The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle started losing motive power. The contact stated that the vehicle had shifted to LIMP Mode and was almost side swiped by a tractor trailer. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer. The vehicle had been towed to an independent mechanic; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent at first but became a recurring failure. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 240,000.
2003 Mercury Grand Marquis engine problems
18 complaints (5% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 36,200. 2 crashes reported.
- owner complaints
- 18
- of this car's complaints
- 5%
- typical mileage
- 36,200
- crashes
- 2
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Engine7
- Cooling system3
- Exhaust system1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+
Mercury Grand Marquis engine problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis engine
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi?s analysis showed, it is possible for a spark plug to detach from the engine cylinder threads in the subject vehicles.however, odi?s analysis of 474 complaints describing such incidents found only a very few alleged any safety-related consequences.none of these showed any evidence of a serious safety consequence.given the large population and relatively long exposure time of the subject vehicles, the complaint analysis indicates that the risk to motor vehicle safety from the alleged defect is very low.in view of the foregoing, it is unlikely that the federal safety agency would issue an order for the notification and remedy of the alleged defect at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize the federal safety agency?s limited resources to best accomplish the agency?s safety mission, the petition is denied.
DP05005
What 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
I started Mercury with foot on break like normal. Shifted into reverse. Car accelerated backwards at full speed. Brakes did not stop car. Attempted to shift into neutral but went into drive instead. Car accelerated forward at full speed with my foot still on break. Car hit metal post and tree knocking them down and dragging the tree 50 to 60 feet before stopping with my foot still on the break. Car had stopped accelerating. I turned off the ignition. This unintended acceleration had happened before. Two different dealers attempted to fix the problem. Both of them thought they had been successful but it happened again. Previously, applying the brakes stopped the car, but not this time. Someone could have been injured severely or killed.
Last fall, this car starting making creeking and humming noises in the engine. The humming noise would go away after about a minute but not the squeaks and creeks as you drive it. In the winter, there were areas of yellow-green liquid on our garage floor on a few occasions. I took the vehicle in for the headlight recall, and I was told there was a cracked manifold, and a belt problem which was causing the antifreeze leak. When I searched for recalls, I noticed a previous recall for years 1996-2001 for the same problem. This repair is very costly, and I wonder if you could do a recall for this year/model car because I was given it as a gift and am currently laid off? I am attaching former recall settlement for same cars up to 2001. Thank you.
Intake manifold cracked and leaked coolant onto the coils and spark plugs. Hence causing rough running engine and lack of performance.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mercury grand marquis. The contact stated that there was an abnormal noise coming from the engine and the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the number two cylinder spark plug misfired and the head of the motor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 178,000.
The plastic intake manifold of my 2003 mercury 4.6l v-8 came apart and let the coolant leak out onto the engine.this car was built in canada in mid-2002 the problem is rampant in many years of the ford co cars. And in 2001 a class action suit was filed, in which ford was directed to pay damages to all owners (1,800,000 owners) of this type of engine and ford was supposed to stop installing that item as of then. Clearly they did not stop and that failure cost me over $1000.00 to repair. The repair part is now partly aluminum and part plastic. See: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/ford_manifold_suit.html.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mercury grand marquis. While driving 10 MPH, the engine began to rev and the brakes failed. The contact stated that it sounded as if the transmission snapped. The dealer stated that nothing was wrong with the vehicle, however recalls were issued for that model of vehicle. The vehicle has been at the dealer for two weeks. The powertrain was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 36,000.
Tl*- the contact stated that while driving his 2003 mercury grand marquis (36200 failure mileage) and attempting to stop at a red light, with his foot on the brake, the vehicle accelerated and got away from the contact for about one yard. The contact had to forcefully apply the brake again, but nothing happened. While the vehicle was still accelerating, the contact had to put the vehicle in neutral and turn the power off. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, who discovered that a defective 2w7z-9f715-ba valve 226 had to be replaced. The current mileage was 36,780 miles.
2003 grand marquis developed problems with the alternator, the throttle sticking open and alignment problems.*mr there was also a rattle noise coming from the engine and the digital readout on the dash was not reading properly.
My wife was driving our 1997 mercury marquis home in heavy traffic. Suddenly steam began pouring out from under the hood and the "hot" light went on. She pulled to the edge of the road and called me. I sent a tow truck to bring the car to our home. I looked and could see water all over the engine and perhaps a hose broken. Rather than tow it to the dealership, 20 miles away, I called a quality garage locally that I had dealt with before. They said the intake manifold was cracked, the water pump leaking as a minimum. The cost to replace and fix everything was $1075. While calling around for parts, the mechanic discovered that this was a common problem and ford had recalled police and city fleet vehicles for upgrade to fix this problem. Upon checking with the mercury shop foreman, he confirmed that story. Since I had a 100,000 mile warranty that had expired only a few months prior, I asked why ford would not help pay for the damage. I was told it was not covered. I asked why, knowing that this problem existed, why they had not fixed it under the warranty. I was told they never thought of it. Lousy service, lousy engineering and I now drive a toyota.
Questions about the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis engine
Does the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis have engine problems?
Owners have filed 18 complaints about the engine of the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis, 5% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 36,200 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis engine?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Mercury Grand Marquis have bad engine?
The Mercury Grand Marquis model years with the most engine complaints are 1997 (126 complaints), 1996 (86 complaints) and 1999 (33 complaints).
Other 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis problems
Lights 207Electrical 51Steering 28Suspension 28Acceleration 27Transmission 12Airbags 11Fuel system 10Visibility 10Wheels 10Body 9Brakes 7Seat belts 5Seats 2Locks 1Tires 1
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