'03 Windstar AdvanceTrac problem

Getting intermittent illumination of the "Trac Off" idiot light accompanied by "Check AdvanceTrac" in the message center. When I say intermittent, van will go days without any indication of a problem, then the lights will go on. We'll turn off the engine and when turning it on again the indicator lights may or may not come on again. Seems like a random occurrence (though nothing is "random" with these things).

FWIW, our vehicle was not part of the recall...or at least we got no letter... for the TI brake pressure switch, which, I understand, could cause problems with the AdvanceTrac system, among other things. Worth checking/replacing the switch anyway?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated before I take the vehicle into the dealer and they start with an expensive replacement of the ABS module in their trial-and-error method of attempting to resolve the issue.

Always worth checking the brake pressure switch just to verify that it is not leaking.
One other thing you might check is the wheel sensors......see if the gap is bigger on 1 wheel than the others......giving a weak signal.

Thanks very much. On the wheel sensors, what should I be looking for, or should it be obvious (never pulled or examined them before)?

Take a look at my pictures from my ABS sensor and connector cleanup project:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/559769331GYPtlJ

I included useful notes with many pictures; you may need to scroll down a bit to see the notes.

Thanks, gentlemen. Checked the brake pressure switch and there is no sign of a leak. So this week-end's project is to check the ABS sensors and connector. Phil's project pictures will be most helpful.

Well..........did the work on the brake sensors. Found nothing unusual. Cleaned them up and reinstalled them. Pulled the connectors, added a bit of dielectric grease and reconnected them.

Failed on the inspection of the ABS module connector. Engineering on my '03 appears to be different than on Phil's model. Plastic tab is blocked by the bundle of wires connecting into the harness. I can move them a bit, but not enough to move the tab more than 1/2 inch or so. Exercise is further complicated by the connector being blocked by six of those rigid lines running into the module, effectively forming a cage around it. I don't have particularly large hands, but there's not enough room to get a grip on the harness to pull it out.

Any ideas would be appreciated. The warning lights aren't coming on, but as I explained before this isn't yet conclusive since the problem was intermittent. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I did enough and that I don't see the lights again.

Subsequent to my last post, warning lights came on again. Called the dealer and my local mechanic, both of who say it's safe to drive. Will take it over to my mechanic at the next convenient time when the condition repeats itself (dealer wanted me to bring it over regardless, but when I asked if the diagnostics would shown anything with the indicators off, the best I got was a lukewarm "Maybe." Was inclined to say "The maybe I'll pay you" but thought better of it).

Drove the van up to Boston this weekend to attend oldest son's college graduation. Lights never went on while we were on the highway, at 65+ MPH, 250+ mile stretches each way. However, in the stop-and-go city/suburban driving, they did go on a couple of times. Any thoughts?

My '03 Windstar SEL was having all kinds of AdvanceTrac warnings, too. It would seem to run fine, but then in hot weather and heavy traffic, it would start stumbling and bucking. Then the AdvanceTrac errors would start to display.
BUT, for the transmission to work smoothly, the engine has to idle/run smoothly. For all their hype, I find even Iridium spark plugs don't last much longer than 25K miles. Even if they are still good, the gap will have grown too much, causing misfiring (but oddly not always triggering a code!).
Replace all your spark plugs (I know, not that easy, but not that bad either) and reset the codes (or disconnect the battery wire) so that the engine will relearn the new in-spec gap on the plugs.
I did this, and no more shuddering, no more AdvanceTrac codes!