general problems of the 2004 Ford Freestar

I have spent so much money in this van that I would like to report these issues to you first it was the fuel filter and now it's the transmission I keep the maintenance up and things still go wrong.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. While driving approximately 70 mph and suddenly on an elevation, the vehicle shook, decelerated, and lost power without warning. The contact pulled into an independent mechanic's shop where the technician changed the fuel filter. The failure recurred a few days later. The check engine light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to another independent mechanic who did not diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that there was no recall. The VIN was unknown. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 87,000.

As I proceeded to make a left hand turn,@ a permittible speed 25 m. P. H. I could hear noise eminating from the rt. Frt. Side of the veh. Fuel sys. Further ck'ing needed.

Van started running poorly suddenly, then would not run at all. After shutting down and allowing cool down time, restarted van and it would not go into gear. Ran well in park or neutral, but shifting into any gear would "clunk" and the engine would immediately quit. After 5 days of troubleshooting, traced trouble to engine pcm after reading in on-line forums about it. Found pcm wet and pins on pcm and contacts on wire harness corroded and green due to water leaking past cowl-to-body seal. The pcm connector is not sealed, so if water does drip on it, it is dripping directly onto back side of the contacts and Ford did release a TSB about this issue but not a recall. TSB says to remove some plugs from body (my van is severely rusted in one of those 2 spots), seal around clips that hold plastic cowl to body with silicone sealant and add additional weather stripping on the outer edges of cowl to try to prevent water. I had to replace my pcm. Had my wife been on the highway when this happened, there would have most certainly been an accident or injury.

Intermittently, when I am idling in drive (like at a light) with my foot on the brake, the van will begin to surge and lurch forward, sometimes violently. Only pressing hard on the brake will keep it from moving forward and causing a crash. Sometimes happens in reverse also. The tachometer will surge up to higher rpms and back down as it lurches. Sometimes, if it is violent enough, the battery light will flash off and on as if the vehicle is about to stall. Seems very dangerous as it could cause an accident with a nearby vehicle.

Starting about a year ago this vehicle shoots gas out while trying to fill up. Gas will shoot out all over whomever is putting it in. It also shuts the pump off without being full. This happens every time.

Just purchased this used 2004 Freestar. Within days the engine would fail while driving. Transmission shifting issues. Not starting. Etc. . Had transmission replaced before knowing of recall on that item. Still had the issues. Pulled out pcm and it was filled with water. Installed new one. I live in florida. Rainy season. Issues happened again within a week. New pcm removed and was filled with water. I myself found the service bulletin about the issue as well as several complaints by owners on the internet. My local dealership walker Ford swept the issue under the rug and wanted to charge $900 to find the leak. I showed them the bulletin that they were un aware of. They would not replace my pcm without charging me again. Went to another dealership and paid for new pcm and told them to perforce service bulletin. Seemed fine until last 6 months. Starting to stall a lot. High hum when accelerating and turning. More research online and I found 2 more recalls on vehicle. The pcm issue should be a recall. Find out how to permanently fix the issue and perform it for free with a new pcm.