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Ford Windstar Alternator and Battery Problems

81 messages,  Last post on Apr 10, 2013 at 9:42 PM

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What is this discussion about? Ford Windstar, Ford Windstar Cargo, Van

Messages Page 8 of 9

#68 of 81 Re: Stalls while driving [donc10] by alshouse

Jul 03, 2011 (10:04 pm)

Replying to: donc10 (Oct 03, 2010 3:32 pm)
On my 2002 ford windstar, I had an alternator that was producing an r/f wave that was causing the van to stalling, changed the alternator, and the van run fine now. also found a communiction problem between the pcm, and alternator voltage regulator. changed the pcm. then had to reprogram the new pcm for the security system for my van. it solved most of the problems. now the battery light is flicking, what that means is it come on, and sometimes goes right off, and other times it want to just stay on, not sure what is causing this problem. hope this helps.

#69 of 81 2002 Ford Windstar by fmparks

Jul 29, 2011 (5:40 pm)

Replying to: beck600 (Oct 04, 2010 10:41 am)
I have a 2002 Windstar, first both brake lights are on, most times the sliding doors wont work, now it wont hold a charge and it looks like I may need a new alternator. I have had Windstars since its conception and find that the 2002s has the most problems I purchased this one used with 122,000 miles, it ran perfectly for 2 months. the liftgate light is constantly on, and what is the liftgate?

#70 of 81 Re: Stalls while driving [fastener] by k80chavez

Dec 19, 2011 (7:55 pm)

Replying to: fastener (May 21, 2011 4:23 am)
  This happened to us. my husband refused to drive it again after the first time that the battery went dead on him in the middle of the night. He had it towed to the house and let it sit until I came back from my business trip (a few days) he never attempted to restart it like y'all did. Now I'm wishing he would've. My dad replaced the battery, and it got 1 round trip to the mexican restaurant down the road before it started shutting itself down. I didn't drive it again, and a few days later my mom in law asked me to move it. I hesitantly started it, and that was fine. Then it sat for another month and a half without being started. I got a tow truck to take it to a shop, and the doors wouldn't even unlock. This leads me to believe that there is a short, and that somewhere in the vehicle it is leaking voltage constantly. this did not start until my husband hit a curb and blew out a tire. Maybe something moved around. The passenger side window have never rolled down and neither does the driver side rear vent/window. There are some electrical problems in this car. There are several recalls on it. I'm hoping to just R2 the alternator, limp it to a dealership and see what happens with the rear axle recall. Hopefully Ford will buy this hunk of junk back. I bought it not even a year ago, and I've already replaced the power steering pump.
I took it to Firestone on NW 23rd and Penn in OKC. THEY wanted to charge me $$1700!!! to replace the entire A/C and the alternator, because they said that the A/C belt (which is in some way associated with the alternator) caused the A/C to jam up and they needed to replace the entire A/C system. They are potentially crooks. What do y'all think?!?!?!
I only paid 3300 for the stupid thing!! I'm not paying 1700 to fix the crap.

#71 of 81 Ford Windstar 2000 v6 3.0 charging lamp. by vidir

Dec 20, 2011 (5:12 am)

This i a weird car. i have been trying to fix the alternator battery problem since 2005.
 
Last year i changed both the alternator and the battery and the charging light has since then always after 20 secs turned on.
 
Have the same problems?
 
My only solution is to start the car and wait until the light comes up to then turn off the engine and then immediately start again. As long you are driving it never comes on again.
 
Im tired going to the workshops beacuse they can find anyting wrong with the PCM or the charging. I got the same answer from two diffrent car electricians, the car PCM dosent like your alernator charging volts whatever..
 
I do not care about these issues anymore, im satified that the car is working regardless starting two times each time. Im going to use the car until it dies
 
The best thing with Ford Windstar is that they do not manufacture it anymore.

#72 of 81 Ford Windstar charging problem by mcscookiejar

Jan 03, 2012 (2:06 pm)

I have a 2002 Windstar for about 2 1/2 years now, got such a good deal I ignored the lights after I got it that stayed on (ABS and battery). Had no problems with it for all that time until a few weeks ago it wouldn't start up and it made the typical clicking noise of a low battery so I cleaned the contacts and jumped it off to go home. Checked the voltage while it was running and it read 12.3 volts so I figured it was the alternator. I charged up the battery and put on a new alternator drove to town and after a few stops it wouldn't start again. After charging the battery again I tested the voltage of the new alternator and it was around 12 volts again. Thinking that the new alternator may be bad I had it tested ( which I should have done with the original one) and it tested good. Upon further investigation I found that the control/ monitoring plug on the alternator has 3 pins 1 should be around 7 volts, 2 should be around 13 volts and 3 should be the output voltage of the alternator (or did I get that reversed) anyway pin 2 read 0.04 volts instead of the 13 volts it should have had. Made sure I had continuity from the computer harness and the plug. So could it be that because I have no voltage on pin 2 the alternator is not producing electricity and if that is the case do I have to replace the computer to fix it? I would appreciate any suggestions at this point, thanks.

#73 of 81 Re: Ford Windstar charging problem [mcscookiejar] by vidir

Jan 04, 2012 (2:19 am)

Replying to: mcscookiejar (Jan 03, 2012 2:06 pm)
"do I have to replace the computer to fix it?"
 
I had my "computer" or PCM or whatever updated, it seemed to better in my case and i think that can solve it but im not sure in your case?
 
I tried to measure the volts before but the thing is the pcm is checking your system for volts and if it get "wrong" feedback it decides to not charge and so on.. and to update or change a pcm can be a good idea.

#74 of 81 2002 Ford Windstar Electrical Problem by kathiem1

Feb 17, 2012 (1:28 pm)

Replying to: vidir (Jan 04, 2012 2:19 am)
I think our problem is similar to other problems listed here. We are looking for some advice.
 
Background....In December of 2010 we had to replace the alternator. Worked great, but sounded louder, until November 2011. Thankfully, it was still under warranty at the shop we got it done at. After replacing that alternator, with an after market part, it worked until December 2011 2 days before the warranty ran out. UHOH why does our alternator have to be replaced again? Will you extend our warranty please!!! Well, the shop that we use has been fair and said they are going to work with us on it. So this time they asked if we want to use the actual Ford part and pay a little extra, but maybe the after market parts are not working well with our van. 1 week later (the shortest time in between) it died again. Now I have to drive this van around with little kids in it so I am getting a little annoyed. They replaced the alternator and some modulator thing which they haven't charged us for until we know if this is going to fix it.
 
Fast forward 2 months later, about once a week I go out to my van in the morning and it doesn't start. It appears the battery is dead. I hook up my ever so useful battery charger, put it on jump start setting, and about 5 minutes later it starts. So far this has only happened while it is sitting in my garage in the morning. We live in Wisconsin, but it doesn't seem to pick the super cold days to not start, it is just random.
 
After starting it, I can drive it down the street, shut it off, and then it starts fine. This leads me to believe that it is not the battery, otherwise it wouldn't be charged enough to start back up. Also, everytime we have the battery tested it tests good. This is from 3 different sources.
 
The starter does not sound like it is slipping or grinding, so I don't think that is missing.
 
The alternator has been acting normal (I know the symptoms of a bad alternator pretty well at this point).
 
So now we think it is a short somewhere. Does anyone have an idea how to figure out where? Also, is there something else that it might be? Just looking for some help so we can quit hemorrhaging money on vehicles!

#75 of 81 Re: 2002 Ford Windstar Electrical Problem [kathiem1] by whiskey3

Mar 28, 2012 (7:04 am)

Replying to: kathiem1 (Feb 17, 2012 1:28 pm)
I own a 2002 windstar that had all these problems. When my battery was going dead I found it was the brake pedal switch not working right. The brake lihgts would stay on sometimes. I don't recall exactly what I did but, I removed the switch and believe I took it apart to bend something so the plunger on the switch wasn't so sensitive to the pedal. Haven't had a problem in years. You could just change the switch i suppose.

#76 of 81 2002 Windstar electrical problems by srsenior

May 31, 2012 (8:30 pm)

It seems we all are having the same, or very similar problems; ABS, anti-lock brake, battery and numerous other lights coming on at different times, engine idle concerns and no real suggestions as to what the problem is. After reading these posts, all the way back to 2005, I've gotten some good ideas where to begin looking; wiring in the doors and lift gate, dimmer control, door electrical controls, and so on.
We bought out 2002 Windstar LS new in Streator, Illinois from the dealer there. The car we traded in broke down there and I'd had enough so we traded on the spot and drove the van back to Iowa. We have 185K miles on the van now and its been a good vehicle.
This problem first occurred last June while we were work camping in Missouri and only gotten worse. Replaced the battery, alternator tested everything I could, had mechanics look at it and nothing. Not even a suggestion other than to throw parts at it until they find the problem.
If anyone comes up with a definitive solution please share with the rest of us!

#77 of 81 Re: alternator replacement [acelady] by cherokee691

Oct 08, 2012 (7:01 pm)

Replying to: acelady (Oct 25, 2006 6:04 pm)
get signed up for AAA can sure help out with tow bills

Messages Page 8 of 9

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