general problems of the 1999 Ford Windstar

I just purchased the 1999 Ford winstar and. 2 months later I was driving to work and the rear axle beem broke causing me to looae control. I am just now finding out about the recall please advise this I s my only vehicle.

This vehicle was serviced at 102,654 miles, in March-April of 2011 by koons Ford of maryland, (invoice#w70829, dated may 5, 2011) in response to Ford recall, related to "broken front subframe" and "collapsing rear axle". --front subframe was, at that time, broken on the right side, due to rusting. Replacement was not done, instead it was patched via a bolted together "clamshell" reinforcing device. It now has become apparent that after using the vehicle after this initial frame separation, the metal of the left side was unduly stressed, and has now broken at its weldment point, resulting in an unsafe vehicle, that swerves to the left, if brakes are applied while in motion on the street or other roadway. Wheels are no longer kept in alignment, with left front wheel free to move to the front or rear, in response to applied stress! this subframe failure affected many such vehicles, and it has become evident that inspection and repair was inadequate, resulting in a new, unsafe condition! (subframe should have been replaced, due to stress!)-photos are attached, showing displaced frame, and separated weld joint.

Too make a long story short. I had about three recall on my Ford Windstar and now my whole van shut down on me. My computer I guess got it on auto theft lock and I can't even turn over now. It's just sitting in my parking lot just helpless. I have another recall but I cant take it to the Ford dealership because I cant turn over. Oh yea. It kept cutting off while im driving,don't let me stop at a light it will cut off on me there alot. It does that alot. I bought it from a car lot but he doesn't want to do anything about it. So I lost out of my money. When I turn it also cut off.

The factory recall notice required trailing axle reinforcement brackets to be installed on the rear axle. They were installed at the dealership, along with an upgrade to the front control arm mounts. The rear axle broke while driving on the highway, the speed I was travelling at was only 45 mph at the time of the break. As the axle collapsed, the rear tires began rubbing against the wheel wells. I slowed down and pulled over immediately, seeing smoke from the rear. The crack occured on the driver's side of the axle, underneath the repair bracket that was installed by Ford. ( obviosly placed over the weak/defective area. ) the vehicle had only 80,000 miles on it in may of 2011 when we obtained it, the same year the recall repair was performed. In the last 4 yearsa I drove 175,000 highway miles, have regularly washed and maintained this vehicle well, (including undercarriage washes in the winter). I've recently replaced the entire ignition system, front suspension/brake components, and rear shocks. It's a real shame that this vehicle is disabled by a weak rear axle when there's plenty of life left in the engine and transmission. With regular full synthetic oil changes, cooling and transmission flushes, new aligned front steering, I expected to get over 300,000 miles out of this van. Now I have to find a good used rear axle, but will have no faith in its durability or safety.

Skimmed to a stop,vehicles are dangerous,braked tied up and would not respond took it to have it checked out advised system was good,now I read you guys are having this problem and it happen to me,proving its a defect I want to be given credit for a new Ford windfree.

This is regarding recall # 10s13. In 2010 Ford issued this recall because there was a weak part on the rear axle that rusts away and cracks. There fix is to inspect the weld and then replace the axle if there is a crack. If no crack is present, the dealership is to clean the rust off the weld. When this recall came out, Ford made it difficult for dealers to replace broken axles. They made it so difficult for the dealers to get a replacement axle that they where "backordered" for several months. I live in an area that has some rust and had Ford "inspect" my weld for excessive rust. They said it was fine and sent it down the road which then voids my recall. Now the rear axle has broken at the very same weld which was mentioned in the recall. It even broke under the same conditions described in the recall. I checked and found that the only thing Ford did to my vehicle was to spray some rust inhibitor on top of the rust that was already there and sent me on my way. Since I took it in for inspection, they now refuse to replace the defective part under recall 10s13. I've been told that if I had never taken the car in for inspection, that they would now have to replace the part. The proof I have is this. The recall didn't come out until 11 years after the cars where sold, which proves it takes a while for this part to break. Look at your complaints. The ones that failed in 08-11 where in the far northern states. Ford had to replace most of these in 2011. Ford didn't replace many in southern illinois, southern iowa, etc until a few years later (2012-15). The problem is that these are starting to break in the mid-western states and Ford is refusing to repair them since they already "inspected" the weld and found it wasn't cracked when the recall first came out. Everyone knows that covering rust wont stop it from continuing to rust. Ford needs to expand this recall.