Brake Drum Wheel Cylinder Problems of Ford Windstar

At approximately 16:45 after driving 6 miles that day, the Windstar van was stopped and the ignition key turned off. The delivery driver went inside his destination for about 5 minutes. While loading his cargo, he smelled smoke. Looking up, he noticed flames coming out of the engine compartment between the hood and the windshield wiper plastic shielding. Using an onboard 5 lb fire extinguisher, he attempted to extinguish the flames but to no avail. He dialled 9-1-1 on his phone. Employees at his destination also noticed the fire, and contacted the local fire department as well. The fire department extinguished the flames with severe damage to the rear portion of the engine, the fire wall, brake cylinder and glass windshield. The ambient temperature that day was in the 70 degrees range, windows were down in the van, and the a/c system was not in use.

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I have a 2002 Ford Windstar Mini van. At 56,xxx miles I had to replace the transmission. About 6 month after that I started experiencing a blizzard of lights on my dash indicating the following alerts for abs/brakes, trac off & check traction control. This light blizzard appears each time I drive my van for a short period of time and remains on the dash until I stop the van and restart. Went to the transmission shop and they said it was not related to the tranny replacement. Took the van in to Ford dealership for the 2009 recall jumper and they said the abs/traction control was not related to the leaking brake cylinder so they wouldn't fix it. A short time ago I started getting a check engine light too. Tried to go thru deq but the van failed emissions test. Went to a mechanic and he couldn't locate the problem but the check engine light is off so I went to deq and passed but I still an having a problem with the original light blizzard (abs/tc). I had not experienced any problems with the braking system to date but I haven't had to slam them either. Next week it's off to the Ford dealership since no one else can determine a problem resolution. I've searched this problem on the internet and there seems to be quite a few Windstar/gm products with similar problems. It really points back to a poor quality product!.

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There have been a number of complaints about the Ford 2001 Windstar brake (pressure deactivation) switch leaking and causing loss of primary braking on. . Read more...

Cruise control on 2002 Ford Windstar started working intermittently. Research online shows a defective switch on the master brake cylinder is a very common failure that causes this. This switch is used on many Ford vehicles and was subject of recall due to fire hazard. For some reason the recall doesn't apply to my 2002 Windstar yet, however.

Emergency brake light came on around three months ago. The emergency brake was not engaged and this had no effect on the running of the vehicle. The vehicle brakes started going to the floor when we found the switch at the bottom of the master cylinder was leaking and defective. We ran out of brake fluid. We have replaced the defective switch and bled the brake lines to make sure everything works again.

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I purchased my 1998 Windstar with approx 20,000 km on it in 1999. Just after the warranty expired (at 60,000 km) I noticed 2 large bubbles in the paint on the two front doors. I took the car to the Ford dealership where they agreed to pay 80% of the cost of repainting. This was not entirely agreeable to me but I felt I had no choice. My vehicle how has 86,000 km on it and the paint is peeling on the roof and around the sliding door. I have contacted Ford canada but have not heard back from them as yet. Other problems encountered include having to replace a motor for the power windows, the fan mechanism (the blower would not move off of defrost), a leaking brake cylinder as well as what I would consider standard maintenance such as brakes, tires. I am also having intermittent problems with the electrical system eg. The warning bell signalling that the lights have been left on or the keys are in the ignition goes off for no reason. This then prevents me from being able to lock the vehicle.

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When applying brakes there is a squealing sound, braking distance was extended, dealer replaced rear cylinders, then 2 weeks later while driving very slowly, brakes locked up, and driver's rear drum was rusted.