in reference to all the tranny problems in the freestar. if the tranny in a 2004 freestar was meant tobe in a rwd configuration and ford put it in a fwd config therefore creating overheating problems and added ware in the transmission ford had to know it was going to cause problems so why wouldnt they be responsible for the repair and why did they do that in the first place

 

The transmission is a FWD transmission, not a RWD transmission. The engine is a RWD engine placed into a FWD configuration. Ford has used a RWD designed engine in a FWD configuration since the birth of the Ford Taurus. Why? I would say design cost and it could be done. The heat problem is with the transmission fluid and the way the engine coolant flow is on a RWD engine placed into a FWD configuration. This is why the MAINTAINENCE SCHEDULE shows to replace the fluid every 30,000 miles. Would Ford be liable for transmission issues. If a design defect, then I would say "YES". If it was caused by operator error, then I would say "NO". This is why there is a SCHEDULED MAINTAINENCE booklet that comes with the vehicle.

 

Well...There you go...Just announced today...

"Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday (1/11/2012) issued a recall for some 450,000 minivans and sport utility vehicles for problems that could lead to dangerous losses of power or fires.

The recall covers nearly 206,000 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey vans of the model years 2004 and 2005.

Ford said there is a risk of the failure of the output shaft of the vehicle's torque converter, which "results in a sudden loss of motive power with nor warning, increasing the risk of a crash."

I would suggest anybody with one of these that has already had the repair done by anybody (private garage, Ford and so on) to get the reciepts ready to try anf get a cash refund for the repair...