First of all let my apologize because I know this is not a light duty truck van. It's just a mini van but I wanted to see if I could get some input in regards to some problems my wife's van seems to be having.

First of all it's a 95 Windstar with 220K miles on it. It doesn't leak or burn oil, it doesn't leak coolant and yes it is starting to get tired but I have to make it limp along a bit longer until I can replace it but unfortunately now isn't the time.

OK, now the history....
We took the van in earlier this year to have the trannie fixed because it was slipping and not always moving into gear correctly.
When we took it in they dropped the pan and found metals and debris in the pan and said that they needed to dig further because something was going wrong. I gave them the ok. Long story short apparently the orbital gears were just about to fall apart and we caught them before they did. The trannie got a new set of orbital gears, seals, bearing and torque converter. $1500 later....

Current problem....
Seems that after we got the van back the torque converter wasn't locking like it should. When taking a corner it wouldn't fully engauge but instead would slip unless you got on it then it would grab the gear hard as if slamming the thing from nuetral into gear. So basically the torque converter was slipping then suddenly grabbing. So we took the van back in and they said they modified something but didn't say what it was to try and resolve the issue. Unfortunately the issue hasn't gone away but instead over time seems to be getting worse, usually when the van is all warmed up. Sometimes from a dead stop it'll engage like it should and other times (more often) the torque converter slips until either a specific speed is met or you get into the go pedal then it grabs. Mind you that now it doesn't matter if it is going around a corner or on a straight away and will do it going down the hwy too.

What do you guys think the problem is? Is there a modification I can make to get the converter to lock more often then not. Could there be a malfunctioning sensor causing it to not lock like it should or could it be a valve body problem.


I'm all ears ladies and gentleman, hit me with any ideas you have and thank you for your input.

Edit: As a side note I do have a Auto Enginuity scan tool that I can scan it with and look for problems with but what should I be looking for?

 

On the torque converter, there is nothing I know of that can be modified. The torque converter should ALWAYS be replaced when doing any major trans repair, and apparently they didn't do that. The problem is that from heat and use, the fins for one can flatten, nd they don't produce torque like they should, and instead it just slips.

 

I asked them if it was replaced and the said that it was as it was at first my primary concern but it does seem as it the symptoms I have now and the symptoms I had then are similar

 

Well I took the van down to them today. Seems the trannie is still under warranty so they are going to take a look at it and see if they can figure out why its not fully engaging. They do seem like a honest bunch so I would have thought they would have replaced the torque converter as well when rebuilding the trannie

 

there is no forum for Windstar, so I don't see any reason why you can't ask your questions in this the Aerostar forum. The Aerostar is a minivan too, (no matter if some people call it a light duty truck), but it is Rear Wheel Drive, and the Windstar is Front Wheel Drive, i.e., engine, transmission, and "differential" are in the front third of the van.

Unfortunately the Windstar has a bad reputation for reliability, the Aerostar is not perfect but it is a lot more reliable. That's why you see people like me buying one after the other.

 

Yea. Well the tech there mentioned that it is a possibility that it is PCM related but he wonders what would have changed since the first trannie being that the first trannie ran almost 200K before it finally went out but this one seems to not be holding up.
He wants to go through this trannie first then if it still acts up he says he's going to order another used transmission, rebuild it and replace the one we have in hopes of solving the problem.
I did also ask him what the scan tool showed. He said all the sensors relating to the transmission are working as far as he can see.

BTW, thanks for the confirmation on posting the Winstar here in the Aerostar forum.

Yea seems the Aerostar is a pretty stout rig. I'm looking at replacing the Windstar with a E350 as soon as I'm able. My wife needs a larger van due to the fact that we have a disabled daughter.

 

sounds like they want to do good and I hope they find the cause. do you mean you need a van with a lift? (wheelchair?).

 

Lift yes and space. I have 4 kiddos and then there is the equipment that we have to carry for our daughter.

 

the AX4 series of transaxles were extremely unreliable. real money pits, will keep eating up your downpayment savings for the replacement E350.

best to buy the replacement van now

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Throughout its life, the first generation Windstar developed a long list of reliability issues.
The Windstar was paired with an AX4S transaxle, which was prone to internal failure. The transmission suffered from cracked forward and reverse clutch pistons. These transmission failures were most susceptible with the 3.8L engine, as the transmission could not handle the extra torque and the extra vehicle weight.

 

So far as bad as been good this is the first time we've had to put money into it for anything besides the front hey arms. So the plan is to just make it limp along until I can afford to replace it but the plan is to not run it much longer than 1 to 2 more years at the max and just let things break.
This has been our only major issue thus far and it is covered by warranty so if I can make at last one more year I should be able to trash it by then.