NHTSA Complaint #10278659 — 2002 FORD WINDSTAR

FORD WINDSTAR 2002. CRUISE CONTROL ONLY ENGAGES INTERMITTENTLY. WHEN CRUISE CONTROL IS ON, IT WILL DIS-ENGAGE ABRUPTLY FOR NO REASON. YELLOW ABS DASH LIGHT AND RED BRAKE WARNING DASH LIGHT GO ON INTERMITTENTLY (SIMULTANEOUSLY). AFTER THEY GO ON, THEY STAY ON UNTIL THE CAR IS TURNED OFF. THE ABS SYSTEM APPEARS TO STILL WORK CORRECTLY EVEN WHEN THE YELLOW ABS LIGHT IS ON AND THE RED BRAKE LIGHT IS ON (ALTHOUGH THERE IS NO WAY FOR THE DRIVER TO TELL IF THE ABS SYSTEM AND BRAKE SYSTEM ARE WORKING CORRECTLY OR NOT WHEN THE WARNING LIGHTS ARE ON). MY LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP DIAGNOSED THAT THE ECM CONTROL MODULE NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. THIS IS AN EXPENSIVE ELECTRONIC COMPONENT WITH NO MOVING PARTS, AND THERE IS NO REASON THAT THIS BOARD SHOULD BE FAILING. THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH 2002 FORD WINDSTAR MODELS. I BELIEVE FORD SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO OFFER FREE DIAGNOSIS AND REPAIR FOR ANY PROBLEMS RELATED TO ECM CONTROL MODULES FOR THIS MODEL YEAR. I FIRST NOTICED THE PROBLEM AROUND OCTOBER 2008 AS THE WEATHER TURNED COLDER. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH A THEORY THAT THE ECM BOARD IS SENSITIVE TO TEMPERATURE CHANGES, WHICH AFFECTS THE CORRECT WORKING OF THE CRUISE CONTROL AND ABS SYSTEMS. THE CRUISE CONTROL MOSTLY DID NOT WORK DURING THE WINTER 2008-2009. AS WARMER TEMPERATURES ARRIVED IN SPRING 2009, THE CRUISE CONTROL STARTED TO WORK INTERMITTENTLY AGAIN. SOMETIMES IT ENGAGES CORRECTLY, SOMETIMES I PUSH THE "SET" BUTTON REPEATEDLY AND FINALLY IT ENGAGES, SOMETIMES I PUSH THE "SET" BUTTON REPEATEDLY AND IT WILL NOT ENGAGE. WHEN IT IS ENGAGED, IT WILL DIS-ENGAGE ABRUPTLY FOR NO REASON. I SUSPECT SOMETIMES IT DIS-ENGAGES BECAUSE THE CAR HIT A BUMP IN THE ROAD - BUT FREQUENTLY IT DIS-ENGAGES WITH NO BUMP IN THE ROAD. HAVING THE CRUISE CONTROL DIS-ENGAGE ABRUPTLY FOR NO REASON IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND COULD EASILY RESULT IN AN ACCIDENT. HAVING THE ABS SYSTEM NOT WORK CORRECTLY (DUE TO THE ECM MODULE) IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND COULD EASILY RESULT IN AN ACCIDENT. *TR