Windstar axle

[timmm55]

My link

 

 

I never cared for the Windstar, didn't seem well thought out or well assembled. But I never heard of this problem. Rear axles breaking on a FWD? WTF?

[goinbroke2]

200 out of how many? Axles should not break but come on, tell me that's not abuse. I drove the shocks up through the mounts on an old escort I had...but jumping it almost every day going to work and back by hitting a tight "whoop" in the road above 90km's. Did escorts rot the rear end out? Yup. Could they rot and then push through, sure. Did jumping exacerbate the problem? Well duh!

 

Is it a weld/materials/etc problem or are the veh's all in "no safety insp states" ? Or, are the veh's being driven by people who should own trucks and treat it like one? "look dear, pull the rear seats out and lay down a tarp and I can haul 1/2 yard of garden soil". <---that's my Dad with his 99 and 2003 windstar!

 

Axle breaking are dangerous, something to keep an eye on but comparing it to toyota in any way? Gimme a break. The article reads like troll, troll, troll your boat....

[aneekr]

Is it a weld/materials/etc problem?

I think that's it...

[BB390fe]

Does anyone know what specifically is failing? Is it the same thing or just "general" parts breaking - I wasn't able to find any specifics to look for to prevent a failure. (Kinda important to me since I own one of the damn things)

[06mariner]

my parents have an 03 with 104,000 miles and we live in northeast PA....they have never had this problem and they have a 400+ lb. Braun wheelchair lift sitting over the passenger side of the rear axle .... not including the weight of my sister in her power wheelchair. I've never heard of this issue up until now .... and what is the freaking point, the vans are 7-11 years old with god knows how many miles on them, pointless IMO .

[forddaughter]

my parents have an 03 with 104,000 miles and we live in northeast PA....they have never had this problem and they have a 400+ lb. Braun wheelchair lift sitting over the passenger side of the rear axle .... not including the weight of my sister in her power wheelchair. I've never heard of this issue up until now .... and what is the freaking point, the vans are 7-11 years old with god knows how many miles on them, pointless IMO .

 

 

Have had two Windstars. Never had this problem either. Have a lift and a power wheelchair as well. I don't sit in the chair when I'm in the van, but it's still heavy.

We've had other issues with them. Last one was a hard start.

This one, the ac blew up and then another time the transmission had to be replaced.

 

Wish they were still making these vans! They work the best for me. The Flex I thought was going to be the replacement, but it didn't work out.

[06mariner]

Have had two Windstars. Never had this problem either. Have a lift and a power wheelchair as well. I don't sit in the chair when I'm in the van, but it's still heavy.

We've had other issues with them. Last one was a hard start.

This one, the ac blew up and then another time the transmission had to be replaced.

 

Wish they were still making these vans! They work the best for me. The Flex I thought was going to be the replacement, but it didn't work out.

 

 

 

 

This is my parents' third one (96, 98, 03) ....the 96 was a lemon, 98 had 76,000 miles when they traded it in for the 03. The vans are certainly not perfect but they are solid and can haul a ton of stuff that other minivans simply cannot. They actually just placed an order for a 2010 E-150....we wanted to stick with Ford and that was their only choice since the Transit Connect is way too small and the Flex's roof is too low. Once it comes in they are getting a high top put on and then the lift etc. Got one hell of a deal on it!

[timmm55]

You guys have got to be kidding me. This is not normal wear. An axle should not snap in two under any circumstances, regardless of mileage, except for a major accident or serious overloading. I own a Ford Windstar that did this, and I can tell you from first hand experience this is a real problem (first owner, 105,000 miles, 2002 model year). There is a serious issue with the design of the axle, that is why this is happening.This is why the body shop that replaced my axle sees one of these a month. This is why his supplier that sells aftermarket axles sells one at least once a week.]Head gaskets, maybe. Transmissions, maybe. Steering and front end issues, sure. I dont really dont mind having an $850 repair on a van this old. Heck, other than this it has been an excellent vehicle, with very few problems. But an axle??? NFW. Ford needs to address this before someone gets killed.

 

Hey I'm a Ford fan, so is this guy. If the axles are being replaced at one a week (????)....that seems like a lot. It reminds me of the V8 SHOs with the cam separation problems.

 

This link has some photos

 

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Windstar/2001/drivetrain/rear_axle_snapped_in_two.shtml

Edited May 16, 2010 by timmm55

[forddaughter]

This is my parents' third one (96, 98, 03) ....the 96 was a lemon, 98 had 76,000 miles when they traded it in for the 03. The vans are certainly not perfect but they are solid and can haul a ton of stuff that other minivans simply cannot. They actually just placed an order for a 2010 E-150....we wanted to stick with Ford and that was their only choice since the Transit Connect is way too small and the Flex's roof is too low. Once it comes in they are getting a high top put on and then the lift etc. Got one hell of a deal on it!

 

 

Transit is just plain ugly! I wouldn't ride in that thing even of it worked for me! You are right though it's too small.

The Econolines are too big no need for that at this time for me.

[Bored of Pisteon]

Transit is just plain ugly! I wouldn't ride in that thing even of it worked for me! You are right though it's too small.

The Econolines are too big no need for that at this time for me.

 

Maybe you should go find yourself a 1991 Ford LTD Crown Vic Station Wagon (Country Squire)

 

or a Mercury Grand Marquis (Colony Park) station wagon that'll fit your needs?

 

(By the way, '91 was the last year for Ford to build a traditional station wagon.) Why did they stop anyway?

 

If Ford was smart, they'd bring back this type of vehicle that can actually be affordable and is capable of towing something instead of some piece of shit minivan or crossover that can't tow a damn thing!

Edited May 18, 2010 by Bored of Pisteon

[timmm55]

Maybe you should go find yourself a 1991 Ford LTD Crown Vic Station Wagon (Country Squire)

 

or a Mercury Grand Marquis (Colony Park) station wagon that'll fit your needs?

 

(By the way, '91 was the last year for Ford to build a traditional station wagon.) Why did they stop anyway?

 

If Ford was smart, they'd bring back this type of vehicle that can actually be affordable and is capable of towing something instead of some piece of shit minivan or crossover that can't tow a damn thing!

 

 

1991? Or do you mean RWD/V8/BOF?

[fordtech1]

IMO if you live in the Salt belt, how could you not expect suspension parts to rust apart after 7 or 8 years. I have seen cars come in the are only a couple of years old, the exhaust and rotors are in bad shape.

Also, people kill me with the "I can't belive its $1000 to fix". I don't care what brand, but on a 8 year old car, a repair that cost $1000 is going to happen. FIx an A/C problem on a older car, it get to 1k quick.

[06mariner]

IMO if you live in the Salt belt, how could you not expect suspension parts to rust apart after 7 or 8 years. I have seen cars come in the are only a couple of years old, the exhaust and rotors are in bad shape.

Also, people kill me with the "I can't belive its $1000 to fix". I don't care what brand, but on a 8 year old car, a repair that cost $1000 is going to happen. FIx an A/C problem on a older car, it get to 1k quick.

 

 

Try replacing the AC Condensor on a 5 year old Prius (at 74,000 miles) like my neighbor did ....$1,100 gone in a day. Even a brake job front and back on my Mariner cost $410 ....of course I could have done it for about $275 but if I did it, it would never get done! haha

[forddaughter]

Maybe you should go find yourself a 1991 Ford LTD Crown Vic Station Wagon (Country Squire)

 

or a Mercury Grand Marquis (Colony Park) station wagon that'll fit your needs?

 

(By the way, '91 was the last year for Ford to build a traditional station wagon.) Why did they stop anyway?

 

If Ford was smart, they'd bring back this type of vehicle that can actually be affordable and is capable of towing something instead of some piece of shit minivan or crossover that can't tow a damn thing!

 

We had a Taurus, too small. Went to a Crown Victoria, but still had to disassemble my chair every time I went somewhere for it to fit in the trunk. So we drove the Windstar, Villager and Econoline. The Windstar is perfect.

[itguy09]

Try replacing the AC Condensor on a 5 year old Prius (at 74,000 miles) like my neighbor did ....$1,100 gone in a day. Even a brake job front and back on my Mariner cost $410 ....of course I could have done it for about $275 but if I did it, it would never get done! haha

 

When I had my 2004 G35, in 2008 I had to replace the Condenser and A/C control module to the tune of $1400 or so..... It was a known problem on the G35's - the condensers were made from recycled Bud cans.