1997 Ford Windstar LX from North America - Comments

Transmission won't up-shift all of a sudden at 168,000 miles.

I have had this van for about 4 years now. I bought it used and it had no trouble when i first bought it. Today i was driving home and all of a sudden the RPMs went from noraml, all the way up to over 4,000 ( i was only going about 40 mph). This scared the crap out of me. I drove it home ok, with my hazards on, and didn't go above 30 mph. I decided to go to the local transmission shop but they were closed ! So then i started up my van again and the RPMs kept going up and down all by itself. This van is going crazy! It would not go below 1500 RPMs. Then i noticed my Overdrive light was flashing repetadly. Now its trying to tell me theres something wrong with my transmission...DUH! But anyways when i started to go home this time it would not go past 1st gear. Now i'm screwed. Does anyone know what the problem might be ( why my van won't upshift?)

All i know is that i will never buy another FORD again!!

Sounds like your tranny man... and an idle problem... cause the tranny shouldn't make it idle like that.

If the speedometer was fluctuating while driving I'd be leaning towards a Vehicle Speed Sensor.

Otherwise, check the transmission fluid to see that it's a pinkish-red color and at the correct level.

And try and take it to a shop you trust. Cause even if it's a simple issue (which it may not be) they'll just want to sell you that $2,000 tranny.

Thanks I'll check into that. But the speedometer wasn't fluctuating when I was driving, just the RP-Ms at an idle, and of course they went up while I was driving b/c it won't shift. I just had it towed today to a transmission shop that I've done business with before, and I know he'll not try to rip me off. But I'm curious to see whats wrong with it. I'll update this when I find out.

Well the tranny man replaced the Speed Sensor and it ran fine all the way home. I went to drive it to the store and it started to do the same thing. So I took it back home, and the next day took it to the tranny shop once again. It drove fine all the way there, and he couldn't find anything wrong with it. He kept it and drove it trying to see whats wrong, but it quit doing what it did before (slipping). So as of right now the van is running normal, gets me.