Ten problems related to overdrive light on have been reported for the 1999 Ford Windstar. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 1999 Ford Windstar. The overdrive light illuminated at random in the vehicle. The contact would have to restart the vehicle in order for the light to dim. Once the vehicle was restarted, the light would remain off for 4-5 miles before illuminating again. The contact noticed that the rear hatch was open, so he exited the vehicle to shut the hatch. Once he got back in the vehicle, he placed the gear into drive, but the vehicle did not move. The vehicle made a loud clunking noise that never occurred in the past. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence and a mechanic rebuilt the transmission. The mechanic stated that the sun gear wells in the transmission became detached, which caused the transmission to fail. The vehicle is currently being repaired. The contact believes that the failure was due to a manufacturer defect. The current and failure mileages were 144,000.
I have a 1999 Ford Windstar xl. And the o/d light flashes on and off when I put my feet on the gas and it cause the van to shift in gear very hard. And when I get over 55 miles per hour it also does the same thing. It happens everyday. The van goes into gear very hard and it is hard for it to pick up speed when I take off. It stalls.
At approximately 79,000 miles, transmission failed catastrohically. I was stopped at a red light, and proceeded forward when the light changed. Almost immediately, I felt a violent forward jolt, then the vehicle would no longer go forward, though it would reverse. I had vehicle towed, and was informed the transmission needed replaced, costing $1800 (and that was with a discount for being frequent customers. ) also, the o/d light began flashing days after we bought the vehicle used in 2002. Dealer repaired free, but informed us that the wiring harness connected to the o/d switch rested on the engine, where normal vibrations caused it to wear through and fail. The technician called it a "design flaw. ".
Overdrive light will flash repeatedly after approximately driving 20-25 miles on the highway. When this happens, rpms increase and van attempts to lunge forward. Also, while putting van into gear loud clunking noise. Transmission was flushed completely, but problem persists. First occurance at 61,000 miles while driving family back from vacation. 2nd occurance at 63,000 miles and 3rd occurance at 63,800 miles.
I really don't know where to begin. We purchased this vehicle used in 2000. The day after purchase it had to be returned to the dealer for electrical problems. The dealership fixed the problems. We noticed a hard shifting right away and inquired about it with the dealership. They said that it was because it had a large engine and we were just not used to it. We drove it for about 18 months when at 60,000 miles the o/d light began flasing. We took it to a Ford dealership and was told the transmission went out. We were lucky and had purchased an extended warranty which after many phone calls and complaints finally put in a new transmission. Now 2 years and 30,000 later we need another new transmission. The van starting lurching when stopped at a stoplight and then tried to stall. We has also noted a noise that sounds like the whole front end is about to fall out. We also have electrical problems where the light come on and never go off. The a/c-heat, comes on when you start the van and the blower is in the off position. The electric door locks, which are supposed to lock when the car is put in drive, finally lock about 50 miles down the road. After much research on the van and all the problems it has I can't believe that Ford will not do something. I guess the lives of the families with children that drives these vans mean nothing to them. I guess it will take the death of someone's children and a heafty lawsuit to finally get some action. My wife is now afraid to even get behind the wheel of our van since it has a tendency to have its failures in the middle of traffic ( guess we are glad it has a five star safety rating). We would get rid of it but have now found out that it has no value either.
We purchased the 1999 Windstar in Dec 1998. From the first weeks of ownership, we have complained about the transmission. Dealer changed transmission fluid and said nothing was wrong. Problems were as follows: loud clunks when shifting from park to reverse, while foot pressing firmly on brake pedal; transmission hesitates when down shifting going around corners; as a passenger I felt as if the whole car was lunging causing dizziness to motion sickness (did not occur while I was driving); hard shifts between first & second; rear window wiper failed; power steering pump replaced which caused the rack & pinion seals to fail, which resulted in a new rack installed; egr valve rubber boot kept popping off until I placed a small hose clamp to hold it in place; check engine light stays on every since 15,000 miles; o/d button never worked; o/d light flashed repeatedly minutes prior to the transmission going out. Now the Ford dealer said I needed a new upper plenum, egr valve, pfe, valve cover gasket, battery cable and this was found while checking the transmission problem. I told them to forget it! $3k is enough to spend on a five year old car! this is all I can think of at this point.
Overdrive light began flashing on and off. Pulled over immediately and checked transmission fluid, which was slightly low. Drove 8 miles to automotive store, purchased fluid and refilled. Problem alleviated for two days, then overdrive light began flashing again. Disconnected battery to reset systems. Two weeks later overdrive light began flashing again. Noticed rpms were up to 3 at 69 mph. Took van to our mechanic, who told us the overdrive was failing. He then referred us to local Ford dealer, who confirmed the overdrive was failing and entire transmission would have to be replaced. Contacted Ford motor company who told us financial assistance would be up to the dealership that inspected the transmission. They offered no financial assistance. Price 1,800 for new transmission, not including labor. When driving home from the dealership, engine began stalling at low idle speeds. Engine dies during take off or acceleration at low speeds. Our mechanic inspected van and could find no engine failure problems. Suspects association with transmission failure. Van is high milage, but had 66,000 miles when we bought it in 2000. Has been well maintained and is only 3 years old. This seems to be a common problems with Ford Windstar transmissions. In reading some of the other owners' stories, I feel very lucky my transmission went out slowly and gave us warning. Does someone have to actually get killed because of these problems before anything is done to make Ford correct the problem? considering most minivans are used to transport families, it seems that immediate action would be taken to correct an obviously life-threatening problem. Dt.
The overdrive off light started flashing on the 27th of Dec. 2001 and the vehicle was very hard shifting through the gears. On the 28th of Dec. 2001 my wife was taking it to the dealer when the transmission had a catastrophic failure on a 2 lane roads steep hill on a curve, the vehicles engine revved up to redline and the vehicle started rolling down the hill no gear would engage. Ford did pick up all but 495. 00 of the repair cost,but I still found it my obligation to inform other entities of this failure. The indian head Ford dealers service dept. Was very helpful and I have no problem with the service just the product.
First indication of problem was "rattling" sound going downhill @ about 60 mph. Sounded like muffler came loose and was dragging on pavement, except the noise was coming from the front of the car. After investigating and finding nothing, proceeded to drive to destination (about 12 mi). Rattle continued off and on; overdrive off light on dash started blinking off and on though od was engaged. Drove to a Ford dealer (university Ford, peoria IL). They found "transmission full of debris" and replaced the transmission under the original warranty.
Windshield cracked while driving slowly. After taking it to get a new one put in we found that it was never sealed/mounted on the bottom. Absolutly no adhesive contact what so ever. Also at 28755 miles the o/d light started blinking and the car clucked while making turns and the transmission was replaced under warrantty and now at 37000 miles it doing them same thing again.