Nurse Needs Her Van!!! Transmission??

[WOEISME]

HELP! I drove to work today and stopped at a convenience store (after driving about 30 minutes). I got back into my 2001 Ford Windstar and started the engine. It let out an awful noise, like a rumbling sound. It sounded like something was breaking or a belt came off or something. I turned off the engine and got out to check it out. No smoke, no odor. Checked the oil, which was fine. Restarted the engine - still an odd sound, but not as loud. I got out to look at the engine while it was running, and it looked alright. I was able to back out of my spot and started forward. The engine seemed to shake, as I pulled forward. I pulled over and shut off the engine. When I restarted it, it ran alright. My gas tank was low on fuel (nearly empty, but the light wasn't on or anything), so thinking it might be due to the low tank, and possible sludge or something, I drove to the gas station down the road to fill it up. The van ran OK on the way there, and when I restarted it after filling up, it was running good. I decided to try to make it to work, a mile or two down the road. I started off, and got about a quarter of a mile down the road, when the car decelerated down to about 40 miles per hour. I hit the gas a little and it slowly went back to normal speed. A minute later, the same thing happened, plus I noted that the O/D light was on. I put my hazard lights on so no one would rear-end me, and made my way to work. I was able to get AAA to tow the van, but when they went to load the van, they couldn't get the van to go into reverse. So now, I am waiting for the van to be formally diagnosed, as no one can look at it until Monday. It is thought to be a bad transmission. If anyone has any miracles for me, let me know!!

[Homebrew_ny]

Curious to find out the outcome on this problem. I would have given my two cents, but I just happened to find this forum today. I'd like to know what all the noises were while on your way to work, and why it was deaccelerating. Assuming the the shifting linkage to the transmission was all in place and working properly, a vehicle that will not go into reverse BUT can go into all other gears is a sure sign of internal transmission trouble. At least from my experiences. (I was more a diesel mechanic then anything, but did my share of work on auto's)

[WOEISME]

Well - the outcome is that I was told the transmission is shot. I did a little research on a site on "how things work" to learn more about transmissions, as I know next to nothing about this subject. I have to give a lot of credit to anyone who works on cars. Reading up on the subject just boggled my mind further. As far as I can tell, the deceleration would be normal with the transmission problem, due to the nature of how it works. Bottom line is it cost me $2000.00 to fix the problem. I offered a kidney instead, but they wouldn't go for that. I picked up my van today. It has taken this long to get it repaired, as the mechanics are busier than we nurses! The van is running fine so far, and I am hoping to get at least another year out of it. I am then looking to unload it and buy a new car. I am torn between an SUV, as I love being up high while driving, and having good control in the snow (since I drive a lot to visit my patients), and a gas efficient car (one of the hybrid vehicles). I have been researching the Hyundai Santa Fe, or one of the hybrid electic/gas vehicles from Toyota or Honda. If anyone has any feedback on these vehicles, let me know - I have never bought any of these makes of vehicles. I do know that I will not buy a Windstar again. I don't need all of that room as my kids are older, and I have heard lots of stories of other people having transmission problems. So to answer your question, I don't know what the noise was, other than my transmission self-destructing!! And someone had also mentioned to me that I may be very happy with a diesel vehicle, due to better mileage (Jetta?) - so any input on this would be nice. Thanks for your reply.

[Homebrew_ny]

Sorry, but I'd be against you getting a diesel. Yes, they do get somewhat better milage but your going to loose on general maintenence. You can say goodbye to them $17.99 oil changes. A single filter alone can run you 50-100 bucks depending on what you have. I really only recommend diesels to people who are going to use them for the torque. People who are pulling heavy trailors and hauling heavy loads. I used to have a Chevy 3/4 ton 4x4 diesel myself. One of the things I remember is I had to force myself to fill the tank when it got as low as a quarter tank. Diesel is not sold at many gas stations and a few times found myself about to run out because I was nowhere near my usual fillup stations and didnt know the closest place to get diesel fuel.

I live up north myself and am ohhh so familiar with driving in the snow. I think you'll be very happy with an SUV. You seem like someone who does the research and homework, I'll bet you do the same when buying a new vehicle. You'll find some with really good ratings. I drive a Dodge Dakota 4x4 with a V6. Hehehe, I'm lucky to get 14 miles to the gallon.

But anyways, glad to hear your driving your van again. Sorry it had to cost you so much. I'll bet that was the last thing you really needed too eh?

[road_rascal]

Just curious- how many miles were on your van when the transmission failed and have you done any preventative maintenance on it (tranny fluid and filter changes)?

[WOEISME]

I will admit to running my van to death. I am on the road a lot! I try to do maintenence to my van, and get the recommended tune-ups and oil changes. I cannot promise you that I did it exactly according to the recommendations in my car manual, but tried to keep up with it. The van has 117,000 miles on it. Not sure how much life I should expect out of this van, but am trying to keep it going. Maybe I am unrealistic. If anyone wants to let me know how many miles they got from their vehicle, including Windstars, I would be interested. I truly try to maintain my vehicle, but I am a single working mom, and am working ALL THE TIME, so I do the best I can. My ex-husband could care less about our car maintenence, and I am trying to learn all I can about this subject to prevent problems, but apparently I wasn't too successful. Next vehicle - I will have to try to be more "by the book" I suppose. Any helpful hints on the subject are appreciated.

[rodeo02]

Getting 117K miles out of a ford transaxle with no ATF changes is pretty good actually! Especially on a big/heavy windstar with the AX4S/AX4N transaxle. *Most* shops dont consider an ATF changeout "normal maintenance" so it probably never got done for you. The horrible noise you heard on startup was probably the tranny pump tearing itself up. The transmission fluid in my 2001 looked & smelled BAD at 34000 miles- when I first changed it. The ATF on these vans NEEDS to be changed regularly- like every 25K miles if you want it to last. If you want someting that will go 200K miles for you on minimal maintenance, (and you don't mind smaller) get a honda CRV or toyota RAV4. G/luck!
Sorry you had to dump $2K into the winny!

Joel

[trishgower]

Originally Posted by WOEISME

I will admit to running my van to death. I am on the road a lot! I try to do maintenence to my van, and get the recommended tune-ups and oil changes. I cannot promise you that I did it exactly according to the recommendations in my car manual, but tried to keep up with it. The van has 117,000 miles on it. Not sure how much life I should expect out of this van, but am trying to keep it going. Maybe I am unrealistic. If anyone wants to let me know how many miles they got from their vehicle, including Windstars, I would be interested. I truly try to maintain my vehicle, but I am a single working mom, and am working ALL THE TIME, so I do the best I can. My ex-husband could care less about our car maintenence, and I am trying to learn all I can about this subject to prevent problems, but apparently I wasn't too successful. Next vehicle - I will have to try to be more "by the book" I suppose. Any helpful hints on the subject are appreciated.

Hello there!

We have a 1995 Ford Windstar.
At 103,000 miles, the tranny went out. We bought a rebuilt one (2495$ from Ford,) and it was good to go. A few miles later, the computer brain went out. This was $450 to Ford. Next, it was the head gaskets, which were $650 at tax time.... We recently put another $500 into the van to fix something else minor, and we've had a couple sets of brakes, and a brake line recall for corrosion.
HOWEVER, we have over 240,000 miles on the vehicle.
We now are experiencing a noise from the pulleys on the belts. I think this will be a minor repair from what I have read here. We bought this van for $12,000 in 1996, and it had 78,000 miles on it then. I really cannot complain too much. All my power locks still work. The power seats and windows still work. The heater and air conditioner are in great condition. The doors all still seal well. The radio functions as it should. FOr a ten year old vehicle, what more can you ask for?

Hope this gives you some insight. Have a great new year!

[wiswind]

Ditto on the tranny fluid.
I have 145K miles on my '96 that I bought with 38K in '99. Previous (Lease) owner had used the car to tow.
My tranny went at about 100K miles. I had it replaced with a FORD rebuilt ($2800). I had been using the dealer for tranny fluid changes every 30K miles.
I have since taken over the tranny fluid changes.
I also installed an auxilary transmission cooler (Highly recommended). I have done a few minor repairs on my own. Car runs great.

Tranny problems are normal on minivans. They use a car transmission and engine. From what I have read, your 2001 Windstar has a number of improvements over the older models. It should give you relatively problem free service as long as you keep up on your maintenance.

You MUST change the tranny fluid every 30K miles for normal service, 21K for "severe" service in order to keep it happy. Also, a auxilary cooler is not very expensive to buy and have installed. This will keep you fluid cooler and make your transmission last longer.