2002 ford windstar- refuses to start after suspicious activity??

[SecretAsianWoman]

Long story; about a week ago my friend was picking me up from a night shift at work. When trying to pass a slow moving vehicle, the other driver reacted violen tly by "flicking" him off and trying to run him off the road. He also continued to follow my friend for the whole distance... 15 miles?? Anyway, he followed my friend and both pulled into my work. After being threatened by a gun, my friend ran into my place a work and hid, I locked the door. Now this crazy guy was standing outside with my friends car for a while before I watched him leave the parking lot... however my friend managed to lock his car before escaping the road rager.
Now I don't know much about cars, but I have warned him many times that it sounded like he was having transmission issues... his car shakes when you speed up from 40 to 60 mph, and when stopped at a red light it softly kicks, hums, and rattles. I've even seen his engine light blinking... I know quite well what that means. So this car did have issues before this incident.
What I'm wondering is if this guy that tried to kill my friend could have done something to disable his car??? After the crazy guy left, I went out and started the car so we could go home.. but when I did so, it started shaking right away. I tried putting it in reverse but it actually rolled forward like it was in neutral. And then the engine just shut off. It almost felt like the battery was dying, but everything in the car; lights, radio, clock worked fine. We also checked the oil, and it was good. Is it possible that some maniac could have done something to my friends car to keep is from starting correctly, without acsess to the inside or under the hood of the car within 5 to 10 min? Or is this car just a piece of crap??

[shorod]

It sounds like your friend is not very good about keeping up the maintenance on his Windstar based on the comments that it's been running roughly for quite some time and apparently he ignores the check engine light. I suspect you guys were not putzing along at the normal pace while this guy was following you, and that more aggressive driving an an already weakened engine probably took it's toll.

It sounds like the stumbling from 40-60 mph and roughness at a stop is more likely to be a misfire, either ignition or fuel related, so the van is not running on all cylinders. It could have overheated during this trip as I don't suppose watching the temp gauge was top on anyone's mind during this ordeal.

Before getting too excited about the transmission not going in to reverse right away I'd suggest you check the condition of the transmission fluid. From the apparently lack of maintenance, the transmission fluid likely is shot too, and that aggressive drive may have also further cooked the fluid which could easily effect gear selection/shifting.

All in all, I don't think this road rager likely did anything to the van, I think the lack of maintenance just finally caught up with the van, especially if you never saw the guy crawl underneath the vehicle open open the fuel cap. Even if he had put something in the fuel, it would not have taken effect immediately as there would have been some non-effected fuel still in the lines.

Out of curiosity, why didn't either of you call the police once you got to the place of work? I suspect with the threat of a gun involved police could have easily arrived within the 5-10 minutes.

-Rod

[gmtech1]

Wow, what an experience! Glad you are all ok. I agree with Shorod in that it sounds like an accumulation of lack of maintenance thats causing the problems. If Psyco had no access to the vehicle, he didn't cause the problems.

[SecretAsianWoman]

That makes a great deal of sense. I didn't think that guy could have done anything either... he just thought it was too much of a coincidence. I don't know much as a 20 year old who has been driving for only 2 years, but as a med school student going back and forth from there and work; I have owned a few cheap cars. It taught me a lot of stuff.
The car does not belong to him though, he uses it because he pays his aunt and uncle gas money and pays for oil changes and maintinence. His uncle swears by this mechanic, who I flat out wanted to give hell! Yes the check engine light was on for a long time, but the mechanic insisted that it was a sensor issue. Now I have told my friend countless times thatthat something was wrong with the car. You can feel it when you press on the gas, especially on the highway. I wondered if it had to do with the cylinders because my previous car had very similar issues... and as someone who likes cars (I assume ) you probably don't want to hear, or would probably give me hell if I told you I ran my honda on 3 cylinders for over 700 miles. It was very similar to the ford.
I do have another question just to be curious. I just sold my toyota avalon for cheap. I had the same issues with cylinders... except my spark plugs were literally popping out one by one. I guessed that it had something to do with over heating. When I changed mu spark plugs, I had to use needle nose pliers everytime because the spark plug boot would be practicaally fused to my car. I know heat causes expansion so I assumed that's why the whole top of my plugs would just pop out. I sat around and thought of a solution, and decided to cut slits up the side of the boot so the air would pass through everything instead of pushing them out. It actually worked. I can't wait to see the reaction of the persons face when they take that stuff apart. Who the heck would cut up this nice $70 spark plug set?? O well I knew I shouldn't have put anymore money into that car.
As far as police go...... I was shocked when my friend told me that he never called the authorities. I said it was a dumb move on hid end. That giy should not be on the road

[SecretAsianWoman]

Gmtech; he handled it better than me... I would have been crying haha. The worst thing mr. Road rage did was rip off the wind sheild wiper and jammed it into the grill!