How Bad Is the Windstar Tranny?

I see the transmission is indeed the weak spot on this vehicle. But just how bad is this tranny? As bad as Chrysler's A604 in the'90s? Can one expect to almost certainly have to do major transmission work before hitting 100K? I am talking about the 1999-2003 versions here...

Hello

Just a FYI...I have a 95 with 200,000 on it and the trannie is orginal. It's having trouble shifting from 1-2 under heavy acceleration and is slipping in 1st during the acc. If we take it easy there isn't a problem. I got the van from the orginal owner at 177,000 and he had it flushed just about every summer before going on vacation.

The Windstar is a Taurus drivetrain with a van body. The trannie was designed for a car not a van/truck.

I was told by a trannie tech that if people changed the fluid in their trannies on a regular bases he'd be short on work.

Regards

Dan

No issues with mine at 116k, and I admit that I haven't been really religious about changing the fluid. My '92 Dodge Grand Caravan had it's second transmission leaking and was frequently stuck in first at 95k.

Dan D
'99 Windstar SE

I have a 2001 and when I first got it. it started to slip a little. I noticed the trans fluid was jet black.. I had it changed and every thing was fine thank God..
I now have it changed every year..No problems...

Glad to hear at least some make it into six digit territory. I am coming off a Chrysler vehicle, so I'm perhaps overly concerned about transmission failure.

The pre-'97 ones were nothing to brag about, but the later ones seem to be as good as any other WWD (that's Wrong Wheel Drive) transmission.

Our '98 3.0 has over 110,000 on it with no hints of anything being amis with it. It also gets regular infusions of fresh ATF at 24 month intervals.

Ditto on my Windstar also. My 98 Windstar with the 3.0 liter engine has had no transmission problems. It just turned 183,000 miles on my way down to Myrtle Beach, SC today. Everyone keeps telling me I am nuts keeping this thing this long but its been troublefree other than power steering hoses which I understand is a common problem on this year Windstar. I also drop the transmission pan and drain out as much as I can every year regardless of the mileage after the hot weather is over ( usually end of Sept early Oct) and install a new filter. I had it flushed at 60,000 and at 100,000 miles but I'm too cheap to pay for it again, but I think changing it every year is probably just as good as a flush every couple of years plus I am changing the filter whereas the flush method you don't change filters. I clean the magnet on the bottom of the pan but on the last change there was not much filings on it so I guess wear has been at a minimum. If you change your fluid or get it changed by someone else make sure you use the correct fluid that it calls for in this tranny. Mine uses Mercon V. I understand using the wrong fluid will lead you down the road to trouble. Oh by the way I have a Dodge which had its tranny rebuilt right around 60,000 miles. Does that tell you which car company builds the better transmissions. I also towed some with my Windstar with a large Uhaul trailer out over the mountains of PA to Pittsburgh and back 4 times. Just my 2 cents

I had an `01 Windstar that only had 170,000 miles on it when the transmission failed....

Hey Bruker sounds like you got your money's worth out of that tranny ( 170,000 ). If mine failed tomorrow ( which I hope it doesn't since I am on vacation) I would not shed a tear. Its when they fail before 100,000 miles that would really piss me off which is the case in point of the Dodge I have. Fortunately if was covered under warranty and I don't own it, my company does. I would like to buy it when they decide to get rid of it but I don't know whether to trust it. Its too bad Chrysler can't build a reliable tranny, I really like the way the Dodge brakes, handles , accelerates, and rides over the Windstar. It really is a better vehicle in those respects. Its just that nagging question on whether it want to take the chance of paying for transmission repairs down the road. Unfortunately the odds are not in your favor with the Chrysler products.

Glad to hear at least some make it into six digit territory. I am coming off a Chrysler vehicle, so I'm perhaps overly concerned about transmission failure.

Driving a Chrysler, there is no such thing as being "overly concerned" about potential transmission problems. Since the TF727 and 904 production were stopped, there really hasn't been a "solid" auto trans in a Chrysler if they had anything to do with its manufacture.

The AXOD, Es, A4Xs, and variants are NOT bad transmissions designs, or at least not as bad as some horror stories might indicate. They can be plagued with problems external to the trans, such as the cooling or electrical controls and connections, but at least the mechanics of the trans are not under-designed as some others might be. It's no HydraMatic, but it's not a bad trans, either. Some HydraMatics have their own problems, too. In a heavy Windstar, the trans may be a little more taxed, but not beyond reasonable limits.

As with any mechanical assembly, its useful life can be determined to a large extent by how it is used. Don't load it heavily until it is at operating temperature, keep the oil clean and cool, and repair things as soon as they become a problem rather than waiting for those problems to go away by themselves. Neglect and abuse are the root of probably 95% of failures. Dearborn would have changed to a completely different design if the trans was "bad" instead of merely refining the existing design (sound familiar to the Mopar drivers?). It's NOT THAT BAD!

This may be overkill, but I extract around 6.5 qts of trans fluid using a LiquidVac out of my Windstar and Taurus trans annually (during Nov oil change) and replace with Mercon V. I also replace the filter every 30K.

[quote=LeSabre97mint]Hello

Hello, you seem to know what you are talking about. Heres one. Car is @ 155km and has really not been too bad ofa vehicle. That is until today. Sitting at the lights, the car suddenly makes a bang like I've been rear ended. Light turns green and the car will not move. It goes into reverse, starts, stops, etc. whats up? I am literally stranded at my office while I wait for my wife so I've been googling and found this site. what should I be looking at in the way of repairing it? Help.

Bought an 02 Windstar with 19k. The tranny went out at around 23k which was only a few months after we bought the van, and it was highly disappointing to say the least. Anyway, at least the new vehicle warranty that was still in effect covered the replacement. I purchased the extended warranty that goes to around 90k or so when I bought the van and we now have around 55-56k on it and the "new" tranny still seems to be holding up.

Hi

96 Windstar LX original owner. Transmission went out 53k and 90k. The van is well taken care of and has 180k miles on it and still running strong. The transfluid changed every 30k. Oil changed every 3k.

I have gone through 2 brand new transmission on a 99 and then the put in 6 more rebuilt ones. First one at 14000km and the second at 25000km and then i don't remeber all the other ones. I have had the solenoids changed so many times I can't even remember how many times. I have the tranny flushed every 30000km and synthetic oil change every 3000-4000km. I am at 200000km right now I would probably have way more but everytime I had the tranny replaced the van was in the shop for 3 weeks at a time. I guarentee if I add up all the time my van has been in a garage it would add up to like a year. Ohh yeah this tranny is on its way out. I tried trading in my van and they are only giving $2000 and the van is immaculate in and out.

It goes into reverse, starts, stops, etc.

Does the vehicle move in reverse? If you drive in reverse, will it then move in DRIVE? Have you tried to manually start in L or 2? You mentioned that is "starts, stops, etc." Does that mean that the engine starts and stops, or the vehicle will move and stop?

I have gone through 2 brand new transmission on a 99 and then the put in 6 more rebuilt ones. First one at 14000km and the second at 25000km and then i don't remeber all the other ones. I have had the solenoids changed so many times I can't even remember how many times. I have the tranny flushed every 30000km and synthetic oil change every 3000-4000km. I am at 200000km right now I would probably have way more but everytime I had the tranny replaced the van was in the shop for 3 weeks at a time. I guarentee if I add up all the time my van has been in a garage it would add up to like a year. Ohh yeah this tranny is on its way out. I tried trading in my van and they are only giving $2000 and the van is immaculate in and out.

At 200,000K (125,000 miles) you should still be on the original transmission. I have regular customers with several Windstars (and a Freestar), and of the hundreds of thousands of miles accumulated on the vehciles, only ONE of them has experienced any trouble related to the transmission, and it was NOT the fault of the trans but the range selector sensor/switch. I'd suggest that either the vehicle is being improperly maintained, improperly operated, or there is something drastically wrong with the service you are getting. They are either not finding the root cause(s) and simply swapping transmissions, or are milking your pocketbook by "saving you money" on diagnostic time. I'm sorry you have had a bad experience, but I believe your situation is an exception, and not the normal experience.