Ah yes... someone mentioned service bulletin 3-16-1 for the Ford Windstar. I know it well. My lightly-driven, religiously serviced, leased/owned since new, 2000 Windstar LX was just out of warranty and I had the misfortune of just turning my new vehicle lease into a purchase. BIG mistake. The "check engine" light came on and it was time to learn about service bulletin 3-16-1 and pay pay pay... I have my invoice right here... Upper intake carbon removal and replacement of isolator bolt $763.36... replace MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor $67.92... Reprogram PCM $84.90... Purge injector system $104.95... + misc... Total = $1174.30... Ford's response to an apparent isolator bolt assembly failure (that now that I have read up about it, it seems to be a common failure and probably an engineering design flaw)... "Sorry, but we can't do anything, goodbye." The van has now started to regularly stall at a mileage of 55,000 miles. What a piece of crap. I really regret buying it.
Conclusion = DO NOT BUY A FORD WINDSTAR
Couldn't have said it better myself. My check engine light has been on forever! I figure the catalytic converter or something. I have really had no major problems though with my LX, but Friday 4/1 I get home and my transmission went out! No warning, nothing. I called my boyfriend and I think he thought I was going to say "April Fool's" but it never came out! I am on a very tight budget being a "single" mom, with 3 small children and a 17 year old sis I am responsible for. The total is going to be up near 2grand! I have no clue where I am going to get that. I am going through a divorce, and put myself through a vocational school graduating top of my class, but I still am getting my foot in the door at my new job! I can't sleep, I am a nervous wreck, and I am so Mad!!! When I first got the car it was one of the highest mini-vans for safety, yeah cuz they are never on the road, always broke in a garage!!! To all of the people out there that agree, LETS NEVER BUY FORD AGAIN!!!
I am the original poster of this review. Just got the estimate for my transmission repair on this 2000 Windstar now with 60,000 miles. Exploded "sun gear" I'm told. $3,795 This is a lightly driven soccer mom vehicle. More than $5,000 in repair bills IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS. I'm disgusted.
DO NOT BUY A FORD WINDSTAR.
I fully agree - this car is a piece of junk. I bought one used at 28,000 miles. The car pinged almost all the time. I was in the shop every month or two. They never could fix it. Ford refused to replace the engine even though they admitted it shouldn't ping and couldn't fix it. I should have sued them then, but was too busy with other problems.
The transmission was leaking. I told them it was between the engine and transmission. They replaced the pan gasket. This was under warranty. 2000 miles later, I noticed the leak again. This time they said it was a torque converter. Now out of warranty, that would be $1,200. I told them it was the same problem as before, they just misdiagnosed it. They said no way could they have made such a mistake. After fighting for weeks and threatening to bring Ford and the dealer to small claims court, they paid $1,000 of it. Three months later, it is leaking again. I go in and they say it's the pan gasket again. They fix it under warranty of the previous repair, but I have them write on the invoice I disagree and state it is between the engine and transmission. A month later it is still leaking, they now replace the torque converter again, and this time give me the other $200 back for the first repair, thus admitting the first mistake.
At 80,000 the check engine light came on. Same deal as in this review. Tear apart the top of the engine and also replace a valve cover with a new design. Pretty much admitted it was a known design error which if they had notified customers about, could have been fixed for less than $100 before all the trouble it caused with other components. Now the cost was $1000. Once again I threatened them with court action and this time they just paid me the whole amount up front; well actually Ford paid half and the dealer, bless their hearts this time, did the honorable thing and covered the other half. I will never buy another Ford. They don't care about their customers and you can see why they're one step from bankruptcy.
I am another upset (2003) Windstar owner. My ABS and Brake warning lights have been on for months and no one at the dealer can tell me why. The rear seats don't recline, even though the owners manual says they do... The dealer who sold it to me said this is an optional feature not available in my van... I have never heard of none-reclining rear seats and have owned three vans before this one. There is a loud chirping noise coming from the engine... can't wait to hear how much that will cost. The door seal on the passenger side leaks and the car gets wet anytime it rains. Same for the back overhead door. This is also the loudest car I have ever driven. I am definitely never buying a Ford again.
Yup,,, Think I have figured it out.
There is an ad in this weeks Trading Post classifieds Issue #48 Fort Wayne.
2000 Ford Wind-star 93000 on body 38000 on engine. $4200
Think I know why.
I own a 1988 Ford arostar cargo. Had a rebuilt engine with transmission put in it. Bought 7 years ago. Now I know this is the norm for Ford mini vans.
PAYED $1200 FOR IT
Thought it was a good deal The guy that sold it to me was very pissed off at the dealer. He had just put in an engine trany all brakes, tires, springs, shocks. Other parts.
The Dealer only would give him $1200 for it. Think I know why now. And I will not buy another Ford.
Just adding my 2. I have just finished fixing the Head gaskets /Transmission/egr valve/mafs/$iac the 2000 ford windstar w/3.8 v6. I concur with all the complaints I have read in this forum. FORD should be Disgusted with such a product. or any of them. Any one of us who have businesses know that selling a product like that would certainly put us out of business for sure... SHAME ON F O R D. Never will I buy a Ford again.
Wow. Have a 2000 Windstar. I have had the EGR valve lite on for a year now. My mechanic (not at the dealership... had bad experience there in the past) did the diagnostic, and replaced the solenoid when all other parts of the EGR system seemed to function properly...valve, etc. The lite came back on. Wound up replacing the valve, and all the hoses. Still the lite comes on. Then suddenly last November it went out. Stayed out until Spring, suddenly on again. Ironically, just when they changed the gas back to the SUMMER FUEL MIX (might just be a California thing). I am convinced that the lite will go out again in a few weeks, when the gas changes back to the harder stuff. Now also having intermittent problems with the ABS lite coming on. Then going out and waiting a few weeks, coming back on again. Had the system checked out, was told it could be rust or a bit of dirt in the sensor, or some minor thing... the brakes are fine otherwise. Vehicle has 117,000 miles on it, I only drive about 8,000 miles per year these days, so I was hoping to keep it a lot longer. My last Windstar (1995 model) lasted until it had 190,000 miles, then started leaking engine oil which could not be fixed without putting in a new engine, so I bought a newer Windstar. Getting nervous - hate having that darned fix engine lite on all the time. But my mechanic checks it periodically, and it is still because of the phantom EGR problem. So I just ignore it.
I hate my Ford Windstar 2000. Transmission was replaced twice and many other parts. I promised myself to avoid any Ford car in the future. Don't buy Ford!
I also had 95 windstar which seemed to be holding up well so I purchased 2000 model new. WORST decision I ever made. Ford really did us wrong. Same as many other comment about the phantom lights, pings, etc. Now I am facing total engine replacement. Time to go to Junk heap. I will never buy FORD (fix or repair daily) again. The 95 Windstar is still tooling along. Has a transmission shimmy and suffered broken motor mounts for some weird reason but at least it runs. Thanks Ford.
I will never buy a ford again. I bought a Ford Windstar 2000 in 2003. I have to change the transmission. $2500.00.The check engine came on the same year $300.00. The year after it came on again and it still on. I will not put no more money again.
Don't buy a ford windstar.
In my 2000 ford windstar that we bought in 2005 with 83,000 miles on it we have replaced the engine, transmission, brakes, and now its in the shop with a phantom problem.. it cut off with me driving it the other day so they fixed a vacuum hose problem and now the check engine light is still on, says something about the O2 sensors but they are working, all mechanic can figure is the catalytic converter might be trying to go out due to the vacuum problem. when the motor went out I drove it to the store, came home, woke up the next morning to go somewhere and it wouldn't crank... no banging, no smoking, no nothing just went out... when the transmission went out it went out at a red light in the middle of town with me and my small children in it... and now that it did this cutting off thing my small children were with me, out in the country, thank goodness my mechanic came and got us! this stupid van always drives fine then BAM something goes wrong with it. we have had it 3 years and driven it about 2 years! I'm about ready to roll this thing down a hill and watch it die.
I bought my 2000 ford windstar brand new, 8 years ago. I've been taking pretty good care of her and she's been taking pretty good care of me. I replaced the transmission last year, and expect to get another 7 years out of this baby.
My mechanic told me that sometimes you get a good one... I did.
You got 7 years out of the tranny and you think it's a "good one" and its "taking care of you"? That statement just goes to show how little domestic car owners have come to expect! Buy a Toyota or Honda, and in 20 years you will be saying "this thing is still running great on the ORIGINAL engine and tranny". I have a 2000 Windstar (my wifes), a Honda sedan, and a Toyota truck. As soon as the Ford starts starts acting up I will push it off a cliff and buy my wife a Honda or Hyundai van.
I have the same problem. The transmission oil leaking between motor & transmission. Windstar 2000.
I'm not gonna buy Ford in future.
2000 Ford Windstar, Trans Leak
Well, that is just Great!.. Add another original owner of a 2000 Windstar with 115K miles and a leak between the transmissions and engine. Unable to fix the leak myself and now will be at the mercy of a repair shop. Already dealt with the crappy bolts they used to hold down the Plenum which caused an intake manifold leak. I fixed the manifold leak myself for less than $100 in parts. Also cleaned out EGR ports. Engine is running well, just recently developed transmission leak.