NHTSA Complaint #10914793 — 2006 FORD FREESTAR

TORQUE CONVERTER FAILURE WITHOUT WARNING. I WAS DRIVING NORTHBOUND ON INTERSTATE 380 ON 10/6/2016 AT ROUGHLY 70 MPH IN THE LEFT LANE OF TRAFFIC. I WAS NOT USING THE CRUISE CONTROL. SUDDENLY (AROUND MILE MARKER 13-14), THE ENGINE REVVED VERY HIGH AND THE VAN DECELERATED. I WAS TRAVELING UP A HILL AND WAS DANGEROUSLY DECELERATING IN THE LEFT LANE OF THE INTERSTATE. I MANAGED TO GET OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD (CUTTING OFF A SEMI-TRUCK) WITH ABSOLUTELY NO PROPULSION. IT FELT AS THOUGH THE ENGINE WAS NOT CONNECTED WITH THE DRIVE WHEELS. THERE WAS NO WARNING THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, THE VAN JUST SUDDENLY STARTED DECELERATING RAPIDLY ON THE INTERSTATE. I NOTICED QUICKLY BECAUSE THE ENGINE REVVED UP WHEN THE TRANSMISSION LET GO. I HAD THE VAN TOWED TO THE LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP, WHERE I LEFT IT FOR THEM TO REVIEW THE ISSUE. THE SERVICE PERSON AT THE DEALERSHIP CALLED ME BACK THE NEXT DAY AND INFORMED ME THAT THE TORQUE CONVERTER HAD FAILED COMPLETELY. I ASKED THEM IF THERE WAS A RECALL INVOLVED WITH THIS COMPONENT. THEY INFORMED ME THAT THE 2006 FORD FREESTAR TRANSMISSION WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE FREESTAR TRANSMISSION RECALL. I LOOKED IT UP ON THE NHTSA WEBSITE AND CONFIRMED THAT MY VEHICLE'S TRANSMISSION HAD NOT BEEN RECALLED. THE VEHICLE HAS ROUGHLY 98,000 MILES ON IT, ALTHOUGH IT IS A 2006 MODEL. IT APPEARS TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM AS THE 2005 MODELS. THE REPAIR COST IS ROUGHLY $1,400.