10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
102,386 miles

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #27

Sep 132009

Windstar

  • 110,000 miles
I got a letter recently about a recall on my 2002 Ford Windstar. The recall was for the cruise control/brake light issue. As I was looking online for the name of the recall, I realized that there have been many complaints about the Windstar's axel problems. In September 2009 my Windstar started feeling like the back end was fishtailing but there was no ice.it sounded weird to. My husband followed me to the local sears auto store about 4 miles away. When we arrived he said that the tires looked like they were at a 45degree angle facing outward. When the mechanic looked at it, he said that we were luck to be alive and that the axle was holding by a one inch piece of metal. They said they were lucky they used the car life instead of the cross life or it would have broken the axle. Not one of the mechanics at that sears have ever seen a broken axle before and told me it was probably not fixable. They said they couldn't legally let us drive it because it was a safety issue. We had to have it towed to our mechanic. He did fix it but it cost over $1,000. I'm glad my family is safe and we weren't driving on the highway. With all the complaints and safety issues, why has there not been a recall on this Ford part.

- Hudson, MA, USA

problem #26

May 222010

Windstar 6-cyl

  • 123,500 miles
While driving on a road with our three young children in the car, the car jerked, started making loud noises, and smoking. There was a significant amount of smoke pouring from the left (driver) side. We pulled to the side and saw that the driver's side rear tire was at an odd angle as was the passenger side rear wheel. When the tow-truck arrived and lifted it up, it was very clear that the axle had snapped for no reason. We were lucky that there were no injuries or a major accident, nor did the car catch fire but it smells of burned rubber.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

problem #25

May 182010

Windstar 6-cyl

  • 112,000 miles
2002 Ford Windstar; the rear axle broke in two while driving at 40 mph. Both tires tilted out, axle cracked a little to the left of center while looking at it from the rear of the vehicle. Fortunately my wife was able to control the van. I understand this has happened in hundreds of Windstar, and something needs to be done before people die, if they have not already.

- Pompton Plains, NJ, USA

problem #24

May 112010

Windstar 6-cyl

  • 86,579 miles
Driving home from doctors office. I was traveling 45 M.P.H., it was raining. I was going around a curve when my vehicle, 2002 Ford Windstar started to fishtail. I stopped the car and went around checking to see if I might have a low tire. Tires seemed fine. I noticed a bumping noise when I would go around a curve. I got home and pulled the van up on ramps and looked underneath. I told my wife we aren't going anywhere because the axle is cracked and holding by a thread. I took the axle off and upon inspecting it closer the otherside is cracking. This vehicle only has 86,597 miles on it. I have owned Toyota's and a Suzuki, which I put 250,000 miles, on these vehicles and never had to replace an axle.

- Johnstown, PA, USA

problem #23

May 072010

Windstar 6-cyl

  • 106,000 miles
2002 Ford Windstar. While driving on thruway 390 in corning New York. I noticed a shank in back end of van and smelled rubber burning. While trying to exit off the thruway the tires completely blew out and locked up. At 65 M.P.H. pulled off to side of thruway and rear back axle was snapped in half. Had vehicle towed home and ordered new parts. I have all the old parts call Ford they never head of this happening.

- West Seneca, NY, USA

problem #22

Apr 252010

Windstar

  • 140,000 miles
Coming home from church one Sunday, we had to brake hard & suddenly to avoid a car that was on my side of the road. The van's rear wheel left the pavement and jerked to the side. The van handled wrong after that, and we took it to Ford to have it looked at. They replaced front drive shafts and said that the rear wheels were rubbing the wheel well, and I needed to have my shocks replaced. The van still made the same noises and had bad handling after this work was done, so took it back & had them look again for problem. They still didn't see any problem. My wife drove this van over 125 miles one day to take her sister for a medical procedure. She was nervous about the bad handling & swaying rear end, so drove slowly and stayed to the right on the freeway. She drove all the way to southern charlotte, nc on hwy. 85 from davidson county, nc. Huge amounts of traffic. When she got home she parked the van, & next day I came home from work and saw the tires were tilted in the rear. Went up & looked under the van, and the axle is broken in 2 places. My wife, her mother, and her sister were all in the van driving on the highway with a broken axle, because Ford told us that our van was all right. Called Ford and was told "what do you want me to do about it" you're driving an 8 year old vehicle! buy something else!" and also, "there is no implied warranty. Your van is out of warranty, but we'll be glad to do the work for you if you bring it in to our service department". or "Ford makes good quality vehicles. Would you like to hear about the new car buying incentives we have in place now"" get real. I will never buy another Ford in my life. Wife called Ford and spoke with them, and the age of the van was mentioned. She stated that I drive a 1986 Toyota truck, and the axle is not broken on it yet. She said henry Ford did not have this in mind when he started making the model T. shoddy work and inferior materials.

- Denton, NC, USA

problem #21

Jan 202009

Windstar

  • 120,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Windstar. While traveling at speeds of 25 mph over a pot hole, the contact noticed that the rear end of the vehicle was extremely low to the ground. The rear axle was replaced by a local independent mechanic. The failure mileage was at 120,000 and the current mileage was 134,000.

- Berkeley Heights, NJ, USA

problem #20

May 122010

Windstar 6-cyl

  • 86 miles
Ford Windstar 2002 rear axle cracked. We were driving and noticed the van was fishtailing and there when we would go around a curve we noticed a noise coming from the back of the van. My husband got out and checked tires thought they may have been low. We have new tires on vehicle. We were driving the van the next day and it was fishtailing and the noise in the back of the van was getting worse. My husband put vehicle up on ramp and noticed that the rear axle is cracked. It is only holding by a thread.

- Johnstown, PA, USA

problem #19

Aug 202009

Windstar 6-cyl

  • 81,682 miles
2002 Ford Windstar would wander while driving, found rear axle cracked in center.

- Montville, NJ, USA

problem #18

May 052010

Windstar

  • 90,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Windstar. While driving at speeds of 60 mph, she heard an unusual thump. Immediately, the steering wheel became hard and difficult to control. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where she was advised the rear axle had broken. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileages were 90,000.

- Cantan, OH, USA

problem #17

Mar 042010

Windstar 6-cyl

  • 207,000 miles
The rear axle on my 2002 Ford Windstar broke with no warning. The car has never been crashed and is maintained very well with no visible rust. This causes loss of control but I was able to get the car stopped without incident. In an internet search I see that this is not an uncommon failure and wonder why this is not being investigated. It very dangerous.

- Fort Edward, NY, USA

problem #16

Apr 212010

Windstar

  • miles
Recent noise on my 2002 Ford Windstar. Rear axel snapped this morning while my wife was leaving home. I read the exact same incidents on line with the Ford Windstar. Crack aprox 12-18 inches in from the rear left side. Extensive damage and I will keep photos and damaged part.

- Cranston, RI, USA

problem #15

Apr 032010

Windstar 6-cyl

  • 74,000 miles
For about three to four years now, we have been having what we thought was a problem with the front end of our 2002 Ford Windstar. We had numerous front end alignments done. We had the caster/camber work done twice at a very high cost. (this requires taking the front cowling apart in order to put in new font end parts) and still the vehicle would pull in either direction at any given time. It would at times wonder back and forth on the road. About a week ago my wife said she herd strange noises. (clunks, squeaks etc.) then today she was driving the van with my kids to church. Luckily it was local. She said she herd a bang and the van started to squeak and wonder all over the road uncontrollably. She started to smell something burning. She said the steering wheel had to be turned in an abnormal position in order to keep the van going straight down the road. When she got home I looked at the van sitting in the driveway and the rear wheels were tilted in at the top. I crawled under and found that the rear axle beam had cracked almost all the way through. The crack was about 18 inches in form the drivers side. The passenger side looked as though it would eventually crack also. When I looked closer at the crack, you could see shining metal at the top part of the crack, indicating it was a new crack. There was surface rust on the lower part of the crack indicating that the crack had been there for some time and had just gotten bigger. This explains the wondering problem we have been having. Being that this is a 2002 it is out of warranty but this is definitely a safety problem and should be addressed as a recall by Ford. I am scared thinking what could have happened if my wife and kids were driving on an interstate at 65 mph. I am also scared thinking that my 16 year old daughter who just started driving on her permit was driving this vehicle in this condition. Thank god they were driving local at the time that the crack worsened to a point that it is now undrivable.

- Kendall Park, NJ, USA

problem #14

Mar 152010

Windstar 6-cyl

  • 104,400 miles
My wife told me she heard a rubbing sound in the rear of her 2002 Ford Windstar. I quickly noticed the left rear wheel was tilted in from the top. Figuring it was a worn wheel bearing or broken control arm, I jacked it up, pulled the wheel and noticed the axle was almost completely broken about 8 inches left of center.

- Mount Vernon, OH, USA

problem #13

Mar 062010

Windstar

  • 78,338 miles
Driving home from a family outing on 03/06/2010, we heard a loud sound/clunk coming from the rear of our 2002 Ford Windstar. Luckily, we were only doing 30 mph on our street right almost to our driveway, instead of being on the expressway doing 60 mph as we were only minutes before. The van's rear end swerved as I applied the brakes. I managed to pull into our driveway and calm the wife and kids down (who were hysterical). I have to admit that I was scared also. When I managed to park the van, I noticed that the rear tires were slanted into the van, rubbing the wheel wells at the top. I then looked under the rear of the van and seen that the rear axle beam was broke, about 18" from the driver side rear tire. I implore everone that this has happened to to call the Ford customer care number (1-800-241-3673) and report it. This is the only way that Ford will acknowledge this problem as a potential manufacturer defect. Our 2002 Windstar has only 78,338 miles on it. Our local dealer, where we bought it from, said they have never heard of this happening. I find it very hard to believe since I can bring up about 100 different complaints about this very sam thing for the model years 2000-2002.

- Cortlandt Manor, NY, USA

problem #12

Jan 112010

Windstar

  • 66,000 miles
I heard a rattle which sounded like a loose tailpipe. I brought it to my mechanic to have it looked at. The problem was that the rear axle beam had snapped. He said that it was not damaged and it looked like it was just a bad piece of steel. He had never seen this problem before. The parts did not have to be ordered because the parts were readily available and in stock at his parts dealer. After looking on the internet I found that there are several complaints about this problem. I was lucky that the axle beam did not break while I was traveling on the highway because the handling of the vehicle was severely compromised. The rear axle beam was replaced at a cost of one thousand dollars. I did not keep the old axle beam.

- Woonsocket, RI, USA

problem #11

Feb 042010

Windstar

  • 133,460 miles
I was driving my 2002 for Windstar and the roads were snowy and slippery. While driving the van seemed to slide and sway in the back. I assumed it was from the snowy roads and took the van home. 2 days later when the roads were pretty well cleared I took the van out again. While driving on clear pavement the van seemed to sway and slide like I was on ice in the rear-end. As I headed home it got worse and was shaking and swaying. I slowed down to about 20 miles per hour and got the van home. I had it looked at and was told that the axle is 1 to 2 inch from a complete break. If it would have broke while I was driving it would have caused me to wreck. I have researched this and have found many complaints about this happening to 02 Windstar. I cant afford to fix something this expensive. Something needs to be done before someone gets hurt.

- Massillon, OH, USA

problem #10

Jan 212010

Windstar

  • 135,000 miles
Ford Windstar rear axle cracked.

- Medford, WI, USA

problem #9

Jan 022010

Windstar

  • 132,268 miles
2002 Ford Windstar rear axle beam broke in half while making a left hand turn. The van started swaying in the rear earlier in the day and we thought it was because of ice and snow on the roads that day. On good pavement we did not experience any issues. We stopped and looked at the tires and they all looked fine, and found no evidence to suggest anything else was wrong with van. No other warning before failure. When this happened both rear wheels towed inward causing van to slide out of control for short distance, and causing damage to the vehicle. Had we been traveling on the highway at speeds of 65 miles an hour I would not like to think what would of happened.we had to have the vehicle towed to a Ford dealer for repairs. The cost of these repairs was $1782.33 not including the towing bill.the tow truck driver said he has never seen a rear axle beam break before. This could of been a major accident, causing bodily harm or death. I had the dealer save the parts for me and I also took pictures of the failed part after it was removed. The dealer would not cover any cost of the repairs.

- Eau Claire, WI, USA

problem #8

Nov 252009

Windstar

  • 14,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Windstar. While driving approximately 60 mph the vehicle began drifting from left to right. He was able to safely turn off the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a local repair facility. The mechanic stated that the rear axle needed to be replaced at an expense of $1,200. The current and failure mileages were 140,000. The VIN was not available.

- Temperance , MI, USA

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