NHTSA Complaint #10472027 — 2005 FORD FREESTAR

2005 FORD FREESTAR PCM PROBLEMS. SYMPTOMS INCLUDE INTERMITTENT INCIDENCES INCLUDING VEHICLE'S FAILURE TO START, RUNNING ROUGH, IMPROPERLY ACCELERATING, REFUSING TO MOVE FORWARD/BACKWARD, AND OTHER RANDOM PROBLEMS. THE FUEL SYSTEM COMPONENTS/CAMSHAFT SENSOR/ETC, AS WELL AS THE TRANSMISSION HAVE BEEN REPLACED ON THE VEHICLE, BUT ALL OF THESE ISSUES STILL EXIST. CODES DO NOT SHOW UP ON MECHANIC'S DIAGNOSTIC COMPUTERS UNLESS THE CAR IS ACTIVELY HAVING THE PROBLEM, WHICH SEEMS TO RARELY HAPPEN. MECHANICS, INCLUDING THE LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP, HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM THE PROBLEM WITH THE PCM; HOWEVER, OUR MECHANIC DID FIND WATER IN THE COMPUTER MODULE. HE DRIED IT OUT AND RESEALED IT, IN HOPES OF RESOLVING THE ISSUES WE WERE HAVING. THE PROBLEMS HAVE CONTINUED THOUGH AND DESPITE LACK OF CODES, ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT THE COMPUTER IS NO LONGER GOOD. ANOTHER PROBLEM IS THE FACT THAT GETTING A REPLACEMENT PCM IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. THE DEMAND FOR FREESTAR RECONDITIONED COMPUTERS IS SO HIGH THAT WE'VE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND ONE TO REPLACE THE BAD UNIT IN THE VAN. (APPARENTLY, NEW PCM'S ARE NOT AVAILABLE AT ALL.) AFTER SEEING THE MASSIVE NUMBER OF ON-LINE COMPLAINTS WHICH ARE SO SIMILAR TO OURS, I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT FORD SHUT THE CASE REGARDING THE COMPUTER PROBLEM. IF THE DIAGNOSIS OF FAILED PCM'S IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE, FORD SIMPLY CHOOSES TO IGNORE THE OBVIOUS. (READ ALL OF THE COMPLAINTS ON NHTSA.DOT.GOV.) POOR PLACEMENT OF THE PCM ON THE BACK OF THE VEHICLE WALL HAS ALLOWED WATER TO RUN OFF OF THE WINDSHIELD INTO THE UNIT, BUT FORD WILL NOT TAKE OWNERSHIP IN THIS PROBLEM. HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE TO RISK HAVING A WRECK AND POSSIBLY DYING DUE TO WATER-DAMAGED COMPONENTS? IT IS UNFORTUNATE AND UNNECESSARY. ONE LAST QUESTION... IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS (CURRENTLY ON RECALL) BE RELATED TO THE WATER-DAMAGED PCM'S? *TR