While driving down the highway, my Ford Windstar van just quit! The battery is new and the lights stayed on. About 10 minutes later the engine turned over again and I drove it to a Ford shop. They put the computer on it, but nothing showed up. What could cause a vehicle engine to just quit while going 40 MPH down the road?!
View 3 RepliesI have a 1995 Ford Windstar. When I turn on the air conditioning, the compressor clutch does not engage despite having sufficient refrigerant in the system. Jumping current directly to the compressor clutch will engage the clutch, so it's not the clutch. I suspect the relay for the compressor clutch inside the CCRM may be bad, but am not sure how to test it. I have a Haynes repair manual, but how to test this device?
View 12 Replies2000 Windstar 3.8L sounds like a diesel engine (exactly like and old diesel) when it warms up. My girlfriend noticed the problem and checked oil and it was low, she added, and then when she started it the next day, sound was gone. While she was driving it came back and would stall out. When she got it home I checked and the coolant overflow was empty, I added water and it poured out on the front (passenger) side of the engine. I immediately assumed head gasket.
Once it cooled I started pulling the stuff out. Down to the head on the Right hand bank (front of car). There is oil in the coolant, but no coolant in oil, (or very very little). Found the coolant is leaking from water pump itself it looks like. where the lower rad hose goes into pipe for water pump. or on the flange seal for water pump. It is so tough to actually see where. It also looks like the intake gaskets were bad because of the dirty oily wet condition under the intake manifold.
The car only makes the noise when warm, when it is cold it runs just fine. Would just the water pump being bad and leaking coolant cause this problem, is it a bad head gasket, something else? If it is the head gasket, I cannot get the head bolts to break free. I didn't have a 15mm 1/2 drive, so used a 3/8 drive and the 1/2-3/8 adapter spun right off.
Twice now (and maybe a third time once I start my van again) we've had problems with the van chugging and then the service engine light blinking. Both times it happened in the past, we took it to a mechanic who said it needed a tune-up - new spark plugs, wires, etc. I'm curious as to why this keeps happening. Mileage is around 105K. It first happened last summer, second time was in December. Now it's March. What could cause this problem to repeat?
View 2 Replieswe just replaced a pressure hose that broke and now the engine light blinks 30 times and then goes off and then blinks again plus the engine seems to be shaking allot.
View 1 RepliesI have a 2001 Ford Windstar Sports SE with 155K miles. I did a tune-up eight months ago. With the tune up I had to replace the fuel pump because it was defective. Later, I found that there were misfires occurring since I was getting slow acceleration. I had the spark plugs on the guilty cylinders replaced again and the spark plug wires.
Periodically, I have had to return to the shop to have the vehicle checked. I sometimes get a blinking check engine light while trying to accelerate, which now occurs only while it is raining or I am exiting the car wash. The shop is at a loss as to what it is (spark plugs and wires are fine, no lose connections noticed). I am wondering if I should take it to someone else. Of course, taking it somewhere else will cost me $100 to check on someone's else work.
The shop replaced the ignition coil. Distributor cap is fine. They keep saying that the engine is running fine while in the shop and do not get any codes. I had them drive it while it was raining and they discovered that cylinder 4 is misfiring. They worked on the cylinder. The vehicle runs well, until it rains or I wash it.
My questions to the group, "If everything is OK, how come it is misfiring? What are they missing? What is the connection to the moisture?"
2002 Ford Windstar: Whenever I disconnect the battery and then reconnect it, I get this hum that sounds like the CD player preparing to play a CD. There is no CD in the player. It last for about 30 seconds and then stops. Afterwards, my check engine light comes on and stay on until I have the mechanic reset the alarm. The battery is new. My meter shows that the battery is giving out enough volts. It annoys me to have the check engine light on all of the time. I'd rather it be off so it can report if something else goes wrong with the engine.
View 1 RepliesI always take care of my car oil changes on time. And in the last week my check engine light turned on for a few hours then turned off. And today it turned on again. I kinda regret getting rid of my scan gauge now.
View 11 RepliesI noticed leakage of transmission oil leaking between the engine and the transmission of my windstar 2000 280 K miles. No driving issue, no flashing OD light. I am keeping the level.
View 5 RepliesThe A/C system switches from vent to defrost mode under engine load (going uphill or overtaking another car). It is caused by a vacuum leak and as far as I've seen most of us had the same problem a loose red hose, here are some pictures of where to start looking first.
This is the hose that gets disconnected from the back passenger side of the intake manifold.
This is where that hose should be connected to.
This is the other end of the same hose, it has a check valve on it and this side is connected to the vacuum reservoir and into the firewall to the dashboard to control the A/C system.
This image is just to show the location of the vacuum reservoir, you'll have to remove the cowl in order to see it properly, if you don't you can still reach the reservoir but it will be a bit hard since you don't have much space.
Here's the vacuum reservoir and the hoses from another perspective.
My wife has a 1998 Windstar 3.0
Prior to going out yesterday, I noticed that the van seemed kind of 'jumpy' when idling - the timing was a bit sticky and inconsistent and kept seeming to try and right itself. I stuck the accelerator down and it ran perfect when it was getting gas but started 'stagering' again when I took it off.
So my wife went out to walmart - a 30 min drive (we are in the country) - and all was good till she was turning the corner into the parking lot and the engine stalled. It was your standard stall - power steering went out but all other electrics kept going etc etc.
She sat there for a minute - put it in park - then fired it right back up again. After running into walmart, she just drove home as fast as possible to reduce the length of time it had to happen again.....
So while there are, Im sure, a plethora of possible issues - I was wondering about the IAC value? How could that be responsible for the parking lot though - doesn't it only act when the car is stationary?
The sort of thing was happening about 3 months ago, and I ran seafoam through the fuel - which seemed to work for a while.
My 02 Windstar has developed an intermittent thumping noise in the engine. A bit of history: She has been sitting for a few months because she was throwing a P303 code that I could not track down. Here in IL, you cannot renew your plates until you pass an emissions check, and you cannot pass the check if a code is stored.
Well, I got a warning ticket for expired plates, and I had my daughter's car as alternate transportation while she is in the Peace Corps, so I parked Mr. Breeze, intending to get to her on the weekend. Except for throwing the code and gas mileage being a bit down, she was running fine when I parked her.
Well, life happened, and I never seemed to be able to put the time aside, but now winter is coming and I don't want to subject her ride to the snow, so I made time and replaced the coil, plugs, and wires. But when I started her up, there is an intermittent thumping noise in the engine compartment.
I have double checked the wires, and I think I have them right. As I understand it, the right bank plug wires go on the coil towers 1,2,3. and the left bank wires go on the towers 6,5,4. Is that right?
I made a short video so you could hear it, but it is too big to upload, so here's a YouTube : [URL] .....
My windstar 3.8 engine has idle problems and engine light comes on at times. Code po305 (misfire #5). When I add sea-form to tank and drive awhile, the engine light goes out and the engine idle's normal. Is this an eva problem and what should I look for?
View 11 RepliesThis is a little odd. Over the last two years or so the van had developed a rough idle issue. When left to idle in Park or Neutral the roughness would usually lead to the engine stalling after a few minutes.This happened both in and out of gear but only when the engine was still cold, idle returned to normal once normal op temp had been reached. Cleaning the IAC got rid of the problem... sort of. Now it idles fine in Park or Neutral but when in gear and engine/tranny still cold it is still very rough.
When waiting at a traffic light with my foot on the brakes the van shudders as it tries to lurch forward, the shaking is very noticeable even to those outside the van. This has become so bad I shift it into Neutral every time I need to stop at a traffic light, and it instantly settles into steady smooth idle at 800 rpm. However once the engine is warm everything returns to normal. Another thing I noticed is that when in gear and cold the roughness only occurs with brakes applied. Feels like whenever the roughness in the engine occurs the transmission attempts to override the brakes, which causes the lurching.
While the problem only lasts 5 to 10 minutes until op temp is reached it is nevertheless very annoying and driving me nuts. My main concern is that it may eventually cause damage to the transmission to be tugged at and jerked around in such a way. I am running out of reasonable explanations as tho what may be causing this and have begun elaborating more esoteric theories. My latest one is that since this only happens when the brakes are applied then the tiny voltage required to activate the brake lights is somehow causing some other electric part to fail, and that the rough idle is somewhat related to this. Shows you just how desperate I'm getting.
My 2007 f250 power stroke 6.0. My A/C comp went out. After replacing it I was told that my fan clutch is bad and will cause the new ac to go out. My engine is not running hot. The fan still spins for a while after engine is turned off.
1) Could it have not been re installed correctly?
2) How do I know my Fan Clutch is bad?
3) How do I replace it myself?
So I had a serious runability problem back in 2012 with code P0302 (misfire in cylinder 2) and the car was barely running. I changed the spark plugs, which didn't fix the issues. Then changed the coil, which fixed it. URL...But I was a little lazy back in September 2012, the old spark plug wires looked like they were still in great shape, so I left the old wires on. I think they were the original factory wires, they had the numbers of each cylinder printed on the side. Very nice wires!
Fast-forward to the present. Car starts running poorly with a blinking check-engine light. Not good! I check the code and it is P0306, misfire in cylinder 6. So my first thought was: OK, probably time to change the spark plug wires!I changed the spark plug wires. I purchased AutoLite Professional Series wires at Advance Auto Parts, part 97047. URL...Sure enough, the number 6 wire looked like it had a little corrosion inside the end that connects to the spark plug wire. It looked like I was on the right track! Changed the spark plug wires, and ran it. It still sounded like it might be missing on one cylinder. Just a quiet ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch at idle. I took it for a test drive. It ran OK at low RPM's, but had no power. When I tested some hard acceleration, sure enough the check engine light came back on. Tested the code and it was P0306 again. Conclusion: not fixed yet.
OK, maybe the spark plug wire was the problem, just the plug got fouled because the wire was bad. I purchased a replacement spark plug for that cylinder only. AutoLite Double Platinum as recommended elsewhere in this forum. Removed the old plug. I'm no expert, but the old plug looked fine to me. Installed the new plug. Tested it again. Still sounded like missing at idle ch-ch-ch-ch-ch. Test drive, OK with low RPM, no power. Tried hard acceleration, got the blinking CEL again. Conclusion: still not fixed - darn it!
Now remember, I just changed the coil back in September 2012. I had replaced it with a coil from AutoZone. The first coil had lasted ten years. So it couldn't be the coil again this soon, right? But... just to be sure, I went ahead and changed the coil again. I called AutoZone and happily it was still under warranty. The previous coil I had purchased came with a 24-month warranty, and I was on month 23 !!! Sweet!AutoZone also told me if I did a warranty replacement of the coil, the new one would come with a lifetime warranty instead.The part number of the coil at AutoZone was part C1312, Duralast Ignition Coil.
Before installing the new coil, I put a little Dielectric grease around the top inside of each connector on the new coil (7 total, six spark plug wires plus the electrical connector). I think this was recommended in my Haynes or Chilton manuals.I am a tall skinny guy with long skinny arms. So I was able to replace the coil without removing the cowl. Last time I had to remove the cowl (to do the intake manifold isolator bolt repair) the cowl had cracked, also some of the clips holding it down broke. So I didn't want to remove the cowl unless necessary. It turns out with my long skinny arms I can lay up over the motor and reach back around both sides of the intake manifold to reach the coil. It is a reach, but it was possible for me to do the job that way.
I removed the three bolts holding the old coil in place. Then I was able to slide the new coil back in there, around the driver's side of the intake manifold. I transferred over the spark plug wires one by one from old to new (as recommended by another poster) so I wouldn't get confused which was which. It worked well to transfer the rear three first. That hold the new coil near the correct location, and gave me more slack to move the old coil further out of the way.Next step was to remove the wire connector from the rear of the coil pack. It didn't want to release. I looked at the old part (from 2012!!!) and there was a little plastic nub back there to lock the connector in place. It looked like there was room to work in a small screwdriver back there to release the lock. So I wiggled a short flat-head screwdriver in back there (with a wide head) and it released. Then I was able to easily remove the connector.
Then I had more slack to move the old coil further out of the way, toward the drivers side and front of the vehicle. And then transferred the last three spark plug wires to the new coil.Then to secure the new coil in place, I carefully installed one bolt by hand, leaving it loose to allow for final adjustments of position. Installed the second and third bolts loosely. Tightened the three bolts finger tight using a short (3") extension and 7mm socket (1/4" drive). Then snugged them very gently using my small 1/4" rachet. The small 1/4" rachet was a perfect fit using the 3" inch extension and the small 7mm socket. Remember you just want the bolts snug, do not over-tighten them.
When I went back to AutoZone to process the warranty return, they had to do some fancy work with their computer to get me the lifetime warranty on the new coil. By default it would just assume the rest of the original coil warranty from 2012 - which was just about to expire. So they made it right for me - but only because I specifically asked about it. By default, the guy had already rung it up their "normal" way, which would not have extended the warranty for me.Another thing that was strange was back in September 2012 when I replaced the original coil, it had worked well for ten years or so! Also, the bottom of it was clearly cracked, so it was easy to see that it had deteriorated and needed to be replaced.
My 2000 F 250 Super Duty 7.3L Diesel chimes 5 times, 5 times in a row when the engine is turned on and then every 30 minutes thereafter. What is causing this? It sounds like the seat belt alarm but they are all connected. Ehat is causing the continual chiming?
View 2 RepliesI have a 2001 Ford F-150 v6 2wd. A few weeks ago, the check engine light turned on so I drove to the nearest autozone to hook up their computer and see what the error code was. The technician gave me the code (I don't remember it off the top of my head but it wasn't something imminent). Before leaving, I asked him if he could clear the light, figuring that if it didn't come back on after 50 miles, that it might have just been a fluke with one of the truck's sensors. Later that day, I realized that when I started the truck, the check engine light was no longer turning on momentarily the way that all the dashboard lights do to tell you that they're working.
I went back to a different autozone (one closer to my house) and explained the situation. They checked the computer for codes again and found none and said that the light must not be turning on because the bulb is burned out. I find this to be a striking coincidence that the bulb should happen to blow out exactly when the technician used his computer to clear the light. Is it possible that he did something with his computer that permanently disabled the check engine light? It's been a few weeks and I've since bought an inexpensive bluetooth code reader of my own, hooked it up, and found that there is still no active code. Is it possible that the code has returned or will return, but that I won't have a way to know because something he did suppressed not just the light but my car's code reporting mechanism?
For now, the truck drives fine, but I'm afraid to travel long distances when there might be a problem I don't know about.
While stopped, engine running, in D, the engine cut off just like I turned the key off. I sat there for about thirty minutes and on the 7th or 8th try, the engine finally started. I drove it back to camp and thinking it might be the CPS, I swapped it out. Unfortunately it must be something else because I can't get it started anymore.
ICP and IPR are fairly new, but I unplugged the ICP and tried to start it anyway. It didn't choke out (like it was a fuel issue) but I checked the fuel bowl anyway and the pressure builds fine. I got it restarted once, so it can't be a fuse but I checked them all anyway.
Oil pressure builds to 780+ when cranking. Batteries still have plenty of cranking juice and without my AE, I'm frustrated beyond belief.
So I went to Target with my wife yesterday and after about 30 mins of shopping, left the store and tried to start the Ex and will not start. The engine tuned over slowly like the battery did not have enough juice to start the truck. So I had it jumped and it started right up. So I went to autozone and the battery and alternator tested and both and in good working order.
Today it happened again. After stopping at a fast food joint to grab a quick bite, same thing it did not start. But before I started the truck the voltmeter showed about 12.6 volts. When I tried to start it, the engine turned really slow and did not start. By that time the volt meter showed about only 6.5 volts. So trying to start it just drained the battery. I had it jumped and it started right up. Went back to Autozone and had the battery and alternator tested and both are fine.
Once the truck is running, the volt meter shows ~13.5 - 14 v volts. No other electrical issues while driving. What's happening? What should I check for? The battery is about 3 years old. I will charge the battery over night and see what happens tomorrow.
2004 6.0. 160K miles.
I'm about to replace an injector and wanted baseline info on fuel pressure before doing the work. Using a gauge tapped into the top of an aluminum alloy fuel filter cap (from bulletproof diesel), I turned the switch key on but did not start the engine.
Static pressure jumped to 60psi, but as soon as the pump cut off the pressure dropped off to zero. Again, engine not started. I cycled the key off and back on and the pressure hit 60psi and held that until the pump cycled off, then dropped back to zero.
I'd like to get a few confirmations that fuel pressure should or should not fall off when the pump kicks off.
Side note, during the crank process the pressure jumps and holds at 60psi and stays at 60psi while idling. I have not conducted a dynamic road test yet. Didn't have the adapter to connect my long hose...