1998 Ford Windstar GL from North America - Comments

My tire rods went at 45,000k's and Ford said it was normal. Although they know the tie rods will go often since they are not lubricated, so this problem will continue.

I had brought it in for the ignition censor and was told the van had a noise coming from the tie rods which already was fixed the previous month, so I told Ford they were sabotaging my car and they fixed the tie rods for free. Oh before I forget it cost 395.00 for the ignition censor.

Had to remove the fuses for the lights because they stay on constantly and we didn't want to have the battery die out.

The chime stays on forever, sometimes it goes off after 10 minutes driving then once the brakes are lightly touched the chime starts again.

All this plus the ABS break light comes on and the trac light flickers on and off and I can't drive at night, cause the trac light flashing drives me bonkers.

I refuse to go back to Ford and as of yet we haven't had any of these problems fixed, we still owe 14,000 and I won't even get half of that.

My van is my finacial breakdown. Have you heard Ford stands for (found dead on road).

Everyone who owns a windstar please file a complaint, and try to file a lawsuit agaist them.

I get very upset when I see a commercial telling us how ford stands behind their name.

I will never by a Ford car again, but I do intend to have all the problems of Ford windstar written on my van and drive around all Ford dealers.

I hope you all know that the ford techs get an incentive for fixing a vehicle right, but the incentive should be given. after 6 month if the van doesn't come back for the same problem.

Everytime you bring your vehicle to the dealer for service,remember they are sabotaging your car. And something will go wrong in about 2 weeks that's what happened to our van and it all started just after 60,000km.

Although I don't know what happened before I bought it.

All of us should take ford to court, and bleed them dry.

What ever happened to quality, they mistook it for quantity. and we can't blame the employee's of the plant, their supervisors should catch these problems.

I agree, I also own a 98 GL, it has had the same problems as spoke of here. I have a couple of friends with the same problems, one owns a 98 Windstar GL, the other, a 98 Taurus.

We all seem to have the same problems, tie rods, transmission failure, as well as minor electrical problems. Three cars, same year, same make, two with the same model, go figure.

Found On Road Dead, Definitely!!!

I also have had problems with my interior lights staying on after getting out of the van. I go around it and slam each door thinking I've left one ajar. I also removed the fuse to save my new battery. When I drive at night the lights stay on until I reach 20 mph then shut off. The chime also keeps going off until 20 mph. I had a friend riding with me the other day. It was embarrassing. Recently my ABS light came on and the mechanic can't find the problem. I've taken it to him 3 times. I thought it was just a malfunctioning light, but the brakes will sometimes act up. I've got to find out whats wrong & fix it.

I also have had nothing but trouble with our 1995 Ford Windstar. Two transmissions, 3 O2 sensors, belt pulley, alt., my interior lights will not go off so the fuse had to be pulled, the dinging from the door being open, but is not never stops unless you reach the speed of 20 mph. ABS always malfunctions, continual brake problems, and these are just the ones I can recall off hand.

We have owned this wonderful transportation item for 15 months and have paid far more in repairs than we have in monthly payments for the vehicle.

Never ever again would I buy one of Fords mini-van products or encourage anyone else to do so.

Let's be careful out there!

Dwight.

I have a 1998 Windstar with the same exact problems. The door ajar light stays on in the dash and the interior lights stay on. Go figure!!!

Use WD-40 on the door hinges and electrical points. This will solve the problems for a while.

OK, here goes. This van is a piece of crap. The ABS light came on, and after I spent 350.00 to get new brakes all around, the next day it comes on again! You know what kind of response I got when I called them back?? "Huh?" I wonder what it could be? Also, there is this knocking on the front right end that is driving me crazy! Is it a strut, or this tire rod deal. NO MORE FORDS FOR ME!!!

I purchased my 1999 Windstar with 22,000 miles on it. It has been in the shop three times for the automatic door, 2x for power steering pump and its now broken a 3rd time. Speakers cut in and out. Seat belt completely broke. Rear internal light keeps falling down. Check engine light came on twice for the oxygen sensor. Power steering hasn't worked in at-least the last 7,000 miles. The car now has 45,000 miles on it. I drove it in to a small good reputation lot and unloaded for 10,000. I will never own another ford and I have called and written to tell them so.

I purchased my 1999 Windstar with 22,000 miles on it. It has been in the shop three times for the automatic door, 2x for power steering pump and its now broken a 3rd time. Speakers cut in and out. Seat belt completely broke. Rear internal light keeps falling down. Check engine light came on twice for the oxygen sensor. Power steering hasn't worked in at-least the last 7,000 miles. The car now has 45,000 miles on it. I drove it in to a small good reputation lot and unloaded for 10,000. I will never own another ford and I have called and written to tell them so.

I have been reading the comments about the Ford Windstar GL because I recently purchased a 1998 model. The problems I am experiencing are pretty much the same as what I have seen here. The Service Engine Soon light started lighting up and the engine died the day after I purchased it. The dealer "repaired" this as the light went out for a while, but before I had owned the car for 6 weeks the light was back on.

I am noticing a rough, jerky shifting in the transmission sometimes.

There is also an odd noise when turning the steering wheel. I have no idea what that is, but I do not like anything that has to do with the steering acting up.

The passenger automatic door lock sometimes does not work. There is also oil in the air intake line.

I am currently $13,000 in debt for this vehicle and not in a position to pay for major repairs. I wish I had seen your survey before this purchase.

I also think that there should be something consumers could do about this. Class-action lawsuits or something??

I have a 1998 Ford Windstar and have replaced the oxygen sensors four times. My husband's friend is a mechanic and sees no other problems with the van. I can be going 40 miles per hour and the van starts to buck and stall. I am very concerned because I transport my young children in it. Unfortunately my warranty ran out at 51,000 miles and there are only 53,000 miles on it. With the amount of money I still owe on the van, I am stuck.

I just bought a 1998 windstar gl and am having the same interior light problem. Pulled the fuse to save the battery. I cleaned the sliding door contacts, no help. Has anyone got a solution?

FORD (Fix, Or Repair Daily), with the emphasis on the word DAILY. And they call this a "Better Idea".

Is it any wonder that some elements of our society harp about "corporate greed". If you look up "greed" in the dictionary, I'll bet there is a picture of the FORD logo.

I own a 98 Ford Windstar GL. I too have had numerous electrical problems. Here are some of the symptoms and fixes.

• Door ajar light stay’s on, interior lights stay on for long periods of time, and sometimes there’s intermittent chiming. The fix was to replace the back hatch switch and the sliding door switch. It has been four month’s and no more problems.

• The van stalls after driving for a while. The fix was a bad fuse to the fuel pump. The mechanic did a diagnostic, but did not find it at first. The van was running for a while, as it was being pulled out of the garage it started stalling. A diagnostic was performed again and the readout was (note m found bad fuse connection). What happened was that when the engine was hot the fuse spread apart... when the engine cooled the fuse closed, therefore the computer did not read a bad fuse.

Hope this helps somebody.

1998 Ford Wind star GL

I have had for 4 years.

70,000 miles, 1 Transmission, 1 Rack N Pinion,

An Alignment that requires you to Break the Struts? and costs 350.00, A Tune- Up costs 250.00 because you can't reach the plugs, Same Sensor Problems, Service Engine Soon,

ABS Light, Electronic Nightmare, My Friend just bought a New FORD Escape, Same Stuff. Only 3 years old, has barely driven it the last year.

I have sworn off Ford for Life!

I have had a 1995 Windstar and now own a 1998. I was given an extended warranty due to all the problems with the 1995 model. The transmission, the brakes, the door ajar lights staying on etc., etc.

I bought a 1998 van and was told up front that all the transmission and other problems were taken care of. They even offered me an extended warranty for basically Dealer cost as I had so many previous problems. I was told that the warranty would be the same as the 1st one with the exception of the "deductible". The Van has acted up quite a bit with the same problems with the transmission etc. Then I find out that I have to pay $100 each time for any Diagnostic analysis. this was never explained to me and because of that I have not brought it in as often due to the fee because they charge whether there is a problem found or not. the transmission is completely shot again and the extended warranty just expired. I have 54,500 miles on the van and the warranty was for 6 years or 72,000 miles. The warranty just expired a little over a month ago and the dealer will not give any help. I am totally fed up with the Ford product and especially the phrase "Quality Number One". I don't honestly think they feel that way at all or they would help in situations like these. The 2 Windstars have been nothing, but problems and promises made, but never kept or even followed through on.