We were on vacation and noted smoke coming from under the van.... pulled into a rest area and the transmission fluid poured from the vehicle... after 3 weeks of arguing with the dealer and having to provide detailed service reports (every oil change and scheduled maintenance record for the past 5yrs) they replaced the transmission with a rebuilt model.. when we looked on-line for common problems we couldn't believe the number of hits... two weeks later our neighbor replace their transmission (same model did not buy extended warranty) it cost them $3500... they now own a Toyota.... More US parts than any Ford on the market.. they get my next purchase.

To say the least, I'm so pissed off that I would have to purchase a RE-BUILT transmission for a 7 year old vehicle for close to $3000. I knew I was going to get it when I had the van towed into the Ford dealership and they immediately handed me a credit-application. Oh, but it has a warranty! HA! My van has been nothing but a piece of crap since I got it, brand new. I won't go into every little thing but I tell you this deal with the transmission has ruined the Ford name in our family. And believe me, we spread the word. Whenever we hear of someone buying one, we do our best to talk them out of it! I have co-workers that complain and have multiple problems with their Fords. This makes American-made vehicles look really bad. I guarantee you that I will never buy another one. And as soon as I can get rid of this one, I will! I feel sorry for the next sucker who buys one.

I'm a novice grease monkey and take care of all my vehicle's routine maintenance, and based upon other responses I read online, it sounds like I have also experienced a broken "reverse sun gear." Luckily this happened only a .5 miles from a relatives' house while leaving with my family all in tow, and they had a spare vehicle to loan my wife and me, so we could drive 50+ miles to get our other car. More importantly, it did not happen while on the Interstate or we could've been in really bad shape.

What bothers me most is that there were no warning signs! No transmission leak, unique smells, or weird sounds except the "pop" the occurred when the car refused to go forward. I still had the reverse gear however, and drove a .5 mile in that gear back to the relatives.

Can someone elaborate on the ongoing court case against Ford for a similar problem in read re: 1998 Windstars with faulty factory transmissions?

This is the 1st complaints. I was driving with my 2 children and my wife & grandparents at night, going to west coast of FL 75 MILES AWAY FROM HOME!!! Then SLIP BANG BOOM!!!. The transmission goes out. Of course the tow truck took 2 hour to get there, my wife & grandparents is sitting in traffic with 2 unhappy kids TOO. 75 MILES AWAY IN THE DARK ON HIGHWAY 60. So, the towing guy shows up and HE TELLS ME $4.00 A MILE . THAT COMES TO $240.00 take the truck home and the cancellation for reservations at the hotel was $145.00 for two rooms. $55.00 TO FILL TANK. AND A WINDSTAR PRICELESS $240+145+55+3400=FUN WITH FORD THANKS FOR NOTHING ???????!!!!!!!!

That's why Ford will file for bankruptcy soon (i hope tomorrow), they have the same damn problem "transmission" with all of thier Focuses, Tauruses and Windstars, i start to believe that is a part of Ford strategy to keep people on buying more cars in a shorter peroid of time so they can make more profit but HILL NO i'll never buy Ford again, it such a rip off, my brother have a Honda van for almost 9 years and all what he had to do just a regular service (oil chage, tires, breakes..), but i had this damn Windstar for 3 years and transmission failed!!! so hey folks just go for imported cars next time, you will pay some extra mony and it's a lot better in general.

Our transmission blew while on the way to pick up my child at daycare. We did not have the money to fix the problem, so it sat for 9 months until we could get it checked out. We checked in to the local Ford dealer and they were outrageously priced, and they were going to put in a new transmission, however we would have the same problem down the road. We were told by someone who specializes in transmissions that the problem is a lubrication issue, not enough lubrication is getting in to the transmission due to a defect in the transmission. Again it is called a defect, not a safety issue so there is not a recall on the transmission. We did get it fixed, however, everytime we turn around, there is another issue with the van. We bought it with 6k miles. We will never buy another one again. We had a great transmission mechanic who fixed it at a cost

I am very pissed off about this problem!! We bought this van 2 years ago. We paid 14000. We had a 2 year warranty when we bought it. We had to replace the brakes, the windshield washer motor. Now 6 months after the warranty is up we are faced with replacing the transmission and the power steering pump. We thought we were buying something that would be trouble free. We were wrong big time!! This is the first time we thought we were buying a good mini van. It is going to cost us $3000 to fix this problem. Money we don't have to spend. It really pisses me off! We have 4 more years to pay on it. What could go wrong next? The motor sure why not! We called Ford , we called the dealer nothing, nobody can do anything for us. oh well we tried. I know right now I will never buy another van.(FORD)!!!!! Thank You For listening.

Driving home from Maine, I noticed that the O/D Off light was flashing on the dash. When I got home, I ran the symptom on the Internet and learned I had a big transmission problem on my hands. I brought the vehicle to the dealer and was informed that the Torque Control Module (TCM) was blown and the entire transmission needed to be replaced at $2700. I asked if this was a common problem with the Windstars, and the dealer replied no, I then questioned why this problem was so prevalent on the Internet. Once again, no response. I told them not to fix the problem. I am trading the van in for a new Toyota Highlander. And Ford wonders why Toyota is about to pass them.

This is the 1st of 2 complaints. My wife was driving with my 2 small children at night, then bang. The transmission goes out. Of course I just had to be working at the time. The tow truck took 1 hour to get there, wile my wife is sitting in traffic with 2 unhappy kids. So, the towing shows up and takes them to the ford dealership. There I am waiting for them at ford. when I see them pull in to the dealership, the van is smoking! "Why" you ask? Because the tow truck guy forgot to let off the parking brake, and drove for 8 miles!! So now I have a broken transmission and fried rear brakes! But wait, there is more on my next complaint.

This is the 2nd time the transmission took a crap on us. Now, the van has 67000+ miles on it. My wife, now with our 3 children was taking my oldest son 9 to the doctors. Just before she got there, the van started jerking a little then was OK. After the doctors appointment they got into the car. My wife put the car in reverse, nothing worked. The transmission once again has failed! I'm now waiting to see if it was the same thing as before. The dealer needs to diagnose the problem. We will see what happens. Now I know that a Ford will not be on my Christmas list, ever.

The only reason we bought this van is because it was 5 years old with only 33K on it. We got it from an auto brokerage company that we do business with all the time. We bought it for under $7000. We needed a minivan and this happened along at the right time and right price. However, having said that, it's a FORD!

The transmission has been slipping. You can't always pull out in front of people or expect to accelerate in this thing. The reason - it starts off in 2nd gear instead of first. Sometimes, it won't upshift. You just never know what you are going to get with this thing.

There is no reason on this planet why a vehicle with this few miles on it that hasn't been abused (last owner 80 year old man) should be having transmission issues. I am taking it to a transmission shop that wants my repair shop to start doing business with them. If they do right by my van, then I'll start using them. We'll see what they say.

I bought my windstar for 30,000 and even got the extended warrenty. Within two years I was having problems when I pulled out of my driveway. After shifting into drive the car would not move and it felt like it was in neutral. I complained and they said that there was nothing wrong. At least twice a week this happened and I complained again in 2004. They told me it was because it was a big car and it needed more time to warm up to get its juices flowing. Everytime it happened I would blame myself for not warming it up. Well now that its warranty is up guess what the transmission is shot. I thought and they told me as long as its documented I would be protected. I took excellent care of this van. I only brought it to Ford's service department to get it fixed, and guess what my loyalty got me. We are sorry your dissatisfied will put it in your file, but your warranty is up. I will never buy a Ford again, and I am not going to let this go. This is totally wrong all over the place. Who knew this van was going to self distruct at 65,000. What a piece of junk. Please people listen to me stay away from Ford they show no loyalty to their customers and they will do anything not to fix a problem.

had my 2000 windstar in shop many times for electrical problems. All in the first four years under warranty. The dealership, of course, could not find a ploblem. They then said they would keep all this on the record so when I had problems out of warranty, they would take care of it. We have had problems ever since but it was small stuff I didn't want to fool with. Then at about 63000 miles the transmission went out. I call and asked the service desk if this could have happened a result of an electrical problems. No, they said. I went to a transmission shop to get it fixed, they said the sensor that controls the shifting was sending the wrong info, making the transmission shift at the wrong times. But, since the van was no longer under warranty, the dealership would not replace it. I will never, ever buy another Ford.

I purchased a new Ford Windstar in 2000. It now has almost 80,000 km on it. While driving it from a stop sign, the transmission just blew. It is now in with the dealership as the transmission needs to be replaced. Part that malfunctioned: Reverse Sun Gear.

The history: This vehicle has been meticulously maintained by the dealership for four years. Under warranty it was brought in many times with complaints of the transmission (at least 10 times). The most recent time was four weeks ago. Continual diagnosis: nothing wrong. The vehicle is now not under warranty.

The problem: As you know, Ford has had similar problems in the past with transmissions and , specifically, the head gasket issue of the 1996 Windstars. Because of that, the issue went to court here in Canada and the courts decided that so far as not having an extended warranty; it was ruled that the absence of one does not exculpate or absolve Ford from liability in the unreasonably premature failure of a major vehicle component (based on normal, acceptable industry standards) with regard to federal and provincial consumer protection statues. Canadian jurisprudence has already borne this out (see Quebec Small Claims Court, Hull Division, No: 550-32-008335-009 or this web page).

My issue: I have experienced an unreasonable, premature failure of a major vehicle component. When I paid $28,000 four years ago for my vehicle, nowhere in my wildest imagination did i think that I would have to replace the transmission in such a short period of time. And now Ford is stating that because I do not have an extended warranty, that I should be responsible to pay almost $1000 of the over $3000 cost of replacing my transmission. And this is even in their knowledge of the court decision over the '96 Windstars.

I can ill afford the cost of putting $1000 into a vehicle which has prematurely malfunctioned (it is a known manufacturers fault .. the "reverse sun gear malfunction") at absolutely no fault of my own. I have serviced and maintained this vehicle from day one. Why this is of a major concern to others is that there are many people experiencing the same thing with Windstar's transmission (a quick look on the web and you can find dozens and dozens).

Maybe I'm being unrealistic in this. As I said, the dealership and Ford Canada are adament in stating that I'm actually very lucky that they are paying 75% of the cost of replacing my transmission (and they will provide a two year warranty) because my vehicle is considered "out of warranty". But my point is a) the law states otherwise and b) why in the world should I have to pay anything considering that while this vehicle was under warranty, I brought it in almost a dozen times for transmission problems. No transmission should have to be replaced at 80K --- with any cost to the consumer. Especially for a known problem with a manufacturers part.