I bought this new from a Ford dealer after my first one way back when in the 80's when my friend recommended me to buy the piece of junk 'PINTO'. We all knew how terrible Pinto was so no need to go into that. So it was not until so many years after bitten that I gave Ford a second chance ...

After about 60000 miles and 5 years of ownership literally ANYTHING that can go wrong eventually did. There is nothing but headaches. In the earlier years I used to take the van to trust-able mechanics to fix those problems. However, it became non-sustainable as I have spent over 3 thousands in parts and labor. So, these last few years I have to be the weekend mechanics to work on any new problems. I have OVER 15 breakdowns with this piece of junk since I have it new.

The OD light flashing and slipped out of 4th gear after the car ran about 10-15 miles is as predictable as sunrise. One of my mechanics asked me to replace the tranny. I am just not going to pour in any more money into it.

So this problem has been with me for over 6 years and 40000 miles. I just try to avoid trying it for much because it costs a lot of money as the mileage is so bad.

I have researched on this issue for long time and it does not appear that there is a conclusive fix for this problem. The only one to blame is myself as I was stupid enough to buy another piece of junk form Ford after the first one ....

I decided on buying a second car and I bought one from a dealership instead of a private seller because I figured they would be more reliable. I didn't even have the car a day before the check engine light went off. I had that issue fixed and then a day after buying it the over drive light went off, code po741. Im so disappointed. I have a Chevy Cobalt that is extremely reliable and I decided to buy a van as a second car for my family and its given us more headaches then anything. Ford should have a recall on these transmissions since so many people are having to pay out of pocket. It`s ridiculous, vans are supposed to be reliable family cars, not make the family go broke in car fees.

Another one bites the dust. I really wish I had researched this vehicle before purchasing.I bought this vehicle with low miles expecting to have minor transmission and engine troubles for many more trouble free miles to come. I knew it had minor issues with a power window the drivers side power lock and other little things that I would take care of myself. I have made several other repairs myself and I have saved the money on labor for these issues. The transmission is a whole other monster that unfortunately I can not resolve my self so I have no choice but to turn to a transmission shop for help. I have had the O/D light come on twice and start flashing within the past 2 weeks. I have a noise that comes from the transmission when I accelerate with any kind of force. If you accelerate slow it doesn't make the noise.I bought a scanner to check the codes so that I would be better informed. I got code p0741 which is torque converter stuck off. I took it to the shop and after taking it for a test drive the mechanic advised me that the noise is the chain inside the transmission and that it needs to be replaced and would cost $650.00. He told me that I had 2 CEL codes but that they were not transmission codes. I asked about the P0741 which was not a generic code but a Ford specific code which I got with my scanner. He told me he did not see that code but that he would try to rescan with the bigger scanner they had. Upon checking with the other scanner he told me he saw the P0741 code and that this was the torque converter that needed to be replaced and that would cost me $100.00 on top of the $650.00 for a total of $750.00. He told me the rest of the transmission shifted fine and that he did not see any more signs of other problems but that down the line he could not guarantee other problems would not show up that were not related to the 2 issues repaired and it could be a possibility , but that without doing a complete disassemble he could not tell. He told me a rebuilt tranny would run me $1200.00 and it would have a warranty of 1 year or 12000 miles. I will probably end up replacing after reading all the issues and hopefully this will be a 5-10 year solution but I am fearful that I will be at the shop every 3 years. What a piece of crap this transmission is. I can not believe that Ford would have such an unreliable transmission in their product knowing that this vehicle is for large families with small children and very limited finances and many of them stay stranded far from home with limited financial resources and they have to find a way to resolve a huge problem with this vehicle that Ford knows about and chooses to do nothing about. Shame on you Ford. I guess Ford really does stand for Found On Road Dead.

O/D off light flashes while in park. Started as this then the engine light came on. Took it to Autozone and the code came up as Transmission Range Sensor out of position. Called Monro and they said my tranny was shot. Went to a transmission shop and they drove it around the block and said the paper lining over the valve inside the tranny was going and was gonna cost me almost $1000.00 for a used tranny and to rebuild mine it was gonna cost almost $1300.00.

How can you find out what is wrong just by driving around the block.? Dont you have to look at the thing first?

I was on my way home with a van full of kids, when the O/D OFF light started flashing. We pulled over, checked the fluids, they were fine, and got on our way. It seemed to do it when we hit between 55-65 mph or accelerating up a hill. Had the transmission shop run a scan, but no transmission codes showed up, a couple of engine ones did though. So we too it to the engine guy who said the codes were basically no big deal, they would be expensive for they year and mileage on the car, so not to worry about it.

As soon as I get up to highway speed, the O/D light blinks constantly. I can't hear of feel any problems (yet) with tranny, but I'm not holding my breath. Took van to mechanic and they couldn't replicate the problem. We did a transmission power flush and replaced the filter ($350), but problem still exists.

I hope Ford get the crap sued out of them, because there a LOTS of transmission complaints of ford vans and SUVs made around 2000. I've already complained to the NTSB. We'll just have to wait and see.

Wow, I just have to say that I don't feel so alone anymore. I had no idea the number of complaints that Ford has had regarding the Windstar. My daughter had this van for 1 year and it was wonderful except for the O/D light coming on and it kept shifting itself up and down all the time. When the tranny finally did go out she was in Tacoma, she called me at 12am and they had just managed to limp the van into a gas station.I had no way of going down and picking her up, she was with another friend, also a girl and can you imagine how I felt when I hear 2 male voices in the background!! Luckily they were perfectly fine and the men really tried to help, to no avail. We had to have the van towed from Tacoma to Snohomish and that cost a fortune. I was also up all night worried about my daughter and her girlfriend. I cannot warn enough people not to buy one of these lemons, I have made it my mission in life to cause Ford as much trouble and cost them as much money as they have me. We have since bought my daughter a Dodge Intrepid, what a fantastic change finally a vehicle we can rely on. Hey Ford how does this karma feel?