Two problems related to front suspension stabilizer bar have been reported for the 2001 Ford Windstar. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2001 Ford Windstar based on all problems reported for the 2001 Windstar.
1. Rear axle fractured severely & broke making the car un-drivable on 24 Jan 2019 while in motion driving in city traffic. Ford put braces on this vehicle under recall# 10s13, but they failed to prevent further corrosion and metal fatigue. The axle was a bad engineering design from the drawing board combined with not e-coating the metal during manufacturing to prevent corrosion of the metal due to road salt. The axle fractured next to the brace on the driver side as shown in the 4 images below. I have one tow bill (flat-bed) to get the car off the downtown street to my home & will have another tow bill to transport it to where I can replace the axle. 2. Front cradle frame's mount rusted off that anchors the stabilizer bar so the stabilizer bar had to be removed. This happened several years ago. The cradle frame probable was not e-coated during manufacture either. I can take a pic and probable have the repair invoice detailing the date and the mechanic's work to remove the stabilizer bar. To fix the car will need a new front cradle frame, stabilizer bar, and possibly mount brackets.
I was driving home when I went around a corner I heard a thump in the front passenger side of my Windstar, the following morning I took it into my mechanic. He looked the vehicle over and told me the sub frame has rusted out where the stabilizer bar connects. This issue was supposed to have been addressed by Ford the previous year when they had it in for the rear axle recall. I find Ford had made the decision to put some useless brackets in and not replace the sub-frame. I called customer care concerning the problem and was told there was only a year warranty on the work so there was nothing they could do as I had picked up the van end of April /beginning of may 2011. A recall was issued for this problem and quite evidently their fix with some little brackets did not repair the issue, I am not sure how some brackets are suppose to correct a rusting out sub frame to begin with.