Browsing Ford Windstar's Archives »»
Filed under: Minivan/Van, Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Ford
The
Ford Windstar is already being examined by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The
rear axles were the initial target of investigation but now the review has widened
due to claims of the Windstar's front subframe also being prone to corrosion. So far, NHTSA says it has logged 346 complaints directly related to Ford Windstar engine cradles cracking or showing excessive rust and corrosion, which has led to three reported accidents.
Ford is cooperating with NHTSA with regards to the subframe investigation and it's also stated that replacement rear axles will be available in the beginning of 2011. Ford has issued recalls for approximately 492,650 Windstars due to the problems surrounding the axle. The subframe problem is related to the same model year Windstar minivans that had the axle rust problem, which were produced from 1998 to 2003.
[Source:
The Detroit News]
Report: NHTSA getting serious about Ford Windstar axle rust probe originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
December 22nd, 2010
Filed under: Minivan/Van, Recalls, Ford
Estimates place the number of
Ford Windstar minivans involved in the
rear axle recall at about 575,000. The 1998-2003 model year vans have suffered cracked and damaged rear axles, especially in the salt belt. Owners have been dropping them off at Ford dealers to be repaired, and according to a Ford rep, most of them will be back on the road this year. Another clump of them won't be repaired until early next year, however, because they're waiting on components that will arrive in two months.
That means dealers just have to sit on growing fleets of aged Windstars, and
Ford has to pay for that storage and the cost of rental cars for owners. Exact dollar numbers haven't been released, but it certainly can't be cheap for Ford. In addition, as far as we can tell, this still doesn't address the expanded
investigation into front subframe corrosion.
[Source:
Automotive News, sub. req.]
Report: Recalled Ford Windstar minivans piling up at dealers originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
November 13th, 2010
Filed under: Minivan/Van, Recalls, Ford
Estimates place the number of
Ford Windstar minivans involved in the
rear axle recall at about 575,000. The 1998-2003 model year vans have suffered cracked and damaged rear axles, especially in the salt belt. Owners have been dropping them off at Ford dealers to be repaired, and according to a Ford rep, most of them will be back on the road this year. Another clump of them won't be repaired until early next year, however, because they're waiting on components that will arrive in two months.
That means dealers just have to sit on growing fleets of aged Windstars, and
Ford has to pay for that storage and the cost of rental cars for owners. Exact dollar numbers haven't been released, but it certainly can't be cheap for Ford. In addition, as far as we can tell, this still doesn't address the expanded
investigation into front subframe corrosion.
[Source:
Automotive News, sub. req.]
Report: Recalled Ford Windstar minivans piling up at dealers originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
November 13th, 2010
Filed under: Minivan/Van, Recalls, Safety, Ford
Back in May, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started
investigating cases of rear axles breaking in late model
Ford Windstar minivans after receiving hundreds of complaints from owners. Over three months later, an official recall has just been announced that covers 575,000 1998-2003 Windstars sold in "Salt Belt" states - places where road salt is used to melt away snow and ice during the winter months. Road salt can accelerate corrosion on the rear axle, which can cause the axle beam to break completely.
Ford says that only a small number of reported cases involve instances of the rear axle beams actually snapping, even though NHTSA supposedly received over 200 complaints from owners. Still, Ford will be notifying owners of this potential hazard starting on September 27, and naturally, the problem will be fixed free of charge.
Interestingly enough, this recall does not mention anything about the Windstar's front subframes - another easily corroded area that triggered
a second NHTSA investigation in late July. More than 900,000 vehicles could have been affected by this, and we assume that NHTSA's findings did not warrant a full recall. Still, this rear axle issue will be the eleventh recall placed on the Windstar, a model that was only built for a total of nine years.
[Source: Associated Press via
Google]
Official: Ford Windstar recalled over rear axle risk originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
August 27th, 2010
Tags:
Ford Recall,
ford windstar axles,
Ford Windstar Recall,
FordRecall,
FordWindstar,
FordWindstarAxles,
FordWindstarRecall,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
NationalHighwayTrafficSafetyAdministration,
nhtsa,
NHTSA Recall,
NhtsaRecall,
windstar,
Windstar Axles,
windstar recall,
WindstarAxles,
WindstarRecall
Filed under: Minivan/Van, Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Ford
The
National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has opened a second investigation into 1999-2003
Ford Windstar minivans. The new probe has arisen amidst reports of front subframe corrosion that can cause the vehicle to lose steering. Apparently, a number of owners in salt-belt states have complained of front steering components rusting to the point of failure, causing a total loss of steering in the process. NHTSA will be looking into a total 900,000 potentially affected vehicles as part of the first stage of a process that could ultimately lead to recall.
As we
first reported in May, Windstar minivans of the same vintage are currently under investigation for a similar corrosion concern in the rear of the vehicle. The government agency launched an investigation after receiving 234 complaints of the vehicles'
rear axles fracturing. Owners claim that the design allows for road salt and grime to collect in certain places, accelerating corrosion in the process.
Ford says that it is doing everything it can to cooperate with the investigation and address any design issue, should one exist. According to
Automotive News, the Windstar, which was built between 1994 and 2003, has been the subject of a total of 10 recalls so far.
[Source:
Automotive News - sub. req.]
Report: NHTSA expands Ford Windstar corrosion probe to front subframes originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
July 30th, 2010
Tags:
ford windstar axles,
Ford Windstar Recall,
Ford Windstar Steering,
FordWindstar,
FordWindstarAxles,
FordWindstarRecall,
FordWindstarSteering,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
NationalHighwayTrafficSafetyAdministration,
nhtsa,
windstar,
Windstar Axles,
Windstar Steering,
WindstarAxles,
WindstarSteering
Filed under: Minivan/Van, Safety, Ford
Toyota's recent issues have turned the lights on automakers' and governments' responses to consumer complaints. Two of the questions to arise, which still haven't been answered, are what is the threshold for customer complaints to be considered a safety defect, and when should the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration open an investigation? An example? More than 200 owners of 1999 to 2003
Ford Windstar minivans have submitted complaints to the NHTSA about snapping rear axles, but there has been no investigation and Ford says there's no safety issue.
The breaking-axle incidents have happened after 80,000 miles, the majority coming after the six-figure mileage mark. Ford's take is that nearly all drivers have retained control of the vehicles, and the few that haven't have described behavior that doesn't fit with Ford's predicted vehicle behavior in such an incident. Therefore, it isn't a problem with safety.
As for the NHTSA, even though the complaints are spread over various categories (consumers choose their own categories under which to report), it says it has reviewed every single one of them and says it is monitoring the situation. We suppose everyone is relying on good judgment to decide when or if to declare this a safety matter and open an investigation, and we can agree with that - good judgment can make far more sense than trying to slap hard numbers on these kind of occurrences. The question is: Who's the one with the good judgment?
[Source:
New York Times]
Report: Hundreds of complaints about Ford Windstar axles snapping, yet no NHTSA inquiry originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 11 May 2010 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
May 11th, 2010
