99 windstar transmission went kablooey

Hi --

I asked about ways to extend the life of the '99 Ford Windstar transmission, which is known for problems. I figured we'd drive it until it died. Everyone recommended changing the fluid regularly, which we did.

Well, last Monday, the transmission died -- it exploded internally. My wife was driving, and she heard a loud bang -- she thought someone rear-ended her. She got out and there was no damage to the car, and everyone passed her. When she got in, none of the gears worked. I had it towed to the place I usually get it serviced. They said when they started it they could here things clunking around in the transmission, and suspected either the planetary gear shattered, or a rod shattered (I don't know what a rod is in a transmission). So we sold it to someone that works on cars, and he says he hopes to fix it up and sell it (good luck). It appears that no amount of fluid changing or flushing would have prevented this failure. And there was no warning of impending failure. It worked fine up to this point (about 110,000 miles).

To make a long story short, I bought my wife a new 2008 Honda Odyssey on Saturday. :)

Jim

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Jim
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