after saving for months to buy a mini van to take my kids places I bought a 2000 windstar & have had nothing but problems. The latest problem is really worrying me. The front end has a shake to it...a lot of times at take off but at other times too. Tonight it started shaking & made 2 boom noises while it jerked & then was fine. Three times it has just shut off....2 while I was driving at about 40mph & the other while sitting at a stop sign. The mechanic I took it to can't find anything wrong & of course when he drove it it didn't shake at all. He checked it with some computer but said no codes came back (whatever that means) so he told me to "wait until it gets worse then bring it back". In the meantime I'm afraid I'll get hit while having my kids in the car with me. I know it's hard to know what could be causing this without looking at it but if anyone has any ideas I'd so appreciate it. I'm at my wits end with it. I had the serpentine belt replaced today because when the car would shake & cut off the belt would squeak & would also squeak in the mornings at start up but changing it didn't make any difference in the vibration or shut off. Thanks so much for any ideas.
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ford windstar front end vibrating and at times shuts off while driving?
- Thread starter Sar
- Start date
Oh good god there could be an absolute host of problems.
One thing I'd reccomend is switching mechanics. He had no right to sell you a serpentine belt. While it may improve slipping, it will do NOTHING to the vibrations, he simply picked something wrong and then milked the money out of you for it. That's like painting a scratch when the motors gone.
If it's shaking at take off, it's almost certainly transmission. Which, brace yourself, can cost up to 3000-4000 dollars.
Honestly though, after hearing a "boom" you should be putting the car away, it has no reason to be on the road after something as significant as that. Is it shutting off or stalling? Honestly there's a very large problem with that car and I would very much consider looking at new ones.
But whatever you do, do NOT let the mechanic sell you any more pointless pieces that are not at all related to the problem.
One thing I'd reccomend is switching mechanics. He had no right to sell you a serpentine belt. While it may improve slipping, it will do NOTHING to the vibrations, he simply picked something wrong and then milked the money out of you for it. That's like painting a scratch when the motors gone.
If it's shaking at take off, it's almost certainly transmission. Which, brace yourself, can cost up to 3000-4000 dollars.
Honestly though, after hearing a "boom" you should be putting the car away, it has no reason to be on the road after something as significant as that. Is it shutting off or stalling? Honestly there's a very large problem with that car and I would very much consider looking at new ones.
But whatever you do, do NOT let the mechanic sell you any more pointless pieces that are not at all related to the problem.
The boom noises make me think it could be ball joints. The vibration could also be balll joints, but a lot of other things in the suspension can cause vibration, also. The business of checking the computer codes will not do anything as far as diagnosing suspension/steering problems, and if no codes were showing after a stall at 40 mph, that's really weird.
Bad ball joints could be really dangerous. Anything in the way of a boom coming from the front end. whether it's ball joints or not, would be reason to stop driving it.
My advice is to take it to another mechanic. Explain your problems in no uncertain terms, and expect to pay something like $100 or $200 just for the diagnosis. It will take a good mechanic some time to figure out what's going on, and they won't mind doing it as long as they're getting paid for it. Usually such diagnosis fees apply toward a repair if yiou do go through with the repair.
The Ford Windstar is one of the most notoriously unreliable minivans, but you should be able to put a one or two grand into repairs (and you should expect to spend that much, based on what you're describing) and have a reasonably reliable vehicle.
For what it's worth, and I do realize it's too late now, I wouldn't inflict a Ford product on my family if someone gave one to me. They tend to be plagued by intermittent problems that cannot be properly repaired because of poor engineering design. The front end problem on your Windstar probably does not fall into that category, but the stalling at 40 mph problem probably does. You can probably expect to repair it this year, and again in 18 months for the same problem.
Good luck! ....and, again, my advice is not to drive it until you get that front end problem repaired.
Bad ball joints could be really dangerous. Anything in the way of a boom coming from the front end. whether it's ball joints or not, would be reason to stop driving it.
My advice is to take it to another mechanic. Explain your problems in no uncertain terms, and expect to pay something like $100 or $200 just for the diagnosis. It will take a good mechanic some time to figure out what's going on, and they won't mind doing it as long as they're getting paid for it. Usually such diagnosis fees apply toward a repair if yiou do go through with the repair.
The Ford Windstar is one of the most notoriously unreliable minivans, but you should be able to put a one or two grand into repairs (and you should expect to spend that much, based on what you're describing) and have a reasonably reliable vehicle.
For what it's worth, and I do realize it's too late now, I wouldn't inflict a Ford product on my family if someone gave one to me. They tend to be plagued by intermittent problems that cannot be properly repaired because of poor engineering design. The front end problem on your Windstar probably does not fall into that category, but the stalling at 40 mph problem probably does. You can probably expect to repair it this year, and again in 18 months for the same problem.
Good luck! ....and, again, my advice is not to drive it until you get that front end problem repaired.
Oh good god there could be an absolute host of problems.
One thing I'd reccomend is switching mechanics. He had no right to sell you a serpentine belt. While it may improve slipping, it will do NOTHING to the vibrations, he simply picked something wrong and then milked the money out of you for it. That's like painting a scratch when the motors gone.
If it's shaking at take off, it's almost certainly transmission. Which, brace yourself, can cost up to 3000-4000 dollars.
Honestly though, after hearing a "boom" you should be putting the car away, it has no reason to be on the road after something as significant as that. Is it shutting off or stalling? Honestly there's a very large problem with that car and I would very much consider looking at new ones.
But whatever you do, do NOT let the mechanic sell you any more pointless pieces that are not at all related to the problem.
One thing I'd reccomend is switching mechanics. He had no right to sell you a serpentine belt. While it may improve slipping, it will do NOTHING to the vibrations, he simply picked something wrong and then milked the money out of you for it. That's like painting a scratch when the motors gone.
If it's shaking at take off, it's almost certainly transmission. Which, brace yourself, can cost up to 3000-4000 dollars.
Honestly though, after hearing a "boom" you should be putting the car away, it has no reason to be on the road after something as significant as that. Is it shutting off or stalling? Honestly there's a very large problem with that car and I would very much consider looking at new ones.
But whatever you do, do NOT let the mechanic sell you any more pointless pieces that are not at all related to the problem.