1998 Ford Windstar Engine Dies

No check engine light and I did replace the fuel filter as well.

I know this may be a bit odd as to a cause, given the other more complicated answers. But I recently had about the same problem with the engine starting then shut off.
Just to make sure the pump was getting power I removed the connector at the switch that turns off the power in a crash. I put a test light between the two contacts and the power showed to be fine. The contacts in the receptacle seemed a bit dirty so I cleaned them up and pushed it back into place. Went up and pushed on the fuses and made sure none were blown. Tried starting the engine again and it started and kept running. Wow, I thought it was just dirty contacts. Was back up in the fuses again and as soon as I touched the fuel pump fuse, the engine shut off. Wha? Pushed on the fuse, started the engine it ran fine, wiggled the fuse again and it shut off. Turns out the whole mess was caused by nothing more than dirty contacts, likely more on the fuse/fuse receptacle and perhaps some on the shut off switch. If anyone has that weird problem with the engine shutting off, make sure all the contacts on the fuses and connectors are clean. Noting that this can be aggravated by the movement of the engine acting on the contact or the heat of the engine or heating of the contact itself causing the symptoms mentioned.
In any case check to make sure the fuel pump is getting power all the time the engine is running rather than it being interrupted intermittently for a long enough time for the engine to shut off.

Yes 98 Windstar 3.8 engine. Mine was mfd in Canada and I think it was mfd in 97 for the 98 release year. I base this "guess" on the fact that it has serviceable (greaseable) wheel bearings on the rear as does the 97 models. Vin # 2FMDA5144WBB48328

Oh just noticed yours is FWD mine is not.

Yes 98 Windstar 3.8 engine. Mine was mfd in Canada and I think it was mfd in 97 for the 98 release year. I base this "guess" on the fact that it has serviceable (greaseable) wheel bearings on the rear as does the 97 models. Vin # 2FMDA5144WBB48328

Hey. More problems and a cure. As did the other fellow, I replaced the fuel pump, just the pump and not the whole assembly. Ran fine for some time then got harder and harder to get going, had to turn the ignition on and off and on multiple times to get it to start. I was assuming the fuel pressure regulator was having problems.
The problem got worse and worse. Got to the point where I bypassed the system and placed a direct feed from battery to push button switch to fuel pump via fuel pump cutoff switch wiring. This worked for a while, and I was able to run the pump until it started.
Problem continued to the point of extremely hard to start and popping in plenum etc.
I was told by several people it was a vacuum leak. So, ok. Took plenum off, took intake off. Some of the gaskets looked questionable. I also did a bit of machining to parts to get valve train closer to specs. All new gaskets. Cross fingers. Ya. Didn't work. Finally got a fuel pressure gauge, aw great it's at 18 psi even with the hotwire. Supposed to be at least 28 psi.
But why? Brand new pump, brand new filter, no leaks in the lines.
Retested the pressure at the fuel filter outlet, 18 psi.
Dropped the fuel tank, removed the fuel pump unit, removed pump. Hooked pump up to gauge, hooked to wires, submerged pump in small can of gasoline, backed off 10 feet, gave it power. Virtually as soon as I touched the wire, boom, pump pressure pegs out my gauge (it goes to 100 psi). Bled off the pressure did it again, same result. (Noting also that I left the pressurized assembly together. It took four days for the pressure to bleed off.)
Put the pump back into its assembly and tested it that way too. Guess what? 18 psi and the pump kept running.
Figured out there was some problem with the internal piping in the pump housing that I was allowing pump pressure to bleed off.
Needless to say, I will never again replace only the pump, I'll replace the whole unit. Saving $50 wasn't worth all the heartache, mystery, aggravation and labor I had to go through saving a few bucks on not replacing the whole unit.
Noting also that a number of other problems have also disappeared. It was blowing fuse after fuse of the PCM.
Once I had it all back together started right up and ran perfectly and it's still running perfectly.
So needless to say. If someone experiences all those symptoms, it's likely low fuel pressure and if they only replaced the pump, it could be the pump housing assembly. Given the pump is new and the pump pressure is low.
Learned a lot though, so if there a silver lining that's it.