Consumer Complaint Detail

FORD / WINDSTAR / 1996

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 005006032 Incident Date: Jan, 27 2005
Consumer's City: RIDGEWOOD Consumer's State: NJ
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Ford Motor Company
Model Name: WINDSTAR Model Year: 1996
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Engine and engine cooling:engine
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Feb, 03 2005 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: Yes Purchase Date: Mar, 31 2000
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 6 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: I have a '96 ford windstar with a 3.8 liter v6 engine. this is the 2nd head gasket failure i've had with it. the first was in november of 2003. i paid about $2500 to have the head gaskets replaced then. this time i was driving to work when after a short time i noticed my car heater wasn't working, just blowing cold air. a short time later, i noticed my temperature gauge was going up, and after about 10 minutes, it was in the red zone. a few minutes after that, my engine began making terrible clunking and rattling noises and i had to pull over. as soon as i did, the engine died and wouldn't restart after about 15 minutes of cooling down. i had to be towed to my mechanic's garage which cost me $127, and my mechanic told me that i needed a new engine. the car's been at his garage for the past few days while i decide what i should do. i'm convinced that this is a manufacturing defect for which ford motor company is responsible, especially after reading the complaint log containing so many stories from people who have a car with this type engine. ford claims they solved this problem after 1995, but the complaint log tells an entirely different story. *jb