Steering Rack And Pinion Problems of Ford Windstar - part 1

The contact owns a 2003 Ford Windstar. While driving various speeds, there was a noise underneath the vehicle. In addition, the steering wheel became loose and the contact had to steer the vehicle in excess to keep it in position. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the cradle fractured due to corrosion and the rack and pinion was protruding through the fractured site. The mechanic stated that the cradle needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 273,000.

See all problems of the 2003 Ford Windstar 🔎.

The contact owns a 2003 Ford Windstar. While driving 20 mph, the power steering failed. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to a local garage and the mechanic stated that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The contact was seeking reimbursement for out of pocket expenses. The failure mileage was 130,000.

Complete deteriation of the front left and right sub frame attaching to the lower control arm attachments at the rear of subframe holding the rack and pinion assembly. This steel is flaking and appears to have laminte separations (looks like flakey pie crust). Cannot get a mechanic to replace leaking rack and pinion assembly due to the poor condition that will leave no material when it breaks off.

See all problems of the 2002 Ford Windstar 🔎.

I bought a 1999 Ford Windstar lx it had 130000 miles on it when I bought it it was making a weird noise when I would turn so I had the power steering pump replaced but it continued to make the noise then a couple months later it became very hard to steer almost imposible to turn and still making the noise so I am now being told its the rack and pinion and also being told by a few different mechanics that they have seen this problem b4 its very unsafe because its all of a sudden you cant turn the wheel as im investigating further about this problem there is other similar complaints something has to be done now im going to try to replace it but am looking at purchasing a used one and am concerned that it will have the same problem and I might not be able to turn causing a major accident so to me this is a major saftey issue that should be addressed to Ford.

See all problems of the 1999 Ford Windstar 🔎.

The contact owns a 2001 Ford Windstar. While driving 56 mph, power steering fluid was leaking from the end seals of the rack and pinion, which caused the power steering to fail. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that, in order to repair the vehicle, a whole new rack and pinion steering system was needed to replace the seals. The repair would cost $600 without any reimbursement. The VIN was unknown. The current mileage was 59,000 and failure mileage was 57,000.

See all problems of the 2001 Ford Windstar 🔎.

Steering rack failure.

See all problems of the 1998 Ford Windstar 🔎.

2002 Ford Windstar. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle rack and pinion being replaced twice.

Van makes a grunting / crunching sound usually on right turns.

See all problems of the 2000 Ford Windstar 🔎.

Purchased the Windstar used in 2001. After about a year the steering started to make funny (whining) noises and sometimes it would get tougher to turn wheel. At 65k my family and I were driving across country and the power steering went out completely. We had to drive the last 800 or so miles to our new home with no power steering. Took it to a repair shop, suspecting the power steering pump and they said it was not bad, just needed fluid. I had checked the fluid when it originally went out and it was low, but not empty. It drove fine (still noisy) for about a month and then steering went out again. I returned to the same shop and again told me that I needed fluid. I told them I had never seen a leak, but I would check every day to figure out where the fluid was going. About three days later I was driving home from work and the noise became very loud again and when I pulled into my driveway I could see the trail of power steering fluid I left behind. I looked under the car and the fluid was pouring out from the boot on the drivers side. I took it to the same repair shop and they said "blown rack and pinion". Thanks.

On 7/29/05, my 82-year old mother, purchased a 1999 Ford Windstar, with less than 44,000 miles on it. My mother receives minimal social security & I, too, am on social security for disability. We could not afford an extended warranty on top of car finance $200. /mo. ) we did have a dealership limited warranty of 60 days and 3,000 miles. Before that warranty expired, we took the vehicle to be evaluated by our regular mechanic he found only two problems &e actually congratulated us on finding such a great car. We took the minivan back to branford Subaru where we purchased it and they made the repairs immediately. Now that we are one month and 50 miles over the limited warranty, power steering fluid is leaking. Exxon diagnosed the problem as the rack and pinion steering. I had to leave the minivan at bens exxon because the leak was so bad I was having extreme difficulty steering & was losing more than 2 quarts of oil per day. My mechanic found a TSB about it but mantilia Ford dealership refuses to fix it because we are past the original 3-year warranty. They referred me to Ford corp customer relations who gave me he same answer. Obviously, Ford would not recommend the replacement of the original steering rack with a revised unit unless the original unit was defective. Although that fact is not actually stated in the bulletin, it is very clearly implied. Now, here we have an 82 year old and a 59 year old, both on limited income from social security, who took every precaution possible to buy a reliable vehicle and avoid expensive repairs stuck with a vehicle with a defect known to Ford motor company but that we cant have Ford fix because we did not buy the vehicle within the 3 year original warranty period! I have checked your database and found that out of the first 255 complaints against the 1999 Ford Windstar, 26 were about the rack and pinion steering! I stopped looking after 255. I am appealing to you to see what remedies can be pursued.

Sudden loud grinding noise in steering wheel, rack and pinion leakage seal failure. Need to replace rack and pinion before leak damages pump. Replace rack and pinion.

1999 Ford experiencing problems with rack and pinion system, and left lower control arm. All of the hold down buttons were stripped out and stripped in the gear housing causing gear failure.

Power steering went out in January 2005. From Jan 05 - may 05 rack and pinion has been replaced a total of 3 times.

When turning left or right, the driver heard a loud knocking noise coming from the front. The driver has difficulty making turns, the steering wheel locks. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection. The mechanic informed the driver that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. Please provide further details.

Rack and pinion steering failed. Leaked fluid until there none was left. This caused power steering to fail.

I was driving down the road and all of the sudden I have no warning and no steering. Power steering fluid was everywhere. It took my wife and I too turn ths van into a parking lot. Unfortunately I had my 3 children in this van with me. I have not had the money to replace the rack and pinion or the power steering pump. I am not even sure if I should or not. I also would like to know if there is anyway to know if the previous owner(s) got the recalls taken care of.

While turning at low speeds, the driver heard a loud noise coming from the end of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection. The mechanic informed the driver that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced.

See all problems of the 1997 Ford Windstar 🔎.

Rack and pinion steering had to be replaced at 42,000 miles due to an end seal failure. Most of the power steering fluid leaked out within 2 days of the leak. There is a know problem with this by Ford they have issued 2 TSB's. This part should never fail at this mileage, it is a poor design with either wrong materials selected for the seal and no life testing was conducted to verify the design. Ford should be embarrassed to talk about quality when cramp like this happens.

I own a 1999 Ford Windstar which I purchased new. At 35,700 miles the rack and pinion steering needed to be replaced (luckily it was still under warranty) now at 59,000 miles I'm experiencing the same problem. I also replaced a tie rod, and the front end is always creaking, but no one can find the source.

Severe power steering fluid leak due to rack and pinion failure.

Rack and pinion steering system failed. I have read of numerous other Ford vehicles manufactured within a few years of mine having this problem. Even a neighbor had the same problem. My vehicle is a 1999 with 56,000 miles. Not even 5 years old when the problem occured. This componet should last for a vehicles' lifetime. When I contacted Ford, they offered no help. I would love to see an investigation! it cost over $800 dollars to repair, and being that it was replaced with another Ford rack and pinion system, I should probably start saving my money now for future repairs. Our mechanic told us to not reward Ford anymore, and buy from a different manufacturer.

At 71,876 miles the rack and pinion steering and power steering pump failed on my 1999 Ford Windstar, leaving me without power steering while driving. On a car of this size it is, I believe dangerous to drive without the power steering.

2001 Ford Windstar lx 40,000 miles we had to replace the "worn out" (stated by Ford mechanic) rack and pinion steering, pump and reservoir for a cost of us$ 1,100. 00. I did research online with other 2001 Windstar owners and found several cases of this exact same repair. The entire steering assembly cannot have an effective life of 40k miles, this should be a recall service for Ford to make good on.

My power steering just recently started making a grinding noise at 64,000 miles. I noticed that the fluid was low. I filled it up and it keeps losing fluidi found a site on the internet where a lot of winstar owners are complaining about the same. Problem. . . Premature failure of the power steering system. Some repairs are over $1500. 00. . Read more...

We bought our 1999 Windstar in 2002 with only 27,000 miles on it; from the beginning the power steering would groan and make noises. We complained about it to several shops, but we were assured that it was "normal. " yesterday the power steering noise was very loud and constant and there was difficulty steering. Today the steering went completely out while I was driving to work. The repair shop says it is the rack and pinion.

1999 Ford Windstar. Only 60,000 miles, rack and pinion is leaking power steering fluid on both sides. Very expensive to fix, and should not be happening with so few miles on it. Vehicle becomes very hard to steer, when sitting at a store and you come out, it is hard to steer to get it home.

Power steering fluid is leaking out of rack on left side. Vehicle only has 52,950 miles on it. Dealership states there are no service bulletins but according to this web site there are. The dealership should pay for repairs if they have been aware this is a problem.

While driving, lost the rack and pinion steering control on my 1999 Windstar van. Only 31,000 miles on the van even though it is 4 years old.

Steering fluid leaked from the steering rack and pinion. Dealer notified and stated there was a technical service bulletin on this problem# 01-5-6-6.

Rack and pinion steering is not working properly, dealer notified.

1999 Windstar se - steering problems, replaced steering "rack" in March 2003, is already going out again. Reputation of bad "racks", so bad our local Ford dealer keeps them in stock. About 52,000 miles.

1999 Ford Windstar rack and pinion failure could not turn vehicle came very close to a collision this is a known defect also the vehicle is leaking powersteering fluid which is a fire hazard! Ford refuses to acknowledge this problem. I have notified Ford about the premature failure and they dont seem to care that someone could lose thier lives over Ford putting vehicles with faulty parts on the road.

Power steering pump, steering control system and rack defective has to be replced, rack and pinion was replaced already with only 30,000 miles.

While in motion, a loud noise emitted from the steering wheel. The vehicle was service by a technician. The technician noticed that the rack and pinion was leaking fluid and needed to be replaced. Ts.

Massive powersteering /rack and pinion leak , difficult to steer at any speed. Mr.