NHTSA Complaint #713118 — 1995 FORD WINDSTAR

LAST MONTH MY VAN STARTED OVERHEATING AND RUNNING OUT OF WATER, WHICH I KEPT REFILLING. THEN THE ENGINE STARTED RUNNING ROUGH AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT APPEARED. I IMMEDIATELY TOOK THE VAN TO A GARAGE AND IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A BLOWN HEAD GASKET. UPON TEARING OFF THE HEAD GASKET THEY FOUND A HAIRLINE CRACK IN THE CYLINDER. AS A RESULT I AM HAVING TO REPLACE THE ENGINE AFTER ONLY 4 YEARS OF USE TO THE TUNE OF $4000.00. I HAVE CALLED FORD AND THEY BASICALLY SAID MY WARRANTY IS UP AND I AM OUT OF LUCK. AFTER BEING ON THE INTERNET, I AM FINDING THAT THIS IS A WIDE SPREAD PROBLEM WITH THE 95 WINDSTAR AND I PLAN ON DOING WHATEVER IS NECCESSARY TO GET SOME SATISFACTION FROM FORD. I SHOULD ALSO MENTION THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL PROBLEMS WHICH THE DEALER WAS UNABLE TO REMEDY WHEN MY VAN WAS UNDER WARRANTY, ONE OF WHICH WAS HAVING TO DO WITH TRANSMISSION AND LUGGING.