99 Windstar is kaput, anyone seen this before?

[musawilliams]

Okay, not a big ford fan but this thing held on for a bit, until yesterday. My wife called saying the thing broke down on her (glad she was driving in a populated area near a friend's house). Now the kicker is interpreting her symptoms

She said the van would get up to 20mph then the spedometer would drop to 0. I asked her if the engine shut off as well, she said "no, the engine will still rev up, the only thing is that the car will only get to 20 and start back down to 0. I had to restart the car, go through that again, to get it to a safe place"

The van is now at the "stealership" where they are saying (along with the 800 buck P0171 & 0174 fix = my middle finger) that the issue lies with the tranny.

We just took the van out on sunday and there were no signs of a tranny issue (i had a focus as a company car which went through 3 trannies in 2 years) and for this to happen all of the sudden...

I'm waiting to hear back from the Fraud dealership to get the error codes (hooray google) and to see how much a rebuilt tranny would be (they quote a new one at 3k which is more than the bloody thing is worth) but until then, has anyone seen anything like this before

Thanks in advance

Musa

[DRW1000]

It certainly sounds like a transmission problem. When the speedometer went to 20 and then to 0 I assume the van was doing this as well (rather than there being a speedometer issue). Does the engine operate normally? In neutral can you rev it and hold it at about 3000 RPM for a moment?

The 171/174 should have illuminated your CEL. Was the light on prior to this incident?

[musawilliams]

Originally Posted by DRW1000

It certainly sounds like a transmission problem. When the speedometer went to 20 and then to 0 I assume the van was doing this as well (rather than there being a speedometer issue). Does the engine operate normally? In neutral can you rev it and hold it at about 3000 RPM for a moment?

The 171/174 should have illuminated your CEL. Was the light on prior to this incident?

DRW1000,

Thanks for the reply

Yeah the van was okay the day before and even five minutes prior to it. The engine operates normally and I can rev the engine to 3000rpm with no issue.

The 171/174 did light up the CEL. It was on before (along with the blinking OD light) but an error code check revealed nothing abnormal.

[Tomb stone]

I agree,
It seems that the trans is Kaput. I had a '75 Ford F-250 that did the same thing (only I had it at full throttle when the trans went). I could get the truck up to about 25mph when the trans would slip out of gear and would'nt "hook up" again until I slowed to about 5mph. Coasted home and got a used trans from a junkyard for $125.00.

[baumbr]

Sounds like the trans to me as well. My 98 did the same thing in the middle of a vacation on the Olympic Penninsula. You may want to search the forum for transmission, there's a ton of info out there. BTW $2,500 for a new one here in Utah from an inde shop.

[DRW1000]

Originally Posted by musawilliams

DRW1000,

Thanks for the reply

Yeah the van was okay the day before and even five minutes prior to it. The engine operates normally and I can rev the engine to 3000rpm with no issue.

The 171/174 did light up the CEL. It was on before (along with the blinking OD light) but an error code check revealed nothing abnormal.

Was the blinking OD constant? What do you mean by "error code check revealed nothing abnormal"?

[musawilliams]

Originally Posted by DRW1000

Was the blinking OD constant? What do you mean by "error code check revealed nothing abnormal"?

Sorry for the delay, this past month was a pain in the royal behind

Yeah it was constant. The error codes did not reveal anything pointing to the tranny, but everyone was correct. It was a tranny (my pocket is still feeling the effects).

Thanks to everyone, it was a hard pill to swallow but the van is back up and running (still have the 0171 error to contend with but as long as the wifey is happy).

[DRW1000]

Originally Posted by musawilliams

Sorry for the delay, this past month was a pain in the royal behind

Yeah it was constant. The error codes did not reveal anything pointing to the tranny, but everyone was correct. It was a tranny (my pocket is still feeling the effects).

Thanks to everyone, it was a hard pill to swallow but the van is back up and running (still have the 0171 error to contend with but as long as the wifey is happy).

If you are mechanically inclined and want to spend about 4 hours you can do the 171/174 $800 repair yourself for about $100. There are some great step-by-steps in earlier posts.

This assumes a 3.8L engine.

[musawilliams]

Originally Posted by DRW1000

If you are mechanically inclined and want to spent about 4 hours you can do the 171/174 $800 repair yourself for about $100. There are some great step-by-steps in earlier posts.

This assumes a 3.8L engine.

DRW,

Yeah, that's the price alright (someone needs to smack ford...oh too late...they're being smacked in sales). I've gone ahead and bookmarked ddibiase's Photobucket, it's just a matter of allocating time.

Thanks again for all your help. I'll make sure i'm not a one post wonder because i'm sure there is always something that needs to be done to that beast of a minivan.

[DRW1000]

Originally Posted by musawilliams

DRW,

Yeah, that's the price alright (someone needs to smack ford...oh too late...they're being smacked in sales). I've gone ahead and bookmarked ddibiase's Photobucket, it's just a matter of allocating time.

Thanks again for all your help. I'll make sure i'm not a one post wonder because i'm sure there is always something that needs to be done to that beast of a minivan.

Yeah don't be a stranger. There is always something. Funny thing though.......After a while of becoming very intimate under the hood with the Windstar it will sort of grow on you.

BTW the Isolator bolt fix is very straightforward. It takes a while but is not difficult.