Power Steering Pump Problems of Ford Windstar

While driving down my hill, my brake light came on. Now my abs light comes on with my brake light. Brake fluid is present, brakes are almost a year old. For over a year now, my van after it being turned on and off (errands, shopping etc), it does not want to start. Once it does start, as I turn the wheel while in park, it stalls. Now that my brake and abs lights come on, as I turn the wheel it wants to stall while driving. When I am turning my vehicle off, I turn the key down very slow and all the way down, that seemed to only help it restart a few times. I had my vehicle at the Ford dealer for the recall in 2010 dealing with the cruise control issues. My od light has been off for over a year now as well. While driving my vehicle, when I am stopped, I notice a white colored smoke coming out from under the hood, and no one can find where it is coming from, especially happens when it is damp or raining out, and engine temp is normal. (I can not take my van to an auto car wash due to the fact it starts shaking, smoking and won't run or stay started when the under carriage is being sprayed) fuel pump, starter and ignition coil are fine. Has new plugs and wires.

See all problems of the 2002 Ford Windstar 🔎.

I have a horrible whining noise when I turn my steering wheel, I heard its probably the power steering pump. I am going to have to replace it.

See all problems of the 2003 Ford Windstar 🔎.

Whining noise in power steering. I took to the Ford dealer and they replaced the power steering pump, but less than 10000 miles later the whinning started again. I took it to another Ford dealer and they replaced the rack and pinion (and charged me $800. About 2 months later the whine is back and I know it is the power steering pump.

Noise in power steering.

The power steering pump needed to be replaced for the second time since I purchased this vehicle. It was initially replaced 11/17/2003 at 27,000 miles. Now I am at 44,000 miles, 14 months later and the same problem occurs. The dealer and Ford refused to cover the cost of the replacement. The symptoms were a loud whining sound during slow speed acceleration and whining when turning the steering wheel at slow speeds. This is obviously a defect, but Ford refuses to do anything about it. In addition, the front end does not stay in alignment and front tires wear out very unevenly and quickly.

Have now replaced the rack and pinion system and power steering pump twice in our 99 Ford Windstar. First time was at 68,660 miles, and just replaced again at 156,912 miles. Have seen other complaints on your website related to this problem and wanted NHTSA to be aware that this is a serious defect in this vehicle.

See all problems of the 1999 Ford Windstar 🔎.

Strange noise coming from van when I turn, rack and pinions gone bad, Ford refuses to do anything and told me that I would never get anything from them for reibursement of repairs and that they don't care what the NHTSA or goverment say. I only have 36,000 miles on my van even though it is a 1999 Windstar this should never have happened. For does not care about their reputation or product or consumers.

I have replaced the rack and pinion steering twice and the power steering pump once on my 1998 Ford Windstar.

See all problems of the 1998 Ford Windstar 🔎.

My van started making a screeching noise everytime we made any turns, we checked the power steering fluid and it was fine. Van sat in the yard cause it was embrassing to drive with the loud screeching noise and since we had a 2nd car we just left it in the driveway. Then when my husbands car got hit by another car we had no choice and had to drive it. As soon as we try and drive it out of the driveway we new something major is wrong it took 2 people to turn the wheel on the van just to back out of the driveway. So I called my step dad and explained what it was doing and he said sounds like the power sterring pump went out on it so we take it to a very reliable mechanic and found out not only is the power sterring pump bad the rack and pinons are gone also. I can't believe with a van that is not that old to have this happen so quickly. I have been numerous forums about the Ford Windstar and I see pages and pages of complaints about the same thing I'm dealing with now. What does it take before a company stands behind there product and issue a recall.

My Windstar starting making a whining noise and it began to get worse and worse. He noise was one thing, but the driving of the vehicle became extremely dangerous. . . It started to pull when brakes were applied. Steering became very dangerous.

Rack and pinion steering was replaced at 50,000 miles at dealer for a cost of $1,500, and it failed again. Steering rack should not malfunction in such a short period of time. Also, boot leaks caused power steering pump to malfunction.

While the consumer made a turn the power steering pump made a loud noise. The dealer was notified.

The consumer had to use excessive force when the steering wheel was turned. The dealer stated the rack and pinion and power steering pump had failed. However, they were previously replaced in November 2001 by the dealer.

I own a 1999 Ford Windstar van with approximately 50,000 miles that is used for pleasure purposes only. Two days ago the power steering unit commenced howling whenever the steering wheel was turned. Yesterday I took the vehicle to the Ford dealer in arcadia. During the drive to the dealer the vehicle appeared to steer correctly. However, when the service man at the dealer tried to drive the vehicle into the stall he said that the steering had frozen and was almost impossible to steer. Subsequently the dealer, after checking the power steering unit, decided that the pump in the power steering system had failed causing component pieces to pass through the system causing the steering failure. The dealer said the repair would require replacing the pump and all components of the system at a cost of more than a thousand dollars. My concern is the steering could have failed on the highway causing a serious accident. In addition, failure of the power sterring unit at such low mileage leaves the impression that this might be a defect in other cars. . . . Thus the report to you. The Ford dealer's telephone number in arcadia is 863 494 4848.

Consumer stated that while driving a seal blew in the power steering pump which caused the rack and pinion to fail. Ts.

Rack and pinion assembly began leaking power steering fluid. Had to replace rack-and-pinion assembly and power steering pump.

At 36,500 miles power assist pump failed to operate while driving, causing loss of power steering. Dealer notified, and informed consumer that vehicle was not covered under any recall, and warranty expired. Feel free to provide any further information.

Right hand side of power steering pump has rusted through, resulting in difficult steering. Dealer has been contatced. Please provide further details.

Had to replace rack and power steering pump.

Power steering pump is whinning and causing vehicle to lurch a low speeds. The dealer has replaced the pump, the Ford plant has sent engineer to look at it, no one knows what is going on. This is prevalent on many new Windstars. I am afraid that failure of pump will cause me to loose control or have engine quite and loose all power. I have contacted Ford and they don't seem to care or have any real concerns.

See all problems of the 2000 Ford Windstar 🔎.

While driving the van all of a sudden there was no steering at all. Driver could hardly get the van to the side of the road. Van was towed to the dealerhship. Broken steering: power assist belt was replaced. Please provide any further information.

Van started to make loud grinding noises when turning wheels and also getting hard to turn. I took it in to the dealer, but was told by service dept. That there was no recall on this van. As I was leaving I spoke to another employee there and was told that there was such a problem with that year van. I then replaced the power steering pump and that did not fix the problem I then took it to another Ford dealer and was told that the problem was in the rack and pinion steering and the price to fix it was about 1000. 00 I was not able to afford it so I have driving it , however now the van will sometimes shut off when you proceed to make a turn in either direction. I have come very close to having someone hit me from behind. I took it to another mechanic and we are going to have to have it fixed at our expense. I feel that we should not have to pay for a problem that came from the Ford motor CO. I also took it today 1-4-2000 to see if the dealer would look at it but was told by a man named jerry in the service dept. That they would not do anything .

Power steering pump pully assembly failed.

At 35 thousand miles power steering went out. Mechanic replaced steering pump at 38-39 thousand miles, power steering went out again. Mechanic researched problem, found out that tie rod end rods were too tight, putting extra strain on power steering.

Power steering pump was noisy.

The power steering pump makes grunting/humming noises when the wheel is turned. The min-van is only 3 years old and 44,000 miles. This repair should be covered by a recall.

Steering is making weird sounds which causes noise to progress, steering would become stiff with some binding even after power steering added, condition remained the same. Dealer is unable to determine actual cause with replacement of the power steering pump/ tie rod ends, and rack assembly.

Power steering pump failed. Yh.