Hello all fellow Windstar owners!
I'm driving a 2000 3.8 SEL with over 265,000 km and really enjoy it. Everyday I drive past the Oakville, ON Ford plant on my way to work where my Windstar was born
Thought it would be nice to hear all your guys general maintenance/driving techniques to keep the Windstar running happily.
Driving practices:
I try to keep it under 2000 rpm when accelerating from a stop to keep the transmission and engine from getting too stressed out. It's neat how from what I understand, if you disconnect the battery for a while and reconnect it again, the computer will start to re-learn your driving technique to improve gear changes.
General upkeep:
Change the oil every 7000km using pennzoil platinum 5w-30 full synthetic. For oil filter, i like to use the fram xg3600. Prior to the oil change, i'll pour half a can of seafoam into the crankcase and drive around for 30-50km. I find this really helps get more unwanted crud out, and cleans lifter mechanisms and such.
Last year i changed from platinum to ngk iridium plugs/wires. Found a slight increase in acceleration, but that might just be a placebo.
About once i year, i'll pull the vacuum hose off the brake booster and while the engine is running, pour half a can of seafoam slowly down there. Normally, you should stall the engine by dunking the vacuum hose in the seafoam but mine just sucks it all up so i have to actually turn off my engine by key. I'll let it sit between half hour and an hour, then fire it up and revving it to about 200-2500rpm. I don't get a huge amount of smoke but do immediately notice a much smoother idle and increase in performance as well as black stuff on the ground under exhaust. seafoam cured my engine from a tapping sound.
I had the transmission flush, clean and fill process done by Ford themselves last year for preventative maintenance.
I try and keep the tires at around 35 psi, a couple psi less in the winter time for traction.
Overall my Windstar has bee very good to me apart from a couple of minor fixes here and there. It would be nice to hear your guys driving/maintenance tips and secrets.