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Ford Freestar Transmission Problems

1889 messages,  Last post on May 07, 2013 at 10:10 AM

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What is this discussion about? Ford Freestar, Mercury Monterey, Transmission, Van


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Messages Page 152 of 190

#1507 of 1889 Adding to the list by creasemonkey

Jul 06, 2011 (4:59 pm)

About six months ago our 2004 Ford Freestar had the water getting into the PCM. My mechanic said they new about a service notice/alert, whatever you might call it, stating that Ford knew this was and issue and that it was not a recall.
 
They actually poured water out of the module. He stated that it did not drip out, it "poured out". He explained to me that the water was getting in between the windshield and hood. He showed me the spot. It took them 5 days to dry out the PCM and they sealed it, the best they could.
 
Sunday, July 3rd, the "Sprocket with an Exclamation Point" light came on in the bottom left corner of the dash as I was driving home from church with my wife and four children...12, 8, 6, and 1. Then the transmission just disengaged. We were stranded on one of the busier roads in Buffalo, New York. We called a friend to take my wife and family home. My wife got our 1998 pickup and brought it back and we towed the van to our shop.
 
I called today, and they have not started working on it yet, but NOW I KNOW WHAT IT IS!!! We were supposed to leave for vacation from July 8th through July 17th in Virginia. My kids were looking forward to spending the week with their grandmother for the week. I can take a broken down car, but not my family being put in danger and my children being crushed for the loss of a vacation to their grandmothers. I will file a complaint with the NHTSA, as you suggest. I doubt Ford will do anything. Unfortunately our 1998 pickup is a Ford with a leaking break line in the right rear. I was just about to put it in the shop.
 
NO MORE FORDS FOR ME. "FOUND ON ROAD DEAD" truly fits my opinion of Ford now.

#1508 of 1889 NHSTA and Class Action Law Suit by creasemonkey

Jul 06, 2011 (5:47 pm)

I have filed a complaint with the NHSTA and sent emails to the two law offices representing the law suit.

#1509 of 1889 Re: NHSTA and Class Action Law Suit [creasemonkey] by mfynavy

Jul 09, 2011 (6:18 pm)

Replying to: creasemonkey (Jul 06, 2011 5:47 pm)
I guess I will do the same thing. My wife had the same problem comming home from Vacation today.

#1510 of 1889 stranded on interstate by rar6

Jul 10, 2011 (7:46 am)

This happened to me last night on the interstate. I was going 70/mph down the interstate then all of a sudden it just wouldn't go. I managed to pull over with my 15yr old and 5 yr old and had to sit there about 45 minutes before we could get someone to come make sure we were safe. Another 15 mins waiting on the tow truck (only to find out that my AAA only covers 3 miles of free tow) but thankful we were not hurt and we broke down 1 mile from our machanic. I did have something strange happen about an hour before we broke down. My clock radio reset to 12:00 and my cd popped out and the radio switched to am. Which has only happened before when my battery went dead. Last week I also noticed that my cruise control was no longer working. The tow truck guy did have me do some stuff while he looked under the hood and said that my gears would move but it wouldn't engage. At least I think that is how he described it but being that it was almost 11:00pm I could have mixed the words up.

#1511 of 1889 Re: NHSTA and Class Action Law Suit [creasemonkey] by bkgoff

Jul 12, 2011 (4:30 pm)

Replying to: creasemonkey (Jul 06, 2011 5:47 pm)
Who are the attorneys?

#1512 of 1889 Freestar Failure by bkgoff

Jul 12, 2011 (4:36 pm)

I took my 2004 Freestar to my local mechanic a few weeks ago because something was draining the battery when the car was left sitting but nothing was left on. I had figured out that it did not happen as long as I turned the air conditioner off before I got out of the car but still wanted to check it out in case it was an electrical issue.
 
My mechanic called our Ford dealer because he couldn't pinpoint the exact source. They told him to advise me to sell it. My husband and I wanted to think about the best way to get rid of it. Two weeks later my husband pulled into the road and the transmission suddenly died. Luckily, it was a low traffic area and he was able to push it to the parking lot. It had not previously slipped or showed any signs of failure. It is still sitting in the parking lot while we decide what to do. Any recommendations?

#1513 of 1889 Just rebuilt the tranny for a 2nd time!!! by ifer

Jul 14, 2011 (8:07 pm)

I have a 2004 Freestar and posted before about my transmission and pcm issues. Rebuilt the tranny in April 2009 and just over 2yrs later, July 2, 2011, my tranny went out again! Of coarse it was with my mom and 3 little ones in the van, in a road construction zone no less!!! After having it rebuilt 2yrs ago, I never thought we'd have to do it again!!! Now I'm reading that it's VERY common!!
 
As for the PCM, we replaced that summer 2010 and the van only ran better for about 6 months. It's not flashing the lights on the dashboard or losing power nearly as frequently as it was before replacing the pcm but still every few months it does for a brief moment.
 
Since rebuilding the 1st tranny, the cruise control quit working...well, it works when it feels like it, which is very rare. The AC is acting up. The air in the rear comes out warm and just recently, the air on the driver's side isn't nearly as cool as the passenger side air. The air on the driver's side is just like using the vents. And whenever using the air this season, the van was really doggy. I'm guessing there still may be water getting in the new pcm?? Not sure...
 
I've also experienced many of the other smaller issues such as the back-up beepers stopped working years ago, the side rear doors sometimes don't open or close when trying to open/close them. The rear side doors don't always lock/unlock when they're supposed to. Side view mirror on passenger side hasn't worked for years and the drivers side only works on rare occasions, has always been that way.
 
I'm sure there are more little issues but I can't think of them all right now.
  
Can someone please give me the contact info again for both FORD and NHSTA and tell me what specifically I need to put in my letters (main points that others have all used). And also, for the class action lawsuit, what is it that I need to do there???
 
Thank You

#1514 of 1889 Re: 2004 Ford Freestar Transmission-Water in the transmission [dejacrew423] by harmony0025

Jul 14, 2011 (11:45 pm)

Replying to: dejacrew423 (Jun 22, 2011 1:24 pm)
we are currently sitting in a hotel room cause our transmission went out in our 2004 freestar. No idea exactly what caused the problem, but we will make sure to share this info with the mechanic. I can't find the fix on the ford website.

#1515 of 1889 Re: Just rebuilt the tranny for a 2nd time!!! [ifer] by harmony0025

Jul 14, 2011 (11:48 pm)

Replying to: ifer (Jul 14, 2011 8:07 pm)
have all those issues and sometimes the trunk will not open. it opens at random times. How do we get apart of this lawsuit..or at least have them fix something.

#1516 of 1889 Where do I start by shay672

Jul 19, 2011 (9:53 am)

I have spent the last three hours reading almost every post on this site clear back to 2006. I am so p*s*ed right now I could sceam. We also have a 2004 Ford Freestar that we are at our wits end with.
 
In March of 2010 on our way to a wedding our tranny went out with out warning..going up a slight incline in the road it just stopped. We were in the middle of Iowa on a county road with noone around. 2 hours from home we had a relative come and tow the van back for us and take it to a friends shop who in turn we had to have towed to another shop to rebuild tranny. Luckily we were only charged 700.00 to have it fixed.
 
Fast forward to this year. Earlier this spring we started to experience issues as my husband states (started falling on it face). You would drive along and it would just get sluggish and then resume normal. A friend of ours suggested it was the EGR Valve, which we took off and cleaned and the problem seemed to stop for a bit. Then it seemed to come and go, we hadn't noticed much until last night when my husband drove it to work and barely got it home. Said he came off the interstate and then it just started running rough and kept wanting to die. And smelled very hot when he got it home. Last week we had a couple of pretty good rainstorms and now it's very hot and humid outside. Now it sits in front of the house. I am seriously think or praying that its this PCM and not the tranny.
 
 We are in no financial state to have to rebuild another tranny. The company I worked for closed in March and we only have one income and no employment in area. And have spent every dime we have trying to keep vehicles running this summer. And it just continues to be one headache after another. We are at our wits end, and are in no situation to get rid of the van at this time.
 
 We too have experienced the cruise that only works when it wants, the drivers side window that only works when it wants, lost all the security lighting inside. Broken back door latch(happened while at grocery store when it was -30. Delay when putting in reverse, surges, radio reset, driverside back door that wont open half the time, air in back wont work. And you would think after all of this we would have moved on. We would but cant afford to.

Messages Page 152 of 190

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