99 windstar transmission problems

Have any of you windstar owners ever had a shifting problem with RPM's of 2000 -2300 when tranny shifts from 2nd to 3rd to increase speed to 50-65 MPH.? it seems it may be slipping to achieve this speed and therefore will set the OD light to start flashing. could this be any sensors on the tranny or out side of the tranny.? I may have to get it scanned to retrieve any codes to help pin down the problems but as you all know these all cost around $100-150 and its only as good as how honest the shop or person doing the test. I have had several tranny's replaced and this vehicle is nickel and diming me constantly. If you stay under 50-55 mph it works great and shifts up and down ok so it may be time to get rid of this van or trade it while it still runs decent i hope somebody has some comments on this.Thank god for Automotive forums as many problems have been discussed and fixed with this web site.

A thought that may not exactly match up to your concern...

There is a known weakness in the low servo for the transaxle in the '00 models; I'm pretty sure the same transaxle is used in '99.

There's a nice writeup on this issue by user "northern piper" who documented the problem and the repair. Look at this:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=1086735&referrerid=396853

This solenoid is specifically an issue for the 1-to-2 shift. But he mentions that it can also show up in the 2-to-3 shift, so this could be important for you.

Even if it isn't the problem, it's similar enough that I believe it's worth taking a look to understand the issues.

First, transmission codes are available using an aftermarket scan tool. I've read them with my Actron tool, which is very similar to the scan tool used by my third party transmission repair/rebuild shop. They've also read codes for me, usually when performing another service. Autozone might be able to scan it for the codes. You can purchase a pretty good scan tool (that will also read ABS codes!) for ~$200.

Secondly, I think the '99 uses the AX4N, which is a little different than my AX4S, but I had a problem shifting from 2nd to 3rd (or 4th), which gave me no gears above 2nd. I rebuilt the transmission, and I wasn't able to find a single "ah ha!" problem, but I can tell you that no servo engages when shifting from 2nd to 3rd, although one (forward) is releasing. The forward and intermediate cluthes engage.

I remember that the AX4N had an extra clutch or band/servo, and maybe one less one-way clutch, I just don't remember the details there.

The AX4S gears work as follows:
First gear: low-foward band holds the 2nd planetary assembly, forward clutch connects input shaft to the sun gear of the 1st planetary. When the input shaft turns slower than the sun gear, the one-way clutch overruns (coasting).

Second gear: low-forward band continues to hold, forward clutch releases?, intermediate clutch engages to turn the planet gear of the first planetary. The sun gear will overrun the speed of the input shaft. (like coasting).

Third gear: low-forward band releases, forward clutch and intermediate clutch engage to turn both the sun and planet gear of the first planet at the same speed. No coasting is possible with both forward & int. clutches engaged.

Fourth gear: over drive band engages, forward clutch release, intermediate clutch remains engaged. The input sun gear is held stationary and the planet gears of the first planetary are driven.

Shifting is controlled by the PCM through three solenoids, which are replaceable in the vehicle by removing the side cover.

I think you first need the codes, just to understand why the PCM is flashing the O/D light.