Three problems related to blown head gasket have been reported for the 1998 Ford Windstar. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I just found out that my head gasket is blown on my 1998 Ford Windstar. I read up on this and saw that this has been an ongoing problem with Ford and they haven't done anything to correct this problem nor do they offer you a solution to fix this problem at their expense.
Head gasket blew. Never ran hot. Always serviced on time. Talked to owner at the Ford dealership, who in turn had me talk to the service mgr. He told me he would look into it and see if there was anything Ford would do about it. He never called me back, so I called him after a week. He said he left a message on my answering machine. I don't have an answering machine. . . Then he tells me the only problems with the 3. 8 engines was in the t-birds, not the Windstars. By this time I have already looked on the net and seen the problems are with the Windstars as well. He then tells me to come in and talk with the owner. I had already taken off work to do this. I now have the van at my mechanic to be repaired. I will never again buy a Ford product. I personally believe that if Ford is producing a faulty product, they should take the blame when it tears up. I know from the net that they did a repair, or trade in allowance on some years for the same problem, but stopped this program in 1998. There was never a recall. I think they tried to just ignore it and see if it would go away!.
Vehicle was parked and head gasket blewout. Vehicle had to be towed. Dealership is aware of problem.