ATTN Ford owners

[Twitch]

Umm, are Ford trannys still big pieces of shit? I just picked up an 01 Windstar, and guess what, the O/D light starts flashing about 5 minutes into the trip. This is the 3rd Ford Ive had do this and Ive never been able to sort it out. Pretty much any Ford model from 95 to at least 02 has had this issue. So, did Ford figure this rat fuck out yet? This may be my last Ford.

Ive pretty much summed this problem up to just a Ford thing. Like the PCV valve failing after about 100,000 and burning off a quart of oil through the intake every 1500 miles or so. You buy a Ford, you get these two problems, at least.

Fool me once, shame on Ford, fool my twice, shame on me, fool me 3 times(uggh), I should call the men in the white coats to come haul me away.

[AdRock]

The Ford trannys are fine, they're not perfect but neither are anyone elses. There are a ton of the AOD's in the F150's and Mustangs that last just fine. Have you had anyone hook up a scanner and see what codes it's putting out? How does the trans fluid look?

As far as the PCV valve failing after 100k miles.... If you wait 100k miles to replace a PCV valve you deserve to burn that much oil. And chances are if someone didn't bother to replace a PCV valve for 100k what are the chances that they bothered to change the tranny fluid?

[Twitch]

I dont know what the hell people do to them before I get them. I just know that back in the day, when there wasnt sensors on everything, shit just worked right for the most part, and if it didnt, it didnt take a hell of a lot to fix it.

FFS, a modern car flat wont run if the MAS isnt functioning. I realizes it doesnt know how much air its getting and just goes brain dead on how to mix the fuel. Maybe newer cars have a fall back for this, ie an if/then statement somewhere that says if no read out from the MAS, then set fuel to this default and kick on the check engine light. I can name a few from the 90s that didnt. Ive just recently made it into the new millennium of car ownership and Im still encountering the same problems that the 80s and 90s cars had.

The auto industry has just gone ape shit with computer controls and monitoring.

End rant.

[DonP]

Never owned a Ford.

[Newc]

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

Ford trucks are good, but their cars suck. Chevy cars are good, but their trucks suck. GMC makes the good trucks for Chevy.
Ford built their vans on their car foundation, hence, they suck. Chevy built their vans on their truck foundation, hence, they're good.

However, all auto makers face the same dilemma:
Consumers want the mythological "like they used to make", and they want vehicles they can buy once and have forever.
Engineering wants to make those cars so people will stop saying "they don't make 'em like they used to."
Sales wants you back as soon as your 5-year plan is up to buy a new one, "because fuck you, that's why".

[horns666]

I love Fords. I've done beyond crazy shit with them. Things that would give Navy Seals PTSD.

I gave girls PTSD in a couple Fords..including my wife. One girl just got pink eye..she was lucky!

Once, I made a brown eye pink in a brown Ford LTD.

Fords Rule !

[AdRock]

I dont know what the hell people do to them before I get them. I just know that back in the day, when there wasnt sensors on everything, shit just worked right for the most part, and if it didnt, it didnt take a hell of a lot to fix it.

FFS, a modern car flat wont run if the MAS isnt functioning. I realizes it doesnt know how much air its getting and just goes brain dead on how to mix the fuel. Maybe newer cars have a fall back for this, ie an if/then statement somewhere that says if no read out from the MAS, then set fuel to this default and kick on the check engine light. I can name a few from the 90s that didnt. Ive just recently made it into the new millennium of car ownership and Im still encountering the same problems that the 80s and 90s cars had.

The auto industry has just gone ape shit with computer controls and monitoring.

End rant.

I know what you mean. I trained for and worked as a tech for about 10 or so years. Now I just do performance shit.

I used to see a lot of issues with the minivans of all makes. But a conclusion I came to at one point was that I felt that a ton of the issues with them had not a whole lot to do with who made them. It had more to do with who bought them. I mean, who tends to drive vans? Moms who get in and go, put gas in it, and don't check jack shit unless a light on the dash eventually starts to bother them. Regular maintenance goes right out the window.

When I worked at a Dodge dealer we had shitloads of minivans coming in with the granny not shifting out of first gear. And the women would drive them anyway and then bring them in two days later. The trans fluid would be burned and they'd be bitching that it was new and this shouldn't happen. In 99.9% of those cases they had just had an alarm installed. If the wrong wire was tapped into to get power for the alarm it would mess with the trans computer and cause the issue. We would pull the alarm out and al would be well.

In most cases.


You buy a truck from a guy, its probably had maintenance done on it.
You buy a sports car from a guy, its probably been driven hard but kept up on maintenance.
You buy a monogamy that some lady drove.... If she's married there's a decent chance its had some maintenance done. If she single, there's a much better chance that its never been touched and lucky if it ever got the oil changed.


Maybe you've bought your Fords from the wrong people.

[Newc]

Sexist :p

[xenophobe]

My F250 was an amazing truck that took so much abuse and just kept going. After about 100k, I stopped oil changes, only topped it off when it started getting low. It was worked hard and it looked it. Just kept running.

I also rented an Ecoline 250 van, and I thought that was pretty great too.

Vehicles are really luck of the draw when it comes to breaking down.

One of my friends has owned about every minivan there is. They're one of the most expensive vehicles to maintain, especially with all the problems. Parts are NOT cheap. In fact, her Dodge Caravan cost more in post warranty parts pieces than maintaining my Jaguar. But then, there are other people who own the same car I do and all they have is problems when mine has been trouble free. But Ford did make Jaguar reliable. When they purchased them, they had one of the worst service records around and by the time they sold them, several Jags were at the top of the reliability charts.

I don't know about Ford transmissions, sorry, but I know the ZF 5HP24 was a piece of shit.

[Razor]

I managed a large transmission shop for nine and a half years. Ford running gear from the front differential to the rear differential and everything in between was junk. The only thing worse than a Ford tranny was a Dodge tranny...

[BenoA]

The only thing worse than a Ford tranny was a Dodge tranny...

Add Honda to this...

My 2003 Accord tranny failed at 114k miles... And I'm not the only one with issues: http://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/A.../transmission/

A very expensive repair

[DonP]

I managed a large transmission shop for nine and a half years. Ford running gear from the front differential to the rear differential and everything in between was junk. The only thing worse than a Ford tranny was a Dodge tranny...

Please qualify this. The FWD Dodge trannys from the 90s (Intreped) were very bad. My neighbor had one blow, then blow again. The RWD tranny in a 300/Charger/Challenger is a Mercedes NAG1 (from the time when they owned Dodge) which is a very solid tranny. Dodge got s good influx of quality when Mercedes owned them, but just on the higher end stuff. The lower end stuff is almost like it's made from a different company. Like USA Charvels vs. MIC Charvels.

[Razor]

Please qualify this. The FWD Dodge trannys from the 90s (Intreped) were very bad. My neighbor had one blow, then blow again. The RWD tranny in a 300/Charger/Challenger is a Mercedes NAG1 (from the time when they owned Dodge) which is a very solid tranny. Dodge got s good influx of quality when Mercedes owned them, but just on the higher end stuff. The lower end stuff is almost like it's made from a different company. Like USA Charvels vs. MIC Charvels.

What's there to qualify? I sold and worked on them all, GM, Ford, Dodge, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, etc... Front wheel drive and rear wheel drive Chrysler and Dodge transmissions are junk. They have been since the late eighties/early nineties when they went to over drive transmissions. A606 (42LE), A604 (40TE, 41TE, 41TES), A404-A670 (although the A404/413's didn't have near the problems the A670's did), A500 (40RH, 42RH, 42RE, 44RE) and A518's (46RH, 46RE, 47RH, 47RE, 48RE) are time bomb's waiting to happen. I left transmissions in 2006 and automotive in 2008 so whatever they're running right now I have no opinion on. Mercedes running gear was great stuff when I was working automotive. Most of your European tranny's were solid. The imports used to be really good, but Honda and Nissan's tranny's have been going downhill too. My last three years of automotive were as a service manager of a Nissan dealership. You can bet your sweet ass I'd never own one of them either. 2000 and back Nissan's were solid, 2001 and up is junk.

[Hellbat]

This is why I lease. Then I really don't have to care about maintenance other than basic stuff like fluids and tire rotation. By the time the lease is up, hand it over and grab a new car.

I'm on my 3rd Honda in a row (First a Civic then 2 CRV's ) and have had no issues.

[DonP]

What's there to qualify?

This. Thanks.

I left transmissions in 2006 and automotive in 2008 so whatever they're running right now I have no opinion on.