This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The rear wheel well has rusted on both sides and completely rusted out a large hole (approx. 1 ft diameter area visibly effected) in the the body of the van. The rusted out section is where the back seat is anchored to the frame, so the rust has cause the seat to no longer be securely anchored to the car. The hole has also caused electrical wires to get wet when water gets into the van and intermittently and unpredictably causing failure of electrical features, including headlights and blinkers, while driving.
This is a big, big, deal related to dangerous safety issue. Reference bulletin:Ford tsb 6-14-10, issued July 24, 2006 (supersedes Ford tsb 5-23-7 issued November 28, 2005) my car suddenly lost control surging and unable to shift and no reverse gear. Have had off and on problems for the past year resulting in about $2000 of service to figure out why car acting up, surging, inability to shift, at times no forward or reverse gear. One time drove 25 mph to get home 20 miles and police stopped me because suspicious driving. I told him I was have transmission problems. Transmission as it turns out is perfect. PCM is malfunctioning intermittently because of engineering problem of PCM shorting out.towed to Ford dealer and said needed $2-5000 transmission. Towed home and suddenly started working. Investigated this bulletin that the Ford dealer was not familiar with and they accepted my information describing the bulletin to them. Why has this problem not risen to the recall status given the extreme danger on the highway driving and loosing all control of the car causing a very dangerous perilous situation to me my family and others on the road?
Water dripped from the wiper blade cowl into the PCM, causing the vehicle to start, drive briefly, and then shut off while moving, causing loss of control of electrical components of the vehicle while driving on the highway. Steering became difficult. If this had happened at high speeds or with a lot of traffic around, it could have been extremely dangerous or deadly. The mechanic says this is a problem he sees with Ford Windstar vehicles. The mechanic stated the PCM was literally under water when he received the vehicle, despite the cause being a fairly typical rain storm, and drying out the PCM did not help, as the damage had already been done. This is a safety issue that, after searching online and speaking with mechanics, appears to be common. Ford needs to fix this issue before a vehicle loses control at high speeds.
We own a 2005 Ford Freestar. The sliding door lock failed on passenger side and could not be unlocked electronically or manually. The local Ford mechanic stated that the cost to repair was $600+ for parts & $300 for labor to fix. Approximate failure mileage was 126,000.
- Hamilton, MT, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
2005 Ford Freestar. Consumer writes in regards to unsatisfactory customer service at dealership and unresolved vehicle problems. Consumer sent additional correspondence. The consumer stated the check engine light remained on after multiple repairs were made. The vehicle would also stall. The torque converter went out and the vehicle had to be towed. The vehicle was traded in.
An incident from about a month ago: After traveling on the freeway and coming to a stop at a red light at the off ramp at 2am, my car began to sputter and rev. I proceeded to the next red light where my car shut off. Every time I started it, it would shut off right away. I drive for a taxi service and luckily I did not have passengers in the car with me at the time. I called a family member to come look and help. He ended up pushing my car with his into a nearby parking lot. After some investigation, I concluded it was the PCM. It was taken out to dry completely and the windshield area where water may have leaked into it was sealed with silicone. It started working again fine and has been since then. Now it has rained again and the problem has reoccurred. Today, after driving on the freeway and entering a neighborhood, my trans-axle light started blinking. Then my oil and battery light appeared and seconds after my steering wheel stopped turning and the car shut off. I was able to park in the street and restart the car, but once I put it in drive and moved about 1 foot, the car shut off again. It will turn on and stay idle, but once I start moving, it shuts off again. It has been raining the past 2 days. I suspect it is from the same issue as before. I also had my children in the car with me as I was taking them to school. I'm very lucky this did not happen on the freeway or major street.
Drove the vehicle 1 mile to kids school on the way back it lost power, wouldn't accelerate.. the #40 fuse was blown and every time I replace it as soon as I turn the key on it blows again. Can't drive it and just seems like electrical problems keep occurring with it last time was water in the PCM causing other issues, may be the PCM again I don't know but these free stars are bad for this evidently.. bad design and definitely bad for business..
For a few years now various electrical thing have been going on my mini van. The screen that shows mileage, etc. Has a short and can only be seen when it's really dark out at night. Awhile later, as I was driving, my cruise control gave out and no longer works. Now the light for my clock and the screen that tells cardinal directions and the temp outside is dead. I am concerned that this electrical issue could be dangerous. I didn't know about this website to report it till now.
Van got up to 50 mph and stalled out and then completely lost power. I took it to a mechanic and he said the computer component was full of water. Computer had to be replaced.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestar. While driving at various speeds during rainy weather conditions, all of the lights on the instrument panel illuminated and the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle did not restart. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence where it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 125,000.
All gauges lost power on & off each day, until today shut off for good (4-10-15). Also, at first (Dec. 2014) lost lights on inside of vehicle & did not effect outside lights until recently when outside also out. Has happened multiple times since first noticed. At first signal lights worked, but not now. Also A/C & radio do not work, plus the doors, windows do not open or close as well. The only door which opens is the drivers door with the key. Sometimes everything comes on & off by itself, (even cd player & radio, but now does not work), when I get in the car to start it. I checked my battery which was still good, and put in a new alternator this month (April), but the problem has been going on since last December. At first in Dec. The mechanic said he had to reset something, and then it was ok for a couple of months until February, 2015. Then it began to start up again, and I replaced the alternator last month (March). The noise & problems were happening at random, crackling noise under the dashboard and under the drivers side under the steering wheel, but then it has occurred more often. As of today 4-10-15 they are all happening, so I can not drive the van now due to the lose of the signals, lights, and not being able to open the doors or windows. I checked under the steering wheel and saw a tiny light going on & off and then it went off and so did everything else which was working before. The noise was around that light area near a black box. What is causing this? I feel it is dangerous to drive the van.
While driving down the road, the van will suddenly die. All alarms, engine light, ABS, traction control. Will go off. Sudenly there is no power. Van will start right back up and drive again. This has been going on for over a year. I have had it at 7 different mechanics, including the Ford dealership where I purchased the vehicle. It has happened at all different speeds, 20-65, also happens if stalled at a stop light or drive-thru. Additionally, I can be driving at 25-35mph and the RPM's will shoot up to 7000 or fall all the way down like you are idleing. Vehicle makes noises like it is going to blow up and then will be fine.
In 06/2014 my van transmission light came on then went out. I thought it was nothing as time progress I notice that my van was slow and hard shifting. I took it to the nearest transmission auto shop and they told me it was my internal transmission failing. I put it in the shop and the repair cost $1200 to fix. It got it out worked fine for a few days then started back slow and hard shifting again. Took it back to mechanic they said they don't see anything wrong with it. I did this several and had no luck with it. 08/2014 I started having more noticeable electrical problems like dash board lights come on now and then radio resets it self sometimes it wont work at not even the dvd player. The doors wont lock alarm goes off when it wants to and power sliding wont close. So I only drove the van around time limiting my trips contacted Ford no help there. Then winter comes in all of sudden my van works great dash board lights working dvd and radio working fine most importantly my van transmission was shifting properly but then on warmer days it starts to act up again.on 02/16/20015 my children and I was on our way to get groceries for the winter storm that was coming, the lost power and died luckily was close to home that I could pull over start it again and make it home safely. Then today it will not start up at all. Im a single mother of five young daughters and my oldest daughter and I are both disabled. We depend on this vehicle to get back and forth to our doctors appt. Im planning have a mechanic check my PCM and to see if its water damage. But I've notice several fellow Ford owners are going through similar problems. I don't know why Ford not willing to own up to their life threatening mistakes.
While driving at 70 mph the van stopped running. I was unable to restart it. I also lost all ability to steer. This happened during a very busy time on the highway. I was stranded in the middle of a lane with traffic around me continuing to go 70 miles per hour. After researching, my mechanic found that the problem is the PCM is getting wet due to a design flaw by Ford Motor Company. This was a very dangerous situation for me to be in. The van continues to have problems with moisture even though the PCM has been changed and all known areas have been sealed. This vehicle is dangerous.
On christmas eve 2014 I got into my recently purchased 2005 Ford Freestar minivan to run a short errand. After starting my Freestar I put it in reverse but the vehicle would not move. I tried all the forward gears with the same result, the vehicle would not move. The engine RPM's would go up but no movement. I turned the vehicle engine off and on several time with the same results each time. I had to wait till the day after christmas to contact my local Ford dealership service department and describe my problem. They looked up my VIN number and said that all recalls on my vehicle had been done including the torque converter recall. I then had my Freestar towed to the dealership to investigate the problem. Upon investigation it was determined that water had gotten into my powertrain control module, and that is what was causing the problem. They removed the module and dried it and the connector out then reinstalled it and sealed it. After reinstalling the module they then started the vehicle and were able to shift the vehicle into all the gears and get the transmission to fully function, but now there was a service engine light on. The vehicle now would not idle properly and had a hesitation when trying to accelerate. It was determined after further checks that there were fuel codes coming up and that they were related to the PCM getting wet. It was determined that the powertrain control module (which Ford no longer manufactures) would need to be replaced. To fix the problem it would be a cost of $1000 for a re-manufactured module and reprogramming in addition to the $650 that had already been incurred for the work that had been done so far. Note there had been no problems or issues or engine codes on this vehicle till this problem occurred other than a problem one night with the power door locks not working, which corrected itself after restarting the vehicle.
My 2005 Freestar failed to maintain forward speed at 65 miles per hour when it bucked and bucked then stalled looked on line for answer? yes PCM is water damaged trying to dry it out now hope it works sounds like Ford is waiting for someone to get hurt.relocated the PCM and save alot for your company its just right to do tsb isn't doing it please and thank you
We have owned our 2005 Ford Freestar since May 2012. In August 2012 and going forward we have experienced many problems with the locking systems. The automatic locks will not unlock via the key fob or the door button. And because Ford designed the rear hatch / doors without a manual key input. It becomes impossible to unlock the doors. This is especially concerning because there is no way to manually open the rear hatch. This is a serious flaw that could have very serious consequences. There should always be a way to unlock all of the doors from the outside of the vehicle. As a mother of two kids, I know that my kids would not be able to get out of the vehicle if they needed to when one of these episodes happen. It is also a concern if a large item is loaded into the back of the van, then the malfunction happens and your customer can't get it out. This just happened to my husband. We lost out on my husband being paid because he was late to his show because of this ridiculous malfunction that every Ford Freestar owner is experiencing. I googled the problem and it is disgusting that so many customers have to deal with this issue. Fix it now Ford!
Vehicle control center states ABS is not functioning. Traction control not functioning. Cruise control works intermittently. Alarm system triggers intermittently. ABS and traction control failure causes vehicle to be difficult to drive. Dealership states is common issue and there is a tsb on the issue. Requires ABS module and hcu module.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lawrence, KS, USA