NHTSA Complaint #759975 — 1996 FORD WINDSTAR

THIS IS A COPY OF THE COMPLAINT I SENT TO FORD REGARDING PROBLEMS WITH THE SPEEDOMETER IN MY 1996 WINDSTAR. I AM STARTING TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM AGAIN. CONSIDERING ALL THE THINGS I'VE READ REGARDING THIS PROBLEM, I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THEIR IS NOT A RECALL FOR THIS YET. I RECENTLY PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE (JUNE 1999) IN FOLSOM, CA FROM A PRIVATE PARTY. THE VAN IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION WITH 46800+ MILES. RECENTLY I STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE SPEEDOMETER. IT WOULD GET TO APPROXIMATELY FIFTY MILES-PER-HOUR AND THEN START FLUCTUATING +/- FIVE TO SEVEN MILES-PER-HOUR. THE PROBLEM GRADUALLY BECAME WORSE, GETTING TO THE POINT THAT IT STARTED SWINGING WILDLY AND WOULD GO ALL THE WAY TO THE RIGHT. I FIGURED IT WAS PROBABLY A SPEEDOMETER CABLE. I CALLED MY LOCAL FORD DEALER IN YUBA CITY TO HAVE THEM GIVE ME AN ESTIMATE. WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT THE VAN, THEY TOLD ME IT WAS LIKELY NOT THE CABLE, BUT THE SPEEDOMETER UNIT ITSELF. I ASKED HOW THEY COULD BE SO SURE AND I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS COMMON TO SEE THE SPEEDOMETER GO BAD IN THIS VEHICLE. I WAS FLOORED TO LEARN THAT THE COST OF A NEW ONE WAS $333.33, NOT INCLUDING LABOR. NOW, I HAVE BEEN AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT NEW CAR PARTS ARENT CHEAP, BUT $333.33 SEEMS RATHER RIDICULOUS.I THEN CALLED A SPEEDOMETER SPECIALTY SHOP, SPEEDOMETER ELECTRIC, IN MARYSVILLE TO HAVE A SECOND OPINION. NOT THAT I DONT TRUST THE DEALER, BUT BECAUSE AS A TECHNICAL SERGEANT IN THE USAF I JUST CANT AFFORD WHAT THE NEW SPEEDOMETER COST. MR. LARRY WITHEROW, LONGTIME OWNER OF SPEEDOMETER ELECTRIC, VERIFIED THAT IT WAS NOT THE CABLE, BUT INDEED THE SPEEDOMETER ITSELF. HE ALSO TOLD ME HE HAS REPLACED APPROXIMATELY TWENTY SPEEDOMETERS FROM WINDSTARS AND OTHER FORD VEHICLES IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE THOSE WHO HAD THE SAME PROBLEM BUT COULD NOT AFFORD THE REPAIRS. IT IS BECAUSE OF THIS AND THE DEALERS COMMENTS AS WELL THAT I AM WRITING THIS LETTER. *AK