THIS IS THE SECOND COMPLETE TRANSMISSION FAILURE IN 2 YEARS.DRIVING AND ALL OF A SUDDEN RPMS GO UP AND CAR SLOWS DOWN.NO WARNING AND NO NOISE OR SMOKE.NOTHING.PULLED OFF THE ROAD AND TRIED SHIFTING,NOTHING,TRIED TURNING OD OFF/ON,NOTHING.THOUGHT"OH GREAT,AGAIN".I REALLY LIKE THE VAN.I CAN'T AFFORD TO REPLACE TRANSMISSION YEARLY.YET I HAVE TO REPLACE IT AGAIN.I WORK 2 JOBS AND HAVE TO GET BACK AND FORTH TO WORD.FORD DOESN'T OFFER INFORMATION FOR LASTING FIX OR ASSISTANCE.IT IS TIME WINDSTAR OWNERS CONSIDER UNITING AND ATTEMPTING TO GET FORD TO ADMIT PROBLEM AND ISSUE RECALL.

I PURCHASED WINDSTAR 8/14.REALLY GREAT FOR MY WORK.ON THE WAY TO WORK RPM'S JUMP UP AND CAR SLOWS DOWN.FORTUNATELY WAS ABLE TO GET INTO A PARKING LOT.ENGINE STILL RUNNING,TRIED SHIFTING GEARS,NOTHING.TRIED TURNING OD ON/OFF AND SHIFTING GEARS,NOTHING.HAD CAR TOWED TO SHOP.DIAGNOSIS"TRANSMISSION WIPED OUT".HAD TO REPLACE.I WORK 2 JOBS AND HAD TO PICK A THIRD PARTTIME TO PAY FOR THIS.FORD IS NO HELP WITH INFORMATION FOR CAUSE.I HAVE ALWAYS DRIVEN FORD PRODUCTS.NEVER HAD TRANSMISSION ISSUE.FORD NEEDS TO STEP UP.

The words check transmission would come on while traveling down the road. I would deal with it when stopped at a stop light and pull the key back three times to reset the computer. This was a temp fix because the words would come back up. After awhile the check transmission light stopped coming on and the transmission light itself came on in a different part of the dash. BUT this is the bizzare part because at this point I can hear everyone saying ..its your transmission.The light doesnt always stay on and a mechanic said these vans are knows for wacky computers.I am trying to hold off on the tranny repair in hopes it is the computer which I hope to be cheaper !!

Got my 2003 ford Windstar for Mothers day 4 years ago. It was doing good no problems what so ever, then I went to the store and went in and when I came out it would not go. I pulled it into all gears and nothing. This was about 8:00 pm had to call the man that ran the shop to get permission to get it pulled to the shop. Had it pulled ther,e then the next day he told me it was the transmission. I couldn't find a used one and I couldn't afford a rebuilt one so I had to get it pulled to my Daughters house and it's still sitting there waiting on a fix...Don't know if it's the transmission or something else since no warning was given 'IT JUST STOPPED..I don't know if it's worth fixing or not.. CAN ANYONE HELP ME AND TELL ME WHAT CAN CAUSE THIS...I CAN"T AFFORD ANOTHER ONE..

We put a new transmission on March 2013 with a warranty of 6 months or 3000 miles. The first 2 months we were back in for with the mini van, because it was not working right. After 7 months, it broke again. The transmission shop did no want to fix it because it was all ready over the six months. We argue for the first two month. They fixed it again by putting a new transmission. So now we are in the same situation the transmission broke again. I need to repair the whole transmission after not even two years.

I HAVE A 2003 FORD WINDSTAR THAT HAS ONLY 77128 MILES ON IT!!! I JUST PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE 2 MONTHS AGO!!! I DROVE IT TO WORK WITH NO PROBLEM. I WENT TO MY VAN TO GO TO LUNCH AND NO REVERSE, NO DRIVE JUST RPM'S. I HAD TO HAVE IT TOWED TWICE, AS THE FIRST PLACE COULD NOT PROVIDE ME WITH A SOLID ESTIMATE.

MY POINT IS A TRANSMISSION SHOULD CERTAINLY LAST LONGER THAN 77178 MILES. FORD KNOWS THEY HAVE A PROBLEM AND REFUSE TO FIX IT!!! I WILL HOLD ON TO MY RECEIPTS HOPING THEY WILL COME CLEAN. IF NOT I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER FORD AS LONG AS I LIVE!!!! I HAD TO HAVE A TOTAL REBUILD OF MY TRANSMISSION AT THE TUNE OF $2100.

Yet another 2003 Ford Windstar where the transmission just failed with no warning. Wife was driving home from church, turned right onto our street and the transmission just stopped driving the vehicle. She coasted to our house and I had the Windstar towed to a local transmission shop. They advised me to call Ford. Ford Customer Relations was very polite but informed me there was no recall effort on my vehicle's transmission. They assigned me a case number and told me to hold on to any receipts "in case there would be any sort of reimbursement in the future."

I probably should of backed away when the SALESMAN at the dealership told me, while I was in the process of purchasing, "yeah I've got the same exact van, never did much too it but replace the transmission". Duh. This was 2008 when I purchased the vehicle with about 60,000 miles.

2011 the transmission failed, while my husband was driving. Wouldn't budge. Right around 100,000 miles. That's when I went on the internet and found out this year Windstar has the MOST TRANSMISSION FAILURES. Oh just great...After about 6 months of it sitting and us saving we found a place that did transmission for $1000. Had it fixed as well as about $700 of additional "maintenance" work that was needed at that point. So now here it is 2014 and the transmission is FAILING AGAIN. 135,000 miles. RPM's are all over the place when I'm driving one steady speed. "Check Transmission" came up a couple times on the computer. Ugh....Van was at dealer getting some "recall" things repaired so I told them to take a look at it. Internal failure...blah blah blah....need a new transmission...blah blah blah...I've been here before....blah blah blah. I cannot pump more money into this thing. I mean it is 11 years old at this point but of all things the TRANSMISSION..TWICE!! So, next vehicle is going to me a manual. Just saying...

Parked van in the middle of nowhere while kayaking. Returned to van, put in in gear, and nothing happened. Restarted and still nothing. Transmission is dead. Had to find a tow truck willing to drive into the middle of nowhere to take it to a shop.

Right now we are trying to find someone to even look at it to see if it is even worth fixing. Meanwhile, my wife is living in the middle of nowhere without a vehicle.

If I could have had a warning, such as hard shifting, transmission leak, odd noises, we could have had it checked out, but running fine and then dead.

Update from Sep 15, 2014: Decided it is not worth fixing.

I have replaced the torque converter 3 times in my 2003 ford Windstar. I will driving and my RPM's will move but I will be going nowhere. This is a big pain in my butt. I am a single mother of 4 and I just keep wasting money in this piece of crap. I have read several other complaints of the same issue. I would think Ford would recall all thee vehicles and fix the issue. When you buy a vehicle you should not be replacing the torque converter every 25 to 35 thousand miles. From what i have learned recently is that the problem is actually with the transmission. This last time I was headed to work and came to a stop sign and went to take off and there I sat in the middle of the intersection at 5am other vehicles almost ran into to me due to the fact many do not stop at that inter section. I need now to replace the transmission which I feel should be a ford recall and they should replace it at no charge for the danger it has placed me and my family in

There should be a recall for 2003 FORD WINDSTAR VAN TRANSMISSIONS. Can result in death due to quitting. In my case... I-49, 75mph, transmission all of a sudden roaring, no power, as if in Neutral. Put flashers blinking and coasted until safe to pull to emergency lane. Vehicles behind, beside, braking and transferring lanes to keep from rear ending me. This could easily result in severe injury or death.

I was saved due to quick thinking of vehicles behind me throwing on brakes or finding an opening in the passing lane. This is hard to do while going 75 & 80 mph to avoid rear end collision. Bought from a Ford dealership selling for a private owner. What I thought was a good buy, low mileage, turned out to be a death trap.

Other problems. Rear axle, severe problem that needs to also be addressed and recalled for. Every one of the Fords that FORD should be responsible for.

Call me a dumb ass, this is my second Windstar. Wife and I needed a vehicle in the worst way and went to a credit dealership. This was all we could afford, 2003 Windstar. Van worked fine for 1 1/2 years, until today. Was driving down the road and the transmission slipped out of gear 4 separate times, but popped right back in. Didn't feel anything, just heard the engine rev to 3000 rpm! This is dangerous! I know the end is near for this transmission and I don't have over $2000 to shell out on a vehicle I'm still paying on! The first Windstar back in 2008, My son and I was climbing a hill and without any warning, Transmission quit. We rolled backwards 50 feet cause the brakes also quit!

Had a factory rebuilt transmission installed Jan.2010. Had transmission cooler installed shortly after. Had to replace transmission fluid at my expense in 2011 with 30000 km on the new rebuilt. Transmission has never been right. Complained to Hanna Motors on a continual basis. Finally gave out completely Apr. 1. Had to be towed 100 km. 3 months over the warranty and 3000 km over the warranty. Ford dealer offered to fix it at my expense. Ha! Ha!

Have given up now on Ford. Bought myself a new Toyota Matrix.