[LTDzak]

This is exactly what led to the demise of my 99 Windstar. If you want to monitor degree of slip on it you can use a tablet or other device with the Torq application.

Assume you are getting the flashing transmission light after 5 to 10 miles driving. On mine I got the code read at a trans shop that reads them for free, they said the van was done for.

There are 22 different things that go wrong that will cause the converter not to lock up on an AX4S AX4N. Nineteen or twenty of those involve the oil pump and various solenoids in the valve body. I got a Sonnax oil pump shaft off of Ebay, bought new oil pump drive shaft seals from Ford, and bought an expensive rebuilt valve body with known good solenoids. Didn't get it, would still fail to lock up. Also changed the fluid pan etc.

The other 3 items are the converter itself, there is an o-ring on the stator bushing, and the stator bushing itself can be worn. After trying the valve body I found a post on the net from a Ford tech that said the P0741 on a Windstar almost always meant the torque converter clutch was gone.

I drove ours back and forth to work for about a year and a half on the back roads, on ~ 42 mph stretches with very careful throttle application I could keep it locked. Finally decided to donate it to charity, it didn't sell at auction that I could tell.

If you decide to tackle the converter make sure you get the right one, 99-00 use a multidisc clutch and the later ones use a single disc. They have different number of tabs on the ID of the converter.

My big mistake was not replacing the converter when I swapped out the hydrolocked (wonderful intake manifold gaskets there Ford) engine for a low mileage one.