Four problems related to front suspension have been reported for the 2003 Ford Windstar. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Ford Windstar based on all problems reported for the 2003 Windstar.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Windstar. The contact stated the front right wheel fractured when attempting to make a left turn. The dealer nor manufacturer were notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The current and failure mileage was 74,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Windstar. The contact stated that the struts on the front right end of the vehicle were covered with rust and caused the right front end of the vehicle to collapse. The contact lost control of the steering wheel while driving on the highway; the front passenger side tire turned to the right when the contact made a left turn. The cv joint and strut were damaged by rust, they fell off of the frame and detached from the axle. The contact is a service mechanic and observed layers of rust underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage and current mileages were 156000.
My wife was driving in a parking lot with the kids and the front right strut spring on our 2003 Windstar cracked in two. It broke the stabilizer end link and the strut bearing plate. The broken spring rubbed the tire, but didn't puncture it. The recall for this problem doesn't apply to this model year and it states the cause is corrosion. I am a licensed autobody technician and upon removal of the wheel and inspection of the spring I would say the alloy used in the spring is too brittle because it sheared clean at an angle. There isn't any signs of corrosion on the spring because it is coated. We live in southern ontario, canada where we see a lot of salt in winter and I've worked on a lot of rusty cars and I would say this definitely not climate related, but rather a manufacturing defect that if it occurred at highway speeds could lead to loss of life. It will cost me approximately $300-350 to fix this myself because you have to replace the springs in pairs.
2003 Ford Windstar, 59396 mi. Driving down lockport rd on 6/20/08, heard loud snap, clunk, then tire blow out. Called for aaa assistance, tow truck operator told me it was broken right spring, saying it was a common problem and had towed several minivans of this model, what could have happened if I made it 2 miles to interstate 190 where the speed limit is 65 mph? this happened at approx. 20 mph. Is this a common thing like the tow operator says? in all, resulted in 555. 25 in damage because of the spring failure.