KnownCarProblems2004 Ford Freestar Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 1,227 complaints with NHTSA about the 2004 Ford Freestar, most often about the transmission (69% of complaints, typically around 85,000 miles). It is the most complained-about Freestar model year since 2000 and has 4 recalls.
Most common 2004 Ford Freestar problems
Transmission
851 complaints · 69%Half of these problems showed up before 85,000 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, driveline, manual transmission, axle assembly.
This is a national issue of a defective and unsafe transmissions of a Ford motor company product that Ford refuses to accept or be held accountable for and issue a recall. This is not a warranty issue but a defective product and integrity issue.
2004 Ford Freestar....driving 45 MPH in very heavy traffic...wife driving with a 5 year old, 2 year old, and 6 month old....transmission just disengaged....just went into non-operational mode even though you could shift from r to d to 1 to 2...van is at repair shop and they are indicating trans. Failure....ie torque…
Engine
118 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 90,000 miles. Parts named most often: engine, exhaust system, cooling system.
Tl contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. While driving 45 MPH, the front driver's side tire shook heavily. The contact also heard a very loud noise coming from the engine. She took the vehicle to a mechanic and was informed that a new hub assembly and wheel bearings were needed. Through online research, the contact…
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle stopped accelerating. The contact was able to safely coast to a stop. The vehicle was pushed home by another vehicle. The contact examined the vehicle and noticed that the engine seized in addition to the…
Electrical
118 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 95,000 miles. Parts named most often: wiring, instrument cluster/panel, ignition.
While driving in the rain the van started to jerk and cut out. Stalling on occasion. We had the coil pack replaced and this repair lasted for 1 week then it started all over again. When it is dry outside the check engine light stays on but the van drives fine. As soon as it starts to rain or we hit any moisture or mud…
When driving our van it started to jerk and the engine light started flashing. It then stalled out on US. It was raining that day and it continued to do this. The next day when the rain stopped it quit and ran fine, but started again the minute we hit any moisture. The computer in the van also started sending error…
Body and structure
94 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 114,000 miles. Parts named most often: body, frame and members.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated while attempting to latch the third row rear seat, the latch failed due to severe corrosion on the floor panel and attachments. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who inspected the vehicle and advised that the vehicle was unsafe to be driven. The vehicle was…
Left rear seat no longer latches making it unsafe. The seat no longer latches because latch that was fastened to the left rear wheel well has rusted completely off the wheel well.
Seats
86 complaints · 7%Half of these problems showed up before 118,000 miles. Parts named most often: mid/rear assembly, front assembly.
Left rear seat anchor was loose, so we looked. A large hole had rusted out of the inner fender causing the anchor to completely detach from the body. We took it in to get checked out and they agreed it had completely rusted through and the right side is also rusting out, although not the point of completely rusting…
Noticed a panel loose in the rear driver's side wheel well while removing the wheel. The panel was completely rusted and separated from the wheel well, with only something attached to it on the interior keeping it from falling off. Took it to a body shop, where it was determined that this panel is the rear seat anchor…
Brakes
58 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 45,000 miles. Parts named most often: foundation components, disc, antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip, antilock.
A rear brake caliper stuck which caused the brake pad to grind down to zero pad and into my rotor. I had to have the pads and rotors replaced due to the failure of the caliper. The caliper is a covered part under the warranty. The dealer and Ford refuses to cover the resulting damage to the rotors even though the…
Started to notice grinding noises and excessive wear to rear pads and rotors. Took car into local dealer for inspection. Was told that yes, the rear needed new pads and rotors and since it was normal wear (approximately. 40k miles) it was not covered under vehicle extended warranty. Took vehicle to ind. Repair shop…
Speed control
33 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 101,500 miles. Parts named most often: cruise control.
2004 Ford Freestar RPM's 3000 at idle. Diagnosed as water intrusion in original PCM (powertrain control module) in april of 2011. Water intrusion occurred on replacement PCM as well within 3 months because rain kit per service bulletin ( # tsb-06-14-10) was not installed at the Ford dealer. Second incident occurred…
While driving the vehicle, it suddenly goes into neutral. The mechanic said the transmission is faulty on these vans. Many have been recalled and I'm not sure why mine wasn't included. I'm told these vans all have the same issue.
Wheels and tires
30 complaints · 2%Half of these problems showed up before 60,000 miles. Parts named most often: hub, tread/belt, valve, pressure monitoring and regulating systems.
I bought my 2004 Ford Freestar used in february of 2006 from eastern motors and had nothing but problems with it. First it needed a tune-up then the coil pack went bad and now needs brakes and tires. But my main concern is my trans-axle light coming on. I am a mechanic so I scanned it on OBD-II scanner,it told me that…
Our 2004 Ford Freestar van had a tire valve failure. Upon repair of the tire, I requested the valve that failed to check for the numbers listed on a website notifying consumers of possible faulty valves. I discovered that the valve was one of the numbers, dill tr413, listed as being faulty.
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2004 Ford Freestar recalls
Seats
Risk: In the event that the vehicle is crashed into from the rear, an unlatched seat may increase the risk of personal injury.
Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will install new third row seat latch striker mounting brackets, free of charge. The recall began on march 28, 2013. Owners may contact ford motor company customer relationship center at 1-866-436-7332.
Full defect summary
Ford is recalling certain model year 2004-2007 freestar and mercury monterey vehicles manufactured from march 24, 2003, through november 7, 2006, equipped with a third row seat and originally sold in, or currently registered in, connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia, wisconsin and the district of columbia. The third row stowable seat can experience corrosion and structural degradation at the seat anchor mechanism mounted to the rear wheel wells. As a result of the corrosion, the third row seat may not fully latch into its seating position.
Transmission: torque converter
Risk: This condition results in a sudden loss of motive power with no warning, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the torque converter free of charge. The safety recall began on august 9, 2012. Owners may contact the ford motor company customer relationship center at 1-866-436-7332.
Full defect summary
Ford is recalling certain model year 2004 and 2005 ford freestar and mercury monterey vehicles. The torque converter output shaft may fail.
Wheels and tires: hub
Risk: If the cracks were to progress, this could eventually result in wheel separation. Wheel separation may lead to loss of vehicle control, and potentially result in a vehicle crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the front hub, rotors, and wheel bearings. The recall began september 20, 2004. Owners should contact ford at 1-800-392-3673.
Full defect summary
Certain minivans may have been produced with front wheel hub assemblies that were not heat treated correctly. This condition may lead to the development of small cracks in the hub.
Steering: hose, piping, and connections
Risk: If this line becomes disconnected, it may create the potential for fluid to come into contact with the exhaust system, which could result in smoke or fire.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the power steering low-pressure line to ensure that it is seated properly at the rack and pinion steering gear. Owner notification began november 10, 2003. Owners should contact ford at 1-800-392-3673.
Full defect summary
On certain minivans, the power steering low-pressure line may not be fully seated at the rack and pinion steering gear.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Stabilus rear liftgate struts failing
Summary
Please see the attached closing resume summary.it has been attached to this document as a pdf.
Corrosion of third-row seat attachment
Summary
Ford is conducting a safety recall to repair the third-row seat's latch mechanisms in approximately 196,667 model year (my) 2004 through 2007 ford freestar and mercury monterey vehicles (see NHTSA recall 13v-081 for more details).the recall covers vehicles originally sold, or currently registered, in the salt belt states or high corrosion areas of the united states: connecticut, delaware, the district of columbia, illinois, indiana, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia, and wisconsin.approximately 100,000 remaining my 2004-2007 freestar and monterey vehicles--those ve
Corrosion of third-row seat attachment
Summary
Odi has received 18 complaints on the subject vehicles from the salt belt states that allege severe corrosion at the rear wheel wells.additionally, odi identified 4 similar reports from ford's response to the investigation.ford submitted a total of 10 reports to odi (6 of 10 ford reports are duplicates of odi reports).the complaints indicated difficulty or inability to latch the rear seat as some of the complaints reported the entire anchor plate completely detached from the vehicle (rear wheel well).the first report of this condition was received in march 2011 and subsequent reporting frequency indicates a potentially increasing trend over time.odi seeks to evaluate the potential occupant s
Service jack failure
Summary
The subject vehicles (sv) are all automatic transmission, front wheel drive vehicles with hand actuated mechanical park brakes. The investigation focused on allegations that the service jack failed and caused the vehicles to fall. The subject scissors-type jack appears to fail at the slotted hinge joints where the jack screw is located (bends at mid-point). The failures occur while the jack is in use, and vehicle movement (forward or backward) is typically reported coincident with the failure. Ford reported that most my 2003 windstar and all my 2006-2007 freestar/monterey also use the subject jack, an additional 223,246 vehicles.NHTSA has received six consumer complaints (voqs) involving thr
Engine stalling
Summary
The subject vehicles suffered from a design issue whereby water could run down onto the cowling under the hood and located in the area of the windshield wipers and then drip onto a computer module, the powertrain control module (PCM), which could be manifested in a variety of symptoms depending on which part of the circuit board became wet or which of the connector pins shorted out.in addition to causing an engine to stall, which may or may not then restart, the water intrusion could also cause the transmission to shift poorly, the vehicle to have erratic power, a malfunction indicator light to come on, or result in an inability to start the vehicle, an inability to shift the vehicle into ei
Transmission torque converter failure
Summary
On january 4, 2012 ford motor company submitted a defect information report (NHTSA recall no. 12v-006) to NHTSA regarding a defect in the performance of the transmission torque converter for approximately 205,896 ford freestar and mercury monterey vehicles.the supplier of the torque converter manufactured converters containing a pump shaft spline that did not consistently meet the specified heat treatment requirements.in normal use, the spline may wear excessively and eventually fails without warning.if a torque converter malfunctions due to a sheared pump drive spline, the vehicle will abruptly lose motive power.this problem affected model year 2004 and 2005 freestar and monterey minivans.d
Torque converter output shaft failure
Summary
Odi has received 227 owner complaints alleging a sudden and unexpected loss of motive power due to an internal transmission failure in the subject vehicles.of those complaints, 124 can be attributed to the torque converter output shaft splines stripping causing a sudden loss of power to the drivetrain.the remaining 103 complaints experienced a loss of motive power but the specific internal failure cause within the transmission is not known.odi has upgraded the investigation to an engineering analysis (ea09-016) to continue its assessment of the scope, frequency and safety-related consequences of the alleged defect.
Engine stalling
Summary
On may 6, 2009, NHTSA received a request for a hearing through title 49 of the united states code, chapter 301, motor vehicle safety, part 557. The request was in reference to vehicle owner complaint, 10266067, filed with NHTSA on april 20, 2009, which described a problem with engine stall in a model year (my) 2004 ford freestar minivan due to water entering the PCM.part 557 of title 49 of the code of federal regulations establishes procedures for holding a hearing to determine whether a manufacturer has reasonably met its obligation to notify owners of a safety related defect.because a safety related defect has not been determined regarding the alleged defect in my 2004 ford freestar vehicl
Questions about the 2004 Ford Freestar
- What are the most common problems with the 2004 Ford Freestar?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: transmission (851 complaints, typically around 85,000 miles); engine (118 complaints, typically around 90,000 miles); electrical (118 complaints, typically around 95,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2004 Ford Freestar have?
- 4 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from March 7, 2013 (seats). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2004 a bad year for the Ford Freestar?
- It is the most complained-about Freestar model year since 2000, with 1,227 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.