99 windstar engine cradle rusted broken due to air conditioner drip

[mark v]

Mine is perfect on my 1998 Wisconsin road salted Windstar.

[tbirddmnd]

Check the area of the engine cradle below the A/C condenser - the condensation drips down onto it, rusting it out from the top to the bottom, according to the first post in this thread.

[mark v]

Yep I did that when I was POR15 my oil pan. My oil pan was flaking rust so bad I POR15 it and looked at my entire cradle top and bottom and it has a light coat of rust like a 6 year old car would have.

I have seen bad cradles here before, mine is like new almost. Mine did have a light black coating of paint from the factory, I have seen non painted ones and I would assume they are the rusting ones.

Originally Posted by tbirddmnd

Check the area of the engine cradle below the A/C condenser - the condensation drips down onto it, rusting it out from the top to the bottom, according to the first post in this thread.

[zpn_by]

another thought - someone mentioned that they are the HYDROFORMED cradles made by Dana for 99-up. Hydroforming is high-pressure water on unfinished steel, so maybe they did not adequately prepare the steel in that spot before the hydroforming process, or didn't adequately dry the steel after hydroforming... That would explain why Mark V has no problem with his 98. The problem could have started during manufacturing, and the AC drip made it a critical fail. Anyone with this problem really needs to find out if the cargo WS vans without AC have this problem too. Even if someone's AC stopped working a long time ago and it wasn't fixed, if they have this break also... that would mean that it's not just AC drip-related, since that wouldn't be a factor if AC is broken or not installed....

[mark v]

Also my A/C does drip on my cradle and I use the A/C all summer.

[bvamundsen]

I have a '99 Windstar LX with 111K mi's, all MN miles, car owned since new. There is virtually no rust on the engine sub-frame, which I just checked based on this thread. I do have rust rot on the rear left rocker panel and the front right rocker panel, even though the dealer did the underbody and special treatment. Unfortunately the extended rust-through was through a Duraguard dealer who is now out of business, so I don't think FORD will stand behind the rust through.

[mark v]

Yeah your rust warranty expired many years ago anyway!

[dougl]

My Windstar seems to be rusting in multiple places much faster than I would have expected. I've got a 1999 Windstar with white paint. The pain is failing. It's peeling from the roof and the tops of the doors. The roof has started to rust as has the bottom of the doors.

Underneath the vehicle is very rusty. There's no undercoating on my vehicle (just a coat of paint). Is that normal?

I replaced my engine cradle about 2 years ago and the "new" cradle is already looking pretty rusty (esp. on the rear ends) even though I thoroughly wirebrushed, primed and painted it before installing. Note: I re-routed the A/C drain when I replaced the cradle so it would not drip on the cradle anymore.

I'm wondering if the quality of steel used in the manufacture of this vehicle was very poor.

-dougl

[bmt213a]

Originally Posted by dougl

I'm wondering if the quality of steel used in the manufacture of this vehicle was very poor.

-dougl

Just completed the subframe replacement on our '99. Usual symptoms - right rear mount rusted and detached.

The subframe rot seems to be specific to '99s as far as I can tell, as few folks with 2000 up seem to report it. Personally, I'm convinced this is a manufacturing defect on the first year 2nd gen '99s. It could be poor quality steel, but since its nearly always the rear RHS that fails,l I've got to think its a manufacturing defect in that portion of the subframe. Since the '99 and 2000 share the same fame design, I suspect someone fixed the issue during production.

Time will tell on our van - I fitted a used 2000 subframe. The only obvious difference was the number of plastic rivet holes for the oil filter splash guard. Beyond that, they are the same.

Either way, it's still inexcusable a '99 vehicle could suffer such a fundamental problem. It amazing no one has been seriously hurt or killed as it fails. If there was ever a need for a recall, this is surely it.

Paul