1998 FORD WINDSTAR — Complaint #396600
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about STEERING:GEAR BOX:SHAFT SECTOR filed March 5, 2003
NHTSA complaint #396600 (ODI reference 10009973) concerns a 1998 FORD WINDSTAR and was filed on March 5, 2003. The owner reports the failure occurred on March 5, 2003. The report was geocoded to Colorado based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as steering:gear box:shaft sector, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD WINDSTAR cohort independently describe similar steering:gear box:shaft sector failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 1998 FORD WINDSTAR shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
THE VEHICLE EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM AS STATED IN RECALL 97 V 165 000, HOWEVER THE VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL.*JB
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 396600 |
| ODI Number | 10009973 |
| Date Filed | March 5, 2003 |
| Failure Date | March 5, 2003 |
| VIN | 2FMDA5143WB |
Similar STEERING:GEAR BOX:SHAFT SECTOR Complaints for 1998 FORD WINDSTAR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1998 FORD WINDSTAR. THE VEHICLE HAD FAILURES REGARDING THE STEERING CONTROL. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO LOCATE A RECALL IN REGARDS TO THE FAILURE (NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 97V1650
DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THERE WAS A GRINDING NOISE FROM THE STEERING WHEEL WHEN TURNED. THE STEERING WHEEL PULLED TO THE RIGHT OR LEFT WITHOUT WARNING WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH. THE SERVICE DEALER AND MA
VEHICLE HAS A DANGEROUS RACK AND PINION INPUT SHAFT STEERING GEAR. THIS IS COVERED UNDER RECALL 97V-165000, HOWEVER, AFTER CONTACTING THE DEALER AND FORD MOTOR COMPANY SEVERAL TIMES THEY REFUSE ALL RE
THE VEHICLE MADE A GRINDING NOISE AND WAS HARD TO TURN. THE MECHANIC STATED THERE WAS A RECALL, HOWEVER THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED FOR THE RACK AND PINION. PLEASE PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
1: STEERING ON VEHICLE IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY 2: STEERING WHEEL TAKES EXTRA EFFORT TO TURN VEHICLE LEADING TO LOSS OF CONTROL OF VEHICLE SOMETIMES. 3: FORD RECALLED CERTAIN VIN NUMBERED VEHICLES
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.