A new sub frame from Ford

[Varn]

My 14 year old Ford Windstar mini van has been subject to some structural recalls.

There has been one out for about 2 years on the front sub frame and the rear axle. Early on in the recalls there were parts shortages and it resulted in cars bought back by Ford and then junked. My car has had a corner of the sub frame become fairly rotted out. The general under side of the car has very little corrosion. My local mechanic pointed it out to me on routine service.

This car has given me very good service even though it has been through 3 accidents. Two with deer and one going off an icy road.

I have been getting 25 mpg avg with it. It has 160k on it. Uses no oil Leaks no oil. I put a transmission cooler on it soon after I purchased it and the transmission works fine. It is needing new tires again. Some more body work to patch some rust and new camo paint.

I have junked some GM and Toyota vehicles that were not 14 years old that were rusted out. I think Ford should be applauded for performing such a major repair on such an old car.

This car has spent it's entire life in the midwest. Road salt is abundant. Drivers in the south or southwest have no idea what wears cars out in the north.

I plan on making a Kamm boat tail for it before I paint it. This time I am going to use house paint on it. It is cheap and sticks well. I have had a test area on my van for about a year and it still is stuck well.

Maybe I can get another 5 or ten years out of this vehicle.

[Varn]

Well the ford dealer had the car for about 3 weeks. I have been driving the VW and our econoline. Sometimes one is too small and other times what we have is too big. My minivan was grounded by ford.

After a heart to heart talk the service manager there declared the car un grounded and gave it back to us to drive. I think the only thing they did was run the engine some as my mileage was not as good as usual.

He said that they have a subframe on order, it sounds like they more or less sleeve the subframe.. My hopes are fading.

[Frank Lee]

Wish Ford or MNDOT would give me new Tempo floorpans and rockers.

[Varn]

Just an update. Today we took the car in to Ford for the repair. They have a new sub frame in and we are going to be leaving it with them for the next week. The service manager said they usually just put a sleeve over the sub frame but he got them to replace the entire frame with a new one. They are also going to partially sleeve the rear axle and then fill it with foam to help keep out any moisture. It doesnt have any holes like the front frame does.

We (My wife does the finish work on the body) have neglected working on the bodywork and restoring the camo finish for the past 2 or 3 years. One of the rocker panels is basically just fiberglass from all of the patches we have done on it. Hoping after the new frame and such we will get it spiffed up.

I was looking at another Windstar (with more expensive trim) on the street and it had plastic wider rocker panel covers. There is a junk yard near here that has half a dozen or more windstars I am hoping I can strip off the plastic off one of them for my car.

Of course we are nearing the wood cutting time of year and that is going to take a lot of free time during the next 3 months.

[arcosine]

Hi Dave,

My mother's Ford Torus had a recall, seems Ford saved a few cents by not putting enough paint on the coil springs. They would rust in spots, causing a fatigue crack to develop and the spring would break, puncturing the front tire. The recall put small plates to restrain the broken spring from contacting the tire. Looks like you had good luck with your Windstar, but I can name a few reliability acronyms for F.O.R.D.

My girlfriend at the time also had a Torus with less than 50k miles. The front spring broke and gouged the tire side wall. A few months later she called me up, the car was making a weird sound. When I opened the hood I saw a 10 inch crack in the transmission case. She had to pay for both these repairs. MY Saturn has a built in feature, the horn sticks and since the wire can't handle the continuous current, it heats up enough to start the car on fire. This is a recall that the owner pays for, so my car has a burnt wire and no horn. Hondas are good, I had a rusted gas filler and seat belts replaced for free.