Transmission Fluid Leaking problems of the 1999 Ford Windstar

The contact owns a 1999 Ford Windstar. While driving approximately 60 mph, the vehicle began decelerating and losing power. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the technician advised that the transmission seal had failed and caused transmission fluid to leak when the temperature of the vehicle increased. The technician also advised that the transmission would need to be replaced. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the transmission was replaced. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000.

I have a Ford Windstar year 1999. About two weeks ago the two brake lights went on, I had a fuse # 10 blown and a non working speedometer dial. ( the cruise control has three months that is not working) I did take a look at the owner's manual. In the manual I read that reason for the break light to come on was the lower level of brake fluid in the reservoir and so it was. I added some brake fluid and the light was off. In the mean time I did checked the fuse panel and I found this fuse #10 was blown and I replaced it, but half an hour later I got a blown fuse again. Also the abs light was on and so I decided to see a mechanic. I did go to a repair shop and I was told that my van has a serious problem. Scds under the master cylinder has developed a bad leak. The scds switch is leaking and that may cause a fire sooner or later. This leak has caused a short and a fuse trip #10 this break fluid leak has wicked down the wires to the abs module. I was told that this leaky switch has caused all the problem in my van. Speedometer, cruise control and abs brake system are not working. I was told that there may be a recall on this problems. I do not knowany thing about it. I know that it was a recall issued on August 27,2010 in regard with rear axel. I never got any notice from Ford CO. I had a broken rear axel on March 2010 and I was saved by good luck. I paid a lot of money to fix it. Ford did not pay a dime for this problem. Ford never sends me any recall notices. I'm never going to buy Ford cars again.

I was sitting at a traffic light and went to pull away when the light turned green. There was very loud noise, like an explosion, and the van lurched forward. At first I thought another driver hit us and I was bracing for the impact. Fortunately, we had not been hit, but the van would not move more than a few feet at that point. I managed to pull as far over as I could in the traffic lane, although I could not reach the shoulder, and turned on my hazards. There had been no warning at all that anything was wrong with the van at that point. No warning lights, no leaking fluid, and it was still running-it just wouldn't move forward or reverse. I had been driving it all day, and I am the primary driver. The transmission seemed to be working just fine up until that point. I had not noticed any slipping or any other problems. Once it was towed to the dealer, we found out that the transmission had totally failed and we are now paying $2600 for a remanufactured transmission. The van has 89,000 miles on it currently, and we did have an extended warranty than ran out at 75,000 miles. We have had the power steering unit replaced already, in addition to Ford sending mechanics out from michigan twice to repair our automatic sliding doors, which had been malfunctioning since we bought the van.

Contact stated after driving for about an hour the od light illuminated. The vehicle was smoking from underneath. The contact was able to pull the vehicle off to the side of the road . The fire department came and extinguished the fire. The vehicle was towed to a dealership to be inspected. The dealership stated there was no damage to the vehicle as a result of the fire. Also, they stated the fire could have been caused by transmission fluid leaking on the catalytic converter. While driving at a later time the dashboard light illuminated again. The vehicle was then taken to a local mechanic, who determined that the automatic transmission was causing it to smoke. Updated 12/7/2005.

Transmission would shift properly into gears. Problem of shifting was intermittent. Steering is leaking fluid. Took to dealership, mechanic could not locate cause of leakage or reason gears would lock up.