Ford WindstarIntroduced in the mid-1990s, the front-wheel-drive Ford Windstar minivan campaigned with an emphasis on, and reputation for, safety. And in the hotly contested family minivan market of the time, that was an especially solid piece of ground to be on. As long as buyers didn't need to haul adults in back on a regular basis, the Windstar served a family's needs just fine.
My neighbor trans decided to quit while going up a long hill in stop and go traffic.Burning smell of trans fluid,engine kept running trans felt like it was in neutral no shifting at all.Towed it home.Went to Ford dealer in the morning said tran would need rebuild $2500 I said F that the car is not worth that much and it only has 100,000 miles and is driven easy.Thats when I found out ford doesn't make a hole bunch of individual parts for the trans,just so they can charge you for a rebuilt one.Went home checked out the forums on possible fixes and found out the car has major trans issues.I started with the neutral safety switch, that didnt do anything, still the same. Then I checked the fluid level on the trans dipstick and found out the level wasnt dropping like it should meaning the fluid was not pumping, it should drop when the engine is running. So it barely moved it dropped just a little so then I new that the trans fluid pump took a shit. So I new the trans would have to be dropped. I started with the trans valve body and by spinning the trans pump with my hand I noticed it was spinning freely meaning it wasnt engaging the splines in the torque converter.The valve body gasket the one closest to the trans is not serviceable so do not mess it up you will screw yourself and have to buy the whole valve body for $500.So I removed the whole valve body ( dont worry nothing will fall out)( its only two pieces you take off together) then your left with a pump shaft that you can just pull out. Then if you look inside the hole thats left over you can see the third set of splines revealing if its stripped or not. Here when it become a PIA, the Winstar comes with a sub frame and the engine has to be supported while dropping the sub frame and then you can remove the trans and exhaust system needs to be removed. Whens the trans is out ( to remove trans you have to disconnect flywheel to torque converter bolts) then you can go into trans pan and check if anything else is broken since its out of the car. If everything is ok go ahead and install new torque converter ( bring back your old one) and they'll replace it, then install your torque converter into trans first making sure its securely seated on both sets of splines, then attach the trans back to the engine and put sub frame back up and piece everything back together. all connectors and bolts. Number and bag all bolts. any questions or info more in depth. JUST ASKED. Im a good tech but I NEVER WANT TO SEE A FORD WINSTAR A DAY IN MY LIFE!!! AGAIN EVER!! Adding more pics soon
Last edited by returnoftheda; 10-08-2009 at 08:12 PM..
Reason: to add more info
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2003 Ford Windstar Torque Converter Install 
Linear Mode
