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POS Ford Van-a rant


max power

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The service van is up to its old habits again. The neighbor and I were talking in the driveway yesterday and noticed big drops of oil in the snow. Immediately suspecting the only non Toyota on the property, I crawled under the Windstar to see where it was leaking from.

The good news: its dry as a bone.

The bad news: The fucking sway bar is snapped in half!!!!

I call Ford about the current recalls today; Cruise Control- which it doesnt have but they want me to bring it in anyway and, Oh yeah, the rear axle could SNAP IN HALF while driving causing a loss of control catastrophy, but for some reason my particular van isnt included although when I bring it in for the cruise control recall (it doesnt even have cruise) they'll do me a solid and have a look at it!!!!

Although they acknowledge that the sway bars are hollow pipe and do break, there is no recall at this time. That is, there will be no recall untill someone dies from this bloated Taurus rolling down the road in mid turn.

And you wonder why I am such a Toyota fanboy. At least they own up to their problems and fix them.

So, after a year of ownership and 5,000 miles on a 40,000 mile van I have had to replaced all the brakes, rotors drums and hardware, Rebuild the transmission, replace the sway bars and its begging for new O2 sensors.

Fuck You Mr. Ford. Never again.

If I could get anything near what I have in this piece of shit, I'd sell it in a heartbeat.

/rant.

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Trade for a Hi-Point?

I feel your pain. I had a 87 Aerostar. One transmission. 2 sets of rear springs, heater cores, it was just a bad vehicle to have.

Oh, and the 89 ford probe I had. Worked great when it ran, PIA to work on.

I do almost like the new Taurus, but not really a Ford fan.

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Yeah. Mr. Ford fucked my good once. Never again.

2000 Ford Focus or Fuk-Us as I liked to call it.

Bought brand new in December of 1999.

About 10 recalls and multiple other non covered failures.

The engine was prolly the best part of the car though.

Everything else was junk.

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In doing research, all I read about is guys having to replaced the motors on these things at low mileages, but most of them were built with the 3.8 which has heat and head warpage issues.

About the only good thing about this one is that it has the 3.0 which is supposedly a good motor, at least by Ford standards.

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You should probably mention it's a retired postal van. :lol:

Seriously though, I've seen sway bars snap on damn near everything.

A quick search: http://www.google.com/search?q=snapped+sway+bar

The first link is for a Lexus with a snapped TRD sway bar. The second for an F150. So there you have it. Carparts.com has the entire kit (sway bar, clamps, endlinks, etc) starting at $72.99. Let me know when you want to swap it out. Shouldn't take long at all. The hardest part will be breaking the endlinks loose. They rust. It sucks. But with some heat and an impact wrench it's no big deal. Hell, we could get you a thicker one and make that beast handle like it on rails. Lower it maybe? :D

Which vehicle was leaking oil if it wasn't the van?

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I have a 99 windstar, and it is now sitting in the driveway undriveable. When I got the letter for the rear axle recall I put it up on the lift at work, and took a look. That's when I found the front subframe is rusted through at the right rear mount also. It would be a good idea to check yours also. If it is then you can file a complaint with the NHTSA. They are investigating the front subframe for a recall also. Just a heads up.

If they don't recall the front subframe then I have a parts van I'll sell ya!:D

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You should probably mention it's a retired postal van. :lol:

Seriously though, I've seen sway bars snap on damn near everything.

A quick search: http://www.google.com/search?q=snapped+sway+bar

The first link is for a Lexus with a snapped TRD sway bar. The second for an F150. So there you have it. Carparts.com has the entire kit (sway bar, clamps, endlinks, etc) starting at $72.99. Let me know when you want to swap it out. Shouldn't take long at all. The hardest part will be breaking the endlinks loose. They rust. It sucks. But with some heat and an impact wrench it's no big deal. Hell, we could get you a thicker one and make that beast handle like it on rails. Lower it maybe? :D

Which vehicle was leaking oil if it wasn't the van?

I found a solid kit for $50

http://www.amazon.com/1995-1998-FORD-WINDSTAR-SWAY-BAR/dp/B004B29IBA

As long as I can get the bolts out of the holes, it shouldnt be a big deal. I'll cut the rest of it out. It just pisses me off that shit keeps falling off this thing.

As far as it being a postal van, My cousin is a carrier and says that even though they get all short drive city miles, they are pretty well maintained.

Driving it without the sway is a no go cuz I do auto cross the thing. It handled like shit coming home from Amanda Saturday.

I think it was the butt sniffers moms POS car that was leaking oil in my driveway. It is in the snow at the very end of the drive.

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I found a solid kit for $50

Amazon.com: 1995-1998 FORD WINDSTAR SWAY BAR: Automotive

As long as I can get the bolts out of the holes, it shouldnt be a big deal. I'll cut the rest of it out. It just pisses me off that shit keeps falling off this thing.

As far as it being a postal van, My cousin is a carrier and says that even though they get all short drive city miles, they are pretty well maintained.

Driving it without the sway is a no go cuz I do auto cross the thing. It handled like shit coming home from Amanda Saturday.

I think it was the butt sniffers moms POS car that was leaking oil in my driveway. It is in the snow at the very end of the drive.

that shit pisses me off man....if you know your vehicle leaks like a freight train, dont park it in the driveway...i had someone come over here trying to trade me a car for my mustang when it was for sale, and they leaked half a quart of oil all over my damn driveway parking there

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that shit pisses me off man....if you know your vehicle leaks like a freight train, dont park it in the driveway...i had someone come over here trying to trade me a car for my mustang when it was for sale, and they leaked half a quart of oil all over my damn driveway parking there

Thats really the only good thing about having a gravel drive. It doesnt matter as much. It just kinda freaked me out when I saw it, but it wasnt any of our cars.

Thats one thing I'll say about the Windstar, its engine is clean as a pin. It doesnt leak a thing....yet.

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Thats really the only good thing about having a gravel drive. It doesnt matter as much. It just kinda freaked me out when I saw it, but it wasnt any of our cars.

Thats one thing I'll say about the Windstar, its engine is clean as a pin. It doesnt leak a thing....yet.

oh yea, forgot you got that fancy gravel stuff....our home owners assosciation wouldnt like that much if i had it here :(

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I had a Subbie with 250k on it when I lived in Louisville. Used it to drive back and forth to Columbus when I had my F truck since Parts kept falling off it.

I put Yakima racks on it and used it as a work truck in the winter since the F truck was 2 WD and sucked in snow. Carried a 32' extension ladder on it that overhung the car by at least 2 feet at each end. Wish I had pictures.

Best $400 I ever spent. Hell I think I cleaned it up and sold it for $600 after driving it for a year and fixing some minor things.

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