Just purchased this used 2004 Freestar. Within days the engine would fail while driving. Transmission shifting issues. Not starting. Etc.. had transmission replaced before knowing of recall on that item. Still had the issues. Pulled out PCM and it was filled with water. Installed new one. I live in Florida. Rainy season. Issues happened again within a week. New PCM removed and was filled with water. I myself found the service bulletin about the issue as well as several complaints by owners on the internet. My local dealership walker Ford swept the issue under the rug and wanted to charge $900 to find the leak. I showed them the bulletin that they were un aware of. They would not replace my PCM without charging me again. Went to another dealership and paid for new PCM and told them to perforce service bulletin. Seemed fine until last 6 months. Starting to stall a lot. High hum when accelerating and turning. More research online and I found 2 more recalls on vehicle. The PCM issue should be a recall. Find out how to permanently fix the issue and perform it for free with a new PCM.

- Clearwater, FL, USA

Purchased used vehicle from marshall used cars in sacramento, ca, where reside currently. Purchased 05/2011, paid full no loan at time of purchase. Purchased add. Ext. Warranty which was 6months. From the dos til present date; I have paid, and was mislead in all the insurance covering major defects, owner(me) had came out of pocket paying for service to fix warranty parts. Now this is the current and serious issue. I am disabled, I have a disable child. My vehicle was reported under VIN to Ford corporate to notate for service to be check and worked on at local Ford dealer. Complained about multiple (4) issues. Dealership mislead me, and did not perform work. Only work they did was replace 1 recall 10/12. After recall service I (owner) recall manufac. Made claim, again and then went to dealer. I was turned away...and told to do normal maintenance before putting a service claim in. This is a problem. I am not ignorant to the anatomy of a vehicle. I am very literate on understanding vehicle operations as well as maintaining maintenance. I can say this because I believe I should be aware of every issue so I wont have a disabled vehicle. Vehicle mileage applied from the date recall replaced 5800 within the time til I made another claim in Oct 2013. Took vehicle in, told to check everything. Did. Brought vehicle back and vehicle was in service dept for week which rolled over to Nov 1, 2013. Vehicle was dx and found to be the same thing I made a claim about. Vehicle has a defected recall part. Part was not replaced. And owner is now left with a defect recall part, plus more damage on other parts related to torque converter, fuel line, 3rd bench, front R-wheel hub. I have multiple health appts to maintain for me and my child's disability. My children need to get to school, and I missed legal appt dates from court.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

I currently own a 2004 Ford Freestar minivan. I have been experiencing start problems for a couple of weeks now. I drove the car about 10 miles to get gas. I turned the engine off to fuel up. I attempted to start the vehicle and it would not start. I called my husband to try to jump start the vehicle and it worked. Drove the car 1/4 mile down the road to autozone to have the battery tested. The battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle seemed to be repaired after the battery was replaced. About 5 days after the battery was replaced the vehicle would not start after several attempts. I called aaa to have it towed to the Ford dealership for repairs. The aaa mechanic tried to start it before just towing it. He moved the shifter to neutral and back and started to vehicle right up. Maybe I did not have the shifter in the proper position? since then, the vehicle has not started up quite a few times....at random times, over the last few days. I was stranded at the doctors office with a no start. Called aaa again for a tow again. However, right before aaa got to me....the vehicle started right up. I cancelled the aaa call and drove straight to the dealership for repair. The Ford dealership can not find any problem as to why the vehicle will not start. It starts every time for them. The alternator and the starter are fine. The battery has been replaced and there are no transmission error codes being emitted.I have a hunch that this is an electrical problem. It isn't anything else. The Ford dealership explained that they took a look at the PCM but could not see any water corrosion. So they did not replace it. So now, I am faced with picking up the vehicle and not knowing when I'll be stranded again because the vehicle will not start.

- Oswego, NY, USA

Intermittently, when I am idling in drive (like at a light) with my foot on the brake, the van will begin to surge and lurch forward, sometimes violently. Only pressing hard on the brake will keep it from moving forward and causing a crash. Sometimes happens in reverse also. The tachometer will surge up to higher rpms and back down as it lurches. Sometimes, if it is violent enough, the battery light will flash off and on as if the vehicle is about to stall. Seems very dangerous as it could cause an accident with a nearby vehicle.

- Rochester Hills, MI, USA

Starting about a year ago this vehicle shoots gas out while trying to fill up. Gas will shoot out all over whomever is putting it in. It also shuts the pump off without being full.this happens every time.

- Hamilton, IL, USA

Many issues with the van & they continue. Purchased from 1 previous owner, Jan '09 around 60K May 2010, 74K miles- replaced spark plugs & wires, fuel system cleaner: Rough idle $432.23 Dec 2010, 83K miles - replaced front axle & sway bar links: $822.89 April 2011, ? miles, - replaced plugs & wires, coil pack: Rough idle $700.85 Jan 2012, 100K miles - replaced pvc evap hose, R&R fuel filter, fuel injector cleaner: Rough idle $228.40 Aug 15 2012, 106K miles - recall, torque converter replaced: Costing me $162.14 to replace seals & transmission filter Aug 16 2012, 106K miles - replaced egr valve: Rough idle & engine light on after recall fix $135.95 (dealership was kind enough to only charge for labor) Aug 31, 2012, 107K miles - engine is still running rough, piercing noise while driving, sometimes it goes away when I am turning.

- Charleston, WV, USA

When filling the gas tank it will kick the gas back out the filler hole - spraying gas a good 3 ft. In order to get gas into the tank you have to fill very slow and after many tries and nozzle shut offs you can fill the tank. When this symptom started it has caused the engine to sputter going down the road and the pressure builds so bad in the tank, it is sometimes impossible to remove the gas cap due to excess pressure build up. Now we have to leave the cap on loosely so pressure won't build up, ironically the gas cap instrument light does not come on.

- Chambersburg, PA, USA

My husband was driving on a 4 lane hwy in pensacola, fl when my 2004 Ford Freestar suddenly stopped pulling. No forward, no backwards, neutral, nothing and the rpms went extremely high. Zero warnings, and in heavy rush hour traffic. It is only due to my husbands race car driving experience and quick reaction time that he was immediately able to get the van on the side of the hwy. My husband and our two boys thankfully were safe but they were stranded in intense Florida heat. I have had a lean fuel, various electrical, coil pack and PCM issues since I got the van June 2007. The Ford dealership, and the easterns dealership I purchased the van from, could not figure out the problems. While under warranty, easterns worked on it but none of the issues were ever able to be fixed. I choose the Freestar for its safety features so I knew I had a safe way to Transport my children. This is no longer the case, I do not trust Ford to take care of their defective products and I will not purchase another Ford.

- Milton, FL, USA

This is the second issue I have had with water getting into the PCM(computer). The first occurrence (03/10) I had the car towed to the Ford dealership and was advises per the obdb scan codes that the transmission needed an overhaul. I told the dealership that I had just pulled the car out of my driveway and had no reverse and had slippage in other gears, it was raining very heavily that day- I asked the dealership if it could be an issue of moisture getting into PCM(computer), the dealership said that that was not the issue. I then had the car towed to a reputable transmission repair shop, there I was told that my car was the third to Freestar to have been brought in with an issue of water getting into the PCM(computer). The owner of the transmission shop was able to let the PCM dry out for three days and reinstall with no transmission issues. The second event (04/11) happened after several days of rain; while driving to work the instrument panel displayed the following lights: Check engine, brakes, ABS, fuel, battery, and trans axle light. The vehicle stalled out in the middle of traffic, and I had the car towed back to my mechanic who advised that the fuel pump and fuel pump module was defective and replaced. However, the trans axle light was still appearing intermittently. I took the vehicle back to transmission shop for second time, and through careful trouble isolation, they determined that the pcu was telling the torque converter to shift into fourth gear while coming to a stop. They allowed the pcu to dry out, but then determined that the transmission module had shorted out and that it need to be brought to dealership to reprogram pcu. I contacted the dealership who stated that they are not aware of any moisture/water issues with Freestars and I advised them that I am filing a complaint NHTSA and will also forward letter to Ford Motor Company.

- Cheltenham, PA, USA

2004 Ford Freestar, while driving vehicle, smelled something burning. Pulled into driveway and observed smoke from under vehicle. Further observed that undercarriage was saturated with a liquid. Observed gasoline flowing from vehicle tank area and below drivers area at undercarriage from gasoline lines. Vehicle did not catch fire and was towed to Ford dealer. Filed report with fmc.

- Oakdale, NY, USA

Bought van in June 2007 nothing but problems since. Replaced battery within 2 months of purchase. Replace O2 sensors 3 times and need done again. Replaced transmission, radiator, egr valve, brakes 4 times, tie rod 2 times, calibers 2 times, rotors 3 times, fuel line, you name it, we have had to fix it. Nothing but problems. We have spent close to 8K since Feb 2008 on this vehicle and we can not get Ford to help us at all. Now the axles need replaced as well as sensors again. The dvd player quit working after 4 months, driver side heated seats quit working after 4 months. Back passenger door sometimes won't open or unlock and sometimes it won't close when you try to close it. This vehicle has put my family in serious harm and we almost got into major accident do to most of the issues ie transmission stalled on interstate and had no warning at all. Worst vehicle of all times. I can not trade in becasue I owe over 11K on this piece of crap. Ford needs to refund me all of my money and suffering as well. I have thought about suing them for damages and selling this crap to us especially with 3 small children and having to travel to see family due to husband being a marine and always being deployed. Almost missed seeing my grandpa for the last time before he did back in Sept because of the transmission. This vehicle needs to be off of the roads forever. All of them. Everyone that we know that has these vehicles have the same problems as us.

- Ft. Meade, MD, USA

I started having problems fueling my 2004 Freestar after I began driving on gravel roads here in central Missouri. The tank vent kept getting clogged up and when I tried to fill fuel tank, pressure would build in tank causing fuel to come spraying out of fill spout. I had gas sprayed on hands and clothing repeatedly. I finally had a mechanic reroute fuel vent line to air intake in motor compartment. Now I no longer have trouble. It cost me about $ 250 to have this done. I believe the problem is a flaw in design. My mechanics inlaws have the exact model as mine and have same problems. Please advise about reimbursement for repair. Thanks!

- Hallsville, MO, USA

When filling van with gasoline, gas shot back out, hitting person in face and arms.

- Dickens, IA, USA