Five problems related to transmission not engage have been reported for the 1998 Ford Windstar. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Our car stopped running after reversing from our driveway, it was towed to a nearby auto repair shop for diagnosis. The transmission would not engage. The transmission case cover was removed. The gears inside were in pieces. The case had the proper oil and quantity. The unit just dismembered itself. Clearly a latent manufacturing defect. The case had never been opened before and always had the proper oil and amount.
Transmission willnot engage while in park. The dealership told consumer that they couldn't duplicate the problem.
The transmission would disengage by itself from drive to neutral position. When accelerating, transmission would pop out of position. In low gear, it would be rough shifting. Also, gas pedal would vibrate. Been to dealer 3 times for problem before finally locating & establishing that throttle cable was loose. Mechanic repaired loose throttle cable.
There are two significant safety issues that we continue to experience with our 1998 Ford Windstar. The transmission continues to intermittently "neutral" at the worst possible times. The effect of this is that the vehicle will begin into an intersection and then the transmission will disengage and the rpm of the engine will race. At this point the transmission might engage after several seconds with a jolt, screeching the tires. In some cases we have had to shift into park and back into drive several times to get the transmission to engage. When this first occurred, we had only owned the car for less than two months and it would only happen every few hundred miles. Ford had to place a "flight recorder" in the vehicle to verify that it was happening. Ford replaced the transmission in early 1999. We began experiencing the problem again in the summer of 2000 and Ford has been unable to repair this problem. We have had it in the shop a total of 12 times with the symptom manifesting itself multiple times in between. The vehicle has been in the shop almost continually since July 15th, 2000 and is still there as of this submission. If it were not for extreme defensive driving and anticipation of the problem that has helped us avoid an accident so far. However, we continue to have the car delivered to us that is supposed to be repaired and we continually have the same problem. The second problem is also reoccurring and deals with the abs brakes continually going out of adjustment. When they are out of adjustment the stopping power of the car in emergency situations is greatly impaired. The brakes are self-adjusting but continue to be out of adjustment. We have had this problem looked at by four different Ford dealerships and they readjust the brakes that only corrects the problem for a short period of time. The brakes continue to go out adjustment and Ford denies that this is a problem, even though it continues to happen.
Appears to have a connection with the transmission. While driving at speeds ranging from 25 mph to 45 mph, the vehicle repeatedly has downshifted, thus decreasing speed of vehicle without any warning. Sometimes the vehicle will engage and disengage from transmission several times. Also, the speedometer drops to zero. The reported dealer has had my vehicle in for more than a week with no results. I have also driven vehicle with attached "flight recorder" from shop. I made several readings but know the shop says there is a problem with their equipment (that was 1 week ago today). Although the shop keeps my vehicle and I have described the symptoms several times, they claim they have no idea what it could be. I am very concerned for the safety of using this vehicle. If you need more information, please call me. Thank you.