on the 98 piece of crap that they initially sold to me. That in itself is a war story worth repeating, but only on another day.

We took delivery of our 99 in December of 98. I we drove the unit trouble free (yippee) until it had 90,000 miles or so. The only issue that Ford never fixed was my rear aux htr/AC fan. It occasionally comes on for a moment when my foot is on the brake and I drop the it into R from Park. At or about the 90K mark, my trans took a dump in much the same fashion as previous posts. Fortunately for me, I worked (note past tense) at Ford and through several connections was able to locate one of the "experts" who worked in Transmission Development and was able to install a new trans in my vehicle for 1400.00 complete. At about the same time, the rack and pinion had to be changed and I began getting a check engine light. A 450.00 tune up later the CE light was off and only to come back on within a week. I started to research the issues and came across several TSB's that address the various possibilities causing the CEL... Using my low-tech approach and bending some seasoned Ford mechanics' ears I concluded that mine needed the TSB to replace intake bolts and gaskets. Since the unit was otherwise running well, I decided to put up with the light rather than change the intake gaskets. Since then, the A/C-Heat Temperature decided not to work. I've discovered that it would require a new heater plenum since the blend door is known to fail in these units at a rather alarming rate. Since the unit can be seasonally changed manually by pulling the radio and jury rigging the door (no, the blend door actuator is fine, it's the pivot that the actuator engages that is garbage) I decided to put up with that and change it manually every season. In the spring of 2006, the A/C compressor went bad.. Good news, I don't have to keep changing the blend door, bad news, no AC. In the meantime, I've discovered bad ball joints, bad stabar links, bad struts and bad brakes.

I too have the problem with my dome lights coming on when I hit bumps. I visited my buddy at the Ford dealer, where he removed the ignition lock cylinder and bent a small tab on the cylinder which cured the problem. I have not had the message center tell me any doors are ajar, but a little lube in the door latches (all 8 of them) will help to prevent phantom door ajar lights.

I agree that the transmissions, HVAC and rack and pinion are garbage. Otherwise, I think this has been a pretty good vehicle. The thing that really bugs me is when you walk into the trans, rack and pinion, and A/C repair places, these guys know exactly what you need cuz it fails on a huge percentage of these vehicles.

But, make no mistake... If you think that the imports do not have issues in the same manner, just start reading and searching. If I had a nickel for every person who ever said "I'll never buy another, FORD, GM, CHRYSLER, TOYOTA, HONDA, NISSAN, KIA, etc." I wouldn't have to worry about car repairs. I'd just get a new one every time I needed gas!!! You may be angry because the one you currently own is broken, but trust me, no matter what you buy, you are taking a gamble on the durability and quality of the vehicle. I wouldn't own a foreign car...period!

F (fix) O (or) R (repair) D (daily) sucks.

Here is my list that went wrong on my windstar. (I purchased the Windstar new back in 1999 what a mistake. My friends and my wife told me not to buy. But I want to buy product that made in USA. Now I wish I had purchased a Toyota)

Idle valve

steering rack (the whole steering unit caused an arm and a leg so I am drive with one arm and one leg)

tie rod end (just found out the other tie rod end is on its way)

starter motor

exhaust mainifold gasket (twice)

sliding door motor

leaks on the sliding door causes to burn out motor

alternator

brake cylinder (rear)

engine light comes on every two years (good effort on the engineering department. credits to the engineers: continuous inflow of profits for the company. good job. without these hard working engineers, FORD might be in finanical trouble.)

craked sub frame (engine frame: I guess Fix Or Repair Daily wants to save money by using recycle metal from China)

Slide door cable broke.

Door lock for sliding door no long works.

Replaced anti lock brake sensor. the anti lock warning light come on the way home after the dealer replaced the anti lock brake sensor.

dealer told me it is not a hardware (sensor) issue, but a software issue and requres reprogramming. I think FORD needs to reprogram the whole company)

Now the engine light is on again.

I think the list from above will repeat itself.

My friends' Hondas, Toyotas and other imports have little or trouble free. that is the reason why Toyota is the number 1 car maker in the world, Fix Or Repair Daily is on the way down (#3 in the world). Fix Or Repair Daily's business model is to sale parts and service and not cars.

I don't like to buy parts to rebuild my car (see the list from above) life is too short; therefore, I will not buy another FORD again. Good Luck FORD because there will be one less sucker to buy your lemons.

As of yesterday my 99 windstar has 190 000 miles on! All the problems listed above have been surfacing over the past year: o/d light; flashing cabin light; etc. etc. I've been lucky with my van... probably due to highway/freeway miles. It has been good to me, but those "little" repairs all add up.

Oh MY Gosh!!! I am so glad to finally find out I'm not losing my mind...Goodbye, ford, hello Toyota...

Does anyone else have any experience with a cracked frame member (where the front strut attaches)? Not sure if this is repairable or needs to be replaced. Just glad we saw it before the P.O.S. killed my family.

Unbelievable reading all these comments.

I bought my 1999 Windstar in October of '05...Feb '06 I replaced the FIRST transmission at about 85000 miles. Almost exactly 2 years later (Feb. '07) replaced the second transmission at about 120,000 miles. I've done all the maintenance that the dealer recommended.

Also the check engine light of my Windstar has been on for 2 years straight. No shop seems no be able to figure what's wrong with it. I've had countless electronic issues with this piece of junk. This is the first and the last time I will ever by a Ford vehicle.

I got my 1999 Ford Windstar brand spanking new. My tranny went, and my rack and pinion went. I was lucky after reading all these problems.

I had to turn off my dome light manually.

My o/d light comes on after reaching speeds over 120km.

I think my transmission fluid is low, as I think it is leaking transmission fluid from the passenger drive shaft side.

Overall, I think Ford could have build a better van, or should step up to fix the problems. I WILL BUY A HONDA OR TOYOTA vehicle soon.

For those who have a Windstar and cannot afford to get another vehicle. Try to sell it and buy a used Japanese vehicle you could afford. I got over 250 000 km on my van.

I should have bought the Odessey.

I'll just say DITTO to all the problems listed above.

I got rid of a Mercedes e320 for repeated tranny problems - for a windstar... with the same issues.

Should have gotten the Honda.

I have seen enough here on this page to keep me awake at night.

I too have a used 99 Windstar. It has 140K miles and is starting to act up. It is jumping. Almost like it is running out of gas. I had a diagnostic ran on it and the report came back showing a problem with the ignition coil. We replaced that yesterday and it is still jumping. Any of you guys have the same problem. I really hope this is not a sign of transmission trouble!

I am not a Ford hater. I bought an Escort new in 2000 and, 'knock on wood', no engine or transmission problems. 233K miles later I still love to drive that car, just not as comfortable not that I have a family.

August 17, 2007.

I should have read all these comments a couple of weeks ago. I had been considering getting a new vehicle since my 99 Windstar had 115,000 miles on it, but it was paid for, and all the little problems like check engine light (which local shop tried to fix 5 times with no success), doors ajar light staying on, ABS light on and off at its leisure, oil leak, chiming when doors were shut and key was in ignition, dome light staying on all the time, and the O/D going on and off seemed minor.

I was just going to keep it for a little longer.

BIG MISTAKE now the transmission has gone out. Estimates are $1,700 minimum to $3,000 PLUS, depending on what needs to be replaced once they break into the transmission. The blue book is $3,000 to $3,800. Just great. Held its value well!

My advice to anyone that currently owns a 99 Windstar is to RUN FOREST RUN, as soon as possible. All the people who have written the horror stories before me should not be ignored.

Do not believe that it won't happen to you. IT WILL!

Anyone know how much a junk yard will charge me to dispose of this PIECE OF FORD?

Oh boy... I wish we had of looked at this site before: (

Last week while driving through town, someone ran a stop sign and totalled our Pontiac van which we used for our second vehicle. My husband is a fisherman and used it to get to the wharf in the wee hours of the morning. We didn't know what to do, but knew that we needed to decide quickly as the rental car was due to go back. Finally yesterday, after getting all of the insurance taken care of, we came across a local reputable dealer who just took in a 2000 Windstar on trade. He said it was inspected until Sept. 2008 and that he would sell it to us for $3200.00 taxes in. He said it was an elderly man that drove it and he was the only owner. Of course he gave us the spiel that it was well taken care of blah blah blah. My husband drove the van to the wharf today to work on gear, and the transmission started slipping. If he pulled over and shut the van off and restart it, it would work again. It would travel less than a kilometer and the same thing would happen. What is normally a 15-20 minute drive, took an hour and a half. We have driven it less than 24 hours and the dealer says that since it was under $5000.00, there is no warranty. Now what??!! We can't afford to fix it and we just bought it and gave them $3200.00 cash. We are so stuck now. Thanks Ford. This is so upsetting!