Nine problems related to air conditioner have been reported for the 1998 Ford Windstar. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Rear air will not work.
Loss of front right wheel while driving. While driving the front passenger side wheel separated from the vehicle. The separation caused damage to the front passenger side fender. It was later determined the wheel in question separated from the vehicle as a result of inappropriate clamping force to the assembly. It also appeared that the lack of clamping force was the result of an under torqued wheel or a wheel and a brake rotor combination the was inappropriately seated. The rear wipers were defective and the air conditioner was inoperative.
While traveling on highway and without prior warning there was a bad odor coming from vent area. Dealership is aware of problem. Consumer states after turning on the air condition or opening the vent control there is an odor.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
Power steering line malfunctioned while driving, rendering vehicle difficult to steer, dealer has repaired vehicle. Consumer also stated the air conditioner was not cooling, there was a loose connection at compressor, the doors would not lock, the power door actuator was the cause of the doors not working, windows would not go down because of a bad window motor.
The air conditioning line leading to the back of the vehicle (for rear cooling) rubbed against the power steering line, causing the air conditioning line to rupture. If this had caused the rupture of the power steering line, significant serious safety consequences could have occurred. Additionally, the loss of the total coolant due to the ruptured air conditioning line is an environmental issue. We believe this is a major design flaw in the vehicle and one that warrants immediate attention by the manufacturer. The vehicle is less than three years old.
1. Transmission: the vehicle would act as if it were in neutral after coming to a stop. Sometimes this would happen right as I pulled into an intersection, leaving me in the path of oncoming traffic with no power. 2. A/c: the control module failed to engage the a/c but still cycled the idle speed. This was dangerous because the braking required to hold the vehicle at a stop was insufficient when the idle randomly surged to high. Both failures had potential to cause accident but were repaired before any incident occurred.
The consumer has been experiencing problems with air conditioner condensor. Th when turning on air conditioner, it gives off a foul odor. The manufacturer has been contacted.
Air conditioner malfunctioned.