2000 Ford Windstar LX from North America - Comments

We have made a total of 4 payments on the 2000 Wind star LX 3.8L.

The engine light comes on a running temp and idle is sluggish, and some times rough.

After reading similar problems with other Wind stars I am afraid of putting any money in to this car.

Especially if it is a manufacture defect.

We are pulling codes PO171 & PO174.

Which neither offer a fix just a list of expense and time taking trail and error. We are in the middle of trying to purchase a home and this could not be happening at a worst time. I am scared to death and what this will cost. And can't afford the time away form work to get it fixed. I feel ford should be taking some responsibility for this defect and helping the customers out. Fix it or pay it off so that we can afford to fix it, is my suggestion.

This car runs OK, but idles rough, research states it will only get worse.

The interior light come on and off on there own.

Since the engine lite starting coming on we have noticed a drop in gas mileage.

Engine noise I cannot identify, but sounds like metal on metal tapping hard when accelerating up hill.

Jeez I can feel your pain we have a 1996 dodge grand caravan. we are having some financial-moving difficulties as well. we had to replace the rack and pump at an expense of $900 - not bad considering it has 144000 miles and is still on its first transmission. my advice is for you to go and immediately find the nearest volvo dealership. Buy the cheapest car they have. We had a Toyota Cressida that the oil pump failed and went the night it happend to our used volvo dealer and baught a 240 station wagon on the spot, but her is the kicker we paid with a credit card cause it was so cheap and it lasted 10 years, with virtually no maintmence and no problems till the rust go to it I believe it is a 1985. windstars are very bad vans and ford ought to be ashamed of themselves, not saying that dodge van are also bad to. there really isn't a car company out there that's makes a good van with no problems.

I agree with the comment above, if the car is already starting to give you trouble, there is more to come. The windstars are becoming "stars" of the ford reviews so far from what I can tell in being one of the worst cars ford has starting producing last decade. Its not worth holding onto it because cars like that have a tendency to break when you don't have the money to fix it, thus putting you into further debt, which is what you do not need if your looking into buying a house. Hey, we all make mistakes sometimes buying used or even new cars, just don't let the mistakes force you to keep "a lemon".

I don't know if this will help you or not, but on my 1996 Ford Ranger pickup (4L engine) I pulled the same codes you got when I had a rough idle/ stalling at red lights problem. The codes mean a lean air/fuel mixture (extra air getting into the fuel) so the dealer changed the intake gasket twice before figuring out that the EGR assembly was rusted out. Just a thought.

Also for the dome light issues, try spraying WD40 into the mechanism on the door frame that activates the light. These are notorious for trouble.

I hate to see someone's life ruined over a car that won't run. Unfortunately, the way financing works at car dealers, you probably wouldn't be able to sell it for enough to pay off what you still owe. Thus, the choices would be:

1) unload it for less than you paid, and a) roll the balance of the loan over into a different car or b) continue to pay off the remainder of the loan on a car you no longer have, but at least cutting your loss, while buying a very cheap "beater" just for basic transportation to get to work (something less than $2,000) until your financial situation improves, or

2) stick with it and keep it limping along to at least get some use out of it.

Generally, at least financially speaking, you're almost always better off to keep driving the car you already have. It is motivation to buy a Haynes Manual (repair manual for vehicle do-it-your-selfers) and try to figure out the problem in the garage after work. Knowledge (or lack thereof) has a price tag. For things that you can't fix yourself, you pay somebody to make your problem go away and run the risk to become a victim.

The "metallic" knocking could be a pre-ignition "pinging" problem, since it happens under heavy acceleration going uphill. First try simple things, like going to a higher octane gasoline. You have two maintenance codes to work with regarding your engine light: go through a prioritized list starting with what makes sense and is cheapest. One possibility is that some sort of sensor, like an oxygen sensor, has quit, and without that information the computer has reset to default values, which could explain the sudden drop in gas mileage. Also, think about whether these are all related problems, or coincidental. Like, could the rough idling simply require a tune-up or application of fuel injector cleaner? Or perhaps the fuel injectors are so clogged, or the plugs are so fouled, that the computer is giving you the warning light. Thorough maintenance often clears up a lot of problems. See what happens if you change the plugs/air filter and start using different gas with fuel injector cleaner for a few weeks.

I have a 99 Ford Windstar for almost 4yrs now.Luckily, I bought the extended warranty for it because it's more than 4xpaid for itself. The warranty is just about to expire and I am going to get rid of it before it does. Since I purchased this vehicle, the warranty has paid for the upper intake manifold twice (within 30,000 miles each time) because it melted, the outer tie rod ends replaced, the whole rack and pinion system, including power steering pump, various sensors in the transmission and fuel injection system, replaced the computer chip, and a few other minor little things, but a nuisance just the same. I keep up the regular maintenance as required to keep the warranty effective. Here it is the beginning of the year 2006 and this 99 Windstar just past 70,000 miles and its running like...crap again, there is something under the chasis that's rattling like it's about fall off. Never in my life have I had a vehicle that has caused me so much grief!! Thank goodness I bought into that warranty. Now I will take it to the dealership one last time to have whatever it is this time fixed, hopefully under warranty, and trade it in. I couldn't possibly sell it to someone without feeling guilty about not warning them what their buying into.

Now we know why Ford has just announced it is giving up on Minivan production altogether.

Yes, really, NO MORE FORD MINIVANS!!

I like this type of vehicle, but need an even bigger van.

I recently bought a '98 G1500 Chevy Express Custom Van for $3,800-00 at auction.

Seats 7 people in comfort, four of them in Captain's seats.

It has a 350V8 and rear wheel drive, not troublesome front-wheel-drive like the Windstar.

I like it so much I may never buy a normal sedan again.

Next time I'll buy one with the extended roof to make moving around within the van even easier.

Strongly recommended from a family man with the need to haul lots of junk and kids.

Amazingly quiet and smooth.

High-up driving position gives good visibility and feels safe as impacting cars would pass under you.

Van is at 186,000 miles and feels like it could run for another 200,000.

Kids love the big built-in TV.

I will never buy another Ford. Our Windstar van is built like crap, and has had nothing but problems. Ford service is unbelievably bad, the people are rude and try to screw you over continually. The latest round with them, they tried to tell me the Windstar we bought in Canada is different than american ones, and the parts in the US won't fit. (we now live in the US) Funny thing is they didn't know that WE knew that all Ford Windstars where built in the same plant - IN CANADA.

And yes, the part we ended up getting from the auto wreckers did fit. We had to get it there because the a-holes at the Ford dealership told us we needed to buy the ENTIRE heating system at 1300.00 in order to get one small broken piece of plastic. This was after they said we could get the small piece and they ordered the wrong part twice.

DON'T BUY A FORD!